arXiv subjects

A. Politi

Publications and source records attributed to A. Politi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Integrated photonics for continuous-variable quantum optics

Quantum technologies promise profound advances in communication security, sensing and computing. The underpinning hardware must be engineered to generate, manipulate and detect quantum phenomena with exceptional performance, whilst being mass-manufacturable for real-world applications. A leading approach is chip-scale quantum photonics. The continuous-variable regime for quantum optics has been exploited in a number of technologies, including the detection of gravitational waves, by operating below the standard quantum limit of the light's shot noise. The availability of room-temperature, deterministic sources and high efficiency detectors suitable for continuous-variable state generation and measurement is a compelling motivation for this particular paradigm. This review focusses on efforts to integrate sources and detectors of continuous-variable light states into chip-scale photonic integrated circuits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Coupled transport in rotor models

Steady non-equilibrium states are investigated in a one-dimensional setup in the presence of two thermodynamic currents. Two paradigmatic nonlinear oscillators models are investigated: an XY chain and the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Their distinctive feature is that the relevant variable is an angle in both cases. We point out the importance of clearly distinguishing between energy and heat flux. In fact, even in the presence of a vanishing Seebeck coefficient, a coupling between (angular) momentum and energy arises, mediated by the unavoidable presence of a "coherent" energy flux. Such a contribution is the result of the "advection" induced by the position-dependent angular velocity. As a result, in the XY model, the knowledge of the two diagonal elements of the Onsager matrix suffices to reconstruct its transport properties. The analysis of the nonequilibrium steady states finally allows to strengthen the connection between the two models.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Off-equilibrium Langevin dynamics of the discrete nonlinear Schroedinger chain

Suitable Langevin thermostats are introduced which are able to control both the temperature and the chemical potential of a one-dimensional lattice of nonlinear Schrödinger oscillators. The resulting non-equilibrium stationary states are then investigated in two limit cases (low temperatures and large particle densities), where the dynamics can be mapped onto that of a coupled-rotor chain with an external torque. As a result, an effective kinetic definition of temperature can be introduced and compared with the general microcanonical (global) definition.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Calibration and High Fidelity Measurement of a Quantum Photonic Chip

Integrated quantum photonic circuits are becoming increasingly complex. Accurate calibration of device parameters and detailed characterization of the prepared quantum states are critically important for future progress. Here we report on an effective experimental calibration method based on Bayesian updating and Markov chain Monte Carlo integration. We use this calibration technique to characterize a two qubit chip and extract the reflectivities of its directional couplers. An average quantum state tomography fidelity of 93.79+/-1.05% against the four Bell states is achieved. Furthermore, comparing the measured density matrices against a model using the non-ideal device parameters derived from the calibration we achieve an average fidelity of 97.57+/-0.96%. This pinpoints non-ideality of chip parameters as a major factor in the decrease of Bell state fidelity. We also perform quantum state tomography for Bell states while continuously varying photon distinguishability and find excellent agreement with theory.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

On Chip Manipulation of Single Photons from a Diamond Defect

Operating reconfigurable quantum circuits with single photon sources is a key goal of photonic quantum information science and technology. We use an integrated waveguide device comprising of directional couplers and a reconfigurable thermal phase controller to manipulate single photons emitted from a chromium related colour centre in diamond. Observation of both a wave-like interference pattern and particle-like sub-Poissionian autocorrelation functions demonstrates coherent manipulation of single photons emitted from the chromium related centre and verifies wave particle duality.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Generating, manipulating and measuring entanglement and mixture with a reconfigurable photonic circuit

Entanglement is the quintessential quantum mechanical phenomenon understood to lie at the heart of future quantum technologies and the subject of fundamental scientific investigations. Mixture, resulting from noise, is often an unwanted result of interaction with an environment, but is also of fundamental interest, and is proposed to play a role in some biological processes. Here we report an integrated waveguide device that can generate and completely characterize pure two-photon states with any amount of entanglement and arbitrary single-photon states with any amount of mixture. The device consists of a reconfigurable integrated quantum photonic circuit with eight voltage controlled phase shifters. We demonstrate that for thousands of randomly chosen configurations the device performs with high fidelity. We generate maximally and non-maximally entangled states, violate a Bell-type inequality with a continuum of partially entangled states, and demonstrate generation of arbitrary one-qubit mixed states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Reconfigurable controlled two-qubit operation on a quantum photonic chip

Integrated quantum photonics is an appealing platform for quantum information processing, quantum communication and quantum metrology. In all these applications it is necessary not only to be able to create and detect Fock states of light but also to program the photonic circuits that implements some desired logical operation. Here we demonstrate a reconfigurable controlled two-qubit operation on a chip using a multiwaveguide interferometer with a tunable phase shifter. We find excellent agreement between theory and experiment, with a 0.98 \pm 0.02 average similarity between measured and ideal operations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

The nonequilibrium discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation

We study nonequilibrium steady states of the one-dimensional discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation. This system can be regarded as a minimal model for stationary transport of bosonic particles like photons in layered media or cold atoms in deep optical traps. Due to the presence of two conserved quantities, energy and norm (or number of particles), the model displays coupled transport in the sense of linear irreversible thermodynamics. Monte Carlo thermostats are implemented to impose a given temperature and chemical potential at the chain ends. As a result, we find that the Onsager coefficients are finite in the thermodynamic limit, i.e. transport is normal. Depending on the position in the parameter space, the "Seebeck coefficient" may be either positive or negative. For large differences between the thermostat parameters, density and temperature profiles may display an unusual nonmonotonic shape. This is due to the strong dependence of the Onsager coefficients on the state variables.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2012

Negative Temperature States in the Discrete Nonlinear Schroedinger Equation

We explore the statistical behavior of the discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation. We find a parameter region where the system evolves towards a state characterized by a finite density of breathers and a negative temperature. Such a state is metastable but the convergence to equilibrium occurs on astronomical time scales and becomes increasingly slower as a result of a coarsening processes. Stationary negative-temperature states can be experimentally generated via boundary dissipation or from free expansions of wave packets initially at positive temperature equilibrium.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2009

Nonequilibrium dynamics of a stochastic model of anomalous heat transport: numerical analysis

We study heat transport in a chain of harmonic oscillators with random elastic collisions between nearest-neighbours. The equations of motion of the covariance matrix are numerically solved for free and fixed boundary conditions. In the thermodynamic limit, the shape of the temperature profile and the value of the stationary heat flux depend on the choice of boundary conditions. For free boundary conditions, they also depend on the coupling strength with the heat baths. Moreover, we find a strong violation of local equilibrium at the chain edges that determine two boundary layers of size $\sqrt{N}$ (where $N$ is the chain length), that are characterized by a different scaling behaviour from the bulk. Finally, we investigate the relaxation towards the stationary state, finding two long time scales: the first corresponds to the relaxation of the hydrodynamic modes; the second is a manifestation of the finiteness of the system.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Nonequilibrium dynamics of a stochastic model of anomalous heat transport

We study the dynamics of covariances in a chain of harmonic oscillators with conservative noise in contact with two stochastic Langevin heat baths. The noise amounts to random collisions between nearest-neighbour oscillators that exchange their momenta. In a recent paper, [S Lepri et al. J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42 (2009) 025001], we have studied the stationary state of this system with fixed boundary conditions, finding analytical exact expressions for the temperature profile and the heat current in the thermodynamic (continuum) limit. In this paper we extend the analysis to the evolution of the covariance matrix and to generic boundary conditions. Our main purpose is to construct a hydrodynamic description of the relaxation to the stationary state, starting from the exact equations governing the evolution of the correlation matrix. We identify and adiabatically eliminate the fast variables, arriving at a continuity equation for the temperature profile T(y,t), complemented by an ordinary equation that accounts for the evolution in the bulk. Altogether, we find that the evolution of T(y,t) is the result of fractional diffusion.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2009

Laser written waveguide photonic quantum circuits

We report photonic quantum circuits created using an ultrafast laser processing technique that is rapid, requires no lithographic mask and can be used to create three-dimensional networks of waveguide devices. We have characterized directional couplers--the key functional elements of photonic quantum circuits--and found that they perform as well as lithographically produced waveguide devices. We further demonstrate high-performance interferometers and an important multi-photon quantum interference phenomenon for the first time in integrated optics. This direct-write approach will enable the rapid development of sophisticated quantum optical circuits and their scaling into three-dimensions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Stochastic dynamics of model proteins on a directed graph

A method for reconstructing the energy landscape of simple polypeptidic chains is described. We show that we can construct an equivalent representation of the energy landscape by a suitable directed graph. Its topological and dynamical features are shown to yield an effective estimate of the time scales associated with the folding and with the equilibration processes. This conclusion is drawn by comparing molecular dynamics simulations at constant temperature with the dynamics on the graph, defined by a temperature dependent Markov process. The main advantage of the graph representation is that its dynamics can be naturally renormalized by collecting nodes into "hubs", while redefining their connectivity. We show that both topological and dynamical properties are preserved by the renormalization procedure. Moreover, we obtain clear indications that the heteropolymers exhibit common topological properties, at variance with the homopolymer, whose peculiar graph structure stems from its spatial homogeneity. In order to obtain a clear distinction between a "fast folder" and a "slow folder" in the heteropolymers one has to look at kinetic features of the directed graph. We find that the average time needed to the fast folder for reaching its native configuration is two orders of magnitude smaller than its equilibration time, while for the bad folder these time scales are comparable. Accordingly, we can conclude that the strategy described in this paper can be successfully applied also to more realistic models, by studying their renormalized dynamics on the directed graph, rather than performing lengthy molecular dynamics simulations.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2008

Nonequilibrium Invariant Measure under Heat Flow

We provide an explicit representation of the nonequilibrium invariant measure for a chain of harmonic oscillators with conservative noise in the presence of stationary heat flow. By first determining the covariance matrix, we are able to express the measure as the product of Gaussian distributions aligned along some collective modes that are spatially localized with power-law tails. Numerical studies show that such a representation applies also to a purely deterministic model, the quartic Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2008

Anomalous transport and relaxation in classical one-dimensional models

After reviewing the main features of anomalous energy transport in 1D systems, we report simulations performed with chains of noisy anharmonic oscillators. The stochastic terms are added in such a way to conserve total energy and momentum, thus keeping the basic hydrodynamic features of these models. The addition of this "conservative noise" allows to obtain a more efficient estimate of the power-law divergence of heat conductivity kappa(L) ~ L^alpha in the limit of small noise and large system size L. By comparing the numerical results with rigorous predictions obtained for the harmonic chain, we show how finite--size and --time effects can be effectively controlled. For low noise amplitudes, the alpha values are close to 1/3 for asymmetric potentials and to 0.4 for symmetric ones. These results support the previously conjectured two-universality-classes scenario.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2007

Collective Atomic Recoil Laser as a synchronization transition

We consider here a model previously introduced to describe the collective behavior of an ensemble of cold atoms interacting with a coherent electromagnetic field. The atomic motion along the self-generated spatially-periodic force field can be interpreted as the rotation of a phase oscillator. This suggests a relationship with synchronization transitions occurring in globally coupled rotators. In fact, we show that whenever the field dynamics can be adiabatically eliminated, the model reduces to a self-consistent equation for the probability distribution of the atomic "phases". In this limit, there exists a formal equivalence with the Kuramoto model, though with important differences in the self-consistency conditions. Depending on the field-cavity detuning, we show that the onset of synchronized behavior may occur through either a first- or second-order phase transition. Furthermore, we find a secondary threshold, above which a periodic self-pulsing regime sets in, that is immediately followed by the unlocking of the forward-field frequency. At yet higher, but still experimentally meaningful, input intensities, irregular, chaotic oscillations may eventually appear. Finally, we derive a simpler model, involving only five scalar variables, which is able to reproduce the entire phenomenology exhibited by the original model.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2007

Characterizing dynamics with covariant Lyapunov vectors

A general method to determine covariant Lyapunov vectors in both discrete- and continuous-time dynamical systems is introduced. This allows to address fundamental questions such as the degree of hyperbolicity, which can be quantified in terms of the transversality of these intrinsic vectors. For spatially extended systems, the covariant Lyapunov vectors have localization properties and spatial Fourier spectra qualitatively different from those composing the orthonormalized basis obtained in the standard procedure used to calculate the Lyapunov exponents.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2007

Energy diffusion in hard-point systems

We investigate the diffusive properties of energy fluctuations in a one-dimensional diatomic chain of hard-point particles interacting through a square--well potential. The evolution of initially localized infinitesimal and finite perturbations is numerically investigated for different density values. All cases belong to the same universality class which can be also interpreted as a Levy walk of the energy with scaling exponent 3/5. The zero-pressure limit is nevertheless exceptional in that normal diffusion is found in tangent space and yet anomalous diffusion with a different rate for perturbations of finite amplitude. The different behaviour of the two classes of perturbations is traced back to the "stable chaos" type of dynamics exhibited by this model. Finally, the effect of an additional internal degree of freedom is investigated, finding that it does not modify the overall scenario

cond-mat.stat-mech↗