Generation of a displaced qubit and entangled displaced photon state via conditional measurement and their properties

We study optical schemes for generating both a displaced photon and a displaced qubit via conditional measurement. Combining one mode prepared in different microscopic states (one-mode qubit, single photon, vacuum state) and another mode in macroscopic states (coherent state, single photon added coherent state), a conditional state in the other output mode exhibits properties of a superposition of the displaced vacuum and a single photon. We propose to use the displaced qubit and entangled states composed of the displaced photon as components for quantum information processing. Basic states of such a qubit are distinguishable from each other with high fidelity. We show that the qubit reveals both microscopic and macroscopic properties. Entangled displaced states with a coherent phase as an additional degree of freedom are introduced. We show that additional degree of freedom enables to implement complete Bell state measurement of the entangled displaced photon states.     

Dynamics of a two-level trapped ion in a cavity

In the present paper we consider the case of a two-level ion in a cavity in the presence of a single mode field linearly polarized. We suppose that the ion is free to move along the polarization direction and trapped by a harmonic potential along the other two directions. By multiple path integration we derive the density matrix of the system and we study its dynamics. We assume an initial electromagnetic vacuum. This initial condition for the present system, compared with any other initial photonic state, gives new and higher order leading terms with respect to an expansion in powers of the inverse of the volume. Further after such an expansion there appears a first order term that originates from the combined interaction of the two-level system (qubit) with the quantum motion of the ion and the electromagnetic field in the cavity. We notice that the dynamics of the present system is very rich and can be studied exhaustively in the present framework.     

Weak measurements with a qubit meter

We derive schemes to measure the so-called weak values of quantum system observables by coupling of the system to a qubit meter system. We highlight, in particular, the meaning of the imaginary part of the weak values, and show how it can be measured directly on equal footing with the real part of the weak value. We present compact expressions for the weak value of single qubit observables and of product observables on qubit pairs. Experimental studies of the results are suggested with cold trapped ions.     

Simultaneous cooling of an artificial atom and its neighboring quantum system

We propose an approach for cooling both an artificial atom (e.g., a flux qubit) and its neighboring quantum system, the latter modeled by either a quantum two-level system or a quantum resonator. The flux qubit is cooled by manipulating its states, following an inverse process of state population inversion, and then the qubit is switched on to resonantly interact with the neighboring quantum system. By repeating these steps, the two subsystems can be simultaneously cooled. Our results show that this cooling is robust and effective, irrespective of the chosen quantum systems connected to the qubit.     

Decoherence induced spontaneous symmetry breaking

We study time dependence of exchange symmetry properties of Bell states when two-qubits interact with local baths having identical parameters. In case of classical noise, we consider a decoherence Hamiltonian which is invariant under swapping the first and second qubits. We find that as the system evolves in time, two of the three symmetric Bell states preserve their qubit exchange symmetry with unit probability, whereas the symmetry of the remaining state survives with a maximum probability of 0.5 at the asymptotic limit. Next, we examine the exchange symmetry properties of the same states under local, quantum mechanical noise which is modeled by two identical spin baths. Results turn out to be very similar to the classical case. We identify decoherence as the main mechanism leading to breaking of qubit exchange symmetry.     

Kraus decomposition for chaotic environments

We consider a system interacting with a chaotic thermodynamic bath. We derive an explicit and exact Kraus operator sum representation (OSR) for the open system reduced density. The OSR preserves the Hermiticity, complete positivity and norm. We show that it is useful as a numerical tool by testing it against exact results for a qubit interacting with an isolated flawed quantum computer. We also discuss some interesting qualitative aspects of the OSR.     

Curvature and torsion of the tight closed trefoil knot

The curvature and torsion profiles of the tight trefoil knot found with the SONO algorithm are analysed. Their characteristics are discussed. Comparison of curvature and torsion profiles with the tightest parametrically defined knot is performed.     

Implementation of single-qubit quantum gates by adiabatic passage and static laser phases

We propose and analyse experimentally feasible implementations of single-qubit quantum gates based on stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) between magnetic sublevels in atoms coupled by elliptically polarized pulsed laser fields, in part based on a proposal by Kis and Renzoni [Z. Kis, F. Renzoni, Phys. Rev. A 65 (2002) 032318]. These techniques require only the control of the relative phase of the driving fields but do not involve any dynamical or geometric phases, which makes it independent of the other interaction details: detuning, pulse shapes, pulse areas and pulse durations. The suggested techniques are immune to spontaneous emission since the qubit manipulation proceeds through non-absorbing dark states. We also propose an alternative technique using compensation of dynamical Stark shifts by two consecutive non-resonant fractional-STIRAP processes.     

Spin geometry of entangled qubits under bilocal decoherence modes

The Lindblad generators of the master equation define which kind of decoherence happens in an open quantum system. We are working with a two qubit system and choose the generators to be projection operators on the eigenstates of the system and unitary bilocal rotations of them. The resulting decoherence modes are studied in detail. Besides the general solutions we investigate the special case of maximally entangled states—the Bell singlet states. The results are depicted in the so-called spin geometry picture which allows to illustrate the evolution of the (nonlocal) correlations stored in a certain state. The question for which conditions the path traced out in the geometric picture depends only on the relative angle between the bilocal rotations is addressed.     

Repeatable procedures and maps in open quantum dynamics

Examples of repeatable procedures and maps are found in the open quantum dynamics of one qubit that interacts with another qubit. They show that a mathematical map that is repeatable can be made by a physical procedure that is not.     

Persistence of quantum information

We study the flip-processes in a two-level system, which is triggered by the coupling to a classical bath. When the bath is represented by a stochastic field, the time evolution of the density matrix leads to a stochastic equation with a multiplicative noise. Accordingly the Fokker–Planck-equation (FPE) depends on the matrix elements of the underlying density operator. The solution of the FPE can be parametrized in terms of an inherent conserved quantity α, which is interpreted as a measure for the persistence of quantum information. We show that the FPE exhibits a single unique steady state solution different from Boltzmann's law. The exactly computable discrete spectrum of the relaxation times is characterized by two quantum numbers and the ratio of Planck's constant and the coupling strength to the bath. The total entropy is analyzed as function of the quantum number α  . In case of α=1$\alpha =1$ the system is in a pure state whereas for α≠1$\alpha \ne 1$ a mixed state is realized. In case of two, two-level systems, immersed in the common bath, the two noninteracting two-level systems become mutually entangled. The annealed entropy is in that case non-extensive.     

Intrinsic Decoherence of Two Atoms System With Kerr Medium

We study the effect of Kerr medium on the intrinsic decoherence of a system which consists of two two-level atoms and a optical cavity. The entanglement of the system is calculated by making use of concurrence. Our results show that the intrinsic decoherence is very sensitive to the nonlinear coupling constant of Kerr medium. Both the oscillation period and the amplitude of the concurrence increase with the increasing nonlinear coupling constant.     

Kraus decomposition for chaotic environments including time-dependent subsystem Hamiltonians

We derive an exact and explicit Kraus decomposition for the reduced density of a quantum system simultaneously interacting with time-dependent external fields and a chaotic environment of thermodynamic dimension. We test the accuracy of the Kraus decomposition against exact numerical results for a CNOT gate performed on two qubits of an (N+2) qubit statically flawed isolated quantum computer. Here the N idle qubits comprise the finite environment. We obtain very good agreement even for small N.     

Preparation of Cluster States of Atomic Qubits in Cavity QED

We propose an optical scheme to generate cluster states of atomic qubits, with each trapped in separate optical cavity, via atom-cavity-laser interaction. The quantum information of each qubit is encoded on the degenerate ground states of the atom, hence the entanglement between them is relatively stable against spontaneous emission. A single-photon source and two classical fields are employed in the present scheme. By controlling the sequence and time of atom-cavity-laser interaction, we show that the atomic cluster states can be produced deterministically.     

Generation of Two-Atom Cluster State via Cavity QED

We propose a physical scheme for generating a two-atom cluster state through the simultaneous interaction of two two-level atoms with a single-mode cavity field prepared initially in an odd-coherent state under a large-detuned limit. The influence of the dissipation constant, the intensity of the field and the imperfect manipulation on the preparation scheme are investigated. It is shown that when the intensity of the cavity is large enough, the influence of the cavity decay is ettlciently suppressed. The possible error in the implementation of the cluster state is negligible when the time difference between two atoms crossing the cavity axis is small. It is suggested that the scheme can be realized by current technologies.     

Quantum state reconstruction by entangled measurements

We address quantum state reconstruction for d-dimensional systems based on measuring, on the system of interest and a probe, of a single entangled observable defined on the bipartite system/probe Hilbert space. We show that the statistics of the measurement and the knowledge of the probe preparation suffice to reliably reconstruct the density matrix of the system, as well as the expectation value of any desired operator, including those not corresponding to observable quantities. The statistical robustness of the reconstruction is examined and a method is developed to minimize statistical errors by tuning the probe preparation. Numerical simulations of the whole reconstruction procedure are also presented for qubit systems.     

Decoherence in josephson phase qubits from junction resonators

Although Josephson junction qubits show great promise for quantum computing, the origin of dominant decoherence mechanisms remains unknown. Improving the operation of a Josephson junction based phase qubit has revealed microscopic two-level systems or resonators within the tunnel barrier that cause decoherence. We report spectroscopic data that show a level splitting characteristic of coupling between a two-state qubit and a two-level system. Furthermore, we show Rabi oscillations whose "coherence amplitude" is significantly degraded by the presence of these spurious microwave resonators. The discovery of these resonators impacts the future of Josephson qubits as well as existing Josephson technologies.     

Measurement master equation

We derive a master equation describing the evolution of a quantum system subjected to a sequence of observations. These measurements occur randomly at a given rate and can be of a very general form. As an example, we analyse the effects of these measurements on the evolution of a two-level atom driven by an electromagnetic field. For the associated quantum trajectories we find Rabi oscillations, Zeno-effect type behaviour and random telegraph evolution spawned by mini quantum jumps as we change the rates and strengths of measurement.     

Efficient scheme for realizing a multiplex-controlled phase gate with photonic qubits in circuit quantum electrodynamics

We propose an efficient scheme to implement a multiplex-controlled phase gate with multiple photonic qubits simultaneously controlling one target photonic qubit based on circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED). For convenience, we denote this multiqubit gate as MCP gate. The gate is realized by using a two-level coupler to couple multiple cavities. The coupler here is a superconducting qubit. This scheme is simple because the gate implementation requires only one step of operation. In addition, this scheme is quite general because the two logic states of each photonic qubit can be encoded with a vacuum state and an arbitrary non-vacuum state |φ> (e.g., a Fock state, a superposition of Fock states, a cat state, or a coherent state, etc.) which is orthogonal or quasi-orthogonal to the vacuum state. The scheme has some additional advantages: because only two levels of the coupler are used, i.e., no auxiliary levels are utilized, decoherence from higher energy levels of the coupler is avoided; the gate operation time does not depend on the number of qubits; and the gate is implemented deterministically because no measurement is applied. As an example, we numerically analyze the circuit-QED based experimental feasibility of implementing a three-qubit MCP gate with photonic qubits each encoded via a vacuum state and a cat state. The scheme can be applied to accomplish the same task in a wide range of physical system, which consists of multiple microwave or optical cavities coupled to a two-level coupler such as a natural or artificial atom.     

Holonomic quantum computation with superconducting charge-phase qubits in a cavity

We theoretically propose a feasible scheme to realize holonomic quantum computation with charge-phase qubits placed in a microwave cavity. By appropriately adjusting the controllable parameters, each charge-phase qubit is set as an effective four-level subsystem, based on which a universal set of holonomic quantum gates can be realized. Further analysis shows that our system is robust to the first-order fluctuation of the gate charges, and the intrinsic leakages between energy levels can be ignored.