arXiv subjects

Jianming Cai

Publications and source records attributed to Jianming Cai.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Quantum sensing with a single-qubit pseudo-Hermitian system

Quantum sensing exploits fundamental features of quantum system to achieve highly efficient measurement of physical quantities. Here, we propose a strategy to realize a single-qubit pseudo-Hermitian sensor from a dilated two-qubit Hermitian system. The pseudo-Hermitian sensor exhibits divergent susceptibility in dynamical evolution that does not necessarily involve exceptional point. We demonstrate its potential advantages to overcome noises that cannot be averaged out by repetitive measurements. The proposal is feasible with the state-of-art experimental capability in a variety of qubit systems, and represents a step towards the application of non-Hermitian physics in quantum sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Topological charge pumping in spin-dependent superlattices with glide symmetry

Topological charge pumping represents an important quantum phenomenon that shows the fundamental connection to the topological properties of dynamical systems. Here, we introduce a pumping process in a spin-dependent double-well optical lattice with glide symmetry. In the dynamic process, the glide symmetry protects the band touching points and topological properties of the system are characterised by the non-Abelian Berry curvature. By engineering suitable form of interaction between different spin components, the model not only demonstrates topological phase transition, but also shows hybridisation between the spatial and temporal domain with novel topological features captured by the Wilson line along the synthetic directions. Our work provides a new model based on ultracold atoms towards the implementation of versatile topological matters and topological phenomena.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2019

Nanoscale magnetic resonance spectroscopy using a carbon nanotube double quantum dot

Quantum sensing exploits fundamental features of quantum mechanics and quantum control to realise sensing devices with potential applications in a broad range of scientific fields ranging from basic science to applied technology. The ultimate goal are devices that combine unprecedented sensitivity with excellent spatial resolution. Here, we propose a new platform for all-electric nanoscale quantum sensing based on a carbon nanotube double quantum dot. Our analysis demonstrates that the platform can achieve sensitivities that allow for the implementation of single-molecule magnetic resonance spectroscopy and therefore opens a promising route towards integrated on-chip quantum sensing devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Pulsed Quantum-State Reconstruction of Dark Systems

We propose a novel strategy to reconstruct the quantum state of dark systems, i.e., degrees of freedom that are not directly accessible for measurement or control. Our scheme relies on the quantum control of a two-level probe that exerts a state-dependent potential on the dark system. Using a sequence of control pulses applied to the probe makes it possible to tailor the information one can obtain and, for example, allows us to reconstruct the density operator of a dark spin as well as the Wigner characteristic function of a harmonic oscillator. Because of the symmetry of the applied pulse sequence, this scheme is robust against slow noise on the probe. The proof-of-principle experiments are readily feasible in solid-state spins and trapped ions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Scalable nuclear-spin entanglement mediated by a mechanical oscillator

We propose a solid-state hybrid platform based on an array of implanted nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond magnetically coupled to a mechanical oscillator. The mechanical oscillator and the NV electronic spins both act as a quantum bus and allow us to induce an effective long-range interaction between distant nuclear spins, relaxing the requirements on their spatial distance. The coherent nuclear spin-spin interaction, having the form of an Ising model, can be maintained in the presence of mechanical damping and spin dephasing via a pulsed dynamical decoupling of the nuclear spins in addition to the microwave driving field of the electronic spins. The present hybrid platform provides a scalable way to prepare multipartite entanglement among nuclear spins with long coherence times and can be applied to generate graph states that may be used for universal quantum computing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Observation of Floquet Raman transition in a driven solid-state spin system

We experimentally observe Floquet Raman transitions in the weakly driven solid state spin system of nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. The periodically driven spin system simulates a two-band Wannier-Stark ladder model, and allows us to observe coherent spin state transfer arising from Raman transition mediated by Floquet synthetic levels. It also leads to the prediction of analog photon-assisted Floquet Raman transition and dynamical localisation in a driven two-level quantum system. The demonstrated rich Floquet dynamics offers new capabilities to achieve effective Floquet coherent control of a quantum system with potential applications in various types of quantum technologies based on driven quantum dynamics. In particular, the Floquet-Raman system may be used as a quantum simulator for the physics of periodically driven systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Entangling distant solid-state spins via thermal phonons

The implementation of quantum entangling gates between qubits is essential to achieve scalable quantum computation. Here, we propose a robust scheme to realize an entangling gate for distant solid-state spins via a mechanical oscillator in its thermal equilibrium state. By appropriate Hamiltonian engineering and usage of a protected subspace, we show that the proposed scheme is able to significantly reduce the thermal effect of the mechanical oscillator on the spins. In particular, we demonstrate that a high entangling gate fidelity can be achieved even for a relatively high thermal occupation. Our scheme can thus relax the requirement for ground-state cooling of the mechanical oscillator, and may find applications in scalable quantum information processing in hybrid solid-state architectures.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Unambiguous nuclear spin detection using engineered quantum sensing sequence

Sensing, localising and identifying individual nuclear spins or frequency components of a signal in the presence of a noisy environments requires the development of robust and selective methods of dynamical decoupling. An important challenge that remains to be addressed in this context are spurious higher order resonances in current dynamical decoupling sequences as they can lead to the misidentification of nuclei or of different frequency components of external signals. Here we overcome this challenge with engineered quantum sensing sequences that achieve both, enhanced robustness and the simultaneous suppression of higher order harmonic resonances. We demonstrate experimentally the principle using a single nitrogen-vacancy center spin sensor which we apply to the unambiguous detection of external protons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Hybrid sensors based on colour centres in diamond and piezoactive layers

The ability to measure weak signals such as pressure, force, electric field, and temperature with nanoscale devices and high spatial resolution offers a wide range of applications in fundamental and applied sciences. Here we present a proposal for a hybrid device composed of thin film layers of diamond with color centers implanted and piezo-active elements for the transduction and measurement of a wide variety of physical signals. The magnetic response of a piezomagnetic layer to an external stress or a stress induced by the change of electric field and temperature is shown to affect significantly the spin properties of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. Under ambient conditions, realistic environmental noise and material imperfections, our detailed numerical studies show that this hybrid device can achieve significant improvements in sensitivity over the pure diamond based approach in combination with nanometer scale spatial resolution. Beyond its applications in quantum sensing the proposed hybrid architecture offers novel possibilities for engineering strong coherent couplings between nanomechanical oscillator and solid state spin qubits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Dark State Polarizing a Nuclear Spin in the Vicinity of a Nitrogen-Vacancy Center

The nuclear spin in the vicinity of a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center possesses of long coherence time and convenient manipulation assisted by the strong hyperfine interaction with the NV center. It is suggested for the subsequent quantum information storage and processing after appropriate initialization. However, current experimental schemes are either sensitive to the inclination and magnitude of the magnetic field or require thousands of repetitions to achieve successful realization. Here, we propose polarizing a 13C nuclear spin in the vicinity of an NV center via a dark state. We demonstrate theoretically that it is robust to polarize various nuclear spins with different hyperfine couplings and noise strengths.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Scheme for detection of single-molecule radical pair reaction using spin in diamond

The radical pair reaction underlies the magnetic field sensitivity of chemical reactions and is suggested to play an important role in both chemistry and biology. Current experimental evidence is based on ensemble measurements, however, the ability to probe the radical pair reaction at the single molecule level would provide valuable information concerning its role in important biological processes. Here, we propose a scheme to detect the charge recombination rate in a radical pair reaction under ambient conditions by using single nitrogen-vacancy center spin in diamond. We demonstrate theoretically that it is possible to detect the effect of the geomagnetic field on the radical pair reaction and propose the present scheme as a possible hybrid model chemical compass.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Self-protected nanoscale thermometry based on spin defects in silicon carbide

Quantum sensors with solid state electron spins have attracted considerable interest due to their nanoscale spatial resolution.A critical requirement is to suppress the environment noise of the solid state spin sensor.Here we demonstrate a nanoscale thermometer based on silicon carbide (SiC) electron spins.We experimentally demonstrate that the performance of the spin sensor is robust against dephasing due to a self protected machenism. The SiC thermometry may provide a promising platform for sensing in a noisy environment ,e.g. biological system sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Adiabatic quantum parameter amplification for generic robust quantum sensing

Quantum enhanced sensing provides a powerful tool for the precise measurement of physical parameters that is applicable in many areas of science and technology. The achievable gain in sensitivity is largely limited by the influence of noise and decoherence. Here, we propose a paradigm of adiabatic quantum parameter amplification to overcome this limitation. We demonstrate that it allows to achieve generic robust quantum sensing, namely it is robust against noise that may even acting on the same degree of freedom as the field. Furthermore, the proposal achieves entanglement-free Heisenberg limit sensitivity that surpasses the limit of classical statistics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Proposal for high-fidelity quantum simulation using a hybrid dressed state

A fundamental goal of quantum technologies concerns the exploitation of quantum coherent dynamics for the realisation of novel quantum applications such as quantum computing, quantum simulation, and quantum metrology. A key challenge on the way towards these goals remains the protection of quantum coherent dynamics from environmental noise. Here, we propose a concept of hybrid dressed state from a pair of continuously driven systems. It allows sufficiently strong driving fields to suppress the effect of environmental noise, while at the same time being insusceptible to both the amplitude and phase noise in the continuous driving fields. This combination of robust features significantly enhances coherence times under realistic conditions, and at the same time provides new flexibility in Hamiltonian engineering that otherwise is not achievable. We demonstrate theoretically applications of our scheme for noise resistant analog quantum simulation in the well studied physical systems of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond and of trapped ions. The scheme may also be exploited for quantum computation and quantum metrology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Chemical compass model for avian magnetoreception as a quantum coherent device

It is known that more than 50 species use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation. Intensive studies particularly behavior experiments with birds, provide support for a chemical compass based on magnetically sensitive free radical reactions as a source of this sense. However, the fundamental question of how quantum coherence plays an essential role in such a chemical compass model of avian magnetoreception yet remains controversial. Here, we show that the essence of the chemical compass model can be understood in analogy to a quantum interferometer exploiting global quantum coherence rather than any subsystem coherence. Within the framework of quantum metrology, we quantify global quantum coherence and correlate it with the function of chemical magnetoreception. Our results allow us to understand and predict how various factors can affect the performance of a chemical compass from the unique perspective of quantum coherence assisted metrology. This represents a crucial step to affirm a direct connection between quantum coherence and the function of a chemical compass.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Diamond based single molecule magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The detection of a nuclear spin in an individual molecule represents a key challenge in physics and biology whose solution has been pursued for many years. The small magnetic moment of a single nucleus and the unavoidable environmental noise present the key obstacles for its realization. Here, we demonstrate theoretically that a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond can be used to construct a nano-scale single molecule spectrometer that is capable of detecting the position and spin state of a single nucleus and can determine the distance and alignment of a nuclear or electron spin pair. The proposed device will find applications in single molecule spectroscopy in chemistry and biology, such as in determining protein structure or monitoring macromolecular motions and can thus provide a tool to help unravelling the microscopic mechanisms underlying bio-molecular function.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Towards a large-scale quantum simulator on diamond surface at room temperature

Strongly-correlated quantum many-body systems exhibits a variety of exotic phases with long-range quantum correlations, such as spin liquids and supersolids. Despite the rapid increase in computational power of modern computers, the numerical simulation of these complex systems becomes intractable even for a few dozens of particles. Feynman's idea of quantum simulators offers an innovative way to bypass this computational barrier. However, the proposed realizations of such devices either require very low temperatures (ultracold gases in optical lattices, trapped ions, superconducting devices) and considerable technological effort, or are extremely hard to scale in practice (NMR, linear optics). In this work, we propose a new architecture for a scalable quantum simulator that can operate at room temperature. It consists of strongly-interacting nuclear spins attached to the diamond surface by its direct chemical treatment, or by means of a functionalized graphene sheet. The initialization, control and read-out of this quantum simulator can be accomplished with nitrogen-vacancy centers implanted in diamond. The system can be engineered to simulate a wide variety of interesting strongly-correlated models with long-range dipole-dipole interactions. Due to the superior coherence time of nuclear spins and nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, our proposal offers new opportunities towards large-scale quantum simulation at room temperatures.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Persistent dynamic entanglement from classical motion: How bio-molecular machines can generate non-trivial quantum states

Very recently [Phys. Rev. E 82, 021921 (2010)] a simple mechanism was presented by which a molecule subjected to forced oscillations, out of thermal equilibrium, can maintain quantum entanglement between two of its quantum degrees of freedom. Crucially, entanglement can be maintained even in the presence of very intense noise, so intense that no entanglement is possible when the forced oscillations cease. This mechanism may allow for the presence of non-trivial quantum entanglement in biological systems. Here we significantly enlarge the study of this model. In particular, we show that the persistent generation of dynamic entanglement is not restricted to the bosonic heat bath model, but it can also be observed in other decoherence models, e.g. the spin gas model, and in non-Markovian scenarios. We also show how conformational changes can be used by an elementary machine to generate entanglement even in unfavorable conditions. In biological systems, similar mechanisms could be exploited by more complex molecular machines or motors.

quant-ph↗