Parametric amplification of the mechanical vibrations of a suspended nanowire by magnetic coupling to a Bose-Einstein condensate

We consider the possibility of parametric amplification of a mechanical vibration mode of a nanowire due to its interaction with a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of ultracold atoms. The magneto-mechanical coupling is mediated by the vibrationally modulated magnetic field around the current-carrying nanowire, which can induce atomic transitions between different hyperfine sublevels. We theoretically analyze the limitations arising from the fact that the spin inverted atomic medium which feeds the mechanical oscillation has a finite bandwidth in the range of the chemical potential of the condensate

Magnetic noise spectrum measurement by an atom laser in gravity

Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold atoms can be used to sense fluctuations of the magnetic field by means of transitions into untrapped hyperfine states. It has been shown recently that counting the outcoupled atoms can yield the power spectrum of the magnetic noise. We calculate the spectral resolution function which characterizes the condensate as a noise measurement device in this scheme. We use the description of the radio-frequency outcoupling scheme of an atom laser which takes into account the gravitational acceleration. Employing both an intuitive and the exact three-dimensional and fully quantum mechanical approach we derive the position-dependent spectral resolution function for condensates of different size and shape

P\'olya number of continuous-time quantum walks

We propose a definition for the P\'olya number of continuous-time quantum walks to characterize their recurrence properties. The definition involves a series of measurements on the system, each carried out on a different member from an ensemble in order to minimize the disturbance caused by it. We examine various graphs, including the ring, the line, higher dimensional integer lattices and a number of other graphs and calculate their P\'olya number. For the timing of the measurements a Poisson process as well as regular timing are discussed. We find that the speed of decay for the probability at the origin is the key for recurrence.Comment: 8 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Quantum walks: a comprehensive review

Quantum walks, the quantum mechanical counterpart of classical random walks, is an advanced tool for building quantum algorithms that has been recently shown to constitute a universal model of quantum computation. Quantum walks is now a solid field of research of quantum computation full of exciting open problems for physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians and engineers. In this paper we review theoretical advances on the foundations of both discrete- and continuous-time quantum walks, together with the role that randomness plays in quantum walks, the connections between the mathematical models of coined discrete quantum walks and continuous quantum walks, the quantumness of quantum walks, a summary of papers published on discrete quantum walks and entanglement as well as a succinct review of experimental proposals and realizations of discrete-time quantum walks. Furthermore, we have reviewed several algorithms based on both discrete- and continuous-time quantum walks as well as a most important result: the computational universality of both continuous- and discrete- time quantum walks.Comment: Paper accepted for publication in Quantum Information Processing Journa