arXiv subjects

Martin B. Plenio

Publications and source records attributed to Martin B. Plenio.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Enhancement of laser cooling by the use of magnetic gradients

We present a laser cooling scheme for trapped ions and atoms using a combination of laser couplings and a magnetic gradient field. In a Schrieffer-Wolff transformed picture, this setup cancels the carrier and blue sideband terms completely resulting in an improved cooling behaviour compared to standard cooling schemes (e.g. sideband cooling) and allowing cooling to the vibrational ground state. A condition for optimal cooling rates is presented and the cooling behaviour for different Lamb-Dicke parameters and spontaneous decay rates is discussed. Cooling rates of one order of magnitude less than the trapping frequency are achieved using the new cooling method. Furthermore the scheme turns out to be robust under deviations from the optimal parameters and moreover provides good cooling rates also in the multi particle case.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate of Stationary-Light Dark-state Polaritons

We put forward and discuss in detail a scheme to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation of stationary-light dark-state polaritons with dipolar interaction. To this end we have introduced a diamond-like coupling scheme in a vapor of Rydberg atoms under the frozen gas approximation. To determine the system's dynamics we employ normal modes and identify the dark-state polariton corresponding to one of the modes. We show that in contrast to atomic dipolar ultra-cold vapors dark-state polariton Bose-Einstein condensates proposed here can be stable for a negative dipolar interaction constant.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Coherent open-loop optimal control of light-harvesting dynamics

We apply theoretically open-loop quantum optimal control techniques to provide methods for the verification of various quantum coherent transport mechanisms in natural and artificial light-harvesting complexes under realistic experimental constraints. We demonstrate that optimally shaped laser pulses allow to faithfully prepare the photosystem in specified initial states (such as localized excitation or coherent superposition, i.e. propagating and non-propagating states) and to probe efficiently the dynamics. These results provide a path towards the discrimination of the different transport pathways and to the characterization of environmental properties, enhancing our understanding of the role that coherent processes may play in biological complexes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Efficient quantum state tomography

Quantum state tomography, the ability to deduce the state of a quantum system from measured data, is the gold standard for verification and benchmarking of quantum devices. It has been realized in systems with few components, but for larger systems it becomes infeasible because the number of quantum measurements and the amount of computation required to process them grows exponentially in the system size. Here we show that we can do exponentially better than direct state tomography for a wide range of quantum states, in particular those that are well approximated by a matrix product state ansatz. We present two schemes for tomography in 1-D quantum systems and touch on generalizations. One scheme requires unitary operations on a constant number of subsystems, while the other requires only local measurements together with more elaborate post-processing. Both schemes rely only on a linear number of experimental operations and classical postprocessing that is polynomial in the system size. A further strength of the methods is that the accuracy of the reconstructed states can be rigorously certified without any a priori assumptions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Spontaneous nucleation of structural defects in inhomogeneous ion chains

Structural defects in ion crystals can be formed during a linear quench of the transverse trapping frequency across the mechanical instability from a linear chain to the zigzag structure. The density of defects after the sweep can be conveniently described by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. In particular, the number of kinks in the zigzag ordering can be derived from a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation for the order parameter, here the zigzag transverse size, under the assumption that the ions are continuously laser cooled. In a linear Paul trap the transition becomes inhomogeneous, being the charge density larger in the center and more rarefied at the edges. During the linear quench the mechanical instability is first crossed in the center of the chain, and a front, at which the mechanical instability is crossed during the quench, is identified which propagates along the chain from the center to the edges. If the velocity of this front is smaller than the sound velocity, the dynamics becomes adiabatic even in the thermodynamic limit and no defect is produced. Otherwise, the nucleation of kinks is reduced with respect to the case in which the charges are homogeneously distributed, leading to a new scaling of the density of kinks with the quenching rate. The analytical predictions are verified numerically by integrating the Langevin equations of motion of the ions, in presence of a time-dependent transverse confinement. We argue that the non-equilibrium dynamics of an ion chain in a Paul trap constitutes an ideal scenario to test the inhomogeneous extension of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, which lacks experimental evidence to date.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Markovian Master Equations: A Critical Study

We derive Markovian master equations of single and interacting harmonic systems in different scenarios, including strong internal coupling. By comparing the dynamics resulting from the corresponding Markovian master equations with exact numerical simulations of the evolution of the global system, we precisely delimit their validity regimes and assess the robustness of the assumptions usually made in the process of deriving the reduced dynamics. The proposed method is sufficiently general to suggest that the conclusions made here are widely applicable to a large class of settings involving interacting chains subject to a weak interaction with an environment.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Simulation of noise-assisted transport via optical cavity networks

Recently, the presence of noise has been found to play a key role in assisting the transport of energy and information in complex quantum networks and even in biomolecular systems. Here we propose an experimentally realizable optical network scheme for the demonstration of the basic mechanisms underlying noise-assisted transport. The proposed system consists of a network of coupled quantum optical cavities, injected with a single photon, whose transmission efficiency can be measured. Introducing dephasing in the photon path this system exhibits a characteristic enhancement of the transport efficiency that can be observed with presently available technology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Exact mapping between system-reservoir quantum models and semi-infinite discrete chains using orthogonal polynomials

By using the properties of orthogonal polynomials, we present an exact unitary transformation that maps the Hamiltonian of a quantum system coupled linearly to a continuum of bosonic or fermionic modes to a Hamiltonian that describes a one-dimensional chain with only nearest-neighbour interactions. This analytical transformation predicts a simple set of relations between the parameters of the chain and the recurrence coefficients of the orthogonal polynomials used in the transformation, and allows the chain parameters to be computed using numerically stable algorithms that have been developed to compute recurrence coefficients. We then prove some general properties of this chain system for a wide range of spectral functions, and give examples drawn from physical systems where exact analytic expressions for the chain properties can be obtained. Crucially, the short range interactions of the effective chain system permits these open quantum systems to be efficiently simulated by the density matrix renormalization group methods.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Entanglement and non-Markovianity of quantum evolutions

We address the problem of quantifying the non-Markovian character of quantum time-evolutions of general systems in contact with an environment. We introduce two different measures of non-Markovianity that exploit the specific traits of quantum correlations and are suitable for opposite experimental contexts. When complete tomographic knowledge about the evolution is available, our measure provides a necessary and sufficient condition to quantify strictly the non-Markovianity. In the opposite case, when no information whatsoever is available, we propose a sufficient condition for non-Markovianity. Remarkably, no optimization procedure underlies our derivation, which greatly enhances the practical relevance of the proposed criteria.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Noise-assisted energy transfer in quantum networks and light-harvesting complexes

We provide physically intuitive mechanisms for the effect of noise on excitation energy transfer (EET) in networks. Using these mechanisms of dephasing-assisted transport (DAT) in a hybrid basis of both excitons and sites, we develop a detailed picture of how noise enables energy transfer with efficiencies well above $90%$ across the Fenna-Matthew-Olson (FMO) complex, a type of light harvesting molecule. We demonstrate explicitly how noise alters the pathways of energy transfer across the complex, suppressing ineffective pathways and facilitating direct ones to the reaction centre. We explain that the fundamental mechanisms underpinning DAT are expected to be robust with respect to the considered noise model but show that the specific details of the exciton-phonon coupling, which remain largely unknown in these type of complexes, and in particular the impact of non-Markovian effects, results in variations of dynamical features that should be amenable to experimental verification within current or planned technology. A detailed understanding of DAT in natural compounds should open up a new paradigm of `noise-engineering' by which EET can be optimized in artificial light-harvesting structures.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Entanglement and entangling power of the dynamics in light-harvesting complexes

We study the evolution of quantum entanglement during exciton energy transfer (EET) in a network model of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex, a biological pigment-protein complex involved in the early steps of photosynthesis in sulphur bacteria. The influence of Markovian, as well as spatially and temporally correlated (non-Markovian) noise on the generation of entanglement across distinct chromophores (site entanglement) and different excitonic eigenstates (mode entanglement) is studied for different injection mechanisms, including thermal and coherent laser excitation. Additionally, we study the entangling power of the FMO complex under natural operating conditions. While quantum information processing tends to favor maximal entanglement, near unit EET is achieved as the result of an intricate interplay between coherent and noisy processes where the initial part of the evolution displays intermediate values of both forms of entanglement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Noise-enhanced classical and quantum capacities in communication networks

The unavoidable presence of noise is thought to be one of the major problems to solve in order to pave the way for implementing quantum information technologies in realistic physical platforms. However, here we show a clear example in which noise, in terms of dephasing, may enhance the capability of transmitting not only classical but also quantum information, encoded in quantum systems, through communication networks. In particular, we find analytically and numerically the quantum and classical capacities for a large family of quantum channels and show that these information transmission rates can be strongly enhanced by introducing dephasing noise in the complex network dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

A Generalization of Quantum Stein's Lemma

We present a generalization of quantum Stein's Lemma to the situation in which the alternative hypothesis is formed by a family of states, which can moreover be non-i.i.d.. We consider sets of states which satisfy a few natural properties, the most important being the closedness under permutations of the copies. We then determine the error rate function in a very similar fashion to quantum Stein's Lemma, in terms of the quantum relative entropy. Our result has two applications to entanglement theory. First it gives an operational meaning to an entanglement measure known as regularized relative entropy of entanglement. Second, it shows that this measure is faithful, being strictly positive on every entangled state. This implies, in particular, that whenever a multipartite state can be asymptotically converted into another entangled state by local operations and classical communication, the rate of conversion must be non-zero. Therefore, the operational definition of multipartite entanglement is equivalent to its mathematical definition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Quantitative verification of entanglement and fidelities from incomplete measurement data

Many experiments in quantum information aim at creating multi-partite entangled states. Quantifying the amount of entanglement that was actually generated can, in principle, be accomplished using full-state tomography. This method requires the determination of a parameter set that is growing exponentially with the number of qubits and becomes infeasible even for moderate numbers of particles. Non-trivial bounds on experimentally prepared entanglement can however be obtained from partial information on the density matrix. The fundamental question that needs to be addressed in this context is then formulated as: What is the entanglement content of the least entangled quantum state that is compatible with the available measurement data? We formulate the problem mathematically employing methods from the theory of semi-definite programming and then address this problem for the case, where the goal of the experiment is the creation of graph states. The observables that we consider are the generators of the stabilizer group, thus the number of measurement settings grows only linearly in the number of qubits. We provide analytical solutions as well as numerical methods that may be applied directly to experiments, and compare the obtained bounds with results from full-state tomography for simulated data.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Estimating Purity and Entropy in Stabilizer State Experiments

Many experiments in quantum information aim at creating graph states. Quantifying the purity of an experimentally achieved graph state could in principle be accomplished using full-state tomography. This method requires a number of measurement settings growing exponentially with the number of constituents involved. Thus, full-state tomography becomes experimentally infeasible even for a moderate number of qubits. In this paper we present a method to estimate the purity of experimentally achieved graph states with simple measurements. The observables we consider are the stabilizers of the underlying graph. Then, we formulate the problem as: "What is the state with the least purity that is compatible with the measurement data?" We solve this problem analytically and compare the obtained bounds with results from full-state tomography for simulated data.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Scalable quantum computation via local control of only two qubits

We apply quantum control techniques to control a large spin chain by only acting on two qubits at one of its ends, thereby implementing universal quantum computation by a combination of quantum gates on the latter and swap operations across the chain. It is shown that the control sequences can be computed and implemented efficiently. We discuss the application of these ideas to physical systems such as superconducting qubits in which full control of long chains is challenging.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Highly efficient energy excitation transfer in light-harvesting complexes: The fundamental role of noise-assisted transport

Excitation transfer through interacting systems plays an important role in many areas of physics, chemistry, and biology. The uncontrollable interaction of the transmission network with a noisy environment is usually assumed to deteriorate its transport capacity, especially so when the system is fundamentally quantum mechanical. Here we identify key mechanisms through which noise such as dephasing, perhaps counter intuitively, may actually aid transport through a dissipative network by opening up additional pathways for excitation transfer. We show that these are processes that lead to the inhibition of destructive interference and exploitation of line broadening effects. We illustrate how these mechanisms operate on a fully connected network by developing a powerful analytical technique that identifies the invariant (excitation trapping) subspaces of a given Hamiltonian. Finally, we show how these principles can explain the remarkable efficiency and robustness of excitation energy transfer from the light-harvesting chlorosomes to the bacterial reaction center in photosynthetic complexes and present a numerical analysis of excitation transport across the Fenna-Matthew-Olson (FMO) complex together with a brief analysis of its entanglement properties. Our results show that, in general, it is the careful interplay of quantum mechanical features and the unavoidable environmental noise that will lead to an optimal system performance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

The power of symmetric extensions for entanglement detection

In this paper, we present new progress on the study of the symmetric extension criterion for separability. First, we show that a perturbation of order O(1/N) is sufficient and, in general, necessary to destroy the entanglement of any state admitting an N Bose symmetric extension. On the other hand, the minimum amount of local noise necessary to induce separability on states arising from N Bose symmetric extensions with Positive Partial Transpose (PPT) decreases at least as fast as O(1/N^2). From these results, we derive upper bounds on the time and space complexity of the weak membership problem of separability when attacked via algorithms that search for PPT symmetric extensions. Finally, we show how to estimate the error we incur when we approximate the set of separable states by the set of (PPT) N -extendable quantum states in order to compute the maximum average fidelity in pure state estimation problems, the maximal output purity of quantum channels, and the geometric measure of entanglement.

quant-ph↗