Quantum phase transitions in the sub-Ohmic spin-boson model: failure of the quantum-classical mapping

The effective theories for many quantum phase transitions can be mapped onto those of classical transitions. Here we show that the naive mapping fails for the sub-Ohmic spin-boson model which describes a two-level system coupled to a bosonic bath with power-law spectral density, J(omega) proportional, variantomega(s). Using an epsilon expansion we prove that this model has a quantum transition controlled by an interacting fixed point at small s, and support this by numerical calculations. In contrast, the corresponding classical long-range Ising model is known to display mean-field transition behavior for 0 < s < 1/2, controlled by a noninteracting fixed point. The failure of the quantum-classical mapping is argued to arise from the long-ranged interaction in imaginary time in the quantum model.     

How many bits does it take to track an open quantum system?

A D-dimensional Markovian open quantum system will undergo quantum jumps between pure states, if we can monitor the bath to which it is coupled with sufficient precision. In general, these jumps, plus the between-jump evolution, create a trajectory which passes through infinitely many different pure states. Here we show that, for any ergodic master equation, one can expect to find an adaptive monitoring scheme on the bath that can confine the system state to jumping between only K states, for some K ≥ (D - 1)(2) + 1. For D = 2 we explicitly construct a two-state ensemble for any ergodic master equation, showing that one bit is always sufficient to track a qubit.     

Quantum extension of the Jarzynski relation: analogy with stochastic dephasing

The relation between the distribution of work performed on a classical system by an external force switched on an arbitrary time scale and the corresponding equilibrium free energy difference is generalized to quantum systems. Using the adiabatic representation, we show that this relation holds for isolated systems as well as for systems coupled to a bath described by a master equation. A close formal analogy is established between the present "classical trajectory" picture over populations of adiabatic states and phase fluctuations (dephasing) of a quantum coherence in spectral line shapes, described by the stochastic Liouville equation.     

Influences of Initial States on Entanglement Dynamics of Two Central Spins in a Spin Environment

We investigate the entanglement dynamics of two electronic spins coupled to a bath of nuclear spins for two special cases, one is that two central spins both interact with a common bath, and the other is that one of two spins interacts with a bath. We consider three types of initial states with different correlations between the system and the bath, i.e., quantum correlation, classical correlation, and no-correlation. We show that the initial correlations (no matter quantum correlations or classical correlations) can effectively avoid the occurrence of entanglement sudden death. Irrespective of whether both two spins or only one of the two spins interacts with the bath, the system can gain more entanglement in the process of the time evolution for initial quantum correlations. In addition, we find that the effects of the distribution of coupling constants on entanglement dynamics crucially depend on the initial state of the spin bath.     

Quantum decoherence and classical correlations of the harmonic oscillator in the Lindblad theory

In the framework of the Lindblad theory for open quantum systems we determine the degree of quantum decoherence and classical correlations of a harmonic oscillator interacting with a thermal bath. The transition from quantum to classical behaviour of the considered system is analysed and it is shown that the classicality takes place during a finite interval of time. We calculate also the decoherence time and show that it has the same scale as the time after which statistical fluctuations become comparable with quantum fluctuations.     

Quantum decoherence in the theory of open systems

Within the framework of the Lindblad theory for open quantum systems, we determine the degree of quantum decoherence of a harmonic oscillator interacting with a thermal bath. It is found that the system manifests a quantum decoherence which is more and more significant in time. We also calculate the decoherence time scale and analyze the transition from quantum to classical behavior of the considered system. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Quantum Speed Limit for Dynamics of Central Spin Model with Initial System-Bath Correlations

We investigate the quantum speed limit (QSL) time of an electronic spin coupled to a bath of nuclear spins. We consider three types of initial states with different correlations between the system and bath, i.e., quantum correlation, classical correlation, and no any correlation. Interestingly, we show that the QSL times of the central spin for these three types of initial correlations are identical when the couplings are homogeneous. However, it is remarkable different for inhomogenous couplings. The QSL time of the central spin is sensitive to the initial states, the average coupling strength, the distribution of the couplings between the system and bath and the number of the nuclear spins in the bath. Furthermore, we find that the coherence in the initial state has significant influences on the QSL time of the system, and can lead to the increase of QSL time for homogeneous couplings.     

Long time behavior in the quantized standard map with dissipation

A dissipative version of the quantized standard map is constructed by analytical means and iterated numerically to study the long time behavior in various regions of the damping rate. For weak dissipation, stochastic transitions induced by the heat bath disrupt the localization in the action variable, which suppresses chaotic motion in the conservative quantized standard map, and tend to restore diffusion of action. A steady state is reached on the time scale of classical relaxation. For strong dissipation, observable deviations from classical behavior both in the transients and in the statey state are due to quantum noise. They are reproduced by a classical stochastic map which is approached by the dissipative quantum map as its semi-classical limit.     

On spin systems with quenched randomness: Classical and quantum

The rounding of first-order phase transitions by quenched randomness is stated in a form which is applicable to both classical and quantum systems: The free energy, as well as the ground state energy, of a spin system on a d-dimensional lattice is continuously differentiable with respect to any parameter in the Hamiltonian to which some randomness has been added when d≤2. This implies absence of jumps in the associated order parameter, e.g., the magnetization in the case of a random magnetic field. A similar result applies in cases of continuous symmetry breaking for d≤4. Some questions concerning the behavior of related order parameters in such random systems are discussed.     

Electron transfer controlled by conformational variations of a strongly dissipative system

In this paper, there is given a formulation of electron transfer in the system where the conformational transitions are present. The conformation changes were described as classical telegraphic noise. In the work it was assumed that electron transfer reaction can be completely interrupted by the fluctuation of the electronic coupling. A functional-integral formalism to the dynamics of a two-state system was used. The results have been derived within the noninteracting blip approximation with respect to the quantum fluctuations of the heat bath.     

囚禁单离子的量子阻尼运动

用包含偶极和四极虚势能项的非厄米哈密顿算符来描述Paul阱中囚禁阻尼单离子在静电场下的量子运动.通过导出和分析系统的精确解,得到在PT对称和不对称情形下的不同实能谱与稳定量子态,以及PT不对称情形的虚能谱和衰减量子态,同时给出相应于不同态的参数区域和存活概率.结果发现该非厄米系统外场参数能惟一确定量子稳定态并导致波函数形态变化,据此提出非相干操控相应量子跃迁的方法.让量子态衰减导致的离子位置期待值的衰减与经典阻尼谐振子的衰减一致,得到虚势能参数与经典阻尼参数的对应关系.所得结果将进一步丰富具有广泛应用背景的囚禁离子动力学.     

超导量子比特中的量子跳跃方法

量子力学自建立以来很长一段时间被当作是描述系综运动的理论.但是上世纪80年代对冈禁离子和原子的研究观测到了量子跳跃现象,迫使人们发展了一些能够用于单量子系统的方法,其中之一就是量子跳跃方法.本文总结了我们近来把量子跳跃方法应用到以约瑟夫森隧道结为基础的超导量子比特的工作.我们不但实验观测到宏观量子系统中的量子跳跃,还可以利用量子跳跃现象来研究固体中普遍存在的两能级系统及其引起的超导量子比特中的退相干.     

Projections of quantum observables onto classical degrees of freedom in mixed quantum-classical simulations: understanding linear response failure for the photoexcited hydrated electron

We present a general analytic method for understanding how specific motions of a classical bath influence the dynamics of quantum-mechanical observables in mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics simulations. We apply our method and develop expressions for the special case of quantum solvation, allowing us to examine how specific classical solvent motions couple to the equilibrium energy fluctuations and nonequilibrium energy relaxation of a quantum-mechanical solute. As a first application of our formalism, we investigate the motions of classical water underlying the equilibrium and nonequilibrium excited-state solvent response functions of the hydrated electron; the results allow us to explain why the linear response approximation fails for this system.     

Anomalous decoherence effect in a quantum bath

Decoherence of quantum objects in noisy environments is important in quantum sciences and technologies. It is generally believed that different processes coupled to the same noise source have similar decoherence behaviors and stronger noises cause faster decoherence. Here we show that in a quantum bath, the case can be the opposite. We predict that the multitransition of a nitrogen-vacancy center spin-1 in diamond can have longer coherence time than the single transitions, even though the former suffers twice stronger noises from the nuclear spin bath than the latter. This anomalous decoherence effect is due to manipulation of the bath evolution via flips of the center spin.     

Nonequilibrium steady state in open quantum systems: Influence action,stochastic equation and power balance

The existence and uniqueness of a steady state for nonequilibrium systems (NESS) is a fundamental subject and a main theme of research in statistical mechanics for decades. For Gaussian systems, such as a chain of classical harmonic oscillators connected at each end to a heat bath, and for classical anharmonic oscillators under specified conditions, definitive answers exist in the form of proven theorems. Answering this question for quantum many-body systems poses a challenge for the present. In this work we address this issue by deriving the stochastic equations for the reduced system with self-consistent backaction from the two baths, calculating the energy flow from one bath to the chain to the other bath, and exhibiting a power balance relation in the total (chain + baths) system which testifies to the existence of a NESS in this system at late times. Its insensitivity to the initial conditions of the chain corroborates to its uniqueness. The functional method we adopt here entails the use of the influence functional, the coarse-grained and stochastic effective actions, from which one can derive the stochastic equations and calculate the average values of physical variables in open quantum systems. This involves both taking the expectation values of quantum operators of the system and the distributional averages of stochastic variables stemming from the coarse-grained environment. This method though formal in appearance is compact and complete. It can also easily accommodate perturbative techniques and diagrammatic methods from field theory. Taken all together it provides a solid platform for carrying out systematic investigations into the nonequilibrium dynamics of open quantum systems and quantum thermodynamics.     

The second law of thermodynamics in the quantum Brownian oscillator at an arbitrary temperature

In the classical limit no work is needed to couple a system to a bath with sufficiently weak coupling strength (or with arbitrarily finite coupling strength for a linear system) at the same temperature. In the quantum domain this may be expected to change due to system-bath entanglement. Here we show analytically that the work needed to couple a single linear oscillator with finite strength to a bath cannot be less than the work obtainable from the oscillator when it decouples from the bath. Therefore, the quantum second law holds for an arbitrary temperature. This is a generalization of the previous results for zero temperature [Ford and O'Connell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 020402 (2006); Kim and Mahler, Eur. Phys. J. B 54, 405 (2006)]; in the high temperature limit we recover the classical behavior.