arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J. Eisert.
These lecture notes provide a brief overview of methods of entanglement theory applied to the study of quantum many-body systems, as well as of tensor network states capturing quantum states naturally appearing in condensed-matter systems.
Matrix-product states and their continuous analogues are variational classes of states that capture quantum many-body systems or quantum fields with low entanglement; they are at the basis of the density-matrix renormalization group method and continuous variants thereof. In this work we show that, generically, N-point functions of arbitrary operators in discrete and continuous translationally invariant matrix product states are completely characterized by the corresponding two- and three-point functions. Aside from having important consequences for the structure of correlations in quantum states with low entanglement, this result provides a new way of reconstructing unknown states from correlation measurements, e.g., for one-dimensional continuous systems of cold atoms. We argue that such a relation of correlation functions may help in devising perturbative approaches to interacting theories.
Dissipative engineering constitutes a framework within which quantum information processing protocols are powered by system-environment interaction rather than by unitary dynamics alone. This framework embraces noise as a resource, and consequently, offers a number of advantages compared to one based on unitary dynamics alone, e.g., that the protocols are typically independent of the initial state of the system. However, the time independent nature of this scheme makes it difficult to imagine precisely timed sequential operations, conditional measurements or error correction. In this work, we provide a path around these challenges, by introducing basic dissipative gadgets which allow us to precisely initiate, trigger and time dissipative operations, while keeping the system Liouvillian time-independent. These gadgets open up novel perspectives for thinking of timed dissipative quantum information processing. As an example, we sketch how measurement based computation can be simulated in the dissipative setting.
We present a novel method to perform quantum state tomography for many-particle systems which are particularly suitable for estimating states in lattice systems such as of ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices. We show that the need for measuring a tomographically complete set of observables can be overcome by letting the state evolve under some suitably chosen random circuits followed by the measurement of a single observable. We generalize known results about the approximation of unitary 2-designs, i.e., certain classes of random unitary matrices, by random quantum circuits and connect our findings to the theory of quantum compressed sensing. We show that for ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices established techniques like optical super-lattices, laser speckles, and time-of-flight measurements are sufficient to perform fully certified, assumption-free tomography. Combining our approach with tensor network methods - in particular the theory of matrix-product states - we identify situations where the effort of reconstruction is even constant in the number of lattice sites, allowing in principle to perform tomography on large-scale systems readily available in present experiments.
We show that quantum circuits where the initial state and all the following quantum operations can be represented by positive Wigner functions can be classically efficiently simulated. This is true both for continuous-variable as well as discrete variable systems in odd prime dimensions, two cases which will be treated on entirely the same footing. Noting the fact that Clifford and Gaussian operations preserve the positivity of the Wigner function, our result generalizes the Gottesman-Knill theorem. Our algorithm provides a way of sampling from the output distribution of a computation or a simulation, including the efficient sampling from an approximate output distribution in case of sampling imperfections for initial states, gates, or measurements. In this sense, this work highlights the role of the positive Wigner function as separating classically efficiently simulatable systems from those that are potentially universal for quantum computing and simulation, and it emphasizes the role of negativity of the Wigner function as a computational resource.
Conventional tomographic techniques are becoming increasingly infeasible for reconstructing the operators of quantum devices of growing sophistication. We describe a novel tomographic procedure using coherent states which begins by reconstructing the diagonals of the operator, and then each successive off-diagonal in a recursive manner. Each recursion is considerably more efficient than reconstructing the operator in its entirety, and each successive recursion involves fewer parameters. We apply our technique to reconstruct the positive-operator-valued measure (POVM) corresponding to a recently developed coherent optical detector with phase sensitivity and number resolution. We discuss the effect of various parameters on the reconstruction accuracy. The results show the efficiency of the method and its robustness to experimental noise.
In this work, we show that very natural, apparently simple problems in quantum measurement theory can be undecidable even if their classical analogues are decidable. Undecidability hence appears as a genuine quantum property here. Formally, an undecidable problem is a decision problem for which one cannot construct a single algorithm that will always provide a correct answer in finite time. The problem we consider is to determine whether sequentially used identical Stern-Gerlach-type measurement devices, giving rise to a tree of possible outcomes, have outcomes that never occur. Finally, we point out implications for measurement-based quantum computing and studies of quantum many-body models and suggest that a plethora of problems may indeed be undecidable.
Among the possibly most intriguing aspects of quantum entanglement is that it comes in "free" and "bound" instances. Bound entangled states require entangled states in preparation but, once realized, no free entanglement and therefore no pure maximally entangled pairs can be regained. Their existence hence certifies an intrinsic irreversibility of entanglement in nature and suggests a connection with thermodynamics. In this work, we present a first experimental unconditional preparation and detection of a bound entangled state of light. We consider continuous-variable entanglement, use convex optimization to identify regimes rendering its bound character well certifiable, and realize an experiment that continuously produced a distributed bound entangled state with an extraordinary and unprecedented significance of more than ten standard deviations away from both separability and distillability. Our results show that the approach chosen allows for the efficient and precise preparation of multimode entangled states of light with various applications in quantum information, quantum state engineering and high precision metrology.
We show that the time evolution of an open quantum system, described by a possibly time dependent Liouvillian, can be simulated by a unitary quantum circuit of a size scaling polynomially in the simulation time and the size of the system. An immediate consequence is that dissipative quantum computing is no more powerful than the unitary circuit model. Our result can be seen as a dissipative Church-Turing theorem, since it implies that under natural assumptions, such as weak coupling to an environment, the dynamics of an open quantum system can be simulated efficiently on a quantum computer. Formally, we introduce a Trotter decomposition for Liouvillian dynamics and give explicit error bounds. This constitutes a practical tool for numerical simulations, e.g., using matrix-product operators. We also demonstrate that most quantum states cannot be prepared efficiently.
One of the main milestones in the study of opto- and electro-mechanical systems is to certify entanglement between a mechanical resonator and an optical or microwave mode of a cavity field. In this work, we show how a suitable time-periodic modulation can help to achieve large degrees of entanglement, building upon the framework introduced in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 213603 (2009)]. It is demonstrated that with suitable driving, the maximum degree of entanglement can be significantly enhanced, in a way exhibiting a non-trivial dependence on the specifics of the modulation. Such time-dependent driving might help experimentally achieving entangled mechanical systems also in situations when quantum correlations are otherwise suppressed by thermal noise.
We present applications of the renormalization algorithm with graph enhancement (RAGE). This analysis extends the algorithms and applications given for approaches based on matrix product states introduced in [Phys. Rev. A 79, 022317 (2009)] to other tensor-network states such as the tensor tree states (TTS) and projected entangled pair states (PEPS). We investigate the suitability of the bare TTS to describe ground states, showing that the description of certain graph states and condensed matter models improves. We investigate graph-enhanced tensor-network states, demonstrating that in some cases (disturbed graph states and for certain quantum circuits) the combination of weighted graph states with tensor tree states can greatly improve the accuracy of the description of ground states and time evolved states. We comment on delineating the boundary of the classically efficiently simulatable states of quantum many-body systems.
We introduce the idea of actually cooling quantum systems by means of incoherent thermal light, hence giving rise to a counter-intuitive mechanism of "cooling by heating". In this effect, the mere incoherent occupation of a quantum mechanical mode serves as a trigger to enhance the coupling between other modes. This notion of effectively rendering states more coherent by driving with incoherent thermal quantum noise is applied here to the opto-mechanical setting, where this effect occurs most naturally. We discuss two ways of describing this situation, one of them making use of stochastic sampling of Gaussian quantum states with respect to stationary classical stochastic processes. The potential of experimentally demonstrating this counter-intuitive effect in opto-mechanical systems with present technology is sketched.
We discuss a notion of quantum critical exponents in open quantum many-body systems driven by quantum noise. We show that in translationally invariant quantum lattice models undergoing quasi-local Markovian dissipative processes, mixed states emerge as stationary points that show scaling laws for the divergence of correlation lengths giving rise to well-defined critical exponents. The main new technical tool developed here is a complete description of steady states of free bosonic or fermionic translationally invariant systems driven by quantum noise: This approach allows to express all correlation properties in terms of a symbol, paralleling the Fisher-Hartwig theory used for ground state properties of free models. We discuss critical exponents arising in bosonic and fermionic models. Finally, we relate the findings to recent work on dissipative preparation of pure dark and matrix product states by Markovian noisy processes and sketch further perspectives.
As primitives for entanglement generation, controlled phase gates take a central role in quantum computing. Especially in ideas realizing instances of quantum computation in linear optical gate arrays a closer look can be rewarding. In such architectures, all effective non-linearities are induced by measurements: Hence the probability of success is a crucial parameter of such quantum gates. In this note, we discuss this question for controlled phase gates that implement an arbitrary phase with one and two control qubits. Within the class of post-selected gates in dual-rail encoding with vacuum ancillas we identify the optimal success probabilities. We construct networks that allow for an implementation by means of todays experimental capabilities in detail. The methods employed here appear specifically useful with the advent of integrated linear optical circuits, providing stable interferometers on monolithic structures.
We prove that quantum many-body systems on a one-dimensional lattice locally relax to Gaussian states under non-equilibrium dynamics generated by a bosonic quadratic Hamiltonian. This is true for a large class of initial states - pure or mixed - which have to satisfy merely weak conditions concerning the decay of correlations. The considered setting is a proven instance of a situation where dynamically evolving closed quantum systems locally appear as if they had truly relaxed, to maximum entropy states for fixed second moments. This furthers the understanding of relaxation in suddenly quenched quantum many-body systems. The proof features a non-commutative central limit theorem for non-i.i.d. random variables, showing convergence to Gaussian characteristic functions, giving rise to trace-norm closeness. We briefly relate our findings to ideas of typicality and concentration of measure.
We establish a method of directly measuring and estimating non-classicality - operationally defined in terms of the distinguishability of a given state from one with a positive Wigner function. It allows to certify non-classicality, based on possibly much fewer measurement settings than necessary for obtaining complete tomographic knowledge, and is at the same time equipped with a full certificate. We find that even from measuring two conjugate variables alone, one may infer the non-classicality of quantum mechanical modes. This method also provides a practical tool to eventually certify such features in mechanical degrees of freedom in opto-mechanics. The proof of the result is based on Bochner's theorem characterizing classical and quantum characteristic functions and on semi-definite programming. In this joint theoretical-experimental work we present data from experimental optical Fock state preparation, demonstrating the functioning of the approach.
We identify a large class of quantum many-body systems that can be solved exactly: natural frustration-free spin-1/2 nearest-neighbor Hamiltonians on arbitrary lattices. We show that the entire ground state manifold of such models can be found exactly by a tensor network of isometries acting on a space locally isomorphic to the symmetric subspace. Thus, for this wide class of models real-space renormalization can be made exact. Our findings also imply that every such frustration-free spin model satisfies an area law for the entanglement entropy of the ground state, establishing a novel large class of models for which an area law is known. Finally, we show that our approach gives rise to an ansatz class useful for the simulation of almost frustration-free models in a simple fashion, outperforming mean field theory.
We introduce a scheme for efficiently describing pure states of strongly correlated fermions in higher dimensions using unitary circuits featuring a causal cone. A local way of computing local expectation values is presented. We formulate a dynamical reordering scheme, corresponding to time-adaptive Jordan-Wigner transformation, that avoids nonlocal string operators. Primitives of such a reordering scheme are highlighted. Fermionic unitary circuits can be contracted with the same complexity as in the spin case. The scheme gives rise to a variational description of fermionic models not suffering from a sign problem. We present numerical examples on $9\times 9$ and $6\times 6$ fermionic lattice model to show the functioning of the approach.