arXiv subjects

Rajeev Gangwar

Publications and source records attributed to Rajeev Gangwar.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantum SWITCH-induced non-Markovianity is not entirely quantum

Indefinite causal order extends quantum information processing beyond fixed causal structures, with the quantum SWITCH serving as its canonical realization. By coherently superposing different orders of quantum channels, the quantum SWITCH has been shown to provide operational advantages in communication, computation, metrology, and related tasks. Despite these advances, the physical resources responsible for these advantages remains unclear. Recent studies have further revealed that the quantum SWITCH can generate memory effects, manifested as non-Markovian information backflow. In this work, we examine the origin of such memory and determine whether they reflect genuine (quantum) non-Markovianity or instead arises from classical origin. To this end, we analyze two representative scenarios: one based on discrete-time evolution and another formulated through dynamical maps in open quantum systems. We show that the memory effects generated by the quantum SWITCH are not genuinely quantum non-Markovian, thereby prompting a re-examination of the source of quantum advantage in indefinite causal order frameworks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Genuine and Non-Genuine Quantum Non-Markovianity: A Unified Information-Theoretic Review

Understanding whether the features of open quantum dynamics are genuinely quantum remains a central challenge in quantum dynamics. Even though the non-Markovian behavior of quantum dynamics has been widely investigated across different settings, there is still no consensus on which properties of a dynamics reflect genuine quantum features and which arise from classical or non-genuine quantum sources. In this review, we provide detailed information on recent developments in characterizing quantum non-Markovianity based on information backflow and the nature of its origin. We also present a survey on how various approaches separate classical and quantum contributions, as well as how they define operational tasks that reveal genuine quantum non-Markovianity. We analyze several frameworks, including state-distinguishability -based, channel-based (``CP-divisibility''), and process-tensor methods. For each framework, we outline the underlying physical motivation, the criteria proposed to distinguish genuine quantum non-Markovianity from practical or apparent memory effects. We further compare different approaches and their strengths and limitations. The review aims to clarify the conceptual and operational aspects of quantum non-Markovian processes based on their nature and to provide a foundation for future research on quantum non-Markovianity and its role in advancing quantum information science and technology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Causal and Non-Causal Revivals of Information: A New Regime of Non-Markovianity in Quantum Stochastic Processes

The study of information revivals, witnessing the violation of certain data-processing inequalities, has provided an important paradigm in the study of non-Markovian quantum stochastic processes. Although often used interchangeably, we argue here that the notions of ``revivals'' and ``backflows'', i.e., flows of information from the environment back into the system, are distinct: an information revival can occur without any backflow ever taking place. In this paper, we examine in detail the phenomenon of non-causal revivals and relate them to the theory of short Markov chains and squashed non-Markovianity. We also provide an operational condition, in terms of system-only degrees of freedom, to witness the presence of genuine backflow that cannot be explained by non-causal revivals. As a byproduct, we demonstrate that focusing on processes with genuine backflows, while excluding those with only non-causal revivals, resolves the issue of non-convexity of Markovianity, thus enabling the construction of a convex resource theory of genuine quantum non-Markovianity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Coherent heat transfer leads to genuine quantum enhancement in the performances of continuous engines

Conventional continuous quantum heat engines with incoherent heat transfer perform poorly as they exploit two-body interactions between the system and hot or cold baths, thus having limited capability to outperform their classical counterparts. We introduce distinct continuous quantum heat engines that utilize coherent heat transfer with baths, yielding genuine quantum enhancement in performance. These coherent engines consist of one qutrit system and two photonic baths and enable coherent heat transfer via two-photon transitions involving three-body interactions between the system and hot and cold baths. We demonstrate that coherent engines deliver significantly higher power output with much greater reliability, i.e., lower signal-to-noise ratio of the power, by hundreds of folds over their incoherent counterparts. Importantly, coherent engines can operate close to or at the maximal achievable reliability allowed by the quantum thermodynamic uncertainty relation. Moreover, coherent engines manifest more nonclassical features than incoherent engines because they violate the classical thermodynamic uncertainty relation by a greater amount and for a wider range of parameters. These genuine enhancements in the performance of coherent engines are directly attributed to their capacity to harness higher energetic coherence for the resonant driving case. The experimental feasibility of coherent engines and the improved understanding of how quantum properties can enhance performance may find applications in quantum-enabled technologies.

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arXiv2023

Squashed quantum non-Markovianity: a measure of genuine quantum non-Markovianity in states

Quantum non-Markovianity in tripartite quantum states $\rho_{ABC}$ represents a correlation between systems $A$ and $C$ when conditioned on the system $B$ and is known to have both classical and quantum contributions. However, a systematic characterization of the latter is missing. To address this, we propose a faithful measure for non-Markovianity of genuine quantum origin called squashed quantum non-Markovianity (sQNM). It is based on the quantum conditional mutual information and is defined by the left-over non-Markovianity after squashing out all non-quantum contributions. It is lower bounded by the squashed entanglement between non-conditioning systems in the reduced state and is delimited by the extendibility of either of the non-conditioning systems. We show that the sQNM is monogamous, asymptotically continuous, convex, additive on tensor-product states, and generally super-additive. We characterize genuine quantum non-Markovianity as a resource via a convex resource theory after identifying free states with vanishing sQNM and free operations that do not increase sQNM in states. We use our resource-theoretic framework to bound the rate of state transformations under free operations and to study state transformation under non-free operations; in particular, we find the quantum communication cost from Bob ($B$) to Alice ($A$) or Charlie ($C$) is lower bounded by the change in sQNM in the states. The sQNM finds operational meaning; in particular, the optimal rate of private communication in a variant of conditional one-time pad protocol is twice the sQNM. Also, the minimum deconstruction cost for a variant of quantum deconstruction protocol is given twice the sQNM of the state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Ancilla-Assisted Protection of Information: Application to Atom-Cavity Systems

One of the major obstacles faced by quantum-enabled technology is the environmental noise that causes decoherence in the quantum system, thereby destroying much of its quantum aspects and introducing errors while the system undergoes quantum operations and processing. A number of techniques have been invented to mitigate the environmental effects, and many of these techniques are specific to the environment and the quantum tasks at hand. Here, we propose a protocol that makes arbitrary environments effectively noise-free or transparent using an ancilla, which, in particular, is well suited to protect information stored in atoms. The ancilla, which is the photons, is allowed to undergo restricted but a wide class of noisy operations. The protocol transfers the information of the system onto the decoherence-free subspace and later retrieves it back to the system. Consequently, it enables full protection of quantum information and entanglement in the atomic system from decoherence. We propose experimental schemes to implement this protocol on atomic systems in an optical cavity.

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