Ion-trap quantum information processing:experimental status

Atomic ions trapped in ultra-high vacuum form an especially well-understood and useful physical system for quantum information processing. They provide excellent shielding of quantum information from environmental noise, while strong, well-controlled laser interactions readily provide quantum logic gates. A number of basic quantum information protocols have been demonstrated with trapped ions. Much current work aims at the construction of large-scale ion-trap quantum computers using complex microfabricated trap arrays. Several groups are also actively pursuing quantum interfacing of trapped ions with photons.      

John Bell and the Identical Twins

I present a biographical profile of John S. Bell based upon extensive interviews I had with him. I present Bell‘s views on the quantum theory along with a simple explanation of his identity. Jeremy Bernstein is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the Stevens Institute of Technology and a former staff writer for The New Yorker.     

$${f(\mathcal R)}$$ quantum cosmology

We have quantized a flat cosmological model in the context of the metric models, using the causal Bohmian quantum theory. The equations are solved and then we have obtained how the quantum corrections influence the classical equations.     

Analog computation through high-dimensional physical chaotic neuro-dynamics

Conventional von Neumann computers have difficulty in solving complex and ill-posed real-world problems. However, living organisms often face such problems in real life, and must quickly obtain suitable solutions through physical, dynamical, and collective computations involving vast assemblies of neurons. These highly parallel computations through high-dimensional dynamics (computation through dynamics) are completely different from the numerical computations on von Neumann computers (computation through algorithms). In this paper, we explore a novel computational mechanism with high-dimensional physical chaotic neuro-dynamics. We physically constructed two hardware prototypes using analog chaotic-neuron integrated circuits. These systems combine analog computations with chaotic neuro-dynamics and digital computation through algorithms. We used quadratic assignment problems (QAPs) as benchmarks. The first prototype utilizes an analog chaotic neural network with 800-dimensional dynamics. An external algorithm constructs a solution for a QAP using the internal dynamics of the network. In the second system, 300-dimensional analog chaotic neuro-dynamics drive a tabu-search algorithm. We demonstrate experimentally that both systems efficiently solve QAPs through physical chaotic dynamics. We also qualitatively analyze the underlying mechanism of the highly parallel and collective analog computations by observing global and local dynamics. Furthermore, we introduce spatial and temporal mutual information to quantitatively evaluate the system dynamics. The experimental results confirm the validity and efficiency of the proposed computational paradigm with the physical analog chaotic neuro-dynamics.     

Parallel computing structures capable of flexible associations and recognition of fuzzy inputs

We experimentally show that computing with attractors leads to fast adaptive behavior in which dynamical associations can be made between different inputs which initially produce sharply distinct outputs. We do so by first defining a set of simple local procedures which allow a computing array to change its state in time so as to produce classical Pavlovian conditioning. We then examine the dynamics of coalescence and dissociation of attractors with a number of quantitative experiments. We also show how such arrays exhibit generalization and differentiation of inputs in their behavior.     

Adjusting the properties of the photon generated via an optical parametric oscillator by using a pulse pumped laser

The cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion far below threshold can be used to generate a narrow-band photon pair efficiently. Previous experiments on the cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion almost always utilize continuous wave pump light, but the pulse pumped case is rarely reported. One disadvantage of the continuous wave case is that the photon pair is produced randomly within the coherence time of the pump, which limits its application in the quantum information realm. However, a pulse pump can help to solve this problem. In this paper, we theoretically analyze pulse pumped cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion in detail and show how the pump pulse affects the multi-photon interference visibility, two-photon waveform, joint spectrum and spectral brightness.     

Phase dependence of cross-phase modulation in asymmetric quantum wells

We study the Kerr nonlinearity associated with cross-phase modulation based on electromagnetically induced transparency in asymmetric double quantum wells. It is shown that, different from atomic system, not only the nonlinear dispersion and absorption but also the linear absorption depends on the relative phase of the laser fields because of the Fano interference. By choosing the parameters appropriately, large cross-phase modulation with nearly vanishing two-photon absorption, even π phase shift with single photon level, could be achieved in the asymmetric quantum wells.     

Quantum statistical hierarchy equation in nonequilibrium systems

An extension is given for the Fourier expansion method with the contraction technique, which was introduced by Balescu for quantum statistical systems. This is attained by introducing a diagrammatic method with a concept of moving contraction. Then the hierarchy equation for the Contracted Fourier coefficient of the Wigner distribution function is obtained. As an application, a generalized master equation involvingn-body collision effects and quantum statistical effects is also derived.     

On the quantum langevin equation

The quantum Langevin equation is the Heisenberg equation of motion for the (operator) coordinate of a Brownian particle coupled to a heat bath. We give an elementary derivation of this equation for a simple coupled-oscillator model of the heat bath.Deceased.