Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

Abstract: Quantum synchronization is crucial for understanding complex dynamics and holds potential applications in quantum computing and communication. Therefore, assessing the thermodynamic resources required for finite-time synchronization in continuous-variable systems is a critical challenge. In the present work, we find these resources to be extensive for large systems. We also bound the speed of quantum and classical synchronization in coupled damped oscillators with non-Hermitian anti-PT-symmetric interactions, and show that the speed of synchronization is limited by the interaction strength relative to the damping. Compared to the classical limit, we find that quantum synchronization is slowed by the non-commutativity of the Hermitian and anti-Hermitian terms. Our general results could be tested experimentally and we suggest an implementation in photonic systems.

Abstract: Several principled measures of contextuality have been proposed for general systems of random variables (i.e. inconsistentlly connected systems). The first of such measures was based on quasi-couplings using negative probabilities (here denoted by CNT3, Dzhafarov & Kujala, 2016). Dzhafarov and Kujala (2019) introduced a measure of contextuality, CNT2, that naturally generalizes to a measure of non-contextuality. Dzhafarov and Kujala (2019) additionally conjectured that in the class of cyclic systems these two measures are proportional. Here we prove that that conjecture is correct. Recently, Cervantes (2023) showed the proportionality of CNT2 and the Contextual Fraction measure (CNTF) introduced by Abramsky, Barbosa, and Mansfeld (2017). The present proof completes the description of the interrelations of all contextuality measures as they pertain to cyclic systems.

Abstract: We present a Hamiltonian model describing two pairs of mechanical and optical modes under standard optomechanical interaction. The vibrational modes are mechanically isolated from each other and the optical modes couple evanescently. We recover the ranges for variables of interest, such as mechanical and optical resonant frequencies and naked coupling strengths, using a finite element model for a standard experimental realization. We show that the quantum model, under this parameter range and external optical driving, may be approximated into parametric interaction models for all involved modes. As an example, we study the effect of detuning in the optical resonant frequencies modes and optical driving resolved to mechanical sidebands and show an optical beam splitter with interaction strength dressed by the mechanical excitation number, a mechanical bidirectional coupler, and a two-mode mechanical squeezer where the optical state mediates the interaction strength between the mechanical modes.

Abstract: A gauge field treatment of a current, oscillating at a fixed frequency, of interacting neutral atoms leads to a set of matter-wave duals to Maxwell's equations for the electromagnetic field. In contrast to electromagnetics, the velocity of propagation has a lower limit rather than upper limit and the wave impedance of otherwise free space is negative real-valued rather than 377 Ohms. Quantization of the field leads to the matteron, the gauge boson dual to the photon. Unlike the photon, the matteron is bound to an atom and carries negative rather than positive energy, causing the source of the current to undergo cooling. Eigenstates of the combined matter and gauge field annihilation operator define the coherent state of the matter-wave field, which exhibits classical coherence in the limit of large excitation.

Abstract: The detection and classification of entanglement properties in a two-qubit and a multi-qubit system is a topic of great interest. This topic has been extensively studied, and as a result, we discovered various approaches for detecting and classifying multi-qubit, in particular three-qubit entangled states. The emphasis of this work is on a formalism of methods for the detection and classification of bipartite as well as multipartite quantum systems. We have used the method of structural physical approximation of partially transposed matrix (SPA-PT) for the detection of entangled states in arbitrary dimensional bipartite quantum systems. Also, we have proposed criteria for the classification of all possible stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) inequivalent classes of a pure and mixed three-qubit state using the SPA-PT map. To quantify entanglement, we have defined a new measure of entanglement based on the method of SPA-PT, which we named as "structured negativity". We have shown that this measure can be used to quantify entanglement for negative partial transposed entangled states (NPTES). Since the methods for detection, classification and quantification of entanglement, defined in this thesis are based on SPA-PT, they may be realized in an experiment.

Abstract: Given an undirected, unweighted graph with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, the maximum cut problem is to find a partition of the $n$ vertices into disjoint subsets $V_1$ and $V_2$ such that the number of edges between them is as large as possible. Classically, it is an NP-complete problem, which has potential applications ranging from circuit layout design, statistical physics, computer vision, machine learning and network science to clustering. In this paper, we propose a quantum algorithm to solve the maximum cut problem for any graph $G$ with a quadratic speedup over its classical counterparts, where the temporal and spatial complexities are reduced to, respectively, $O(\sqrt{2^n/r})$ and $O(m^2)$. With respect to oracle-related quantum algorithms for NP-complete problems, we identify our algorithm as optimal. Furthermore, to justify the feasibility of the proposed algorithm, we successfully solve a typical maximum cut problem for a graph with three vertices and two edges by carrying out experiments on IBM's quantum computer.

Abstract: Quantum computers comprise elementary logic gates that initialize, control and measure delicate quantum states. One of the most important gates is the controlled-NOT, which is widely used to prepare two-qubit entangled states. The controlled-NOT gate for single photon qubits is normally realized as a six-mode network of individual beamsplitters. This architecture however, utilizes only a small fraction of the circuit for the quantum operation with the majority of the footprint dedicated to routing waveguides. Quantum walks are an alternative photonics platform that use arrays of coupled waveguides with a continuous interaction region instead of discrete gates. While quantum walks have been successful for investigating condensed matter physics, applying the multi-mode interference for logical quantum operations is yet to be shown. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a two-qubit controlled-NOT gate in an array of lithium niobate-on-insulator waveguides. We engineer the tight-binding Hamiltonian of the six evanescently-coupled single-mode waveguides such that the multi-mode interference corresponds to the linear optical controlled-NOT unitary. We measure the two-qubit transfer matrix with $0.938\pm0.003$ fidelity, and we use the gate to generate entangled qubits with $0.945\pm0.002$ fidelity by preparing the control photon in a superposition state. Our results highlight a new application for quantum walks that use a compact multi-mode interaction region to realize large multi-component quantum circuits.

Abstract: The first thermal machines steered the industrial revolution, but their quantum analogs have yet to prove useful. Here, we demonstrate a useful quantum absorption refrigerator formed from superconducting circuits. We use it to reset a transmon qubit to a temperature lower than that achievable with any one available bath. The process is driven by a thermal gradient and is autonomous -- requires no external control. The refrigerator exploits an engineered three-body interaction between the target qubit and two auxiliary qudits coupled to thermal environments. The environments consist of microwave waveguides populated with synthesized thermal photons. The target qubit, if initially fully excited, reaches a steady-state excited-level population of $5\times10^{-4} \pm 5\times10^{-4}$ (an effective temperature of 23.5~mK) in about 1.6~$\mu$s. Our results epitomize how quantum thermal machines can be leveraged for quantum information-processing tasks. They also initiate a path toward experimental studies of quantum thermodynamics with superconducting circuits coupled to propagating thermal microwave fields.

Abstract: The spatially nonlocal response functions of graphene obtained on the basis of first principles of quantum field theory using the polarization tensor are considered in the areas of both the on-the-mass-shell and off-the-mass-shell waves. It s shown that at zero frequency the longitudinal permittivity of graphene is the regular function, whereas the transverse one possesses a double pole for any nonzero wave vector. According to our results, both the longitudinal and transverse permittivities satisfy the dispersion (Kramers-Kronig) relations connecting their real and imaginary parts, as well as expressing each of these permittivities along the imaginary frequency axis via its imaginary part. For the transverse permittivity, the form of an additional term arising in the dispersion relations due to the presence of a double pole is found. The form of dispersion relations is unaffected by the branch points which arise on the real frequency axis in the presence of spatial nonlocality. The obtained results are discussed in connection with the well known problem of the Lifshitz theory which was found to be in conflict with the measurement data when using the much studied response function of metals. A possible way of attack on this problem based on the case of graphene is suggested.

Abstract: Quantum work capacitances and maximal asymptotic work/energy ratios are figures of merit characterizing the robustness against noise of work extraction processes in quantum batteries formed by collections of quantum systems. In this paper we establish a direct connection between these functionals and, exploiting this result, we analyze different types of noise models mimicking self-discharging, thermalization and dephasing effects. In this context we show that input quantum coherence can significantly improve the storage performance of noisy quantum batteries and that the maximum output ergotropy is not always achieved by the maximum available input energy.

Abstract: Relativistic causality (RC) is the principle that no cause can act outside its future lightcone, but any attempt to formulate this principle more precisely will depend on the foundational framework that one adopts for quantum theory. Adopting a histories-based (or "path integral") framework, we relate RC to a condition we term "Persistence of Zero" (PoZ), according to which an event $E$ of measure zero remains forbidden if one forms its conjunction with any other event associated to a spacetime region that is later than or spacelike to that of $E$. We also relate PoZ to the Bell inequalities by showing that, in combination with a second, more technical condition it leads to the quantal counterpart of Fine's patching theorem in much the same way as Bell's condition of Local Causality leads to Fine's original theorem. We then argue that RC per se has very little to say on the matter of which correlations can occur in nature and which cannot. From the point of view we arrive at, histories-based quantum theories are nonlocal in spacetime, and fully in compliance with relativistic causality.

Abstract: We employ a mathematical framework based on the Riemann-Hilbert approach developed in Ref. [1] to study logarithmic negativity of two intervals of free fermions in the case where the size of the intervals as well as the distance between them is macroscopic. We find that none of the eigenvalues of the density matrix become negative, but rather they develop a small imaginary value, leading to non-zero logarithmic negativity. As an example, we compute negativity at half-filling and for intervals of equal size we find a result of order $(\log(N))^{-1}$, where $N$ is the typical length scale in units of the lattice spacing. One may compute logarithmic negativity in further situations, but we find that the results are non-universal, depending non-smoothly on the Fermi level and the size of the intervals in units of the lattice spacing.

Abstract: It will be shown that the Peres-Mermin square admits value-definite noncontextual hidden-variable models if the observables associated with the operators can be measured only sequentially but not simultaneously. Namely, sequential measurements allow for noncontextual models in which hidden states update between consecutive measurements. Two recent experiments realizing the Peres-Mermin square by sequential measurements will also be analyzed along with other hidden-variable models accounting for these experiments.

Abstract: The core of Heisenberg's argument for the uncertainty principle, involving the famous $\gamma$-ray microscope $\textit{Gedankenexperiment}$, consists in the existence of measurements that irreversibly alter the state of the system on which they are acting, causing an irreducible disturbance on subsequent measurements. The argument was put forward to justify the existence of incompatible measurements, namely, measurements that cannot be performed jointly. In this Letter, on the one hand, we provide a compelling argument showing that incompatibility is indeed a sufficient condition for disturbance, while, on the other hand, we exhibit a toy theory that is a counterexample for the converse implication.

Abstract: Orthogonality of eigenstates of different energies held in bound states plays important roles, but is dubious in scattering states. Scalar products of stationary scattering states are analyzed using solvable models, and an orthogonality is shown violated in majority potentials. Consequently their superposition has time dependent norm and is not suitable for a physical state. Various exceptional cases are clarified. From the results of the first paper,a perturbative and variational methods emerge as viable methods for finding a transition probability of normalized initial and final states.

Abstract: Potential scatterings in experimental setups are formulated using a complete set of normalized states for initial and final states. Various ambiguities in a standard method caused by non-orthogonality of stationary states are resolved, and consistent scattering probabilities that clarify an interference at a forward scattering are found. A power series expansions in the coupling strength satisfying manifest unitarity is presented, and a variational method for the transition probability is proposed.

Abstract: The dynamical spreading of quantum information through a many-body system, typically called scrambling, is a complex process that has proven to be essential to describe many properties of out-of-equilibrium quantum systems. Scrambling can, in principle, be fully characterized via the use of out-of-time-ordered correlation functions, which are notoriously hard to access experimentally. In this work, we put forward an alternative toolbox of measurement protocols to experimentally probe scrambling by accessing properties of the operator size probability distribution, which tracks the size of the support of observables in a many-body system over time. Our measurement protocols require the preparation of separable mixed states together with local operations and measurements, and combine the tools of randomized operations, a modern development of near-term quantum algorithms, with the use of mixed states, a standard tool in NMR experiments. We demonstrate how to efficiently probe the probability-generating function of the operator distribution and discuss the challenges associated with obtaining the moments of the operator distribution. We further show that manipulating the initial state of the protocol allows us to directly obtain the individual elements of the distribution for small system sizes.

Abstract: Developing practical quantum technologies will require the exquisite manipulation of fragile systems in a robust and repeatable way. As quantum technologies move towards real world applications, from biological sensing to communication in space, increasing experimental complexity introduces constraints that can be alleviated by the introduction of new technologies. Robotics has shown tremendous technological progress by realising increasingly smart, autonomous and highly dexterous machines. Here, we show that a robot can sensitise an NV centre quantum magnetometer. We demonstrate that a robotic arm equipped with a magnet can traverse a highly complex experimental setting to provide a vector magnetic field with up to $1^\circ$ angular accuracy and below 0.1 mT amplitude error, and determine the orientation of a single stochastically-aligned spin-based sensor. Our work opens up the prospect of integrating robotics across many quantum degrees of freedom in constrained environments, allowing for increased prototyping speed, control, and robustness in quantum technology applications.

Abstract: Existing approaches to analogue quantum simulations of time-dependent quantum systems rely on perturbative corrections to the time-independence of the systems to be simulated. We overcome this restriction to perturbative approaches and demonstrate the potential of achievable quantum simulations with the pedagogical example of a Lambda-system and the quench in finite time through a quantum phase transition of a Chern insulator in a driven Hubbard system.

Abstract: We introduce a framework for simulating quantum optics by decomposing the system into a finite rank (number of terms) superposition of coherent states. This allows us to define a resource theory, where linear optical operations are `free' (i.e., do not increase the rank), and the simulation complexity for an $m$-mode system scales quadratically in $m$, in stark contrast to the Hilbert space dimension. We outline this approach explicitly in the Fock basis, relevant in particular for Boson sampling, where the simulation time (space) complexity for computing output amplitudes, to arbitrary accuracy, scales as $O(m^2 2^n)$ ($O(m2^n)$), for $n$ photons distributed amongst $m$ modes. We additionally demonstrate linear optical simulations with the $n$ photons initially in the same mode scales efficiently, as $O(m^2 n)$. This paradigm provides a practical notion of `non-classicality', i.e., the classical resources required for simulation, which by making connections to the stellar formalism, we show this comes from two independent contributions, the number of single-photon additions, and the amount of squeezing.

Abstract: The classical embeddability problem asks whether a given stochastic matrix $T$, describing transition probabilities of a $d$-level system, can arise from the underlying homogeneous continuous-time Markov process. Here, we investigate the quantum version of this problem, asking of the existence of a Markovian quantum channel generating state transitions described by a given $T$. More precisely, we aim at characterising the set of quantum-embeddable stochastic matrices that arise from memoryless continuous-time quantum evolution. To this end, we derive both upper and lower bounds on that set, providing new families of stochastic matrices that are quantum-embeddable but not classically-embeddable, as well as families of stochastic matrices that are not quantum-embeddable. As a result, we demonstrate that a larger set of transition matrices can be explained by memoryless models if the dynamics is allowed to be quantum, but we also identify a non-zero measure set of random processes that cannot be explained by either classical or quantum memoryless dynamics. Finally, we fully characterise extreme stochastic matrices (with entries given only by zeros and ones) that are quantum-embeddable.

Abstract: We present an exactly solvable toy model for the continuous dissipative dynamics of permutation-invariant graph states of N qubits. Such states are locally equivalent to an N-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state, a fundamental resource in many quantum information processing setups. We focus on the time evolution of the state governed by a Lindblad master equation with the three standard single-qubit jump operators, the Hamiltonian part being set to zero. Deriving analytic expressions for the expectation values of observables expanded in the Pauli basis at all times, we analyze the nontrivial intermediate-time dynamics. Using a numerical solver based on matrix product operators we simulate the time evolution for systems with up to 64 qubits and verify a numerically exact agreement with the analytical results. We find that the evolution of the operator space entanglement entropy of a bipartition of the system manifests a plateau whose duration increases logarithmically with the number of qubits, whereas all Pauli-operator products have expectation values decaying at most in constant time.

Abstract: Using a recently developed extension of the time-dependent variational principle for matrix product states, we evaluate the dynamics of 2D power-law interacting XXZ models, implementable in a variety of state-of-the-art experimental platforms. We compute the spin squeezing as a measure of correlations in the system, and compare to semiclassical phase-space calculations utilizing the discrete truncated Wigner approximation (DTWA). We find the latter efficiently and accurately captures the scaling of entanglement with system size in these systems, despite the comparatively resource-intensive tensor network representation of the dynamics. We also compare the steady-state behavior of DTWA to thermal ensemble calculations with tensor networks. Our results open a way to benchmark dynamical calculations for two-dimensional quantum systems, and allow us to rigorously validate recent predictions for the generation of scalable entangled resources for metrology in these systems.

Abstract: A recently introduced classical simulation method for universal quantum computation with magic states operates by repeated sampling from probability functions [M. Zurel et al. PRL 260404 (2020)]. This method is closely related to sampling algorithms based on Wigner functions, with the important distinction that Wigner functions can take negative values obstructing the sampling. Indeed, negativity in Wigner functions has been identified as a precondition for a quantum speed-up. However, in the present method of classical simulation, negativity of quasiprobability functions never arises. This model remains probabilistic for all quantum computations. In this paper, we analyze the amount of classical data that the simulation procedure must track. We find that this amount is small. Specifically, for any number $n$ of magic states, the number of bits that describe the quantum system at any given time is $2n^2+O(n)$.