Exact results on decoherence and entanglement in a system of N driven atoms and a dissipative cavity mode

We solve the dynamics of an open quantum system where N strongly driven two-level atoms are equally coupled on resonance to a dissipative cavity mode. Analytical results are derived on decoherence, entanglement, purity, atomic correlations and cavity field mean photon number. We predict decoherencefree subspaces for the whole system and the N-qubit subsystem, the monitoring of quantum coherence and purity decay by atomic populations measurements, the conditional generation of atomic multi-partite entangled states and of cavity cat-like states. We show that the dynamics of atoms prepared in states invariant under permutation of any two components remains restricted within the subspace spanned by the completely symmetric Dicke states. We discuss examples and applications in the cases N = 3, 4. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Scalable preparation of three-atom and four-atom W states via atom-cavity-laser interaction

We propose the optical generation of W states for three atomic and four atomic qubits, with each qubit trapped in a separate cavity and coupled to the cavity laser. A single-photon source and two classical fields are employed in the present scheme. By encoding the quantum information of each qubit on the degenerate ground states of the atom, we obtain the atomic entanglement that is relatively stable against spontaneous emission. It is demonstrated that the three- and four-atomic W states can be produced deterministically via a proper manipulation of the atom-cavity interaction sequence and time. Generalization of the present scheme to prepare multi-atomic W states is also discussed.     

Scheme for the preparation of macroscopicW-type state of atomic ensembles in cavity QED coulped with optical fibers

We propose a potentially practical scheme to generate macroscopic W-type state of N atomic ensembles in cavity QED system consisting of N atomic ensembles trapped in N single-mode cavities connected by(N 1)optical fibers.We show that the N-qubit W-type state of atomic ensembles can be realized with high success probabilities if the coulping strength of the cavity-fiber is much stronger than that of cavity-atom.We also show that both the growth of atomic number in each ensemble and the increase of the number of atomic ensembles can diminish the detrimental influence from dissipative processes.This idea provides a scalable way to an atomic-ensemble-based quantum network,which is plausible with current available technology.     

Decoherence in the solvable dynamics of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> strongly driven atoms coupled to a cavity mode

We present the exact solution of the dynamics of N two-level atoms strongly driven by an external coherent field and equally coupled on resonance to a cavity mode, in the presence of both cavity dissipation and atomic decay. Analytical results are presented for system and subsystem dynamics, showing how environment-induced decoherence leads the system from pure to mixed states. In the limit of negligible atomic decay, where the system is known to exhibit decoherence-free subspaces, we present a detailed discussion of the decoherence function that can be monitored by atomic population measurements.     

A Total Measure of Multi-Particle Quantum Correlations in Atomic Schrödinger Cat States

We propose a total measure of multi-particle quantum correlation in a system of N two-level atoms (N qubits). We construct a parameter that encompasses all possible quantum correlations among N two-level atoms in arbitrary symmetric pure states and define its numerical value to be the total measure of the net atom-atom correlations. We use that parameter to quantify the total quantum correlations in atomic Schrödinger cat states, which are generated by the dispersive interaction in a cavity. We study the variation of the net amount of quantum correlation as we vary the number of atoms from N=2 to N=100 and obtain some interesting results. We also study the variation of the net correlation, for fixed interaction time, as we increase the number of atoms in the excited state of the initial system, and notice some interesting features. We also observe the behaviour of the net quantum correlation as we continuously increase the interaction time, for the general state of N two-level atoms in a dispersive cavity.     

Implementation of quantum controlled phase gate and preparation of multiparticle entanglement in cavity QED

Schemes are presented for realizing quantum controlled phase gate and preparing an N-qubit W-like state, which are based on the large-detuned interaction among three-state atoms, dual-mode cavity and a classical pulse. In particular, a class of W states that can be used for perfect teleportation and superdense coding is generated by only one step. Compared with the previous schemes, cavity decay is largely suppressed because the cavity is only virtually excited and always in the vacuum state and the atomic spontaneous emission is strongly restrained due to a large atom-field detuning.     

Atomic N00N state generation in distant cavities by virtual excitations

A general scheme of generating N00N states of virtually-excited 2N atoms is proposed. The two cavities are fibre-connected with N atoms in each cavity. Although we focus on the case of N=2, the system can be extended to a few atoms with N>2. It is found that all 2N atoms can be entangled in the form of N00N states if the atoms in the first cavity are initially in the excited states and atoms in the second cavity are all in the ground states. The feasibility of the scheme is carefully discussed, it shows that the N00N state with a few atoms can be generated with good fidelity and the scheme is feasible in experiment.     

Efficient generation of N-photon binomial states and their use in quantum gates in cavity QED

A high-fidelity scheme to generate N-photon generalized binomial states (NGBSs) in a single-mode high-Q cavity is proposed. A method to construct superpositions of exact orthogonal NGBSs is also provided. It is then shown that these states, for any value of N, may be used for a realization of a controlled-NOT gate, based on the dispersive interaction between the cavity field and a control two-level atom. The possible implementation of the schemes is finally discussed.     

Time reversible evolution via nonadiabatic coupling in adiabatic dark subspace

We propose a method for the creation of arbitrary superposition of N atomic states using generalized stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) techniques with laser fields coupling each one of N lower states to a single upper state in a (N+1)-level atomic system. (N-1) dark states that are composed of N lower states span a dark subspace. In the adiabatic limit, the dark and bright subspaces are decoupled, thus the nonadiabatic interaction within this dark subspace dominates the evolution of the system. Different from general methods to create our required coherent superposition state, in a reverse way, here we consider the required state as the starting point of evolution dynamics, and utilize laser fields to drive it into a single lower state step by step. Time reverse pulses of laser fields return the single lower state back to our required coherent superposition state based on time reversal symmetry. In principle, the computationally simple method allows the case with a large value of N. Based on the STIRAP techniques, it is robust against small variations of parameters of laser pulses and is immune to spontaneous radiation.     

Measurement of excited state number densities of oxygen and nitrogen in a non-equilibrium plasma

Number densities of several excited states of atomic oxygen and nitrogen have been measured in the decaying non-thermal plasma of a θ-pinch afterglow. The spatial variation of the electron density and temperature as functions of time after initiation of main bank discharge have also been measured to facilitate a comparison of the excited state number densities with model calculations. Measurements of the atomic oxygen excited states indicate that quintet to triplet spin exchange collisions and doubly excited states must be included in the model. The measured populations of the excited atomic nitrogen states agree well with those calculated at high density (N_e≈ 10¹⁴ cm^?3), but disagree badly at lower densities (N_e ≈ 10¹² cm^?3). The discrepancies seem to be real since they are larger than expected measurement uncertainty.     

Creation of pure multi-mode entangled states in a ring cavity

Practical schemes for creation of multi-mode squeezed (entangled) states of atomic ensembles located inside a high-Q ring cavity are discussed. It is assumed that the cavity is composed of two degenerate mutually counter-propagating modes that can simultaneously couple to the atomic ensembles with the same coupling strengths. The ensembles are composed of ultra-cold atoms which are modeled as four-level systems driven by two laser fields, both co-propagating with one of the cavity directions. We illustrate a procedure that constructs multi-mode squeezed states from the vacuum by a unitary transformation associated with the collective dynamics of the atomic ensembles subjected to driving lasers of a suitably adjusted amplitudes and phases. The lasers pulses together with the cavity dissipation prepare the collective modes in a desired stationary squeezed state.     

Creation of atomic W state in a cavity by adiabatic passage

We propose two relatively robust schemes to generate controllable (deterministic) atomic W states of three Λ-like atoms interacting with an optical cavity and a laser beam. Losses due to atomic spontaneous emissions and to cavity decay are efficiently suppressed by employing adiabatic passage technique and appropriately designed atom-field couplings. In these schemes the three atoms traverse the cavity-mode and the laser beam and become entangled in the free space outside the cavity.     

Density of states of two interacting holes in a solid

If two holes are suddenly created in the same band and at the same atomic site e.g. by an Auger process in a solid, their density of states N(ω) will depend on their Coulomb interaction. In a tight binding model, we present the exact N(ω), in the limit of zero bandwidth. In the case of a general band, we give an exact integral equation that allows calculating N(ω) once the single electron density of states is known. The interaction is shown to produce a characteristic distortion of N(ω) and hence of the Auger spectrum.     

Generation of Quantum States for Atomic Ensemble via Cavity QED

A scheme is proposed for generating quantum states of atomic ensemble. In this scheme, a beam of three-level atoms in the Λ configuration is trapped in a cavity, then squeezed vacuum state and squeezed coherent state of the atomic ensemble are prepared by choosing different initial states of the system. The scheme is based on the off-resonant interaction between the atom and cavities, so the high-level of the atom is eliminated adiabatically.     

Variance squeezing and information entropy squeezing via Bloch coherent states in two-level nonlinear spin models

The nonclassical squeezing effect emerging from a nonlinear coupling model (generalized Jaynes–Cummings model) of a two-level atom interacting resonantly with a bimodal cavity field via two-photon transitions is investigated in the rotating wave approximation. Various Bloch coherent initial states (rotated states) for the atomic system are assumed, i.e., (i) ground state, (ii) excited state, and (iii) linear superposition of both states. Initially, the atomic system and the field are in a disentangled state, where the field modes are in Glauber coherent states via Poisson distribution. The model is numerically tested against simulations of time evolution of the based Heisenberg uncertainty relation variance and Shannon information entropy squeezing factors. The quantum state purity is computed for the three possible initial states and used as a criterion to get information about the entanglement of the components of the system. Analytical expression of the total density operator matrix elements at t > 0 shows, in fact, the present nonlinear model to be strongly entangled, where each of the definite initial Bloch coherent states is reduced to statistical mixtures. Thus, the present model does not preserve the modulus of the Bloch vector.     

Efficient scheme for entangled states and quantum information transfer with trapped atoms in a resonator

A protocol is proposed to generate atomic entangled states and implement quantum information transfer in a cavity quantum electrodynamics system. It utilizes Raman transitions or stimulated Raman adiabatic passages between two systems to entangle the ground states of two three-state Λ-type atoms trapped in a single mode cavity. It does not need the measurements on cavity field nor atomic detection and can be implemented in a deterministic fashion. Since the present protocol is insensitive to both cavity decay and atomic spontaneous emission, it may have some interesting applications in quantum information processing.     

Dynamical behavior of entanglement, purity and energy for two atoms in the presence of dissipation

Entanglement, purity and energy of two isolated two-level atoms which are initially prepared in Bell state and each interacts with a dissipative thermal cavity field are investigated with considering the atomic motion and the field-mode structure. We give the analytical solution of the atomic state by using the algebraic dynamics approach. The influences of the field-mode structure, the dissipation of the cavities, the strength of the thermal field and the detuning on the entanglement, purity and energy are discussed. We also study the evolution of the atomic state using the entanglement-purity-energy diagrams. Our results suggest that the disentanglement process of the atomic state accompanies with the excitations transferring from atoms to the cavity field modes and with the state converting from a pure one to the mixed ones. When the two atoms become separable, they must be in the mixed states, and their energy decreases with the increase of the purity.     

Robust scheme to generate N-atom W state in two distant cavities

We propose a scheme to realize W states for N-atoms trapped in two distant cavities connected by an optical fiber. In the scheme, the cavity modes and fiber mode are not excited during the process. The quantum information is encoded in two degenerate ground states, so the atom's spontaneous emission can be omitted approximately. Moreover, the operation speed increases with the number of the atoms without a limitation and thus the scheme is extremely robust against decoherence.     

Perfect State Transfer and Entanglement Generation with Coupled Cavities

We study atomic state transfer and entanglement generation when the N atomic ensemble is trapped in two coupled cavities. We show that based on the collective interaction between the atoms and local cavity fields an ideal quantum state transfer can be realized if some special conditions are satisfied. In addition, the maximal atom entangled state can be achieved. The effect of the cavity losses on the quantum processes is also studied.     

Collective states in highly symmetric atomic configurations and single-photon traps

We study correlated states in circular and linear-chain configurations of identical two-level atoms containing the energy of a single quasi-resonant photon in the form of a collective excitation, where the collective behavior is mediated by exchange of transverse photons between the atoms. For a circular atomic configuration containing N atoms, the collective energy eigenstates can be determined by group-theoretical means making use of the fact that the configuration possesses a cyclic symmetry group Z _N . For these circular configurations, the carrier spaces of the various irreducible representations of the symmetry group are at most two-dimensional, so that the effective Hamiltonian on the radiationless subspace of the system can be diagonalized analytically. As a consequence, the radiationless energy eigenstates carry a Z _N quantum number p = 0, 1, …, N, which is analogous to the angular momentum quantum number l = 0, 1, … carried by particles propagating in a central potential, such as a hydrogen-like system. Just as the hydrogen s states are the only electronic wave functions that can occupy the central region of the Coulomb potential, the quasi-particle corresponding to a collective excitation of the circular atomic sample can occupy the central atom only for vanishing Z _N quantum number p. When a central atom is present, the p = 0 state splits into two, showing level crossing at certain radii; in the regions between these radii, damped oscillations between two “ extreme” p = 0 states occur, where the excitation occupies either the outer atoms or the central atom only. For large numbers of atoms in a maximally subradiant state, a critical interatomic distance of λ/2 emerges both in the linear-chain and in the circular configuration of atoms. The spontaneous decay rate of the linear configuration exhibits a jumplike “critical” behavior for next-neighbor distances close to a half-wavelength. Furthermore, both the linear-chain and the circular configurations exhibit exponential photon trapping once the next-neighbor distance becomes less than a half-wavelength, with the suppression of spontaneous decay being particularly pronounced in the circular system. In this way, circular configurations containing sufficiently many atoms may be natural candidates for single-photon traps.