arXiv subjects

K. Mølmer

Publications and source records attributed to K. Mølmer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Efficient preparation of entangled states in cavity QED with Grover's algorithm

We propose to employ the amplification mechanism of Grover's search algorithm to efficiently prepare entangled states of an ensemble of qubits. The conditional change of sign employed in the algorithm can be implemented by the phase shift of photons scattered on an optical cavity hosting an atomic ensemble. We show that collective Dicke states, GHZ states, and Schrödinger cat superpositions of $N$ atoms may be prepared deterministically by few ($\sim N^{1/4}$) photon scattering events without individual addressing of the atoms.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Deterministic carving of quantum states with Grover's algorithm

We show that iteration of a few ( $\sim N^{1/4}$) unitary steps of Grover's algorithm suffices to perfectly prepare a Dicke state of $N$ atoms in a cavity. We also show that a few subsequent Grover steps can be employed to generate GHZ and Cat states. The Grover iteration is physically realized by global qubit rotations and by the phase shift of single photons reflected on the cavity. Our protocols are deterministic and require no individual addressing of the atoms. A detailed error analysis accounting for spatial mode matching of the photon to the cavity, spontaneous emission, mirror scattering, and the finite bandwidth of the photon mode is used to predict the fidelity of the prepared states as a function of system parameters and atom-cavity cooperativity. The fidelity can be increased by heralding on detection of the reflected photon.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Microscopic dynamics and an effective Landau-Zener transition in the quasi-adiabatic preparation of spatially ordered states of Rydberg excitations

We examine the adiabatic preparation of spatially-ordered Rydberg excitations of atoms in finite one-dimensional lattices by frequency-chirped laser pulses, as realized in a number of recent experiments simulating quantum Ising model. Our aims are to unravel the microscopic mechanism of the phase transition from the unexcited state of atoms to the antiferromagnetic-like state of Rydberg excitations by traversing an extended gapless phase, and to estimate the preparation fidelity of the target state in a moderately sized system amenable to detailed numerical analysis. We find that, in the basis of the bare atomic states, the system climbs the ladder of Rydberg excitations predominantly along the strongest-amplitude paths towards the final ordered state. We show that, despite its complexity, the interacting many-body system can be described as an effective two-level system involving a pair of lowest-energy instantaneous collective eigenstates of the time-dependent Hamiltonian. The final preparation fidelity of the target state can then be well approximated by the Landau-Zener formula, while the nonadiabatic population leakage during the passage can be estimated using a perturbative approach applied to the instantaneous collective eigenstates.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Interaction of two Rydberg atoms in the vicinity of an optical nanofibre

We consider two rubidium atoms, prepared in the same S or P Rydberg states near an optical nanofibre. We determine the van der Waals interaction between them and identify novel features, including the reshaping of the interaction anisotropy and the formation of an interaction potential well near the nanofibre for P states. We attribute these phenomena to the breaking of the rotation symmetry around the interatomic axis due to the presence of the fibre. Our work constitutes an important step in the assessment of Rydberg atom-nanofibre quantum interfaces and devices.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantum non-demolition measurements of moving target states

We present a protocol for probing the state of a quantum system by its resonant coupling and entanglement with a meter system. By continuous measurement of a time evolving meter observable, we infer the evolution of the entangled systems and, ultimately, the state and dynamics of the system of interest. The photon number in a cavity field is thus resolved by simulated monitoring of the time dependent excited state population of a resonantly coupled two-level system, and we propose to regard this as an extension of quantum non-demolition measurements with potential applications in quantum metrology and quantum computing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Correlation Picture Approach to Open-Quantum-System Dynamics

We introduce a new dynamical picture, referred to as correlation picture,' which connects a correlated state to its uncorrelated counterpart. Using this picture allows us to derive an exact dynamical equation for a general open-system dynamics with system--environment correlations included. This exact dynamics is in the form of a Lindblad-like equation even in the presence of initial system-environment correlations. For explicit calculations, we also develop a weak-correlation expansion formalism that allows us to perform systematic perturbative approximations. This expansion provides approximate master equations which can feature advantages over existing weak-coupling techniques. As a special case, we derive a Markovian master equation, which is different from existing approaches. We compare our equations with corresponding standard weak-coupling equations by two examples, where our correlation picture formalism is more accurate, or at least as accurate as weak-coupling equations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Position- and momentum-squeezed quantum states in micro-scale mechanical resonators

A challenge of modern physics is to investigate the quantum behavior of a bulk material object, for instance a mechanical oscillator. We have earlier demonstrated that by coupling a mechanical oscillator to the energy levels of embedded rare-earth ion dopants, it is possible to prepare such a resonator in a low phonon number state. Here, we describe how to extend this protocol in order to prepare momentum- and position squeezed states, and we analyze how the obtainable degree of squeezing depends on the initial conditions and on the coupling of the oscillator to its thermal environment.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Spontaneous emission and energy shifts of a Rydberg rubidium atom close to an optical nanofiber

In this paper, we report on numerical calculations of the spontaneous emission rates and Lamb shifts of a $^{87}\text{Rb}$ atom in a Rydberg-excited state $\left(n\leq30\right)$ located close to a silica optical nanofiber. We investigate how these quantities depend on the fiber's radius, the distance of the atom to the fiber, the direction of the atomic angular momentum polarization as well as the different atomic quantum numbers. We also study the contribution of quadrupolar transitions, which may be substantial for highly polarizable Rydberg states. Our calculations are performed in the macroscopic quantum electrodynamics formalism, based on the dyadic Green's function method. This allows us to take dispersive and absorptive characteristics of silica into account; this is of major importance since Rydberg atoms emit along many different transitions whose frequencies cover a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our work is an important initial step towards building a Rydberg atom-nanofiber interface for quantum optics and quantum information purposes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Spontaneous emission of a sodium Rydberg atom close to an optical nanofibre

We report on numerical calculations of the spontaneous emission rate of a Rydberg-excited sodium atom in the vicinity of an optical nanofibre. In particular, we study how this rate varies with the distance of the atom to the fibre, the fibre's radius, the symmetry s or p of the Rydberg state as well as its principal quantum number. We find that a fraction of the spontaneously emitted light can be captured and guided along the fibre. This suggests that such a setup could be used for networking atomic ensembles, manipulated in a collective way due to the Rydberg blockade phenomenon.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Deterministic Quantum Network for Distributed Entanglement and Quantum Computation

We propose a simple interaction protocol to be implemented on a scalable quantum network, in which the quantum nodes consist of qubit systems confined in cavities. The nodes are deterministically coupled by transmission and reflection of a single photon, which is disentangled from the qubits at the end of the coupling operation. This single photon can generate an entangling controlled phase (C-PHASE) gate between any selected number of qubits in the network. Our multi-qubit gate reaches a much higher fidelity compared to schemes concatenating one-qubit and two-qubit gates; thus it forms an efficient basis for universal quantum computing distributed over multiple processor units. In our analysis we consider atomic qubits coupled to optical photons, while the scheme can be readily generalized to other architectures, such as superconducting qubit nodes coupled by microwave photons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Deterministic free-space source of single photons using Rydberg atoms

We propose an efficient free-space scheme to create single photons in a well-defined spatiotemporal mode. To that end, we first prepare a single source atom in an excited Rydberg state. The source atom interacts with a large ensemble of ground-state atoms via a laser-mediated dipole-dipole exchange interaction. Using an adiabatic passage with a chirped laser pulse, we produce a spatially extended spin wave of a single Rydberg excitation in the ensemble, accompanied by the transition of the source atom to another Rydberg state. The collective atomic excitation can then be converted to a propagating optical photon via a coherent coupling field. In contrast to previous approaches, our single-photon source does not rely on the strong coupling of a single emitter to a resonant cavity, nor does it require the heralding of collective excitation or complete Rydberg blockade of multiple excitations in the atomic ensemble.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Controllability in tunable chains of coupled harmonic oscillators

We prove that temporal control of the strengths of springs connecting $N$ harmonic oscillators in a chain provides complete access to all Gaussian states of $N-1$ collective modes. The proof relies on the construction of a suitable basis of cradle modes for the system. An iterative algorithm to reach any desired Gaussian state requires at most $3N(N-1)/2$ operations. We illustrate this capability by engineering squeezed pseudo-phonon states - highly non-local, strongly correlated states that may result from various nonlinear processes. Tunable chains of coupled harmonic oscillators can be implemented by a number of current state-of-the-art experimental platforms, including cold atoms in lattice potentials, arrays of mechanical micro-oscillators, and coupled optical waveguides.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Inductive-detection electron-spin resonance spectroscopy with $\mathbf{65}\,$spins$/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ sensitivity

We report electron spin resonance spectroscopy measurements performed at millikelvin temperatures in a custom-built spectrometer comprising a superconducting micro-resonator at $7$ GHz and a Josephson parametric amplifier. Owing to the small ${\sim}10^{-12}λ^3$ magnetic resonator mode volume and to the low noise of the parametric amplifier, the spectrometer sensitivity reaches $260\pm40$ spins$/$echo and $65\pm10$ $\mathrm{spins}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$, respectively.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Homodyne monitoring of post-selected decay

We use homodyne detection to monitor the radiative decay of a superconducting qubit. According to the classical theory of conditional probabilities, the excited state population differs from an exponential decay law if it is conditioned upon a later projective qubit measurement. Quantum trajectory theory accounts for the expectation values of general observables, and we use experimental data to show how a homodyne detection signal is conditioned upon both the initial state and the finally projected state of a decaying qubit. We observe, in particular, how anomalous weak values occur in continuous weak measurement for certain pre- and post-selected states. Subject to homodyne detection, the density matrix evolves in a stochastic manner, but it is restricted to a specific surface in the Bloch sphere. We show that a similar restriction applies to the information associated with the post-selection, and thus bounds the predictions of the theory.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Quantum smoothing for classical mixtures

In quantum mechanics, wave functions and density matrices represent our knowledge about a quantum system and give probabilities for the outcomes of measurements. If the combined dynamics and measurements on a system lead to a density matrix $ρ(t)$ with only diagonal elements in a given basis $\{|n\rangle\}$, it may be treated as a classical mixture, i.e., a system which randomly occupies the basis states $|n\rangle$ with probabilities $ρ_{nn}(t)$. Fully equivalent to so-called smoothing in classical probability theory, subsequent probing of the occupation of the states $|n\rangle$ improves our ability to retrodict what was the outcome of a projective state measurement at time $t$. Here, we show with experiments on a superconducting qubit that the smoothed probabilities do not, in the same way as the diagonal elements of $ρ$, permit a classical mixture interpretation of the state of the system at the past time $t$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Blueprint for a microwave trapped-ion quantum computer

The availability of a universal quantum computer will have fundamental impact on a vast number of research fields and society as a whole. An increasingly large scientific and industrial community is working towards the realization of such a device. An arbitrarily large quantum computer is best constructed using a modular approach. We present a blueprint for a trapped-ion based scalable quantum computer module which makes it possible to create a scalable quantum computer architecture based on long-wavelength radiation quantum gates. The modules control all operations as stand-alone units, are constructed using silicon microfabrication techniques and they are within reach of current technology. To perform the required quantum computations, the modules make use of long-wavelength-radiation based quantum gate technology. To scale this microwave quantum computer architecture to an arbitrary size we present a fully scalable design that makes use of ion transport between different modules, thereby allowing arbitrarily many modules to be connected to construct a large-scale device. A high-error-threshold surface error correction code can be implemented in the proposed architecture to execute fault-tolerant operations. With only minor adjustments the proposed modules are also suitable for alternative trapped-ion quantum computer architectures, such as schemes using photonic interconnects.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Detection of weak microwave fields with an underdamped Josephson junction

We have constructed a microwave detector based on the voltage switching of an underdamped Josephson junction, that is positioned at a current antinode of a λ/4 coplanar waveguide resonator. By measuring the switching current and the transmission through a waveguide capacitively coupled to the resonator at different drive frequencies and temperatures we are able to fully characterize the system and assess its detection efficiency and sensitivity. Testing the detector by applying a classical microwave field with the strength of a single photon yielded a sensitivity parameter of 0.5 in qualitative agreement with theoretical calculations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Correlations of the time dependent signal and the state of a continuously monitored quantum system

In quantum physics, measurements give random results and yield a corresponding random back action on the state of the system subject to measurement. If a quantum system is probed continuously over time, its state evolves along a stochastic quantum trajectory. To investigate the characteristic properties of such dynamics, we perform weak continuous measurements on a superconducting qubit that is driven to undergo Rabi oscillations. From the data we observe a number of striking temporal correlations within the time dependent signals and the quantum trajectories of the qubit, and we discuss their explanation in terms of quantum measurement and photodetection theory.

quant-ph↗