Quantum Thermal Amplifiers with Engineered Dissipation

A three-terminal device, able to control the heat currents flowing through it, is known as a quantum thermal transistor whenever it amplifies two output currents as a response to the external source acting on its third terminal. Several efforts have been proposed in the direction of addressing different engineering options of the configuration of the system. Here, we adhere to the scheme in which such a device is implemented as a three-qubit system that interacts with three separate thermal baths. However, another interesting direction is how to engineer the thermal reservoirs to magnify the current amplification. Here, we derive a quantum dynamical equation for the evolution of the system to study the role of distinct dissipative thermal noises. We compare the amplification gain in different configurations and analyze the role of the correlations in a system exhibiting the thermal transistor effect, via measures borrowed from the quantum information theory.     

Quantum Thermalization and Thermal Entanglement in the Open Quantum Rabi Model

Quantum thermalization and thermal entanglement in the open quantum Rabi model (QRM), in which a two-level system and a single-mode bosonic field are coupled to either two individual heat baths or a common heat bath, are studied. By treating the QRM as an effective multilevel system and deriving global quantum master equations in the eigenstate representation of the QRM, the physical conditions for quantum thermalization of the QRM is studied. It is found that, in the individual heat-bath case, the QRM can only be thermalized when either the two heat baths have the same temperature or the QRM is only coupled to one of the two baths. In the common heat-bath case, differently, the QRM can always be thermalized. Thermal entanglement of the QRM in both the resonant- and non-resonant coupling cases is also studied. The logarithmic negativity for the thermal state of the QRM is obtained in a wide parameter space, ranging from the low- to high-temperature limits, and from the weak- to deep-strong-coupling regimes. This work paves the way toward the study of quantum effects in nonequilibrium ultrastrongly-coupled light-matter systems.     

Environment-Assisted Modulation of Heat Flux in a Bio-Inspired System Based on Collision Model

The high energy transfer efficiency of photosynthetic complexes has been a topic of research across many disciplines. Several attempts have been made in order to explain this energy transfer enhancement in terms of quantum mechanical resources such as energetic and vibration coherence and constructive effects of environmental noise. The developments in this line of research have inspired various biomimetic works aiming to use the underlying mechanisms in biological light harvesting complexes for the improvement of synthetic systems. In this article, we explore the effect of an auxiliary hierarchically structured environment interacting with a system on the steady-state heat transport across the system. The cold and hot baths are modeled by a series of identically prepared qubits in their respective thermal states, and we use a collision model to simulate the open quantum dynamics of the system. We investigate the effects of system-environment, inter-environment couplings and coherence of the structured environment on the steady state heat flux and find that such a coupling enhances the energy transfer. Our calculations reveal that there exists a non-monotonic and non-trivial relationship between the steady-state heat flux and the mentioned parameters.     

Quantum Thermalization and Vanishing Thermal Entanglement in the Open Jaynes–Cummings Model

The quantum thermalization of the Jaynes–Cummings (JC) model in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium open-system cases is studied, in which the two subsystems, a two-level system and a single-mode bosonic field, are in contact with either two individual heat baths or a common heat bath. It is found that in the individual heat-bath case, the JC model can only be thermalized when either the two heat baths have the same temperature or the coupling of the JC system to one of the two baths is turned off. In the common heat-bath case, the JC system can be thermalized irrespective of the bath temperature and the system–bath coupling strengths. The thermal entanglement in this system is also studied. A counterintuitive phenomenon of vanishing thermal entanglement in the JC system is found and proved.     

量子BB84协议在联合旋转噪音信道上的安全性分析

多数在理想条件下设计的量子密码协议没有考虑实际通信中噪音的影响,可能造成机密信息不能被准确传输,或可能存在窃听隐藏在噪音中的风险,因此分析噪音条件下量子密码协议的安全性具有重要的意义.为了分析量子BB84协议在联合旋转噪音信道上的安全性,本文采用粒子偏转模型,对量子信道中的联合噪音进行建模,定量地区分量子信道中噪音和窃听干扰;并且采用冯·诺依曼熵理论建立窃听者能窃取的信息量与量子比特误码率、噪音水平三者之间的函数关系,定量地分析噪音条件下量子信道的安全性;最后根据联合噪音模型及窃听者能窃取的信息量与量子比特误码率、噪音水平三者之间的关系,定量地分析了量子BB84协议在联合噪音条件下的安全性并计算噪音临界点.通过分析可知,在已有噪音水平条件下,窃听者最多能够从通信双方窃取25%的密钥,但是Eve的窃听行为会被检测出来,这样Alice和Bob会放弃当前协商的密钥,重新进行密钥协商,直至确认没有Eve的窃听为止.这个结果说明量子BB84协议在联合旋转噪音信道下的通信是安全的.     

Heralded amplification of single-photon entanglement with polarization feature

Heralded noiseless amplification is beneficial in overcoming transmission photon loss in a noisy quantum channel. We propose a single-photon-assisted heralded noiseless amplification protocol of the singlephoton entanglement (SPE), where the single-photon qubit has an arbitrary unknown polarization feature. We focus on both the complete and partial photon loss during the transmission process. After the amplification, the parties can recover the pure less-entangled SPE into a maximally entangled SPE and increase its fidelity. Moreover, the polarization feature of the single-photon qubit will be well preserved and not be leaked. Our protocol can be realized under our current experimental condition. Based on the features above, our protocol may be useful in the quantum secure communication schemes that encode information in the polarization degree of freedom of photons.     

Suppressing laser phase noise in an optomechanical system

We propose a scheme to suppress the laser phase noise without increasing the optomechanical single-photon coupling strength.In the scheme,the parametric amplification terms,created by Kerr and Duffing nonlinearities,can restrain laser phase noise and strengthen the effective optomechanical coupling,respectively.Interestingly,decreasing laser phase noise leads to increasing thermal noise,which is inhibited by bringing in a broadband-squeezed vacuum environment.To reflect the superiority of the scheme,we simulate quantum memory and stationary optomechanical entanglement as examples,and the corresponding numerical results demonstrate that the laser phase noise is extremely suppressed.Our method can pave the way for studying other quantum phenomena.     

Disentanglement of Two Qubits Coupled to an XY Spin Chain at Finite Temperature

The disentanglement evolution of bipartite spin-1/2 system coupled to a common surrounding XY chain in transverse fields at nonzero temperature is studied in this letter. The dynamical process of the entanglement is numerically and analytically investigated. We find that thermal effects can enhance disentanglement if the entangled initial state of the central spins does not in the decoherence free space. The critical phenomenon of quantum phase transitions reflected in the disentanglement can be washed out by the thermal effect eventually.     

Thermal Entanglement and Correlated Coherence in Two Coupled Double Quantum Dots Systems

In this work, the thermal quantum correlations in two coupled double semiconductor charge qubits are investigated. This is carried out by deriving analytical expressions for both the thermal concurrence and the correlated coherence. The effects of the tunneling parameters, the Coulomb interaction, and the temperature on the thermal entanglement and on the correlated coherence are studied in detail. It is found that the Coulomb potential plays an important role in the thermal entanglement and in the correlated coherence of the system. The results also indicate that the Coulomb potential can be used for significant enhancement of the thermal entanglement and quantum coherence. One interesting aspect is that the correlated coherence capture all the thermal entanglement at low temperatures, that is, the local coherences are totally transferred to the thermal entanglement. Finally, the role played by thermal entanglement and the correlated coherence responsible for quantum correlations are focused on. It is shown that in all cases, the correlated coherence is more robust than the thermal entanglement so that quantum algorithms based only on correlated coherence may be more robust than those based on entanglement.     

硅纳米结构晶体管中与杂质量子点相关的量子输运

在小于10 nm的沟道空间中,杂质数目和杂质波动范围变得十分有限,这对器件性能有很大的影响.局域纳米空间中的电离杂质还能够展现出量子点特性,为电荷输运提供两个分立的杂质能级.利用杂质原子作为量子输运构件的硅纳米结构晶体管有望成为未来量子计算电路的基本组成器件.本文结合安德森定域化理论和Hubbard带模型对单个、分立和耦合杂质原子系统中的量子输运特性进行了综述,系统介绍了提升杂质原子晶体管工作温度的方法.     

Mesoscopic photon heat transistor

We show that the heat transport between two bodies, mediated by electromagnetic fluctuations, can be controlled with an intermediate quantum circuit--leading to the device concept of a mesoscopic photon heat transistor (MPHT). Our theoretical analysis is based on a novel Meir-Wingreen-Landauer-type of conductance formula, which gives the photonic heat current through an arbitrary circuit element coupled to two dissipative reservoirs at finite temperatures. As an illustration we present an exact solution for the case when the intermediate circuit can be described as an electromagnetic resonator. We discuss in detail how the MPHT can be implemented experimentally in terms of a flux-controlled SQUID circuit.     

Rise of quantum correlations in non-Markovian environments in continuous-variable systems

We investigate the time evolution of quantum correlations, which are measured by Gaussian quantum discord in a continuous-variable bipartite system subject to common and independent non-Markovian environments. Considering an initial two-mode Gaussian symmetric squeezed thermal state, we show that quantum correlations can be created during the non-Markovian evolution, which is different from the Markovian process. Furthermore, we find that the temperature is a key factor during the evolution in non-Markovian environments. For common reservoirs, a maximum creation of quantum correlations may occur under an appropriate temperature. For independent reservoirs, the non-Markovianity of the total system corresponds to the subsystem whose temperature is higher. In both common and independent environments, the Gaussian quantum discord is influenced by the temperature and the photon number of each mode.     

基于石墨烯-钙钛矿量子点场效应晶体管的光电探测器

以等离子增强化学气相沉积法制备的石墨烯作为导电沟道材料,将其与无机CsPbI_3钙钛矿量子点结合,设计并制备了石墨烯-钙钛矿量子点场效应晶体管光电探测器.研究和分析了石墨烯作为场效应晶体管的电学特性及其与钙钛矿量子点结合作为光电探测器的光电特性.结果表明,石墨烯在场效应晶体管中表现出良好的电学性质,其与钙钛矿量子点的结合对波长为400 nm的光辐射具有明显的光响应,在光强为12μW时器件光生电流最大为64μA,响应率达6.4 A·W~(-1),对应的光电导增益和探测率分别为3.7×10~4,6×10~7Jones(1 Jones=1 cm·Hz~(1/2)·W~(-1)).     

Managing Quantum Heat Transfer in a Nonequilibrium Qubit-Phonon Hybrid System with Coherent Phonon States

We investigate quantum heat transfer in a nonequilibrium qubit-phonon hybrid open system,dissipated by external bosonic thermal reservoirs.By applying coherent phonon states embedded in the dressed quantum master equation,we are capable of dealing with arbitrary qubit-phonon coupling strength.It is counterintuitively found that the effect of negative differential thermal conductance is absent at strong qubit-phonon hybridization,but becomes profound at weak qubit-phonon coupling regime.The underlying mechanism of decreasing heat flux by increasing the temperature bias relies on the unidirectional transitions from the up-spin displaced coherent phonon states to the down-spin counterparts,which seriously freezes the qubit and prevents the system from completing a thermodynamic cycle.Finally,the effects of perfect thermal rectification and giant heat amplification are unraveled,thanks to the effect of negative differential thermal conductance.These results of the nonequilibrium qubit-phonon open system would have potential implications in smart energy control and functional design of phononic hybrid quantum devices.     

Quantum Privacy Amplification for a Sequence of Single Qubits

We present a scheme for quantum privacy amplification (QPA) for a sequence of single qubits. The QPA procedure uses a unitary operation with two controlled-not gates and a Hadamard gate. Every two qubits are performed with the unitary gate operation, and a measurement is made on one photon and the other one is retained.The retained qubit carries the state information of the discarded one. In this way, the information leakage is reduced.The procedure can be performed repeatedly so that the information leakage is reduced to any arbitrarily low level. With this QPA scheme, the quantum secure direct communication with single qubits can be implemented with arbitrarily high security. We also exploit this scheme to do privacy amplification on the single qubits in quantum information sharing for long-distance communication with quantum repeaters.     

Quantum Privacy Amplification for a Sequence of Single Qubits

We present a scheme for quantum privacy amplification （QPA） for a sequence of single qubits. The QPA procedure uses a unitary operation with two controlled-not gates and a Hadamard gate. Every two qubits are performed with the unitary gate operation, and a measurement is made on one photon and the other one is retained. The retained qubit carries the state information of the discarded one. In this way, the information leakage is reduced. The procedure can be performed repeatedly so that the information leakage is reduced to any arbitrarily low level. With this QPA scheme, the quantum secure direct communication with single qubits can be implemented with arbitrarily high security. We also exploit this scheme to do privacy amplification on the single qubits in quantum information sharing for long-distance communication with quantum repeaters.     

Activation-Like Processes at Zero Temperature

We examine the possibility that a metastable quantum state could experiment a phenomenon similar to thermal activation but at zero temperature. To do that we study the real-time dynamics of the reduced Wigner function in a simple open quantum system: an anharmonic oscillator with a cubic potential linearly interacting with an environment of harmonic oscillators. Our results suggest that this activation-like phenomenon exists indeed as a consequence of the fluctuations induced by the environment and that its associated decay rate is comparable to the tunneling rate as computed by the instanton method, at least for the particular potential of the system and the distribution of frequencies for the environment considered in this paper. However, we are not able to properly deal with the term which leads to tunneling in closed quantum systems, and a definite conclusion cannot be reached until tunneling and activation-like effects are considered simultaneously.     

Performance Analysis and Optimization for Irreversible Combined Carnot Heat Engine Working with Ideal Quantum Gases

An irreversible combined Carnot cycle model using ideal quantum gases as a working medium was studied by using finite-time thermodynamics. The combined cycle consisted of two Carnot sub-cycles in a cascade mode. Considering thermal resistance, internal irreversibility, and heat leakage losses, the power output and thermal efficiency of the irreversible combined Carnot cycle were derived by utilizing the quantum gas state equation. The temperature effect of the working medium on power output and thermal efficiency is analyzed by numerical method, the optimal relationship between power output and thermal efficiency is solved by the Euler-Lagrange equation, and the effects of different working mediums on the optimal power and thermal efficiency performance are also focused. The results show that there is a set of working medium temperatures that makes the power output of the combined cycle be maximum. When there is no heat leakage loss in the combined cycle, all the characteristic curves of optimal power versus thermal efficiency are parabolic-like ones, and the internal irreversibility makes both power output and efficiency decrease. When there is heat leakage loss in the combined cycle, all the characteristic curves of optimal power versus thermal efficiency are loop-shaped ones, and the heat leakage loss only affects the thermal efficiency of the combined Carnot cycle. Comparing the power output of combined heat engines with four types of working mediums, the two-stage combined Carnot cycle using ideal Fermi-Bose gas as working medium obtains the highest power output.     

Dynamics of Entropy Production Rate in Two Coupled Bosonic Modes Interacting with a Thermal Reservoir

The Markovian time evolution of the entropy production rate is studied as a measure of irreversibility generated in a bipartite quantum system consisting of two coupled bosonic modes immersed in a common thermal environment. The dynamics of the system is described in the framework of the formalism of the theory of open quantum systems based on completely positive quantum dynamical semigroups, for initial two-mode squeezed thermal states, squeezed vacuum states, thermal states and coherent states. We show that the rate of the entropy production of the initial state and nonequilibrium stationary state, and the time evolution of the rate of entropy production, strongly depend on the parameters of the initial Gaussian state (squeezing parameter and average thermal photon numbers), frequencies of modes, parameters characterising the thermal environment (temperature and dissipation coefficient), and the strength of coupling between the two modes. We also provide a comparison of the behaviour of entropy production rate and Rényi-2 mutual information present in the considered system.