Molecular dynamics study of the stability of a carbon nanotube atop a catalytic nanoparticle

The effect of spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) on the quantum heat engine (QHE) consisting of a laser system is studied in terms of its dynamical evolution and the generation of coherences. The QHE is coupled to the two thermal photon reservoirs, a squeezed thermal bath as well as to a cavity mode. The coherence associated with the transition interacting with squeezed reservoir and the average thermal photon number of the hot (as well as cold) reservoir shows a non monotonous behavior between them. The dynamics along with generated coherences of the system and the laser power emitted depend sensitively on the hot, cold and squeezed reservoir parameters.     

Steady state quantum discord for circularly accelerated atoms

We study, in the framework of open quantum systems, the dynamics of quantum entanglement and quantum discord of two mutually independent circularly accelerated two-level atoms in interaction with a bath of fluctuating massless scalar fields in the Minkowski vacuum. We assume that the two atoms rotate synchronically with their separation perpendicular to the rotating plane. The time evolution of the quantum entanglement and quantum discord of the two-atom system is investigated. For a maximally entangled initial state, the entanglement measured by concurrence diminishes to zero within a finite time, while the quantum discord can either decrease monotonically to an asymptotic value or diminish to zero at first and then followed by a revival depending on whether the initial state is antisymmetric or symmetric. When both of the two atoms are initially excited, the generation of quantum entanglement shows a delayed feature, while quantum discord is created immediately. Remarkably, the quantum discord for such a circularly accelerated two-atom system takes a nonvanishing value in the steady state, and this is distinct from what happens in both the linear acceleration case and the case of static atoms immersed in a thermal bath.     

Sudden transition from finite temperature spin environments

We investigate the phenomenon of sudden transition from finite temperature critical environments in the study of quantum correlations of a two-qubit system coupled to independent thermal Ising baths. The influence of the temperature and external field of bath on the critical time of sudden transition is also explored. It is found that the phenomenon of sudden transition can be used to detect the critical points of thermal spin environments. How to protect quantum correlations of the system is also examined by applying a series of π-phase pulses.     

Thermoelectricity without absorbing energy from the heat sources

We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs – one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple heat-engine, in which the active region being heated is unavoidably also exchanging heat with its cold environment. Heat exchange between the dot and the thermal reservoirs is treated as a capacitive coupling to electronic fluctuations in localized levels, modeled as two additional quantum dots. The resulting multiple-dot setup is described using a master equation approach. We observe an “exotic” power generation, which remains finite even when the heat absorbed from the thermal reservoirs is zero (in other words the heat coming from the hot reservoir all escapes into the cold environment). This effect can be understood in terms of a non-local effect in which the heat flow from heat source to the cold environment generates power via a mechanism which we refer to as Coulomb heat drag. It relies on the fact that there is no relaxation in the quantum dot system, so electrons within it have a non-thermal energy distribution. More poetically, one can say that we find a spatial separation of the first-law of thermodynamics (heat to work conversion) from the second-law of thermodynamics (generation of entropy). We present circumstances in which this non-thermal system can generate more power than any conventional macroscopic thermocouple (with local thermalization), even when the latter works with Carnot efficiency.     

Reprint of : Thermoelectricity without absorbing energy from the heat sources

We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs – one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple heat-engine, in which the active region being heated is unavoidably also exchanging heat with its cold environment. Heat exchange between the dot and the thermal reservoirs is treated as a capacitive coupling to electronic fluctuations in localized levels, modeled as two additional quantum dots. The resulting multiple-dot setup is described using a master equation approach. We observe an “exotic” power generation, which remains finite even when the heat absorbed from the thermal reservoirs is zero (in other words the heat coming from the hot reservoir all escapes into the cold environment). This effect can be understood in terms of a non-local effect in which the heat flow from heat source to the cold environment generates power via a mechanism which we refer to as Coulomb heat drag. It relies on the fact that there is no relaxation in the quantum dot system, so electrons within it have a non-thermal energy distribution. More poetically, one can say that we find a spatial separation of the first-law of thermodynamics (heat to work conversion) from the second-law of thermodynamics (generation of entropy). We present circumstances in which this non-thermal system can generate more power than any conventional macroscopic thermocouple (with local thermalization), even when the latter works with Carnot efficiency.     

压缩真空态中原子与场的量子纠缠和量子discord

在压缩真空库中,研究了原子与场的相互作用下二比特体系的量子discord和量子纠缠的动力学行为.重点分析了原子的初始态系数和压缩真空库的压缩系数对量子纠缠和量子discord的影响.通过数值分析我们得到,随着原子的初始态系数和压缩真空库的压缩系数值的增加,量子纠缠和量子discord都会减小,但量子纠缠比量子discord减小的更快一些.最后研究了在原子的初始态系数和压缩真空库的压缩系数的值相同的情况下,量子discord比量子纠缠存在的时间更长些.     

Quantum dynamics at finite temperature: Time-dependent quantum Monte Carlo study

In this work we investigate the ground state and the dissipative quantum dynamics of interacting charged particles in an external potential at finite temperature. The recently devised time-dependent quantum Monte Carlo (TDQMC) method allows a self-consistent treatment of the system of particles together with bath oscillators first for imaginary-time propagation of Schrödinger type of equations where both the system and the bath converge to their finite temperature ground state, and next for real time calculation where the dissipative dynamics is demonstrated. In that context the application of TDQMC appears as promising alternative to the path-integral related techniques where the real time propagation can be a challenge.     

Dynamics control of geometric quantum discord for two coupling qubits in a squeezed vacuum reservoir

We investigate the dynamics of geometric quantum discord of coupled qubits in a squeezed vacuum reservoir. The results show that there is distinct difference between the dynamics of geometric quantum discord and that of quantum entanglement near (or away from) the decoherence free subspace. We also find that the squeezed vacuum reservoir with high squeezed amplitude is more suitable for geometric quantum discord to survive. The robustness of geometric quantum discord is stronger than that of quantum entanglement.     

Modulation of entanglement and quantum discord for circuit cavity QED states

The paper investigates the dynamic evolution behaviors of entanglement and quantum discord of coupled superconducting qubits in circuit QED system. We put emphasis on the effects of cavity field quantum state on quantum entanglement and quantum correlations dynamic behaviors of coupling superconducting qubits. The results show that, (1) generally speaking, the entanglement will appear the death and new birth because of the interaction between qubits and cavity field, on the contrary, this phenomenon will not appear in quantum discord. (2) When the cavity field is in coherent state, the entanglement survival time is controlled by the average photon number. The more the average photon number is, the longer survival time of entanglement is prolonged. Thus it has the benefit of keeping quantum correlations. (3) When the cavity field is in squeezed state, the squeezed amplitude parameters have controlling effects on quantum correlations including entanglement and quantum discord. On the one hand, the increase of squeezed amplitude parameters can prolong the survival time of entanglement, on the other hand, with the increase of squeezed amplitude parameters, the robustness of quantum discord is more and more superior to concurrence and is more advantage to keep the system quantum correlations. The further study results show that the increase of the initial relative phase of coupling superconducting qubits can also keep the quantum correlations.     

The two-qubit amplitude damping channel: Characterization using quantum stabilizer codes

A protocol based on quantum error correction based characterization of quantum dynamics (QECCD) is developed for quantum process tomography on a two-qubit system interacting dissipatively with a vacuum bath. The method uses a 5-qubit quantum error correcting code that corrects arbitrary errors on the first two qubits, and also saturates the quantum Hamming bound. The dissipative interaction with a vacuum bath allows for both correlated and independent noise on the two-qubit system. We study the dependence of the degree of the correlation of the noise on evolution time and inter-qubit separation.     

Estimation of the Parameters in a Two-State System Coupled to a Squeezed Bath

Estimation of the phase and weight parameters of a two-state system in a squeezed bath by calculating quantum Fisher information is investigated. The results show that, both for the phase estimation and for the weight estimation, the quantum Fisher information always decays with time and changes periodically with the phases. The estimation precision can be enhanced by choosing the proper values of the phases and the squeezing parameter. These results can be provided as an analysis reference for the practical application of the parameter estimation in a squeezed bath.     

真空场注入三态叠加MFSS光场广义电场的等幂偶次Y压缩

对真空场注入三态叠加MFSS(多模泛函叠加态)光场|ψ_0~(3)〉q广义电场分量的等幂次偶次振幅压缩特性进行了详细研究,分析了光场经典强度、经典振幅和经典相位的任意空间分布特征、以及真空场注入对该光场的广义电场分量的等幂偶次Y压缩效应其压缩幅度和压缩量的影响。结果发现:导致态|ψ_0~(3)〉q的广义电场分量存在等幂偶次2m次方Y压缩效应的根本原因在于模间的量子干涉效应、态间的量子干涉效应以及模间和态间的量子纠缠效应;真空场注入可使该光场广义电场分量的2m次方Y压缩效应增强、压缩幅度增大、压缩程度加深。     

Quantum point contacts as heat engines

The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is a small probability that a mesoscopic heat engine exceeds Carnot's maximum value during a short measurement time. We illustrate this effect using a quantum point contact as a heat engine. When a temperature difference is applied to a quantum point contact, the system may be utilized as a source of electrical power under steady state conditions. We first discuss the optimal working point of such a heat engine that maximizes the generated electrical power and subsequently calculate the statistics for deviations of the efficiency from its most likely value. We find that deviations surpassing the Carnot limit are possible, but unlikely.     

Enhancement of charging performance of quantum battery via quantum coherence of bath

An open quantum battery (QB) model of a single qubit system charging in a coherent auxiliary bath (CAB) consisting of a series of independent coherent ancillae is considered. According to the collision charging protocol we derive a quantum master equation and obtain the analytical solution of QB in a steady state. We find that the full charging capacity (or the maximal extractable work (MEW)) of QB, in the weak QB-ancilla coupling limit, is positively correlated with the coherence magnitude of ancilla. Combining with the numerical simulations we compare with the charging properties of QB at finite coupling strength, such as the MEW, average charging power and the charging efficiency, when considering the bath to be a thermal auxiliary bath (TAB) and a CAB, respectively. We find that when the QB with CAB, in the weak coupling regime, is in fully charging, both its capacity and charging efficiency can go beyond its classical counterpart, and they increase with the increase of coherence magnitude of ancilla. In addition, the MEW of QB in the regime of relative strong coupling and strong coherent magnitude shows the oscillatory behavior with the charging time increasing, and the first peak value can even be larger than the full charging MEW of QB. This also leads to a much larger average charging power than that of QB with TAB in a short-time charging process. These features suggest that with the help of quantum coherence of CAB it becomes feasible to switch the charging schemes between the long-time slow charging protocol with large capacity and high efficiency and the short-time rapid charging protocol with highly charging power only by adjusting the coupling strength of QB-ancilla. This work clearly demonstrates that the quantum coherence of bath can not only serve as the role of "fuel" of QB to be utilized to improve the QB's charging performance but also provide an alternative way to integrate the different charging protocols into a single QB.     

Reprint of : Quantum point contacts as heat engines

The efficiency of macroscopic heat engines is restricted by the second law of thermodynamics. They can reach at most the efficiency of a Carnot engine. In contrast, heat currents in mesoscopic heat engines show fluctuations. Thus, there is a small probability that a mesoscopic heat engine exceeds Carnot's maximum value during a short measurement time. We illustrate this effect using a quantum point contact as a heat engine. When a temperature difference is applied to a quantum point contact, the system may be utilized as a source of electrical power under steady state conditions. We first discuss the optimal working point of such a heat engine that maximizes the generated electrical power and subsequently calculate the statistics for deviations of the efficiency from its most likely value. We find that deviations surpassing the Carnot limit are possible, but unlikely.     

Non-Markovian weak coupling limit of quantum Brownian motion

We derive and solve analytically the non-Markovian master equation for harmonic quantum Brownian motion proving that, for weak system-reservoir couplings and high temperatures, it can be recast in the form of the master equation for a harmonic oscillator interacting with a squeezed thermal bath. This equivalence guarantees preservation of positivity of the density operator during the time evolution and allows one to establish a connection between the dynamics of Schrödinger cat states in squeezed environments and environment-induced decoherence in quantum Brownian motion.

     

Dynamics and protection of tripartite quantum correlations in a thermal bath

We study the dynamics and protection of tripartite quantum correlations in terms of genuinely tripartite concurrence, lower bound of concurrence and tripartite geometric quantum discord in a three-qubit system interacting with independent thermal bath. By comparing the dynamics of entanglement with that of quantum discord for initial GHZ state and W state, we find that W state is more robust than GHZ state, and quantum discord performs better than entanglement against the decoherence induced by the thermal bath. When the bath temperature is low, for the initial GHZ state, combining weak measurement and measurement reversal is necessary for a successful protection of quantum correlations. But for the initial W state, the protection depends solely upon the measurement reversal. In addition, the protection cannot usually be realized irrespective of the initial states as the bath temperature increases.     

Thermodynamics of relativistic quantum fields confined in cavities

We investigate the quantum thermodynamical properties of localised relativistic quantum fields, and how they can be used as quantum thermal machines. We study the efficiency and power of energy transfer between the classical gravitational degrees of freedom, such as the energy input due to the motion of boundaries or an impinging gravitational wave, and the excitations of a confined quantum field. We find that the efficiency of energy transfer depends dramatically on the input initial state of the system. Furthermore, we investigate the ability of the system to extract energy from a gravitational wave and store it in a battery. This process is inefficient in optical cavities but is significantly enhanced when employing trapped Bose Einstein condensates. We also employ standard fluctuation results to obtain the work probability distribution, which allows us to understand how the efficiency is related to the dissipation of work. Finally, we apply our techniques to a setup where an impinging gravitational wave excites the phononic modes of a Bose Einstein condensate. We find that, in this case, the percentage of energy transferred to the phonons approaches unity after a suitable amount of time. These results give a quantitative insight into the thermodynamic behaviour of relativistic quantum fields confined in cavities.     

Quantum stochastic differential equation for squeezed light

In this paper, the quantum stochastic differential equation (QSDE) is derived which is based on explanatory for interaction of open quantum system with squeezed quantum noise. This equation describes the stochastic evolution of unitary operator and is used to compute the evolution of quantum observable and output field. Our QSDE has complete form with respect to previous QSDE for squeezed light, because it bears three fundamental quantum noises for its evolution and the scattering between quantum channels is included. Meanwhile, when squeezed noise reduces to vacuum noise, our QSDE reveals the famous Hudson-Parthasarathy QSDE. Our equations may have application for quantum network analysis of squeezed noise interferometer for gravitational wave detection.