arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Andrew N. Jordan.
The undoing of quantum measurements is discussed in the broader context of irreversibility in physics. We give explicit examples of how a wavefunction can be uncollapsed in two solid-state experimental set-ups. Wavefunction uncollapse shows the quantum observer paradox in a new and significantly clearer way.
An implementation of weak values is investigated in solid-state qubits. We demonstrate that a weak value can be non-classical if and only if a Leggett-Garg inequality can also be violated. Generalized weak values are described, where post-selection on a range of weak measurement results. Imposing classical weak values permits the derivation of Leggett-Garg inequalities for bounded operators. Our analysis is presented in terms of kicked quantum nondemolition measurements on a quantum double-dot charge qubit.
The theory of weak quantum measurements is developed for quantum dot spin qubits. Building on recent experiments, we propose a control cycle to prepare, manipulate, weakly measure, and perform quantum state tomography. This is accomplished using a combination of the physics of electron spin resonance, spin blockade, and Coulomb blockade, resulting in a charge transport process. We investigate the influence of the surrounding nuclear spin environment, and find a regime where this environment significantly simplifies the dynamics of the weak measurement process, making this theoretical proposal realistic with existing experimental technology. We further consider spin-echo refocusing to combat dephasing, as well as discuss a realization of "quantum undemolition", whereby the effects of quantum state disturbance are undone.
Interactions between nanoscale semiconductor structures form the basis for charge detectors in the solid state. Recent experimental advances have demonstrated the on-chip detection of single electron transport through a quantum dot (QD). The discreteness of charge in units of e leads to intrinsic fluctuations in the electrical current, known as shot noise. To measure these single-electron fluctuations a nearby coherent conductor, called a quantum point contact (QPC), interacts with the QD and acts as a detector. An important property of the QPC charge detector is noninvasiveness: the system physically affects the detector, not visa-versa. Here we predict that even for ideal noninvasive detectors such as the QPC, when a particular detector result is observed, the system suffers an informational backaction, radically altering the statistics of transport through the QD as compared to the unconditional shot noise. We develop a theoretical model to make predictions about the joint current probability distributions and conditional transport statistics. The experimental findings reported here demonstrate the reality of informational backaction in nanoscale systems as well as a variety of new effects, such as conditional noise enhancement, which are in essentially perfect agreement with our model calculations. This type of switching telegraph process occurs abundantly in nature, indicating that these results are applicable to a wide variety of systems.
We generalize the stochastic path integral formalism by considering Hamiltonian dynamics in the presence of general Markovian noise. Kramers' solution of the activation rate for escape over a barrier is generalized for non-Gaussian driving noise in both the overdamped and underdamped limit. We apply our general results to a Josephson junction detector measuring the electron counting statistics of a mesoscopic conductor. Activation rate dependence on the third current cumulant includes an additional term originating from the back-action of the measurement circuit.
The atom fluctuations statistics of an ideal, mesoscopic, Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated from several different perspectives. By generalizing the grand canonical analysis (applied to the canonical ensemble problem), we obtain a self-consistent equation for the mean condensate particle number that coincides with the microscopic result calculated from the laser master equation approach. For the case of a harmonic trap, we obtain an analytic expression for the condensate particle number that is very accurate at all temperatures, when compared with numerical canonical ensemble results. Applying a similar generalized grand canonical treatment to the variance, we obtain an accurate result only below the critical temperature. Analytic results are found for all higher moments of the fluctuation distribution by employing the stochastic path integral formalism, with excellent accuracy. We further discuss a hybrid treatment, which weds the master equation/stochastic path integral analysis with the results obtained based on canonical ensemble quasiparticle formalism [V. V. Kocharovsky et al., Phys. Rev. A 61, 053606 (2000)], producing essentially perfect agreement with numerical simulation at all temperatures.
A kicked quantum nondemolition measurement is introduced, where a qubit is weakly measured by pumping current. Measurement statistics are derived for weak measurements combined with single qubit unitary operations. These results are applied to violate a generalization of Leggett and Garg's inequality. The violation is related to the failure of the noninvasive detector assumption, and may be interpreted as either intrinsic detector backaction, or the qubit entangling the microscopic detector excitations. The results are discussed in terms of a quantum point contact kicked by a pulse generator, measuring a double quantum dot.
We propose an experiment which demonstrates the undoing of a weak continuous measurement of a solid-state qubit, so that any unknown initial state is fully restored. The undoing procedure has only a finite probability of success because of the non-unitary nature of quantum measurement, though it is accompanied by a clear experimental indication of whether or not the undoing has been successful. The probability of success decreases with increasing strength of the measurement, reaching zero for a traditional projective measurement. Measurement undoing (``quantum un-demolition'') may be interpreted as a kind of a quantum eraser, in which the information obtained from the first measurement is erased by the second measurement, which is an essential part of the undoing procedure. The experiment can be realized using quantum dot (charge) or superconducting (phase) qubits.
The informational approach to continuous quantum measurement is derived from POVM formalism for a mesoscopic scattering detector measuring a charge qubit. Quantum Bayesian equations for the qubit density matrix are derived, and cast into the form of a stochastic conformal map. Measurement statistics are derived for kicked quantum nondemolition measurements, combined with conditional unitary operations. These results are applied to derive a feedback protocol to produce an arbitrary pure state after a weak measurement, as well as to investigate how an initially mixed state becomes purified with and without feedback.
We propose a two-terminal method to measure shot noise in mesoscopic systems based on an instability in the current-voltage characteristic of an on-chip detector. The microscopic noise drives the instability, which leads to random switching of the current between two values, the telegraph process. In the Gaussian regime, the shot noise power driving the instability may be extracted from the I-V curve, with the noise power as a fitting parameter. In the threshold regime, the extreme value statistics of the mesoscopic conductor can be extracted from the switching rates, which reorganize the complete information about the current statistics in an indirect way, "telegraphing" the size of a fluctuation. We propose the use of a quantum double dot as a mesoscopic threshold detector.
We investigate the advantages of using two independent, linear detectors for continuous quantum measurement. For single-shot quantum measurement, the measurement is maximally efficient if the detectors are twins. For weak continuous measurement, cross-correlations allow a violation of the Korotkov-Averin bound for the detector's signal-to-noise ratio. A vanishing noise background provides a nontrivial test of ideal independent quantum detectors. We further investigate the correlations of non-commuting operators, and consider possible deviations from the independent detector model for mesoscopic conductors coupled by the screened Coulomb interaction.
We show how many-body ground state entanglement information may be extracted from sub-system energy measurements at zero temperature. A precise relation between entanglement and energy fluctuations is demonstrated in the weak coupling limit. Examples are given with the two-state system and the harmonic oscillator, and energy probability distributions are calculated. Comparisons made with recent qubit experiments show this type of measurement provides another method to quantify entanglement with the environment.
We consider the transport statistics of classical bistable systems driven by noise. The stochastic path integral formalism is used to investigate the dynamics and distribution of transmitted charge. Switching rates between the two stable states are found from an instanton calculation, leading to an effective two-state system on a long time scale. In the bistable current range, the telegraph noise dominates the distribution, whose logarithm is found to be universally described by a tilted ellipse.
We present a field theory for the statistics of charge and current fluctuations in diffusive systems. The cumulant generating function is given by the saddle-point solution for the action of this field theory. The action depends on two parameters only: the local diffusion and noise coefficients, which naturally leads to the universality of the transport statistics for a wide class of multi-dimensional diffusive models. Our theory can be applied to semi-classical mesoscopic systems, as well as beyond mesoscopic physics.
We investigate the statistics of fluctuations in a classical stochastic network of nodes joined by connectors. The nodes carry generalized charge that may be randomly transferred from one node to another. Our goal is to find the time evolution of the probability distribution of charges in the network. The building blocks of our theoretical approach are (1) known probability distributions for the connector currents, (2) physical constraints such as local charge conservation, and (3) a time-scale separation between the slow charge dynamics of the nodes and the fast current fluctuations of the connectors. We derive a stochastic path integral representation of the evolution operator for the slow charges. Once the probability distributions on the discrete network have been studied, the continuum limit is taken to obtain a statistical field theory. We find a correspondence between the diffusive field theory and a Langevin equation with Gaussian noise sources, leading nevertheless to non-trivial fluctuation statistics. To complete our theory, we demonstrate that the cascade diagrammatics, recently introduced by Nagaev, naturally follows from the stochastic path integral. We extend the diagrammatics to calculate current correlation functions for an arbitrary network. One primary application of this formalism is that of full counting statistics (FCS). We stress however, that the formalism is suitable for general classical stochastic problems as an alternative to the traditional master equation or Doi-Peliti technique. The formalism is illustrated with several examples: both instantaneous and time averaged charge fluctuation statistics in a mesoscopic chaotic cavity, as well as the FCS and new results for a generalized diffusive wire.
We propose a quantum nondemolition measurement using a kicked two-state system (qubit). By tuning the waiting time between kicks to be the qubit oscillation period, the kicking apparatus performs a nondemolition measurement. While dephasing is unavoidable, the nondemolition measurement can (1) slow relaxation of diagonal density matrix elements, (2) avoid detector back-action, and (3) allow for a large signal-to-noise ratio. Deviations from the ideal behavior are studied by allowing for detuning of the waiting time, as well as finite-time, noisy pulses. The scheme is illustrated with a double-dot qubit measured by a gate-pulsed quantum point contact.
We point out that the "additivity principle" and "scaling hypothesis" postulated by Bodineau and Derrida in Phys. Rev. Lett 92, 180601 (2004), follow naturally from the saddle point evaluation of a diffusive field theory.
We show how many-body ground state entanglement information may be extracted from sub-system energy measurements at zero temperature. Generically, the larger the measured energy fluctuations are, the larger the entanglement is. Examples are given with the two-state system and the harmonic oscillator. Comparisons made with recent qubit experiments show this type of measurement provides another method to quantify entanglement with the environment.