arXiv subjects

B. -G. Englert

Publications and source records attributed to B. -G. Englert.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

Least-bias state estimation with incomplete unbiased measurements

Measuring incomplete sets of mutually unbiased bases constitutes a sensible approach to the tomography of high-dimensional quantum systems. The unbiased nature of these bases optimizes the uncertainty hypervolume. However, imposing unbiasedness on the probabilities for the unmeasured bases does not generally yield the estimator with the largest von Neumann entropy, a popular figure of merit in this context. Furthermore, this imposition typically leads to mock density matrices that are not even positive definite. This provides a strong argument against perfunctory applications of linear estimation strategies. We propose to use instead the physical state estimators that maximize the Shannon entropy of the unmeasured outcomes, which quantifies our lack of knowledge fittingly and gives physically meaningful statistical predictions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Knowledge and ignorance in incomplete quantum state tomography

Quantum state reconstruction on a finite number of copies of a quantum system with informationally incomplete measurements does, as a rule, not yield a unique result. We derive a reconstruction scheme where both the likelihood and the von Neumann entropy functionals are maximized in order to systematically select the most-likely estimator with the largest entropy, that is the least-bias estimator, consistent with a given set of measurement data. This is equivalent to the joint consideration of our partial knowledge and ignorance about the ensemble to reconstruct its identity. An interesting structure of such estimators will also be explored.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Violation of Bell's inequality for continuous variables

We construct a wide class of bounded continuous variables observables that lead to violations of Bell inequalities for the EPR state and give an intuitive Wigner function explanation how to predetermine which operators won't ever exceed the bounds given by local theories.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Solvable model of a strongly-driven micromaser

We study the dynamics of a micromaser where the pumping atoms are strongly driven by a resonant classical field during their transit through the cavity mode. We derive a master equation for this strongly-driven micromaser, involving the contributions of the unitary atom-field interactions and the dissipative effects of a thermal bath. We find analytical solutions for the temporal evolution and the steady-state of this system by means of phase-space techniques, providing an unusual solvable model of an open quantum system, including pumping and decoherence. We derive closed expressions for all relevant expectation values, describing the statistics of the cavity field and the detected atomic levels. The transient regime shows the build-up of mixtures of mesoscopic fields evolving towards a superpoissonian steady-state field that, nevertheless, yields atomic correlations that exhibit stronger nonclassical features than the conventional micromaser.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Mathematical Models of Contemporary Elementary Quantum Computing Devices

Computations with a future quantum computer will be implemented through the operations by elementary quantum gates. It is now well known that the collection of 1-bit and 2-bit quantum gates are universal for quantum computation, i.e., any n-bit unitary operation can be carried out by concatenations of 1-bit and 2-bit elementary quantum gates. Three contemporary quantum devices--cavity QED, ion traps and quantum dots--have been widely regarded as perhaps the most promising candidates for the construction of elementary quantum gates. In this paper, we describe the physical properties of these devices, and show the mathematical derivations based on the interaction of the laser field as control with atoms, ions or electron spins, leading to the following: (i) the 1-bit unitary rotation gates; and (ii) the 2-bit quantum phase gates and the controlled-not gate. This paper is aimed at providing a sufficiently self-contained survey account of analytical nature for mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists to aid interdisciplinary understanding in the research of quantum computation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

Interacting Bosons at Finite Temperature: How Bogolubov Visited a Black Hole and Came Home Again

The structure of the thermal equilibrium state of a weakly interacting Bose gas is of current interest. We calculate the density matrix of that state in two ways. The most effective method, in terms of yielding a simple, explicit answer, is to construct a generating function within the traditional framework of quantum statistical mechanics. The alternative method, arguably more interesting, is to construct the thermal state as a vector state in an artificial system with twice as many degrees of freedom. It is well known that this construction has an actual physical realization in the quantum thermodynamics of black holes, where the added degrees of freedom correspond to the second sheet of the Kruskal manifold and the thermal vector state is a state of the Unruh or the Hartle-Hawking type. What is unusual about the present work is that the Bogolubov transformation used to construct the thermal state combines in a rather symmetrical way with Bogolubov's original transformation of the same form, used to implement the interaction of the nonideal gas in linear approximation. In addition to providing a density matrix, the method makes it possible to calculate efficiently certain expectation values directly in terms of the thermal vector state of the doubled system.

gr-qc↗