arXiv subjects

C. Jess Riedel

Publications and source records attributed to C. Jess Riedel.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Quantum Brownian motion as an iterated entanglement-breaking measurement by the environment

Einstein-Smoluchowski diffusion, damped harmonic oscillations, and spatial decoherence are special cases of an elegant class of Markovian quantum Brownian motion models that is invariant under linear symplectic transformations. Here we prove that for each member of this class there is a preferred timescale such that the dynamics, considered stroboscopically, can be rewritten exactly as unitary evolution interrupted periodically by an entanglement-breaking measurement with respect to a fixed overcomplete set of pure Gaussian states. This is relevant to the continuing search for the best way to describe pointer states and pure decoherence in systems with continuous variables, and gives a concrete sense in which the decoherence can be said to arise from a complete measurement of the system by its environment. We also extend some of the results of Diósi and Kiefer to the symplectic covariant formalism and compare them with the preferred timescales and Gaussian states associated with the POVM form.

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arXiv2015

Decoherence from classically undetectable sources: A standard quantum limit for diffusion

In the pursuit of speculative new particles, forces, and dimensions with vanishingly small influence on normal matter, understanding the ultimate physical limits of experimental sensitivity is essential. Here, I show that quantum decoherence offers a window into otherwise inaccessible realms. There is a standard quantum limit for diffusion that restricts some entanglement-generating phenomena, like soft collisions with new particle species, from having appreciable classical influence on normal matter. Such phenomena are classically undetectable but can be revealed by the anomalous decoherence they induce on non-classical superpositions with long-range coherence in phase space. This gives strong, novel motivation for the construction of matter interferometers and other experimental sources of large superpositions, which recently have seen rapid progress. Decoherence is always at least second order in the coupling strength, so such searches are best suited for soft interactions (e.g., small momentum transfers), but not weak ones (i.e., small coupling constants).

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arXiv2015

Macroscopic quantum resonators (MAQRO): 2015 Update

Do the laws of quantum physics still hold for macroscopic objects - this is at the heart of Schrödinger's cat paradox - or do gravitation or yet unknown effects set a limit for massive particles? What is the fundamental relation between quantum physics and gravity? Ground-based experiments addressing these questions may soon face limitations due to limited free-fall times and the quality of vacuum and microgravity. The proposed mission MAQRO may overcome these limitations and allow addressing those fundamental questions. MAQRO harnesses recent developments in quantum optomechanics, high-mass matter-wave interferometry as well as state-of-the-art space technology to push macroscopic quantum experiments towards their ultimate performance limits and to open new horizons for applying quantum technology in space. The main scientific goal of MAQRO is to probe the vastly unexplored "quantum-classical" transition for increasingly massive objects, testing the predictions of quantum theory for truly macroscopic objects in a size and mass regime unachievable in ground-based experiments. The hardware for the mission will largely be based on available space technology. Here, we present the MAQRO proposal submitted in response to the (M4) Cosmic Vision call of the European Space Agency for a medium-size mission opportunity with a possible launch in 2025.

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arXiv2014

Amplification, Redundancy, and the Quantum Chernoff Information

Amplification was regarded, since the early days of quantum theory, as a mysterious ingredient that endows quantum microstates with macroscopic consequences, key to the "collapse of the wavepacket", and a way to avoid embarrassing problems exemplified by Schrödinger's cat. Such a bridge between the quantum microworld and the classical world of our experience was postulated ad hoc in the Copenhagen Interpretation. Quantum Darwinism views amplification as replication, in many copies, of the information about quantum states. We show that such amplification is a natural consequence of a broad class of models of decoherence, including the photon environment we use to obtain most of our information. This leads to objective reality via the presence of robust and widely accessible records of selected quantum states. The resulting redundancy (the number of copies deposited in the environment) follows from the Quantum Chernoff Information that quantifies the information transmitted by a typical elementary subsystem of the environment.

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arXiv2013

Direct Detection of Classically Undetectable Dark Matter through Quantum Decoherence

Although various pieces of indirect evidence about the nature of dark matter have been collected, its direct detection has eluded experimental searches despite extensive effort. If the mass of dark matter is below 1 MeV, it is essentially imperceptible to conventional detection methods because negligible energy is transferred to nuclei during collisions. Here I propose directly detecting dark matter through the quantum decoherence it causes rather than its classical effects such as recoil or ionization. I show that quantum spatial superpositions are sensitive to low-mass dark matter that is inaccessible to classical techniques. This provides new independent motivation for matter interferometry with large masses, especially on spaceborne platforms. The apparent dark matter wind we experience as the Sun travels through the Milky Way ensures interferometers and related devices are directional detectors, and so are able to provide unmistakable evidence that decoherence has galactic origins.

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arXiv2013

Evidence for gravitons from decoherence by bremsstrahlung

It is thought that gravitons are impossible to detect, even with the technological ability to construct experiments larger than Jupiter. However, in principle it is possible to detect the emission of single gravitons through the decoherence of relativistic Planck-mass superpositions by gravitational bremsstrahlung. Although enormous experimental challenges ensure that such an experiment will not be achievable in the foreseeable future, this possibility suggests that gravitons are not forever outside our empirical grasp. It is also evidence that decoherence as a detection method has untapped potential.

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arXiv2013

Local Records and Global Entanglement: A Unique Multi-Partite Generalization of the Schmidt Decomposition

We show that there is a unique maximal decomposition of a pure multi-partite (N>2) quantum state into a sum of states which are "locally orthogonal" in the sense that the local reduced state for a term in the sum lives in its own orthogonal subspace for each subsystem. Observers can make local measurements on any subsystem and determine which "branch" they are on. The Shannon entropy of the resulting branch weights defines a new measure of global, GHZ-like entanglement, which is insensitive to local pairwise entangling operations and vanishes when there is no piece of information recorded at every subsystem. In the bi-partite (N=2) case, this decomposition reduces to the (not necessarily unique) Schmidt decomposition and the entropy reduces to the entropy of entanglement

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arXiv2013

Detecting Classically Undetectable Particles through Quantum Decoherence

Some hypothetical particles are considered essentially undetectable because they are far too light and slow-moving to transfer appreciable energy or momentum to the normal matter that composes a detector. I propose instead directly detecting such feeble particles, like sub-MeV dark matter or even gravitons, through their uniquely distinguishable decoherent effects on quantum devices like matter interferometers. More generally, decoherence can reveal phenomena that have arbitrarily little classical influence on normal matter, giving new motivation for the pursuit of macroscopic superpositions.

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arXiv2013

On the security of key distribution based on Johnson-Nyquist noise

We point out that arguments for the security of Kish's noise-based cryptographic protocol have relied on an unphysical no-wave limit, which if taken seriously would prevent any correlation from developing between the users. We introduce a noiseless version of the protocol, also having illusory security in the no-wave limit, to show that noise and thermodynamics play no essential role. Then we prove generally that classical electromagnetic protocols cannot establish a secret key between two parties separated by a spacetime region perfectly monitored by an eavesdropper. We note that the original protocol of Kish is vulnerable to passive time-correlation attacks even in the quasi-static limit. Finally we show that protocols of this type can be secure in practice against an eavesdropper with noisy monitoring equipment. In this case the security is a straightforward consequence of Maurer and Wolf's discovery that key can be distilled by public discussion from correlated random variables in a wide range of situations where the eavesdropper's noise is at least partly independent from the users' noise.

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arXiv2013

The Rise and Fall of Redundancy in Decoherence and Quantum Darwinism

A state selected at random from the Hilbert space of a many-body system is overwhelmingly likely to exhibit highly non-classical correlations. For these typical states, half of the environment must be measured by an observer to determine the state of a given subsystem. The objectivity of classical reality-the fact that multiple observers can agree on the state of a subsystem after measuring just a small fraction of its environment-implies that the correlations found in nature between macroscopic systems and their environments are very exceptional. Building on previous studies of quantum Darwinism showing that highly redundant branching states are produced ubiquitously during pure decoherence, we examine conditions needed for the creation of branching states and study their demise through many-body interactions. We show that even constrained dynamics can suppress redundancy to the values typical of random states on relaxation timescales, and prove that these results hold exactly in the thermodynamic limit.

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arXiv2011

Redundant Information from Thermal Illumination: Quantum Darwinism in Scattered Photons

We study quantum Darwinism, the redundant recording of information about the preferred states of a decohering system by its environment, for an object illuminated by a blackbody. We calculate the quantum mutual information between the object and its photon environment for blackbodies that cover an arbitrary section of the sky. In particular, we demonstrate that more extended sources have a reduced ability to create redundant information about the system, in agreement with previous evidence that initial mixedness of an environment slows---but does not stop---the production of records. We also show that the qualitative results are robust for more general initial states of the system.

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arXiv2010

Quantum Darwinism in an Everyday Environment: Huge Redundancy in Scattered Photons

We study quantum Darwinism--the redundant recording of information about the preferred states of a decohering system by its environment--for an object illuminated by a black body. In the cases of point-source and isotropic illumination, we calculate the quantum mutual information between the object and its photon environment. We demonstrate that this realistic model exhibits fast and extensive proliferation of information about the object into the environment and results in redundancies orders of magnitude larger than the exactly soluble models considered to date.

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