能够突破标准量子极限的原子双数态的制备研究

所有经典的双模(两路径)干涉仪的相位测量精度都受限于1/N/(1/2)(其中N为参与干涉测量的总粒子数),这一极限被称为经典极限或标准量子极限.量子计量学最重要的目标之一是探索如何通过量子纠缠实现超越经典极限的测量精度.双数态是一种能突破经典极限的纠缠态,它由数目相等、不可区分的自旋朝上和朝下(双模)玻色粒子组成.通过光学自发参量下转换或囚禁离子内态的操控手段已实现了不到十个光子或离子的双数态.利用玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体中原子的自旋混合过程,近年来也能产生多达几千个原子的双数态.但是这样制备的双数态的总粒子数的随机涨落过大,限制了它们的实际应用潜力.最近,我们通过调控原子凝聚体中的量子相变,实现了超过一万个原子的双数态的确定性制备.本文简要综述这一研究进展.     

Quantum logic gates with two-level trapped ions beyond Lamb--Dicke limit

In the system with two two-level ions confined in a linear trap, this paper presents a simple scheme to realize the quantum phase gate (QPG) and the swap gate beyond the Lamb--Dicke (LD) limit. These two-qubit quantum logic gates only involve the internal states of two trapped ions. The scheme does not use the vibrational mode as the data bus and only requires a single resonant interaction of the ions with the lasers. Neither the LD approximation nor the auxiliary atomic level is needed in the proposed scheme. Thus the scheme is simple and the interaction time is very short, which is important in view of decoherence. The experimental feasibility for achieving this scheme is also discussed.     

Classical and Quantum Coherent States

p-Mechanics is a consistent physical theory which describes both quantum and classical mechanics simultaneously (V. V. Kisil, p-Mechanics as a physical theory. An Introduction, E-print:arXiv:quant-ph/0212101, 2002; International Journal of Theoretical Physics 41(1), 63–77, 2002). We continue the development of p-mechanics by introducing the concept of states. The set of coherent states we introduce allows us to evaluate classical observables at any point of phase space and simultaneously to evaluate quantum probability amplitudes. The example of the forced harmonic oscillator is used to demonstrate these concepts.     

Better Heisenberg Limits,Coherence Bounds,and Energy-Time Tradeoffs via Quantum Rényi Information

An uncertainty relation for the Rényi entropies of conjugate quantum observables is used to obtain a strong Heisenberg limit of the form RMSE≥f(α)/(〈N〉+12), bounding the root mean square error of any estimate of a random optical phase shift in terms of average photon number, where f(α) is maximised for non-Shannon entropies. Related simple yet strong uncertainty relations linking phase uncertainty to the photon number distribution, such as ΔΦ≥maxnpn, are also obtained. These results are significantly strengthened via upper and lower bounds on the Rényi mutual information of quantum communication channels, related to asymmetry and convolution, and applied to the estimation (with prior information) of unitary shift parameters such as rotation angle and time, and to obtain strong bounds on measures of coherence. Sharper Rényi entropic uncertainty relations are also obtained, including time-energy uncertainty relations for Hamiltonians with discrete spectra. In the latter case almost-periodic Rényi entropies are introduced for nonperiodic systems.     

A New Book of Numbers: On the Precise Definition of Quantum Variables and the Relationships between Mathematics and Physics in Quantum Theory

Following Asher Peres’s observation that, as in classical physics, in quantum theory, too, a given physical object considered “has a precise position and a precise momentum,” this article examines the question of the definition of quantum variables, and then the new type (as against classical physics) of relationships between mathematics and physics in quantum theory. The article argues that the possibility of the precise definition and determination of quantum variables depends on the particular nature of these relationships.     

Quantum speed limit for mixed states in a unitary system

Since the evolution of a mixed state in a unitary system is equivalent to the joint evolution of the eigenvectors contained in it, we could use the tool of instantaneous angular velocity for pure states to study the quantum speed limit (QSL) of a mixed state. We derive a lower bound for the evolution time of a mixed state to a target state in a unitary system, which automatically reduces to the quantum speed limit induced by the Fubini-Study metric for pure states. The computation of the QSL of a degenerate mixed state is more complicated than that of a non-degenerate mixed state, where we have to make a singular value decomposition (SVD) on the inner product between the two eigenvector matrices of the initial and target states. By combing these results, a lower bound for the evolution time of a general mixed state is presented. In order to compare the tightness among the lower bound proposed here and lower bounds reported in the references, two examples in a single-qubit system and in a single-qutrit system are studied analytically and numerically, respectively. All conclusions derived in this work are independent of the eigenvalues of the mixed state, which is in accord with the evolution properties of a quantum unitary system.     

Probabilistic quantum cloning of real states

We construct the explicit formulation of the probabilistically perfect quantum cloning machine that perfectly duplicates the input states chosen from the special set consisting of the linearly independent and nonorthogonal quantum states with 〈φ_i ∣φ_j〉 = r ∈ (0, 1)(i ≠ j). The success probabilities of cloning the input states are equal and maximal. As two examples, we present the explicit transformations of the optimal 1 → 2 probabilistically perfect quantum cloning of the real states in 2 and 3 dimensions. The success probabilities of each of two cloning machines are equal and maximal.     

Optical enhanced interferometry with two-mode squeezed twin-Fock states and parity detection

We theoretically investigate the quantum enhanced metrology using two-mode squeezed twin-Fock states and parity detection. Our results indicate that, for a given initial squeezing parameter, compared with the two-mode squeezed vacuum state, both phase sensitivity and resolution can be enhanced when the two-mode squeezed twin-Fock state is considered as an input state of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. Within a constraint on the total photon number, although the two-mode squeezed vacuum state gives the better phase sensitivity when the phase shift φ to be estimated approaches to zero, the phase sensitivity offered by these non-Gaussian entangled Gaussian states is relatively stable with respect to the phase shift itself. When the phase shift slightly deviates from φ= 0, the phase sensitivity can be still enhanced by the two-mode squeezed twin-Fock state over a broad range of the total mean photon number where the phase uncertainty is still below the quantum standard noise limit. Finally, we numerically prove that the quantum Cramer–Rao bound can be approached with the parity detection.     

Quantum Probes for the Characterization of Nonlinear Media

Active optical media leading to interaction Hamiltonians of the form H=λ˜(a+a†)ζ represent a crucial resource for quantum optical technology. In this paper, we address the characterization of those nonlinear media using quantum probes, as opposed to semiclassical ones. In particular, we investigate how squeezed probes may improve individual and joint estimation of the nonlinear coupling λ˜ and of the nonlinearity order ζ. Upon using tools from quantum estimation, we show that: (i) the two parameters are compatible, i.e., the may be jointly estimated without additional quantum noise; (ii) the use of squeezed probes improves precision at fixed overall energy of the probe; (iii) for low energy probes, squeezed vacuum represent the most convenient choice, whereas for increasing energy an optimal squeezing fraction may be determined; (iv) using optimized quantum probes, the scaling of the corresponding precision with energy improves, both for individual and joint estimation of the two parameters, compared to semiclassical coherent probes. We conclude that quantum probes represent a resource to enhance precision in the characterization of nonlinear media, and foresee potential applications with current technology.     

Scattering as a Quantum Metrology Problem: A Quantum Walk Approach

We address the scattering of a quantum particle by a one-dimensional barrier potential over a set of discrete positions. We formalize the problem as a continuous-time quantum walk on a lattice with an impurity and use the quantum Fisher information as a means to quantify the maximal possible accuracy in the estimation of the height of the barrier. We introduce suitable initial states of the walker and derive the reflection and transmission probabilities of the scattered state. We show that while the quantum Fisher information is affected by the width and central momentum of the initial wave packet, this dependency is weaker for the quantum signal-to-noise ratio. We also show that a dichotomic position measurement provides a nearly optimal detection scheme.     

Quantum Logic Network for Probabilistic Cloning Quantum States

We construct efficient quantum logic network for probabilistic cloning the quantum states used in implemented tasks for which cloning provides some enhancement in performance.     

Quantum deleting and cloning in a pseudo-unitary system

In conventional quantum mechanics, quantum no-deleting and no-cloning theorems indicate that two different and nonorthogonal states cannot be perfectly and deterministically deleted and cloned, respectively. Here, we investigate the quantum deleting and cloning in a pseudo-unitary system. We first present a pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian with real eigenvalues in a two-qubit system. By using the pseudo-unitary operators generated from this pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian, we show that it is possible to delete and clone a class of two different and nonorthogonal states, and it can be generalized to arbitrary two different and nonorthogonal pure qubit states. Furthermore, state discrimination, which is strongly related to quantum no-cloning theorem, is also discussed. Last but not least, we simulate the pseudo-unitary operators in conventional quantum mechanics with post-selection, and obtain the success probability of simulations. Pseudo-unitary operators are implemented with a limited efficiency due to the post-selections. Thus, the success probabilities of deleting and cloning in the simulation by conventional quantum mechanics are less than unity, which maintain the quantum no-deleting and no-cloning theorems.     

半空间谐振子的量子力学和半经典近似

对于半空间谐振子,给出了包括位置、动量算符及其平方的矩阵元,定态上的不确定关系等量子力学的基本结果．由于位置矩阵元的结果较复杂,借助Heisenberg对应原理给出了它的一个很好的近似表达式．     

Critical Quantum Metrology in the Non-Linear Quantum Rabi Model

The quantum Rabi model (QRM) with linear coupling between light mode and qubit exhibits the analog of a second-order phase transition for vanishing mode frequency which allows for criticality-enhanced quantum metrology in a few-body system. We show that the QRM including a nonlinear coupling term exhibits much higher measurement precisions due to its first-order-like phase transition at finite frequency, avoiding the detrimental slowing-down effect close to the critical point of the linear QRM. When a bias term is added to the Hamiltonian, the system can be used as a fluxmeter or magnetometer if implemented in circuit QED platforms.     

Shortcut-to-Adiabaticity-Like Techniques for Parameter Estimation in Quantum Metrology

Quantum metrology makes use of quantum mechanics to improve precision measurements and measurement sensitivities. It is usually formulated for time-independent Hamiltonians, but time-dependent Hamiltonians may offer advantages, such as a T4 time dependence of the Fisher information which cannot be reached with a time-independent Hamiltonian. In Optimal adaptive control for quantum metrology with time-dependent Hamiltonians (Nature Communications 8, 2017), Shengshi Pang and Andrew N. Jordan put forward a Shortcut-to-adiabaticity (STA)-like method, specifically an approach formally similar to the “counterdiabatic approach”, adding a control term to the original Hamiltonian to reach the upper bound of the Fisher information. We revisit this work from the point of view of STA to set the relations and differences between STA-like methods in metrology and ordinary STA. This analysis paves the way for the application of other STA-like techniques in parameter estimation. In particular we explore the use of physical unitary transformations to propose alternative time-dependent Hamiltonians which may be easier to implement in the laboratory.     

Quantum Fisher Information for Density Matrices with Arbitrary Ranks

We provide a new expression of the quantum Fisher information （QFI） for a general system. Utilizing this expression, the QFI for a non-full rank density matrix is only determined by its support. This expression can bring convenience for an infinite-dimensional density matrix with a finite support. Besides, a matrix representation of the QFI is also given.     

Beating Standard Quantum Limit with Weak Measurement

Weak measurements have been under intensive investigation in both experiment and theory. Numerous experiments have indicated that the amplified meter shift is produced by the post-selection, yielding an improved precision compared to conventional methods. However, this amplification effect comes at the cost of a reduced rate of acquiring data, which leads to an increasing uncertainty to determine the level of meter shift. From this point of view, a number of theoretical works have suggested that weak measurements cannot improve the precision, or even damage the metrology information due to the post-selection. In this review, we give a comprehensive analysis of the weak measurements to justify their positive effect on prompting measurement precision. As a further step, we introduce two modified weak measurement protocols to boost the precision beyond the standard quantum limit. Compared to previous works beating the standard quantum limit, these protocols are free of using entangled or squeezed states. The achieved precision outperforms that of the conventional method by two orders of magnitude and attains a practical Heisenberg scaling up to n=106 photons.     

Dirac方程中的量子与经典对应

根据Heisenberg对应原理(HCP),在经典极限下厄密算符的量子矩阵元对应经典物理量的Fourier展开系数.将HCP应用到相对论领域的Dirac方程中,对于自由粒子和在匀磁场中的带电粒子,其量子算符的矩阵元在经典极限下对应着相对论物理方程的解.计算表明,在经典极限下量子期望值就是对应经典物理量的时间平均值.     

Phase sensitivity of two nonlinear interferometers with inputting entangled coherent states

We investigate the phase sensitivity of the SU(1,1) interfereometer [SU(1,1)I] and the modified Mach–Zehnder interferometer(MMZI) with the entangled coherent states(ECS) as inputs. We consider the ideal case and the situations in which the photon losses are taken into account. We find that, under ideal conditions, the phase sensitivity of both the MMZI and the SU(1,1)I can beat the shot-noise limit(SNL) and approach the Heisenberg limit(HL). In the presence of photon losses, the ECS can beat the coherent and squeezed states as inputs in the SU(1,1)I, and the MMZI is more robust against internal photon losses than the SU(1,1)I.     

Quantum Teleportation via Completely Anisotropic Heisenberg Chain in Inhomogeneous Magnetic Field

The quantum teleportation with the entangled thermal state is investigated based on the completely anisotropic Heisenberg chain in the presence of the externally inhomogeneous magnetic field. The effects of the anisotropy and magnetic field for the quantum fidelity are studied in detail. The zero temperature limit and the features of the nonzero temperature for this nonclassical fidelity are obt8ained. We find that the quantum teleportation demands more stringent conditions than the thermal entanglement of the resource by investigating the threshold temperature of the thermal concurrence and the critical temperature of the maximal teleportation fidelity. The useful quantum teleportation should avoid the point of the phase transition of the system and the anisotropy of the chain and the external magnetic field can control the applicability of the resource in the quantum teleportation.