arXiv subjects

Michael Foss-Feig

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Foss-Feig.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Trapped Ion Quantum Information Processing with Squeezed Phonons

Trapped ions offer a pristine platform for quantum computation and simulation, but improving their coherence remains a crucial challenge. Here, we propose and analyze a new strategy to enhance the coherent interactions in trapped ion systems via parametric amplification of the ions' motion--by squeezing the collective motional modes (phonons), the spin-spin interactions they mediate can be significantly enhanced. We illustrate the power of this approach by showing how it can enhance collective spin states useful for quantum metrology, and how it can improve the speed and fidelity of two-qubit gates in multi-ion systems, important ingredients for scalable trapped ion quantum computation. Our results are also directly relevant to numerous other physical platforms in which spin interactions are mediated by bosons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Dynamical phase transitions in sampling complexity

We make the case for studying the complexity of approximately simulating (sampling) quantum systems for reasons beyond that of quantum computational supremacy, such as diagnosing phase transitions. We consider the sampling complexity as a function of time $t$ due to evolution generated by spatially local quadratic bosonic Hamiltonians. We obtain an upper bound on the scaling of $t$ with the number of bosons $n$ for which approximate sampling is classically efficient. We also obtain a lower bound on the scaling of $t$ with $n$ for which any instance of the boson sampling problem reduces to this problem and hence implies that the problem is hard, assuming the conjectures of Aaronson and Arkhipov [Proc. 43rd Annu. ACM Symp. Theory Comput. STOC '11]. This establishes a dynamical phase transition in sampling complexity. Further, we show that systems in the Anderson-localized phase are always easy to sample from at arbitrarily long times. We view these results in the light of classifying phases of physical systems based on parameters in the Hamiltonian. In doing so, we combine ideas from mathematical physics and computational complexity to gain insight into the behavior of condensed matter, atomic, molecular and optical systems.

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arXiv2018

Optimal and Secure Measurement Protocols for Quantum Sensor Networks

Studies of quantum metrology have shown that the use of many-body entangled states can lead to an enhancement in sensitivity when compared to product states. In this paper, we quantify the metrological advantage of entanglement in a setting where the quantity to be measured is a linear function of parameters coupled to each qubit individually. We first generalize the Heisenberg limit to the measurement of non-local observables in a quantum network, deriving a bound based on the multi-parameter quantum Fisher information. We then propose a protocol that can make use of GHZ states or spin-squeezed states, and show that in the case of GHZ states the procedure is optimal, i.e., it saturates our bound.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Fast State Transfer and Entanglement Renormalization Using Long-Range Interactions

In short-range interacting systems, the speed at which entanglement can be established between two separated points is limited by a constant Lieb-Robinson velocity. Long-range interacting systems are capable of faster entanglement generation, but the degree of the speed-up possible is an open question. In this paper, we present a protocol capable of transferring a quantum state across a distance $L$ in $d$ dimensions using long-range interactions with strength bounded by $1/r^α$. If $α< d$, the state transfer time is asymptotically independent of $L$; if $α= d$, the time is logarithmic in distance $L$; if $d < α< d+1$, transfer occurs in time proportional to $L^{α- d}$; and if $α\geq d + 1$, it occurs in time proportional to $L$. We then use this protocol to upper bound the time required to create a state specified by a MERA (multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz) tensor network, and show that, if the linear size of the MERA state is $L$, then it can be created in time that scales with $L$ identically to state transfer up to multiplicative logarithmic corrections.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Distributed Quantum Metrology and the Entangling Power of Linear Networks

We derive a bound on the ability of a linear optical network to estimate a linear combination of independent phase shifts by using an arbitrary non-classical but unentangled input state, thereby elucidating the quantum resources required to obtain the Heisenberg limit with a multi-port interferometer. Our bound reveals that while linear networks can generate highly entangled states, they cannot effectively combine quantum resources that are well distributed across multiple modes for the purposes of metrology: in this sense linear networks endowed with well-distributed quantum resources behave classically. Conversely, our bound shows that linear networks can achieve the Heisenberg limit for distributed metrology when the input photons are hoarded in a small number of input modes, and we present an explicit scheme for doing so. Our results also have implications for measures of non-classicality.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

A solvable family of driven-dissipative many-body systems

Exactly solvable models have played an important role in establishing the sophisticated modern understanding of equilibrium many-body physics. And conversely, the relative scarcity of solutions for non-equilibrium models greatly limits our understanding of systems away from thermal equilibrium. We study a family of non-equilibrium models, some of which can be viewed as dissipative analogues of the transverse-field Ising model, in that an effectively classical Hamiltonian is frustrated by dissipative processes that drive the system toward states that do not commute with the Hamiltonian. Surprisingly, a broad and experimentally relevant subset of these models can be solved efficiently in any number of spatial dimensions. We leverage these solutions to prove a no-go theorem on steady-state phase transitions in a many-body model that can be realized naturally with Rydberg atoms or trapped ions, and to compute the effects of decoherence on a canonical trapped-ion-based quantum computation architecture.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Entanglement area laws for long-range interacting systems

We prove that the entanglement entropy of any state evolved under an arbitrary $1/r^α$ long-range-interacting D-dimensional lattice spin Hamiltonian cannot change faster than a rate proportional to the boundary area for any $α>D+1$. We also prove that for any $α>2D+2$, the ground state of such a Hamiltonian satisfies the entanglement area law if it can be transformed along a gapped adiabatic path into a ground state known to satisfy the area law. These results significantly generalize their existing counterparts for short-range interacting systems, and are useful for identifying dynamical phase transitions and quantum phase transitions in the presence of long-range interactions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Exact sampling hardness of Ising spin models

We study the complexity of classically sampling from the output distribution of an Ising spin model, which can be implemented naturally in a variety of atomic, molecular, and optical systems. In particular, we construct a specific example of an Ising Hamiltonian that, after time evolution starting from a trivial initial state, produces a particular output configuration with probability very nearly proportional to the square of the permanent of a matrix with arbitrary integer entries. In a similar spirit to BosonSampling, the ability to sample classically from the probability distribution induced by time evolution under this Hamiltonian would imply unlikely complexity theoretic consequences, suggesting that the dynamics of such a spin model cannot be efficiently simulated with a classical computer. Physical Ising spin systems capable of achieving problem-size instances (i.e. qubit numbers) large enough so that classical sampling of the output distribution is classically difficult in practice may be achievable in the near future. Unlike BosonSampling, our current results only imply hardness of exact classical sampling, leaving open the important question of whether a much stronger approximate-sampling hardness result holds in this context. As referenced in a recent paper of Bouland, Mancinska, and Zhang (A. Bouland, L. Mancinska, and X. Zhang, CCC 2016, pp. 28:1-28:33), our result completes the sampling hardness classification of two-qubit commuting Hamiltonians.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Entanglement and spin-squeezing without infinite-range interactions

Infinite-range interactions are known to facilitate the production of highly entangled states with applications in quantum information and metrology. However, many experimental systems have interactions that decay with distance, and the achievable benefits in this context are much less clear. Combining recent exact solutions with a controlled expansion in the system size, we analyze quench dynamics in Ising models with power-law ($1/r^α$) interactions in $D$ dimensions, thereby expanding the understanding of spin squeezing into a broad and experimentally relevant context. In spatially homogeneous systems, we show that for small $α$ the scaling of squeezing with system size is identical to the infinite-range ($α=0$) case. This indifference to the interaction range persists up to a critical value $α=2D/3$, above which squeezing degrades continuously. Boundary-induced inhomogeneities present in most experimental systems modify this picture, but it nevertheless remains qualitatively correct for finite-sized systems.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Emergent equilibrium in many-body optical bistability

Many-body systems constructed of quantum-optical building blocks can now be realized in experimental platforms ranging from exciton-polariton fluids to ultracold gases of Rydberg atoms, establishing a fascinating interface between traditional many-body physics and the driven-dissipative, non-equilibrium setting of cavity-QED. At this interface, the standard techniques and intuitions of both fields are called into question, obscuring issues as fundamental as the role of fluctuations, dimensionality, and symmetry on the nature of collective behavior and phase transitions. Here, we study the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model, a minimal description of numerous atomic, optical, and solid-state systems in which particle loss is countered by coherent driving. Despite being a lattice version of optical bistability---a foundational and patently non-equilibrium model of cavity-QED---the steady state possesses an emergent equilibrium description in terms of a classical Ising model. We establish this picture by identifying a limit in which the quantum dynamics is asymptotically equivalent to non-equilibrium Langevin equations, which support a phase transition described by model A of the Hohenberg-Halperin classification. Numerical simulations of the Langevin equations corroborate this picture, producing results consistent with the behavior of a finite-temperature Ising model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Steady-state superradiance with Rydberg polaritons

A steady-state superradiant laser can be used to generate ultranarrow-linewidth light, and thus has important applications in the fields of quantum information and precision metrology. However, the light produced by such a laser is still essentially classical. Here, we show that the introduction of a Rydberg medium into a cavity containing atoms with a narrow optical transition can lead to the steady-state superradiant emission of ultranarrow-linewidth $nonclassical$ light. The cavity nonlinearity induced by the Rydberg medium strongly modifies the superradiance threshold, and leads to a Mollow triplet in the cavity output spectrum$-$this behavior can be understood as an unusual analogue of resonance fluorescence. The cavity output spectrum has an extremely sharp central peak, with a linewidth that can be far narrower than that of a classical superradiant laser. This unprecedented spectral sharpness, together with the nonclassical nature of the light, could lead to new applications in which spectrally pure $quantum$ light is desired.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Collective phases of strongly interacting cavity photons

We study a coupled array of coherently driven photonic cavities, which maps onto a driven-dissipative XY spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ model with ferromagnetic couplings in the limit of strong optical nonlinearities. Using a site-decoupled mean-field approximation, we identify steady state phases with canted antiferromagnetic order, in addition to limit cycle phases, where oscillatory dynamics persist indefinitely. We also identify collective bistable phases, where the system supports two steady states among spatially uniform, antiferromagnetic, and limit cycle phases. We compare these mean-field results to exact quantum trajectories simulations for finite one-dimensional arrays. The exact results exhibit short-range antiferromagnetic order for parameters that have significant overlap with the mean-field phase diagram. In the mean-field bistable regime, the exact quantum dynamics exhibits real-time collective switching between macroscopically distinguishable states. We present a clear physical picture for this dynamics, and establish a simple relationship between the switching times and properties of the quantum Liouvillian.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Causality and quantum criticality in long-range lattice models

Long-range quantum lattice systems often exhibit drastically different behavior than their short-range counterparts. In particular, because they do not satisfy the conditions for the Lieb-Robinson theorem, they need not have an emergent relativistic structure in the form of a light cone. Adopting a field-theoretic approach, we study the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model with long-range interactions, and a fermionic model with long-range hopping and pairing terms, explore their critical and near-critical behavior, and characterize their response to local perturbations. We deduce the dynamic critical exponent, up to the two-loop order within the renormalization group theory, which we then use to characterize the emergent causal behavior. We show that beyond a critical value of the power-law exponent of the long-range couplings, the dynamics effectively becomes relativistic. Various other critical exponents describing correlations in the ground state, as well as deviations from a linear causal cone, are deduced for a wide range of the power-law exponent.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Topological phases with long-range interactions

Topological phases of matter are primarily studied in systems with short-range interactions. In nature, however, non-relativistic quantum systems often exhibit long-range interactions. Under what conditions topological phases survive such interactions, and how they are modified when they do, is largely unknown. By studying the symmetry-protected topological phase of an antiferromagnetic spin-1 chain with $1/r^α$ interactions, we show that two very different outcomes are possible, depending on whether or not the interactions are frustrated. While non-frustrated long-range interactions can destroy the topological phase for $α\lesssim3$, the topological phase survives frustrated interactions for all $α>0$. Our conclusions are based on strikingly consistent results from large-scale matrix-product-state simulations and effective-field-theory calculations, and we expect them to hold for more general interacting spin systems. The models we study can be naturally realized in trapped-ion quantum simulators, opening the prospect for experimental investigation of the issues confronted here.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2016

Quantum spin dynamics and entanglement generation with hundreds of trapped ions

Quantum simulation of spin models can provide insight into complex problems that are difficult or impossible to study with classical computers. Trapped ions are an established platform for quantum simulation, but only systems with fewer than 20 ions have demonstrated quantum correlations. Here we study non-equilibrium, quantum spin dynamics arising from an engineered, homogeneous Ising interaction in a two-dimensional array of $^9$Be$^+$ ions in a Penning trap. We verify entanglement in the form of spin-squeezed states for up to 219 ions, directly observing 4.0$\pm$0.9 dB of spectroscopic enhancement. We also observe evidence of non-Gaussian, over-squeezed states in the full counting statistics. We find good agreement with ab-initio theory that includes competition between entanglement and decoherence, laying the groundwork for simulations of the transverse-field Ising model with variable-range interactions, for which numerical solutions are, in general, classically intractable.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Kaleidoscope of quantum phases in a long-range interacting spin-1 chain

Motivated by recent trapped-ion quantum simulation experiments, we carry out a comprehensive study of the phase diagram of a spin-1 chain with XXZ-type interactions that decay as $1/r^α$, using a combination of finite and infinite-size DMRG calculations, spin-wave analysis, and field theory. In the absence of long-range interactions, varying the spin-coupling anisotropy leads to four distinct phases: a ferromagnetic Ising phase, a disordered XY phase, a topological Haldane phase, and an antiferromagnetic Ising phase. If long-range interactions are antiferromagnetic and thus frustrated, we find primarily a quantitative change of the phase boundaries. On the other hand, ferromagnetic (non-frustrated) long-range interactions qualitatively impact the entire phase diagram. Importantly, for $α\lesssim3$, long-range interactions destroy the Haldane phase, break the conformal symmetry of the XY phase, give rise to a new phase that spontaneously breaks a $U(1)$ continuous symmetry, and introduce an exotic tricritical point with no direct parallel in short-range interacting spin chains. We show that the main signatures of all five phases found could be observed experimentally in the near future.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Nearly-linear light cones in long-range interacting quantum systems

In non-relativistic quantum theories with short-range Hamiltonians, a velocity $v$ can be chosen such that the influence of any local perturbation is approximately confined to within a distance $r$ until a time $t \sim r/v$, thereby defining a linear light cone and giving rise to an emergent notion of locality. In systems with power-law ($1/r^α$) interactions, when $α$ exceeds the dimension $D$, an analogous bound confines influences to within a distance $r$ only until a time $t\sim(α/v)\log r$, suggesting that the velocity, as calculated from the slope of the light cone, may grow exponentially in time. We rule out this possibility; light cones of power-law interacting systems are algebraic for $α>2D$, becoming linear as $α\rightarrow\infty$. Our results impose strong new constraints on the growth of correlations and the production of entangled states in a variety of rapidly emerging, long-range interacting atomic, molecular, and optical systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Persistence of locality in systems with power-law interactions

Motivated by recent experiments with ultra-cold matter, we derive a new bound on the propagation of information in $D$-dimensional lattice models exhibiting $1/r^α$ interactions with $α>D$. The bound contains two terms: One accounts for the short-ranged part of the interactions, giving rise to a bounded velocity and reflecting the persistence of locality out to intermediate distances, while the other contributes a power-law decay at longer distances. We demonstrate that these two contributions not only bound but, except at long times, \emph{qualitatively reproduce} the short- and long-distance dynamical behavior following a local quench in an $XY$ chain and a transverse-field Ising chain. In addition to describing dynamics in numerous intractable long-range interacting lattice models, our results can be experimentally verified in a variety of ultracold-atomic and solid-state systems.

quant-ph↗