arXiv subjects

Steve Campbell

Publications and source records attributed to Steve Campbell.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Collisional unfolding of quantum Darwinism

We examine the emergence of objectivity via quantum Darwinism through the use of a collision model, i.e. where the dynamics is modeled through sequences of unitary interactions between the system and the individual constituents of the environment, termed "ancillas". By exploiting versatility of this framework, we show that one can transition from a "Darwinistic" to an "encoding" environment by simply tuning their interaction. Furthermore we establish that in order for a setting to exhibit quantum Darwinism we require a mutual decoherence to occur between the system and environmental ancillas, thus showing that system decoherence alone is not sufficient. Finally, we demonstrate that the observation of quantum Darwinism is sensitive to a non-uniform system-environment interaction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Robust multipartite entanglement generation via a collision model

We examine a simple scheme to generate genuine multipartite entangled states across disjoint qubit registers. We employ a shuttle qubit that is sequentially coupled, in an energy preserving manner, to the constituents within each register through rounds of interactions. We establish that stable $W$-type entanglement can be generated among all qubits within the registers. Furthermore, we find that the entanglement is sensitive to how the shuttle is treated, showing that a significantly larger degree is achieved by performing projective measurements on it. Finally, we assess the resilience of this entanglement generation protocol to several types of noise and imperfections, showing that it is remarkably robust.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Entropy production and correlations in a controlled non-Markovian setting

We study the relationship between (non-)Markovian evolutions, established correlations, and the entropy production rate. We consider a system qubit in contact with a thermal bath and in addition the system is strongly coupled to an ancillary qubit. We examine the steady state properties finding that the coupling leads to effective temperatures emerging in the composite system, and show that this is related to the creation of correlations between the qubits. By establishing the conditions under which the system reaches thermal equilibrium with the bath despite undergoing a non-Markovian evolution, we examine the entropy production rate, showing that its transient negativity is a sufficient sign of non-Markovianity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

System-environment correlations and Markovian embedding of quantum non-Markovian dynamics

We study the dynamics of a quantum system whose interaction with an environment is described by a collision model, i.e. the open dynamics is modelled through sequences of unitary interactions between the system and the individual constituents of the environment, termed "ancillas", which are subsequently traced out. In this setting non-Markovianity is introduced by allowing for additional unitary interactions between the ancillas. For this model, we identify the relevant system-environment correlations that lead to a non-Markovian evolution. Through an equivalent picture of the open dynamics, we introduce the notion of "memory depth" where these correlations are established between the system and a suitably sized memory rendering the overall system+memory evolution Markovian. We extend our analysis to show that while most system-environment correlations are irrelevant for the dynamical characterization of the process, they generally play an important role in the thermodynamic description. Finally, we show that under an energy-preserving system-environment interaction, a non-monotonic time behaviour of the heat flux serves as an indicator of non-Markovian behaviour.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Precision thermometry and the quantum speed limit

We assess precision thermometry for an arbitrary single quantum system. For a $d$-dimensional harmonic system we show that the gap sets a single temperature that can be optimally estimated. Furthermore, we establish a simple linear relationship between the gap and this temperature, and show that the precision exhibits a quadratic relationship. We extend our analysis to explore systems with arbitrary spectra, showing that exploiting anharmonicity and degeneracy can greatly enhance the precision of thermometry. Finally, we critically assess the dynamical features of two thermometry protocols for a two level system. By calculating the quantum speed limit we find that, despite the gap fixing a preferred temperature to probe, there is no evidence of this emerging in the dynamical features.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

An efficient non-linear Feshbach engine

We investigate a thermodynamic cycle using a Bose-Einstein condensate with nonlinear interactions as the working medium. Exploiting Feshbach resonances to change the interaction strength of the BEC allows us to produce work by expanding and compressing the gas. To ensure a large power output from this engine these strokes must be performed on a short timescale, however such non-adiabatic strokes can create irreversible work which degrades the engine's efficiency. To combat this, we design a shortcut to adiabaticity which can achieve an adiabatic-like evolution within a finite time, therefore significantly reducing the out-of-equilibrium excitations in the BEC. We investigate the effect of the shortcut to adiabaticity on the efficiency and power output of the engine and show that the tunable nonlinearity strength, modulated by Feshbach resonances, serves as a useful tool to enhance the system's performance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Full counting statistics approach to the quantum non-equilibrium Landauer bound

We develop the full counting statistics of dissipated heat to explore the relation with Landauer's principle. Combining the two-time measurement protocol for the reconstruction of the statistics of heat with the minimal set of assumptions for Landauer's principle to hold, we derive a general one-parameter family of upper and lower bounds on the mean dissipated heat from a system to its environment. Furthermore, we establish a connection with the degree of non-unitality of the system's dynamics and show that, if a large deviation function exists as stationary limit of the above cumulant generating function, then our family of lower and upper bounds can be used to witness and understand first-order dynamical phase transitions. For the purpose of demonstration, we apply these bounds to an externally pumped three level system coupled to a finite sized thermal environment.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Quantum speed limits: from Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to optimal quantum control

One of the most widely known building blocks of modern physics is Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle. Among the different statements of this fundamental property of the full quantum mechanical nature of physical reality, the uncertainty relation for energy and time has a special place. Its interpretation and its consequences have inspired continued research efforts for almost a century. In its modern formulation, the uncertainty relation is understood as setting a fundamental bound on how fast any quantum system can evolve. In this Topical Review we describe important milestones, such as the Mandelstam-Tamm and the Margolus-Levitin bounds on the quantum speed limit, and summarise recent applications in a variety of current research fields -- including quantum information theory, quantum computing, and quantum thermodynamics amongst several others. To bring order and to provide an access point into the many different notions and concepts, we have grouped the various approaches into the minimal time approach and the geometric approach, where the former relies on quantum control theory, and the latter arises from measuring the distinguishability of quantum states. Due to the volume of the literature, this Topical Review can only present a snapshot of the current state-of-the-art and can never be fully comprehensive. Therefore, we highlight but a few works hoping that our selection can serve as a representative starting point for the interested reader.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Nonequilibrium quantum bounds to Landauer's principle: Tightness and effectiveness

We assess two different non-equilibrium quantum Landauer bounds: the traditional approach based on the change in entropy, referred to as the `entropic bound', and one based on the details of the dynamical map, referred to as the `thermodynamic bound'. By first restricting to a simple exactly solvable model of a single two level system coupled to a finite dimensional thermal environment and by exploiting an excitation preserving interaction, we establish the dominant role played by the population terms in dictating the tightness of these bounds with respect to the dissipated heat, and clearly establish that coherences only affect the entropic bound. Furthermore, we show that sharp boundaries between the relative performance of the two quantities emerge, and find that there are clear instances where both approaches return a bound weaker than Clausius' statement of the second law, rendering them ineffective. Finally we show that our results extend to generic interaction terms.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Global and local thermometry schemes in coupled quantum systems

We study the ultimate bounds on the estimation of temperature for an interacting quantum system. We consider two coupled bosonic modes that are assumed to be thermal and using quantum estimation theory establish the role the Hamiltonian parameters play in thermometry. We show that in the case of a conserved particle number the interaction between the modes leads to a decrease in the overall sensitivity to temperature, while interestingly, if particle exchange is allowed with the thermal bath the converse is true. We explain this dichotomy by examining the energy spectra. Finally, we devise experimentally implementable thermometry schemes that rely only on locally accessible information from the total system, showing that almost Heisenberg limited precision can still be achieved, and we address the (im)possibility for multiparameter estimation in the system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Trade-off between speed and cost in shortcuts to adiabaticity

Achieving effectively adiabatic dynamics is a ubiquitous goal in almost all areas of quantum physics. Here, we study the speed with which a quantum system can be driven when employing transitionless quantum driving. As a main result, we establish a rigorous link between this speed, the quantum speed limit, and the (energetic) cost of implementing such a shortcut to adiabaticity. Interestingly, this link elucidates a trade-off between speed and cost, namely that instantaneous manipulation is impossible as it requires an infinite cost. These findings are illustrated for two experimentally relevant systems - the parametric oscillator and the Landau-Zener model - which reveal that the spectral gap governs the quantum speed limit as well as the cost for realizing the shortcut.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Dynamics and Asymptotics of Correlations in a Many-Body Localized System

We examine the dynamics of nearest-neighbor bipartite concurrence and total correlations in the spin-1/2 $XXZ$ model with random fields. We show, starting from factorized random initial states, that the concurrence can suffer entanglement sudden death in the long time limit and therefore may not be a useful indicator of the properties of the system. In contrast, we show that the total correlations capture the dynamics more succinctly, and further reveal a fundamental difference in the dynamics governed by the ergodic versus many-body localized phases, with the latter exhibiting dynamical oscillations. Finally, we consider an initial state composed of several singlet pairs and show that by fixing the correlation properties, while the dynamics do not reveal noticeable differences between the phases, the long-time values of the correlation measures appear to indicate the critical region.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics of Harmonically Trapped Bosons

We apply the framework of non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics to the physics of quenched small-sized bosonic quantum gases in a one-dimensional harmonic trap. We show that dynamical orthogonality can occur in these few-body systems with strong interactions after a quench and we find its occurrence analytically for an infinitely repulsive pair of atoms. We further show this phenomena is related to the fundamental excitations that dictate the dynamics from the spectral function. We establish a clear qualitative link between the amount of (irreversible) work performed on the system and the establishment of entanglement. We extend our analysis to multipartite systems by examining the case of three trapped atoms. We show the initial (pre-quench) interactions play a vital role in determining the dynamical features, while the qualitative features of the two particle case appear to remain valid. Finally, we propose the use of the atomic density profile as a readily accessible indicator of the non-equilibrium properties of the systems in question.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Cost of counterdiabatic driving and work output

Unitary processes allow for the transfer of work to and from Hamiltonian systems. However, to achieve nonzero power for the practical extraction of work, these processes must be performed within a finite time, which inevitably induces excitations in the system. We show that depending on the time scale of the process and the physical realization of the external driving employed, the use of counterdiabatic quantum driving to extract more work is not always effective. We also show that by virtue of the two-time energy measurement definition of quantum work, the cost of counterdiabatic driving can be significantly reduced by selecting a restricted form of the driving Hamiltonian that depends on the outcome of the first energy measurement. Lastly, we introduce a measure, the exigency, that quantifies the need for an external driving to preserve quantum adiabaticity which does not require knowledge of the explicit form of the counterdiabatic drivings, and can thus always be computed. We apply our analysis to systems ranging from a two-level Landau-Zener problem to many-body problems, namely, the quantum Ising and Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Criticality revealed through quench dynamics the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model

We examine the dynamics after a sudden quench in the magnetic field of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model. Starting from the groundstate and by employing the time-dependent fidelity, we see manifestly different dynamics are present if the system is quenched through the critical point. Furthermore, we show that the average work shows no sensitivity to the quantum phase transition, however the free energy and irreversible work show markedly different rates of change in each phase. Finally, we assess the spectral function showing the fundamental excitations that dictate the dynamics of the post-quenched system, further highlighting the qualitative differences between the dynamics in the two phases.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Multipartite quantum and classical correlations in symmetric n-qubit mixed states

We discuss how to calculate genuine multipartite quantum and classical correlations in symmetric, spatially invariant, mixed $n$-qubit density matrices. We show that the existence of symmetries greatly reduces the amount of free parameters to be optimized in order to find the optimal measurement that minimizes the conditional entropy in the discord calculation. We apply this approach to the states exhibited dynamically during a thermodynamic protocol to extract maximum work. We also apply the symmetry criterion to a wide class of physically relevant cases of spatially homogeneous noise over multipartite entangled states. Exploiting symmetries we are able to calculate the nonlocal and genuine quantum features of these states and note some interesting properties.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Equilibration and nonclassicality of a double-well potential

A double well loaded with bosonic atoms represents an ideal candidate to simulate some of the most interesting aspects in the phenomenology of thermalisation and equilibration. Here we report an exhaustive analysis of the dynamics and steady state properties of such a system locally in contact with different temperature reservoirs. We show that thermalisation only occurs 'accidentally'. We further examine the nonclassical features and energy fluxes implied by the dynamics of the double-well system, thus exploring its finite-time thermodynamics in relation to the settlement of nonclassical correlations between the wells.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Characterization and properties of weakly optimal entanglement witnesses

We present an analysis of the properties and characteristics of weakly optimal entanglement witnesses, that is witnesses whose expectation value vanishes on at least one product vector. Any weakly optimal entanglement witness can be written as the form of $W^{wopt}=σ-c_σ^{max} I$, where $c_σ^{max}$ is a non-negative number and $I$ is the identity matrix. We show the relation between the weakly optimal witness $W^{wopt}$ and the eigenvalues of the separable states $σ$. Further we give an application of weakly optimal witnesses for constructing entanglement witnesses in a larger Hilbert space by extending the result of [P. Badzicag {\it et al}, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 88}, 010301(R) (2013)], and we examine their geometric properties.

quant-ph↗