arXiv subjects

Alessandro Romito

Publications and source records attributed to Alessandro Romito.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Topological transitions with continuously monitored free fermions

We study a free fermion model where two sets of non-commuting non-projective measurements stabilize area-law entanglement scaling phases of distinct topological order. We show the presence of a topological phase transition that is of a different universality class than that observed in stroboscopic projective circuits. In the presence of unitary dynamics, the two topologically distinct phases are separated by a region with sub-volume scaling of the entanglement entropy. We find that this entanglement transition is well identified by a combination of the bipartite entanglement entropy and the topological entanglement entropy. We further show that the phase diagram is qualitatively captured by an analytically tractable non-Hermitian model obtained via post-selecting the measurement outcome. Finally we introduce a partial-post-selection continuous mapping, that uniquely associates topological indices of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian to the distinct phases of the stochastic measurement-induced dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Observing a Topological Transition in Weak-Measurement-Induced Geometric Phases

Measurement plays a quintessential role in the control of quantum systems. Beyond initialization and readout which pertain to projective measurements, weak measurements in particular, through their back-action on the system, may enable various levels of coherent control. The latter ranges from observing quantum trajectories to state dragging and steering. Furthermore, just like the adiabatic evolution of quantum states that is known to induce the Berry phase, sequential weak measurements may lead to path-dependent geometric phases. Here we measure the geometric phases induced by sequences of weak measurements and demonstrate a topological transition in the geometric phase controlled by measurement strength. This connection between weak measurement induced quantum dynamics and topological transitions reveals subtle topological features in measurement-based manipulation of quantum systems. Our protocol could be implemented for classes of operations (e.g. braiding) which are topological in nature. Furthermore, our results open new horizons for measurement-enabled quantum control of many-body topological states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Three-fold way of entanglement dynamics in monitored quantum circuits

We investigate the measurement-induced entanglement transition in quantum circuits built upon Dyson's three circular ensembles (circular unitary, orthogonal, and symplectic ensembles; CUE, COE and CSE). We utilise the established model of a one-dimensional circuit evolving under alternating local random unitary gates and projective measurements performed with tunable rate, which for gates drawn from the CUE is known to display a transition from extensive to intensive entanglement scaling as the measurement rate is increased. By contrasting this case to the COE and CSE, we obtain insights into the interplay between the local entanglement generation by the gates and the entanglement reduction by the measurements. For this, we combine exact analytical random-matrix results for the entanglement generated by the individual gates in the different ensembles, and numerical results for the complete quantum circuit. These considerations include an efficient rephrasing of the statistical entangling power in terms of a characteristic entanglement matrix capturing the essence of Cartan's KAK decomposition, and a general result for the eigenvalue statistics of antisymmetric matrices associated with the CSE.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Relation between scattering matrix topological invariants and conductance in Floquet Majorana systems

We analyze the conductance of a one-dimensional topological superconductor periodically driven to host Floquet Majorana zero-modes for different configurations of coupling to external leads. We compare the conductance of constantly coupled leads, as in standard transport experiments, with the stroboscopic conductance of pulsed coupling to leads used to identify a scattering matrix topological index for periodically driven systems. We find that the sum of DC conductance at voltages multiples of the driving frequency is quantitatively close to the stroboscopic conductance at all voltage biases. This is consistent with previous work which indicated that the summed conductance at zero/pi resonance is quantized. We quantify the difference between the two in terms of the width of their respective resonances and analyze that difference for two different stroboscopic driving protocols of the Kitaev chain. While the quantitative differences are protocol-dependent, we find that generically the discrepancy is larger when the zero mode weight at the end of the chain depends strongly on the offset time between the driving cycle and the pulsed coupling period.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Quantum Zeno effect with partial measurement and noisy dynamics

We study the Quantum Zeno Effect (QZE) induced by continuous partial measurement in the presence of short-correlated noise in the system Hamiltonian. We study the survival probability and the onset of the QZE as a function of the measurement strength, and find that, depending on the noise parameters, the quantum Zeno effect can be enhanced or suppressed by the noise in different regions of the parameter space. Notably, the conditions for the enhancement of the QZE are different when determined by the short-time or long-time behavior of the survival probability, or by the measurement strength marking the onset of the quantum Zeno regime.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Universality of entanglement transitions from stroboscopic to continuous measurements

Measurement-driven transitions between extensive and sub-extensive scaling of the entanglement entropy receive interest as they illuminate the intricate physics of thermalization and control in open interacting quantum systems. Whilst this transition is well established for stroboscopic measurements in random quantum circuits, a crucial link to physical settings is its extension to continuous observations, where for an integrable model it has been shown that the transition changes its nature and becomes immediate. Here, we demonstrate that the entanglement transition at finite coupling persists if the continuously measured system is randomly nonintegrable, and show that it is smoothly connected to the transition in the stroboscopic models. This provides a bridge between a wide range of experimental settings and the wealth of knowledge accumulated for the latter systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2020

Quantum Zeno effect appears in stages

In the quantum Zeno effect, quantum measurements can block the coherent oscillation of a two level system by freezing its state to one of the measurement eigenstates. The effect is conventionally controlled by the measurement frequency. Here we study the development of the Zeno regime as a function of the measurement strength for a continuous partial measurement. We show that the onset of the Zeno regime is marked by a $\textit{cascade of transitions}$ in the system dynamics as the measurement strength is increased. Some of these transitions are only apparent in the collective behavior of individual quantum trajectories and are invisible to the average dynamics. They include the appearance of a region of dynamically inaccessible states and of singularities in the steady-state probability distribution of states. These newly predicted dynamical features, which can be readily observed in current experiments, show the coexistence of fundamentally unpredictable quantum jumps with those continuously monitored and reverted in recent experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Pumped heat and charge statistics from Majorana braiding

We examine the heat and charge transport of a driven topological superconductor. Our particular system of interest consists of a Y-junction of topological superconducting wires, hosting non-Abelian Majorana zero modes at their edges. The system is contacted to two leads which act as continuous detectors of the system state. We calculate, via a scattering matrix approach, the full counting statistics of the driven heat transport, between two terminals contacted to the system, for small adiabatic driving and characterise the energy transport properties as a function of the system parameters (driving frequency, temperature). We find that the geometric, dynamic contribution to the pumped heat statistics results in a correction to the Gallavotti-Cohen type fluctuation theorem for quantum heat transfer. Notably, the correction term to the fluctuation theorem extends to cycles which correspond to topologically protected braiding of the Majorana zero modes. This geometric correction to the fluctuation theorem differs from its analogs in previously studied systems in that (i) it is non-vanishing for adiabatic cycles of the system's parameters, without the need for cyclic driving of the leads and (ii) it is insensitive to small, slow fluctuations of the driving parameters due to the topological protection of the braiding operation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Topological transition in measurement-induced geometric phases

The state of a quantum system, adiabatically driven in a cycle, may acquire a measurable phase depending only on the closed trajectory in parameter space. Such geometric phases are ubiquitous, and also underline the physics of robust topological phenomena such as the quantum Hall effect. Equivalently, a geometric phase may be induced through a cyclic sequence of quantum measurements. We show that the application of a sequence of weak measurements renders the closed trajectories, hence the geometric phase, stochastic. We study the concomitant probability distribution and show that, when varying the measurement strength, the mapping between the measurement sequence and the geometric phase undergoes a topological transition. Our finding may impact measurement-induced control and manipulation of quantum states---a promising approach to quantum information processing. It also has repercussions on understanding the foundations of quantum measurement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Detection of quantum interference without interference

Quantum interference is typically detected through the dependence of the interference signal on certain parameters (path length, Aharonov-Bohm flux, etc.), which can be varied in a controlled manner. The destruction of interference by a which-path measurement is a paradigmatic manifestation of quantum effects. Here we report on a novel measurement protocol that realizes two objectives: (i) certifying that a measured signal is the result of interference avoiding the need to vary parameters of the underlying interferometer, and (ii) certifying that the interference signal at hand is of quantum nature. In particular, it yields a null outcome in the case of classical interference. Our protocol comprises measurements of cross-correlations between the readings of which-path weakly coupled detectors positioned at the respective interferometer's arms and the current in one of the interferometer's drains. We discuss its implementation with an experimentally available platform: an electronic Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) coupled electrostatically to "detectors" (quantum point contacts).

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Entanglement transition from variable-strength weak measurements

We show that weak measurements can induce a quantum phase transition of interacting many-body systems from an ergodic thermal phase with a large entropy to a nonergodic localized phase with a small entropy, but only if the measurement strength exceeds a critical value. We demonstrate this effect for a one-dimensional quantum circuit evolving under random unitary transformations and generic positive operator-valued measurements of variable strength. As opposed to projective measurements describing a restricted class of open systems, the measuring device is modeled as a continuous Gaussian probe, capturing a large class of environments. By employing data collapse and studying the enhanced fluctuations at the transition, we obtain a consistent phase boundary in the space of the measurement strength and the measurement probability, clearly demonstrating a critical value of the measurement strength below which the system is always ergodic, irrespective of the measurement probability. These findings provide guidance for quantum engineering of many-body systems by controlling their environment.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Conditional work statistics of quantum measurements

In this paper we introduce a definition for conditional energy changes due to general quantum measurements, as the change in the conditional energy evaluated before, and after, the measurement process. By imposing minimal physical requirements on these conditional energies, we show that the most general expression for the conditional energy after the measurement is simply the expected value of the Hamiltonian given the post-measurement state. Conversely, the conditional energy before the measurement process is shown to be given by the real component of the weak value of the Hamiltonian. Our definition generalises well-known notions of distributions of internal energy change, such as that given by stochastic thermodynamics. By determining the conditional energy change of both system and measurement apparatus, we obtain the full conditional work statistics of quantum measurements, and show that this vanishes for all measurement outcomes if the measurement process conserves the total energy. Additionally, by incorporating the measurement process within a cyclic heat engine, we quantify the non-recoverable work due to measurements. This is shown to always be non-negative, thus satisfying the second law, and will be independent of the apparatus specifics for two classes of projective measurements.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Efficiency of a cyclic quantum heat engine with finite-size baths

In this paper we investigate the relationship between the efficiency of a cyclic quantum heat engine with the Hilbert space dimension of the thermal baths. By means of a general inequality, we show that the Carnot efficiency can be obtained only when both the hot and cold baths are infinitely large. By further introducing a specific model where the baths are constituted of ensembles of finite-dimensional particles, we further demonstrate the relationship between the engine's power and efficiency, with the dimension of the working substance and the bath particles.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Sensing electrons during an adiabatic coherent transport passage

We study the detection of electrons undergoing coherent transfer via adiabatic passage (CTAP) in a triple quantum-dot system with a quantum point-contact sensing the change of the middle dot. In the ideal scenario, the protocol amounts to perfect change transfer between the external dots with vanishing occupation of the central dot at all times, rendering the measurement and its backaction moot. Nevertheless, even with minor corrections to the protocol, a small population builds up in the central dot. We study the measurement backaction by a Bayesian formalism simulation of an instantaneous detection at the time of maximal occupancy of the dot. We show that the interplay between the measurement backaction and the non-adiabatic dynamics induce a change of the success probability of the protocol, which quantitatively agrees with a continuous detection treatment. We introduce a correlated measurement signal to certify the non-occupancy of the central dot for a successful CTAP protocol, which, in the weak measurement limit, confirms a vanishing occupation of the central dot. Our proposed correlated-signal purports that proper experimental method by which to confirm CTAP.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Symmetry constrained decoherence of conditional expectation values

Conditional expectation values of quantum mechanical observables reflect unique non-classical correlations, and are generally sensitive to decoherence. We consider the circumstances under which such sensitivity to decoherence is removed, namely, when the measurement process is subjected to conservation laws. Specifically, we address systems with additive conserved quantities and identify sufficient conditions for the system state such that its coherence plays no role in the conditional expectation values of observables that commute with the conserved quantity. We discuss our findings for a specific model where the system-detector coupling is given by the Jaynes-Cummings interaction, which is relevant to experiments tracking trajectories of qubits in cavities. Our results clarify, among others, the role of coherence in thermal measurements in current architectures for quantum thermodynamics experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Topologically protected heat pumping from braiding Majorana zero modes

Majorana zero modes are non-Abelian quasiparticles that emerge on the edges of topological phases of superconductors. Evidence of their presence has been reported in transport measurements on engineered superconducting-based nanostructures. In this manuscript we identify signatures of a topologically protected dynamical manipulation of Majorana zero modes via continuous transport measurement during the manipulation. Specifically, we show that, in a two-terminal geometry, the heat pumped across the terminals at low temperature and voltage bias is characterized by a universal value. We show that this feature is inherent to the presence of Majorana zero modes and discuss its robustness against temperature, voltage bias and the detailed coupling to the contacts.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Ubiquitous non-local entanglement with Majorana bound states

Entanglement in quantum mechanics contradicts local realism, and is a manifestation of quantum non-locality. Its presence can be detected through the violation of Bell, or CHSH inequalities. Paradigmatic quantum systems provide examples of both, non-entangled and entangled states. Here we consider a minimal complexity setup consisting of 6 Majorana bound states. We find that any allowed state in the degenerate Majorana space is non-locally entangled. We show how to measure (with available techniques) the CHSH-violating correlations, using either intermediate strength or weak measurement protocols.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Transport properties of an interacting Majorana chain

We study a one-dimensional (1D) chain of $2N$ Majorana bound states, which interact through a local quartic interaction. This model describes for example the edge physics of a quasi 1D stack of $2N$ Kitaev chains with modified time-reversal symmetry $Tγ_iT^{-1}=γ_i$, which precludes the presence of quadratic coupling. The ground state of our 1D Majorana chain displays a four-fold periodicity in $N$, corresponding to the four distinct topological classes of the stacked Kitaev chains. We analyze the transport properties of the 1D Majorana chain, when probed by local conductors located at its ends. We find that for finite but large $N$, the scattering matrix partially reflects the four-fold periodicity, and the chain exhibits strikingly different transport properties for different chain lengths. In the thermodynamic limit, the 1D Majorana chain hosts a robust many-body zero mode, which indicates that the corresponding stacked two-dimensional bulk system realizes a weak topological phase.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗