arXiv subjects

Spencer Rogers

Publications and source records attributed to Spencer Rogers.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Nonclassicality of Mixed States with Photon Number Coherence

The operational resource theory (ORT) measure is a nonclassicality measure for bosonic states, notable for its resource-theoretic properties and connection to metrology. However, it can be difficult to evaluate, being linked to an optimization problem for mixed states. Here, we present ORT measure calculations for mixed states with photon-number coherence. We give exact formulas governing the ORT measure of a broad class of rank-two mixed states, and numerical solutions for some higher-rank states. We also compare the nonclassicality of these states to their metrological power, thus showing in what regimes the metrological power manages to saturate the ORT bound. Throughout, we consider the role of coherence. In particular, we show that nonclassicality and metrological power never increase under bosonic dephasing, but may plateau in a manner similar to entanglement sudden death. Nevertheless, lowering photon-number coherence more freely can sometimes yield more nonclassical and metrologically useful states.

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arXiv2024

Quantifying nonclassicality of mixed Fock states

Nonclassical states of bosonic modes are important resources for quantum-enhanced technologies. Yet, quantifying nonclassicality of these states, in particular mixed states, can be a challenge. Here we present results of quantifying the nonclassicality of a bosonic mode in a mixed Fock state via the operational resource theory (ORT) measure [W. Ge, K. Jacobs, S. Asiri, M. Foss-Feig, and M. S. Zubairy, Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 023400 (2020)], which relates nonclassicality to metrological advantage. Generally speaking, evaluating a resource-theoretic measure for mixed states is challenging, since it involves finding a convex roof. However, we show that our problem can be reduced to a linear programming problem. By analyzing the results of numerical optimization, we are able to extract analytical results for the case where three or four neighboring Fock states have nonzero population. Interestingly, we find that such a mode can be in distinct phases, depending on the populations. Lastly, we demonstrate how our method is generalizable to density matrices of higher ranks. Our findings suggest a viable method for evaluating nonclassicality of arbitrary mixed bosonic states and potentially for solving other convex roof optimization problems.

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arXiv2022

Post-selection and quantum energetics

We investigate the anomalous energy change of the measurement apparatus when a qubit is measured in bases that do not commute with energy. We model two possible measurement implementations: one is a quantum clock model with a completely time-independent Hamiltonian, while the other is a Jaynes-Cummings model which is time-dependent but conserves the total excitation number. We look at the mean energy change of the measurement apparatus in both models, conditioned on the qubit post-selection, and find that this change can be much greater than the level spacing of the qubit, like an anomalous weak value. In the clock model, the expression for the apparatus energy shift explicitly contains the weak value of the qubit Hamiltonian. However, in our case, no explicit weak measurements are carried out. Our two models give different results, which we explain to be a consequence of the non-degenerate spectrum of the Jaynes-Cummings model. We compare our calculations in the Jaynes-Cummings model with the experimental data of [J. Stevens, et al, arXiv:2109.09648 (2021)] and find good agreement when the conditions of our derivation are valid.

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arXiv2021

Quantum erasing the memory of Wigner's friend

The Wigner's friend paradox concerns one of the most puzzling problems of quantum mechanics: the consistent description of multiple nested observers. Recently, a variation of Wigner's gedankenexperiment, introduced by Frauchiger and Renner, has lead to new debates about the self-consistency of quantum mechanics. At the core of the paradox lies the description of an observer and the object it measures as a closed system obeying the Schrödinger equation. We revisit this assumption to derive a necessary condition on a quantum system to behave as an observer. We then propose a simple single-photon interferometric setup implementing Frauchiger and Renner's scenario, and use the derived condition to shed a new light on the assumptions leading to their paradox. From our description, we argue that the three apparently incompatible properties used to question the consistency of quantum mechanics correspond to two logically distinct contexts: either one assumes that Wigner has full control over his friends' lab, or conversely that some parts of the labs remain unaffected by Wigner's subsequent measurements. The first context may be seen as the quantum erasure of the memory of Wigner's friend. We further show these properties are associated with observables which do not commute, and therefore cannot take well-defined values simultaneously. Consequently, the three contradictory properties never hold simultaneously.

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arXiv2020

A two-qubit engine fueled by entangling operations and local measurements

We introduce a two-qubit engine that is powered by entangling operations and projective local quantum measurements. Energy is extracted from the detuned qubits coherently exchanging a single excitation. This engine, which uses the information and back-action of the measurement, is generalized to an N-qubit chain. We show that by gradually increasing the energy splitting along the chain, the initial low energy of the first qubit can be up-converted deterministically to an arbitrarily high energy at the last qubit by successive neighbor swap operations and local measurements. Modeling the local measurement as the entanglement of a qubit with a meter, we identify the measurement fuel as the energetic cost to erase correlations between the qubits.

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arXiv2019

Diffraction-Based Interaction-Free Measurements

We introduce diffraction-based interaction-free measurements. In contrast with previous work where a set of discrete paths is engaged, good quality interaction-free measurements can be realized with a continuous set of paths, as is typical of optical propagation. If a bomb is present in a given spatial region -- so sensitive that a single photon will set it off -- its presence can still be detected without exploding it. This is possible because, by not absorbing the photon, the bomb causes the single photon to diffract around it. The resulting diffraction pattern can then be statistically distinguished from the bomb-free case. We work out the case of single- versus double- slit in detail, where the double-slit arises because of a bomb excluding the middle region.

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