arXiv subjects

Neill Lambert

Publications and source records attributed to Neill Lambert.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Nonclassical Preparation of Quantum Remote States

Remote state preparation (RSP) enables a sender to remotely prepare the quantum state of a receiver without sending the state itself. Recently, it has been recognized that quantum discord is a necessary resource for RSP. Here, we theoretically and experimentally investigate whether RSP can outperform dynamic classical remote state preparation processes. We show that such classical processes can describe certain RSPs powered by quantum discord. Rather, we argue that a new kind of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering for dynamical processes, called quantum process steering, is the resource required for performing nonclassical RSP. We show how to measure quantum process steering by experimentally realizing nonclassical RSP of photonic quantum systems. Moreover, we demonstrate the transition from classical to quantum RSP. Our results also have applications in realizing genuine quantum RSP for quantum-enabled engineering.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Exact and efficient quantum simulation of open quantum dynamics for various of Hamiltonians and spectral densities

Recently, we have theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated an exact and efficient quantum simulation of photosynthetic light harvesting in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), cf. B. X. Wang, \textit{et al.} npj Quantum Inf.~\textbf{4}, 52 (2018). In this paper, we apply this approach to simulate the open quantum dynamics in various photosynthetic systems with different Hamiltonians. By numerical simulations, we show that for Drude-Lorentz spectral density the dimerized geometries with strong couplings within the donor and acceptor clusters respectively exhibit significantly-improved efficiency. Based on the optimal geometry, we also demonstrate that the overall energy transfer can be further optimized when the energy gap between the donor and acceptor clusters matches the peak of the spectral density. Moreover, by exploring the quantum dynamics for different types of spectral densities, e.g. Ohmic, sub-Ohmic, and super-Ohmic spectral densities, we show that our approach can be generalized to effectively simulate open quantum dynamics for various Hamiltonians and spectral densities. Because $\log_{2}N$ qubits are required for quantum simulation of an $N$-dimensional quantum system, this quantum simulation approach can greatly reduce the computational complexity compared with popular numerically-exact methods.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Shortcuts to Adiabatic Pumping in Classical Stochastic Systems

Adiabatic pumping is characterized by a geometric contribution to the pumped charge, which can be non-zero even in the absence of a bias. However, as the driving speed is increased, non-adiabatic excitations gradually reduce the pumped charge, thereby limiting the maximal applicable driving frequencies. To circumvent this problem, we here extend the concept of shortcuts to adiabaticity to construct a control protocol which enables geometric pumping well beyond the adiabatic regime. Our protocol allows for an increase, by more than an order of magnitude, in the driving frequencies, and the method is also robust against moderate fluctuations of the control field. We provide a geometric interpretation of the control protocol and analyze the thermodynamic cost of implementing it. Our findings can be realized using current technology and potentially enable fast pumping of charge or heat in quantum dots, as well as in other stochastic systems from physics, chemistry, and biology.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Beyond Marcus theory and the Landauer-Buttiker approach in molecular junctions. II. A self-consistent Born approach

Marcus and Landauer-Buttiker approaches to charge transport through molecular junctions describe two contrasting mechanisms of electronic conduction. In previous work, we have shown how these charge transport theories can be unified in the single-level case by incorporating lifetime broadening into the second-order quantum master equation. Here, we extend our previous treatment by incorporating lifetime broadening in the spirit of the self-consistent Born approximation. By comparing both theories to numerically converged hierarchical-equations-of-motion (HEOM) results, we demonstrate that our novel self-consistent approach rectifies shortcomings of our earlier framework which are present especially in the case of relatively strong electron-vibrational coupling. We also discuss circumstances under which the theory developed here simplifies to the generalised theory developed in our earlier work. Finally, by considering the high-temperature limit of our new self-consistent treatment, we show how lifetime broadening can also be self-consistently incorporated into Marcus theory. Overall, we demonstrate that the self-consistent approach constitutes a more accurate description of molecular conduction while retaining most of the conceptual simplicity of our earlier framework.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2020

Collectively induced exceptional points of quantum emitters coupled to nanoparticle surface plasmons

Exceptional points, resulting from non-Hermitian degeneracies, have the potential to enhance the capabilities of quantum sensing. Thus, finding exceptional points in different quantum systems is vital for developing such future sensing devices. Taking advantage of the enhanced light-matter interactions in a confined volume on a metal nanoparticle surface, here we theoretically demonstrate the existence of exceptional points in a system consisting of quantum emitters coupled to a metal nanoparticle of subwavelength scale. By using an analytical quantum electrodynamics approach, exceptional points are manifested as a result of a strong coupling effect and observable in a drastic splitting of originally coalescent eigenenergies. Furthermore, we show that exceptional points can also occur when a number of quantum emitters is collectively coupled to the dipole mode of localized surface plasmons. Such a quantum collective effect not only relaxes the strong-coupling requirement for an individual emitter, but also results in a more stable generation of the exceptional points. Furthermore, we point out that the exceptional points can be explicitly revealed in the power spectra. A generalized signal-to-noise ratio, accounting for both the frequency splitting in the power spectrum and the system's dissipation, shows clearly that a collection of quantum emitters coupled to a nanoparticle provides a better performance of detecting exceptional points, compared to that of a single quantum emitter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Speeding-up a quantum refrigerator via counter-diabatic driving

We study the application of a counter-diabatic driving (CD) technique to enhance the thermodynamic efficiency and power of a quantum Otto refrigerator based on a superconducting qubit coupled to two resonant circuits. Although the CD technique is originally designed to counteract non-adiabatic coherent excitations in isolated systems, we find that it also works effectively in the open system dynamics, improving the coherence-induced losses of efficiency and power. We compare the CD dynamics with its classical counterpart, and find a deviation that arises because the CD is designed to follow the energy eigenbasis of the original Hamiltonian, but the heat baths thermalize the system in a different basis. We also discuss possible experimental realizations of our model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Open quantum systems with local and collective incoherent processes: Efficient numerical simulation using permutational invariance

The permutational invariance of identical two-level systems allows for an exponential reduction in the computational resources required to study the Lindblad dynamics of coupled spin-boson ensembles evolving under the effect of both local and collective noise. Here we take advantage of this speedup to study several important physical phenomena in the presence of local incoherent processes, in which each degree of freedom couples to its own reservoir. Assessing the robustness of collective effects against local dissipation is paramount to predict their presence in different physical implementations. We have developed an open-source library in Python, the Permutational-Invariant Quantum Solver (PIQS), which we use to study a variety of phenomena in driven-dissipative open quantum systems. We consider both local and collective incoherent processes in the weak, strong, and ultrastrong-coupling regimes. Using PIQS, we reproduced a series of known physical results concerning collective quantum effects and extended their study to the local driven-dissipative scenario. Our work addresses the robustness of various collective phenomena, e.g., spin squeezing, superradiance, quantum phase transitions, against local dissipation processes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Multielectron Ground State Electroluminescence

The ground state of a cavity-electron system in the ultrastrong coupling regime is characterized by the presence of virtual photons. If an electric current flows through this system, the modulation of the light-matter coupling induced by this non-equilibrium effect can induce an extra-cavity photon emission signal, even when electrons entering the cavity do not have enough energy to populate the excited states. We show that this ground-state electroluminescence, previously identified in a single-qubit system [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 113601 (2016)] can arise in a many-electron system. The collective enhancement of the light-matter coupling makes this effect, described beyond the rotating wave approximation, robust in the thermodynamic limit, allowing its observation in a broad range of physical systems, from a semiconductor heterostructure with flat-band dispersion to various implementations of the Dicke model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Virtual excitations in the ultra-strongly-coupled spin-boson model: physical results from unphysical modes

Here we show how, in the ultra-strongly-coupled spin-boson model, apparently unphysical "Matsubara modes" are required not only to regulate detailed balance, but also to arrive at a correct and physical description of the non-perturbative dynamics and steady-state. In particular, in the zero-temperature limit, we show that neglecting the Matsubara modes results in an erroneous emission of virtual photons from the collective ground state. To explore this difficult-to-model regime we start by using a non-perturbative hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach, based on a partial fitting of the bath correlation-function which takes into account the infinite sum of Matsubara frequencies using only a biexponential function. We compare the HEOM method to both a pseudo-mode model, and the reaction coordinate (RC) mapping, which help explain the nature of the aberrations observed when Matsubara frequencies are neglected. For the pseudo-mode method we present a general proof of validity, which allows for negative Matsubara-contributions to the decomposition of the bath correlation functions to be described by zero-frequency Matsubara-modes with non-Hermitian coupling to the system. The latter obey a non-Hermitian pseudo-Schrödinger equation, ultimately justifying why superficially unphysical modes can give rise to physical system behavior.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Securing quantum networking tasks with multipartite Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering is the explicit demonstration of the fact that the measurements of one party can in influence the quantum state held by another, distant, party, and do so even if the measurements themselves are untrusted. This has been shown to allow one-sided device-independent quantum-information tasks between two remote parties. However, in general, advanced multiparty protocols for generic quantum technologies, such as quantum secret sharing and blind quantum computing for quantum networks, demand multipartite quantum correlations of graph states shared between more than two parties. Here, we show that, when one part of a quantum multidimensional system composed of a two-colorable graph state (e.g., cluster and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states) is attacked by an eavesdropper using a universal cloning machine, only one of the copy subsystems can exhibit multipartite EPR steering but not both. Such a no-sharing restriction secures both state sources and channels against cloning-based attacks for generic quantum networking tasks, such as distributed quantum-information processing, in the presence of uncharacterized measurement apparatuses.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Hierarchy in temporal quantum correlations

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering is an intermediate quantum correlation that lies in between entanglement and Bell non-locality. Its temporal analogue, temporal steering, has recently been shown to have applications in quantum information and open quantum systems. Here, we show that there exists a hierarchy among the three temporal quantum correlations: temporal inseparability, temporal steering, and macrorealism. Given that the temporal inseparability can be used to define a measure of quantum causality, similarly the quantification of temporal steering can be viewed as a weaker measure of direct cause and can be used to distinguish between direct cause and common cause in a quantum network.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Optimizing co-operative multi-environment dynamics in a dark-state-enhanced photosynthetic heat engine

We analyze the role of coherent, non-perturbative system-bath interactions in a photosynthetic heat engine. Using the reaction-coordinate formalism to describe the vibrational phonon-environment in the engine, we analyze the efficiency around an optimal parameter regime predicted in earlier works. We show that, in the limit of high-temperature photon irradiation, the phonon-assisted population transfer between bright and dark states is suppressed due to dephasing from the photon environment, even in the Markov limit where we expect the influence of each bath to have an independent and additive affect on the dynamics. Manipulating the phonon bath properties via its spectral density enables us to identify both optimal low- and high-frequency regimes where the suppression can be removed. This suppression of transfer and its removal suggests that it is important to consider carefully the non-perturbative and cooperative effects of system-bath environments in designing artificial photosynthetic systems, and also that manipulating inter-environmental interactions could provide a new multidimensional "lever" by which to optimize photocells and other types of quantum device.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2018

Dynamics of an ultra-strongly-coupled system interacting with a driven nonlinear resonator

In the ultra-strong coupling regime of a light-matter system, the ground state exhibits non-trivial entanglement between the atom and photons. For the purposes of exploring the measurement and control of this ground state, here we analyze the dynamics of such an ultra-strongly-coupled system interacting with a driven nonlinear resonator acting as a measurement apparatus. Interestingly, although the coupling between the atom and the nonlinear resonator is much smaller than the typical energy scales of the ultra-strongly-coupled system, we show that we can generate a strong correlation between the nonlinear resonator and the light-matter system. A subsequent coarse- grained measurement on the nonlinear resonator significantly affects the light-matter system, and the phase of the light changes depending on the measurement results. Also, we investigate the conditions for when the nonlinear resonator can be entangled with the ultra-strongly coupled system, which is the mechanism that allows us to project the ground state of the ultra-strongly coupled system into a non-energy eigenstate.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Quantum simulation of photosynthetic energy transfer

Near-unity energy transfer efficiency has been widely observed in natural photosynthetic complexes. This phenomenon has attracted broad interest from different fields, such as physics, biology, chemistry and material science, as it may offer valuable insights into efficient solar-energy harvesting. Recently, quantum coherent effects have been discovered in photosynthetic light harvesting, and their potential role on energy transfer has seen heated debate. Here, we perform an experimental quantum simulation of photosynthetic energy transfer using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We show that an N- chromophore photosynthetic complex, with arbitrary structure and bath spectral density, can be effectively simulated by a system with log2 N qubits. The computational cost of simulating such a system with a theoretical tool, like the hierarchical equation of motion, which is exponential in N, can be potentially reduced to requiring a just polynomial number of qubits N using NMR quantum simulation. The benefits of performing such quantum simulation in NMR are even greater when the spectral density is complex, as in natural photosynthetic complexes. These findings may shed light on quantum coherence in energy transfer and help to provide design principles for efficient artificial light harvesting.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Amplified and tunable transverse and longitudinal spin-photon coupling in hybrid circuit-QED

We describe a method to tune, in-situ, between transverse and longitudinal light-matter coupling in a hybrid circuit-QED device composed of an electron spin degree of freedom coupled to a microwave transmission line cavity. Our approach relies on periodic modulation of the coupling itself, such that in a certain frame the interaction is both amplified and either transverse, or, by modulating at two frequencies, longitudinal. The former realizes an effective simulation of certain aspects of the ultra-strong coupling regime, while the latter allows one to implement a longitudinal readout scheme even when the intrinsic Hamiltonian is transverse, and the individual spin or cavity frequencies cannot be changed. We analyze the fidelity of using such a scheme to measure the state of the electron spin degree of freedom, and argue that the longitudinal readout scheme can operate in regimes where the traditional dispersive approach fails.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Superradiance with local phase-breaking effects

We study the superradiant evolution of a set of $N$ two-level systems spontaneously radiating under the effect of phase-breaking mechanisms. We investigate the dynamics generated by non-radiative losses and pure dephasing, and their interplay with spontaneous emission. Our results show that in the parameter region relevant to many solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments, even with a dephasing rate much faster than the radiative lifetime of a single two-level system, a sub-optimal collective superfluorescent burst is still observable. We also apply our theory to the dilute excitation regime, often used to describe optical excitations in solid-state systems. In this regime, excitations can be described in terms of bright and dark bosonic quasiparticles. We show how the effect of dephasing and losses in this regime translates into inter-mode scattering rates and quasiparticle lifetimes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Plasmonic bio-sensing for the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex

We study theoretically the bio-sensing capabilities of metal nanowire surface plasmons. As a specific example, we couple the nanowire to specific sites (bacteriochlorophyll) of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) photosynthetic pigment protein complex. In this hybrid system, we find that when certain sites of the FMO complex are subject to either the suppression of inter-site transitions or are entirely disconnected from the complex, the resulting variations in the excitation transfer rates through the complex can be monitored through the corresponding changes in the scattering spectra of the incident nanowire surface plasmons. We also find that these changes can be further enhanced by changing the ratio of plasmon-site couplings. The change of the Fano lineshape in the scattering spectra further reveals that "site 5" in the FMO complex plays a distinct role from other sites. Our results provide a feasible way, using single photons, to detect mutation-induced, or bleaching-induced, local defects or modifications of the FMO complex, and allows access to both the local and global properties of the excitation transfer in such systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Temporal Steering in Four Dimensions with applications to coupled qubits and magnetoreception

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering allows Alice to remotely prepare a state in some specific bases for Bob through her choice of measurements. The temporal analogue of EPR steering, temporal steering, also reveals the steerability of a single system between different times. Focusing on a four-dimensional system, here we investigate the dynamics of the temporal steering measures, the temporal steering robustness, using 5 mutually unbiased bases. As an example of an application, we use these measures to examine the temporal correlations in a radical pair model of magnetoreception. We find that, due to interactions with a static nuclear spin, the radical pair model exhibits strong non-Markovianity.

quant-ph↗