Quantum Decoherence of Gaussian Steering and Entanglement in Hawking Radiation and Thermal Bath

We study the effects of Hawking radiation and bath temperature on quantum steering and entanglement for a two-mode Gaussian state exposed in the background of a black hole and immersed in the two independent thermal baths. We find that both the effects can destroy the quantum steering and entanglement. Quantum steering always exists sudden death for any Hawking temperature and any bath temperature, but entanglement does not in zero-temperature thermal bath. Both the Hawking radiation and the asymmetry of thermal baths can induce the asymmetry of quantum steering, but the latter effect is much weaker than the former. An unintuitive result is that the observer who stays in the Hawking radiation or in the thermal bath with higher temperature has more stronger steerability than the other one. We also find that Hawking radiation and thermal noise can change the asymptotic behavior of steering and entanglement versus the squeezing parameter.

     

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.     

Quantum fidelity for Gaussian states describing the evolution of open systems

Using the expression of the fidelity for the most general Gaussian quantum states, the quantum fidelity is studied for the states of a harmonic oscillator interacting with an environment, in particular with a thermal bath. The time evolution of the considered system is described in the framework of the theory of open systems based on quantum dynamical semigroups. By taking a correlated squeezed Gaussian state as initial state, we calculate the quantum fidelity for both undisplaced and displaced states. The time evolution of the quantum fidelity is analyzed depending on the squeezing and correlation parameters characterizing the initial Gaussian state and on the dissipation constant and temperature of the thermal bath.     

Entropy of a Rindler Observer

We compute the entropy of a Rindler particle-detector (observer) in the presence of a quantum field in the Minkowski vacuum state; due to the Unruh effect, the observer is immersed in a thermal bath at a temperature proportional to its proper acceleration.     

Quantum decoherence reduction by increasing the thermal bath temperature

The well-known increase of the decoherence rate with the temperature, for a quantum system coupled to a linear thermal bath, no longer holds for a different bath dynamics. This is shown by means of a simple classical nonlinear bath, as well as a quantum spin-boson model. The anomalous effect is due to the temperature dependence of the bath spectral profile. In the case of the second model, a link with the quantum Zeno effect is provided. The decoherence reduction via the temperature increase can be relevant for the design of quantum computers.     

Analytic study of a sequence of path integral approximations for simple quantum systems at low temperature

The sequence of Feynman-Trotter approximations to the thermal Feynman path integral for the simple harmonic oscillator is obtained in an easily analyzable closed form. While it converges pointwise at every non-zero temperature to the quantum thermal propagator, the sequence manifests a highly non-uniform behaviour in the zero temperature limit—every one of its elements tends toward theclassical ground state (static equilibrium). For high order elements of the sequence, there is an abrupt “collapse” from the quantum to the classical ground state with falling temperature, a phenomenon which bears a possibly misleading resemblance to a phase transition. It is shown that Feynman-Trotter sequences for many simple systems other than the harmonic oscillator also have all their elements tending to the classical static equilibrium state in the zero temperature limit.     

Control of temperature and entropy by frequent quantum measurements

We study deviations from thermal equilibrium between two-level systems (TLS) and a bath by frequent and brief quantum measurements of the TLS energy-states. The resulting entropy and temperature of both the system and the bath are found to be completely determined by the measurement rate, and unrelated to what is expected by standard thermodynamical rules that hold for Markovian baths. These anomalies allow for very fast control heating, cooling and state-purification (entropy reduction) of quantum systems much sooner than their thermal equilibration time.     

Quantum interactions in a stochastic representation and two-level systems

The interaction between two quantum systems is formulated using a stochastic representation that allows one of them to be replaced by equivalent commutative random sources. The proposed method is applied to two-level systems in contact with a thermal bath. Strong-coupling effects and long-lived fluctuations of the total response of two systems in a common thermal bath are discussed.     

Time behavior of the correlation functions in a simple dissipative quantum model

The force and velocity correlation functions for a particle interacting with a bath are calculated within a model allowing for finite memory effects. The relevance of a Brownian picture is delineated in view of the respective behavior of these functions and appears fully inadequate below some cross-over temperature; then, the interplay between quantum and thermal fluctuations yields some long time tails on the same time scale for both correlation functions. The real space transient diffusion coefficient is found to exceed its asymptotic Einstein value for most times in that regime. The limiting case of an infinitely short memory time is also investigated and is seen to produce weak divergences on a time scale which is small as compared to the other characteristic times.     

Evolution processes of coupled thermal qubits

We investigate the quantum speed limit time (QSLT) of quantum evolution before thermal equilibrium of two coupled qubits each of which is coupled to a separate thermal bath at the same temperature within the Born-Markov approximation. The evolution process in one particular initial state can change between speed-up and speed-down two times before reaching equilibrium. We call this double cusp behaviour. This behaviour is an anomalous phenomenon in evolution processes in the weak-coupling Markovian regime. We study QSLT corresponding to all pure initial energy eigenstates and categorise them. In addition, we also display the conditions for double cusp behaviour in terms of temperature, qubit interaction and frequency.     

Effects of temperature on the relaxation to equilibrium and stationary nonequilibrium states of some Langevin systems

We investigate the effects of temperature on the properties of the time relaxation to equilibrium and nonequilibrium steady states of correlation functions of some Langevin harmonic systems. We consider commonly used dissipative and conservative Langevin dynamics, and show that the time relaxation rate depends on the temperature in the case of thermal reservoirs at different temperatures connected to the system, but it does not happen in the case of relaxation to equilibrium, i.e., if all the heat bath are at the same temperature. Our formalism maps the initial stochastic problem on a noncanonical quantum field theory, and the calculations of the relaxation rates are based on a perturbative analysis. We argue to show the reliability of the perturbative computation.     

库的量子关联相干辅助系统能量提取的研究

基于单模微腔与二能级原子系综(库)构成的混合动力学模型,探索了非平衡库中量子关联相干(quantum correlated coherence, QCC)[Tan K C, et al. 2016 Phys. Rev. A 94, 022329])对系统动力学的影响.推导了量子关联相干库下系统演化的动力学方程.借助于含QCC的类GHZ库及其对应的参考库,清晰地揭示了非平衡库中QCC扮演着热力学资源的角色——能够有效辅助系统从库中提取更多能量.同时,结合解析与数值模拟方法研究了类GHZ库的有效温度和系统与库间的耦合参数对QCC能量效应的影响.研究发现, QCC对腔场的能量贡献不仅依赖于库的有效温度,而且也和系统与库间的耦合参数有关.这与二能级原子构成的传统的热库的情况(腔场从热库中提取的能量仅仅依赖于库的有效温度即二能级原子的热布局)完全不同.此外,研究发现QCC可视作一类优质的热力学资源,在特定条件下其对系统的能量贡献远大于原子热布局的贡献.因此, QCC将是高输出功率或高效率量子热机设计中的一类重要燃料.     

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.     

声子库的量子态对介观电路量子特性影响的研究

考虑电子与声子间相互作用,研究了两种声子库纯初始态(正则系综与粒子数态)下耗散介观电路的动力学特性.长时间极限下(t→∞)：当环境处于热平衡态时,电路系统中的电流和电荷的平均值只与电路所处初始量子态中的平均值有关,与环境无关;环境初态为粒子数态时,电荷与电流平均值随时间的演化特性与环境初始处于热平衡态下时完全一样,表明介观电路中的电荷与电流的平均值与环境量子态的某组占有数无关.电路中电流和电荷的量子涨落不仅与系统的初态有关,还与系统所处环境的量子态及温度有关.一般地说,电路系统与环境的纠缠会 关键词： 介观耗散电路 声子库 量子初态 量子态纯度     

Finite-temperature quantum field theory in Minkowski space

We formulate finite-temperature quantum field theories in Minkowski space (real time) using Feynman path integrals. We show that at non-zero temperature a new field arises which plays the role of a ghost field and is necessary for unambiguous Feynman rules. Consequently, the finite-temperature Lagrangian is different from the zero-temperature one and a new, discrete Z₂ symmetry arises. We discuss the functional formalism and spontaneous symmetry breakdown at finite temperature and also the possibility of spontaneous breakdown of the (thermal) Z₂ symmetry.     

The Dynamical Evolution of Quantum Correlations in the Two Isolate Spin Particles Coupled to a Common Bath

We study the dynamical evolution of quantum correlations between two central spins independently coupled to a common bath, which are represented by quantum entanglement and quantum discord. According to the results of the exact solution, we show that quantum discord is more robust and includes richer correlation than quantum entanglement due to the nonvanishing quantum correlation in the region of entanglement death, i.e., the separable states maybe contain nonclassical correlations. We discuss the effects of the intrinsic properties of the bath on quantum correlation between the two central spins in the XY and XXZ model baths. At the low temperature, the central system can keep the good quantum correlation. With the more spin number in the bath, the dynamical evolution of quantum correlation can be bounded with the small oscillation and finally approaches a stable value. In addition, we find that the interaction between the central spins and the bath in the z direction has the significant effects on quantum correlation of the central spin system.     

Real Time Imaging of Quantum and Thermal Fluctuations: The Case of a Two-Level System

A quantum system in contact with a heat bath undergoes quantum transitions between energy levels upon absorption or emission of energy quanta by the bath. These transitions remain virtual unless the energy of the system is measured repeatedly, even continuously in time. Isolating the two indispensable mechanisms in competition, we describe in a synthetic way the main physical features of thermally activated quantum jumps. Using classical tools of stochastic analysis, we compute in the case of a two-level system the complete statistics of jumps and transition times in the limit when the typical measurement time is small compared to the thermal relaxation time. The emerging picture is that quantum trajectories are similar to those of a classical particle in a noisy environment, subject to transitions à la Kramer in a multi-well landscape, but with a large multiplicative noise.     

Energy transfer and quantum correlation dynamics in FMO light-harvesting complex

The dynamics of energy transfer in Fenna–Matthews–Olson (FMO) light-harvesting complex interacting with a phonon bath is investigated. In this contribution, by considering the phonon bath as a source of stochastic noise, a new approach is proposed. Also, by calculating the global quantum entanglement and global quantum discord, the time evolution of the quantum correlation during the process is evaluated. The effects of temperature and initial excited state on the energy transfer and the quantum correlation are studied. It is shown, in agreement with the previous results, that the increasing of the temperature gives rise to the faster delocalisation of energy transfer and global quantum entanglement in the FMO complex. The proposed model predicts that the global discord is resistance versus the raising temperature. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the quantum entanglement with respect to the global quantum discord has a significant role in the process of energy transfer in the FMO complex.