Emergent thermodynamics in a quenched quantum many-body system

We study the statistics of the work done, fluctuation relations, and irreversible entropy production in a quantum many-body system subject to the sudden quench of a control parameter. By treating the quench as a thermodynamic transformation we show that the emergence of irreversibility in the nonequilibrium dynamics of closed many-body quantum systems can be accurately characterized. We demonstrate our ideas by considering a transverse quantum Ising model that is taken out of equilibrium by an instantaneous change of the transverse field.

Classical to quantum in large-number limit

We construct a quantumness witness following the work of Alicki & van Ryn (AvR). We reformulate the AvR test by defining it for quantum states rather than for observables. This allows us to identify the necessary quantities and resources to detect quantumness for any given system. The first quantity turns out to be the purity of the system. When applying the witness to a system with even moderate mixedness, the protocol is unable to reveal any quantumness. We then show that having many copies of the system leads the witness to reveal quantumness. This seems contrary to the Bohr correspondence, which asserts that, in the large-number limit, quantum systems become classical, whereas the witness shows quantumness when several non-quantum systems, as determined by the witness, are considered together. However, the resources required to detect the quantumness increase dramatically with the number of systems. We apply the quantumness witness for systems that are highly mixed but in the large-number limit that resembles nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) systems. We make several conclusions about detecting quantumness in NMR-like systems.

Information-theoretic lower bound on energy cost of stochastic computation

Physical systems are often simulated using a stochastic computation where different final states result from identical initial states. Here, we derive the minimum energy cost of simulating a data sequence of a general physical system by stochastic computation. We show that the cost is proportional to the difference between two information-theoretic measures of complexity of the data—the statistical complexity and the predictive information . We derive the difference as the amount of information erased during the computation. Finally, we illustrate the physics of information by implementing the stochastic computation as a Gedanken experiment with a Szilard-type engine. The results create a new link between thermodynamics, information theory and complexity.

Effects of quantum coherence in metalloprotein electron transfer

Many intramolecular electron transfer (ET) reactions in biology are mediated by metal centers in proteins. This process is commonly described by a model of diffusive hopping according to the semiclassical theories of Marcus and Hopfield. However, recent studies have raised the possibility that nontrivial quantum mechanical effects play a functioning role in certain biomolecular processes. Here, we investigate the potential effects of quantum coherence in biological ET by extending the semiclassical model to allow for the possibility of quantum coherent phenomena using a quantum master equation based on the Holstein Hamiltonian. We test the model on the structurally defined chain of seven iron-sulfur clusters in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide plus hydrogen:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I), a crucial respiratory enzyme and one of the longest chains of metal centers in biology. Using experimental parameters where possible, we find that, in limited circumstances, a small quantum mechanical contribution can provide a marked increase in the ET rate above the semiclassical diffusive-hopping rate. Under typical biological conditions, our model reduces to well-known diffusive behavior.

Towards quantum simulations of biological information flow

Recent advances in the spectroscopy of biomolecules have highlighted the possibility of quantum coherence playing an active role in biological energy transport. The revelation that quantum coherence can survive in the hot and wet environment of biology has generated a lively debate across both the physics and biology communities. In particular, it remains unclear to what extent non-trivial quantum effects are used in biology and what advantage, if any, they afford. We propose an analogue quantum simulator, based on currently available techniques in ultra-cold atom physics, to study a model of energy and electron transport based on the Holstein Hamiltonian. By simulating the salient aspects of a biological system in a tunable laboratory set-up, we hope to gain insight into the validity of several theoretical models of biological quantum transport in a variety of relevant parameter regimes.

Photon production from the vacuum close to the superradiant transition: linking the dynamical Casimir effect to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism

The dynamical Casimir effect (DCE) predicts the generation of photons from the vacuum due to the parametric amplification of the quantum fluctuations of an electromagnetic field. The verification of such an effect is still elusive in optical systems due to the very demanding requirements of its experimental implementation. We show that an ensemble of two-level atoms collectively coupled to the electromagnetic field of a cavity, driven at low frequencies and close to a quantum phase transition, stimulates the production of photons from the vacuum. This paves the way to an effective simulation of the DCE through a mechanism that has recently found experimental demonstration. The spectral properties of the emitted radiation reflect the critical nature of the system and allow us to link the detection of the DCE to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for the production of defects when crossing a continuous phase transition.

Physics. Moving beyond trust in quantum computing

A protocol that allows users and operators of a quantum computer to avoid revealing their methods has implications for the need of classical ideas in quantum mechanics.

Sustained quantum coherence and entanglement in the avian compass

In artificial systems, quantum superposition and entanglement typically decay rapidly unless cryogenic temperatures are used. Could life have evolved to exploit such delicate phenomena? Certain migratory birds have the ability to sense very subtle variations in Earth's magnetic field. Here we apply quantum information theory and the widely accepted "radical pair" model to analyze recent experimental observations of the avian compass. We find that superposition and entanglement are sustained in this living system for at least tens of microseconds, exceeding the durations achieved in the best comparable man-made molecular systems. This conclusion is starkly at variance with the view that life is too "warm and wet" for such quantum phenomena to endure.

Necessary and sufficient condition for nonzero quantum discord

Quantum discord characterizes "nonclassicality" of correlations in quantum mechanics. It has been proposed as the key resource present in certain quantum communication tasks and quantum computational models without containing much entanglement. We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of nonzero quantum discord for any dimensional bipartite states. This condition is easily experimentally implementable. Based on this, we propose a geometrical way of quantifying quantum discord. For two qubits this results in a closed form of expression for discord. We apply our results to the model of deterministic quantum computation with one qubit, showing that quantum discord is unlikely to be the reason behind its speedup.

Unified view of quantum and classical correlations

We discuss the problem of the separation of total correlations in a given quantum state into entanglement, dissonance, and classical correlations using the concept of relative entropy as a distance measure of correlations. This allows us to put all correlations on an equal footing. Entanglement and dissonance, whose definition is introduced here, jointly belong to what is known as quantum discord. Our methods are completely applicable for multipartite systems of arbitrary dimensions. We investigate additivity relations between different correlations and show that dissonance may be present in pure multipartite states.

Quantum physics meets biology

Quantum physics and biology have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines, describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and living species on the other hand. Over the past decades the life sciences have succeeded in providing ever more and refined explanations of macroscopic phenomena that were based on an improved understanding of molecular structures and mechanisms. Simultaneously, quantum physics, originally rooted in a world-view of quantum coherences, entanglement, and other nonclassical effects, has been heading toward systems of increasing complexity. The present perspective article shall serve as a "pedestrian guide" to the growing interconnections between the two fields. We recapitulate the generic and sometimes unintuitive characteristics of quantum physics and point to a number of applications in the life sciences. We discuss our criteria for a future "quantum biology," its current status, recent experimental progress, and also the restrictions that nature imposes on bold extrapolations of quantum theory to macroscopic phenomena.

Natural mode entanglement as a resource for quantum communication

Natural particle-number entanglement resides between spatial modes in coherent ultracold atomic gases. However, operations on the modes are restricted by a superselection rule that forbids coherent superpositions of different particle numbers. This seemingly prevents mode entanglement being used as a resource for quantum communication. In this Letter, we demonstrate that mode entanglement of a single massive particle can be used for dense coding and quantum teleportation despite the superselection rule. In particular, we provide schemes where the dense coding linear photonic channel capacity is reached without a shared reservoir and where the full quantum channel capacity is achieved if both parties share a coherent particle reservoir.

Positive phase space transformation incompatible with classical physics

Bell conjectured that a positive Wigner function does not allow violation of the inequalities imposed by local hidden variable theories. A requirement for this conjecture is "when phase space measurements are performed." We introduce the theory-independent concept of "operationally local transformations" which refers to the change of the switch on a local measurement apparatus. We show that two separated parties, performing only phase space measurements on a composite quantum system with a positive Wigner function and performing only operationally local transformations that preserve this positivity, can nonetheless violate Bell's inequality. Such operationally local transformations are realized using entangled ancillae.

Enhancing the detection of natural thermal entanglement with disorder

Physical systems have some degree of disorder present in them. We discuss how to treat natural, thermal entanglement in any random macroscopic system from which a thermodynamic witness bounded by a constant can be found. We propose that functional many-body perturbation theory be applied to allow either a quenched or an annealed average over the disorder to be taken. We find, when considering the example of an XX Heisenberg spin chain with a random coupling strength, that the region of natural entanglement detected by both witnesses can be enhanced by the disorder.

Quantum correlation without classical correlations

We show that genuine multiparty quantum correlations can exist on its own, without a supporting background of genuine multiparty classical correlations, even in macroscopic systems. Such possibilities can have important implications in the physics of quantum information and phase transitions.

Quantifying entanglement in macroscopic systems

Traditionally, entanglement was considered to be a quirk of microscopic objects that defied a common-sense explanation. Now, however, entanglement is recognized to be ubiquitous and robust. With the realization that entanglement can occur in macroscopic systems - and with the development of experiments aimed at exploiting this fact - new tools are required to define and quantify entanglement beyond the original microscopic framework.

Nonlocality of a single particle

There has been a great deal of debate surrounding the issue of whether it is possible for a single photon to exhibit nonlocality. A number of schemes have been proposed that claim to demonstrate this effect, but each has been met with significant opposition. The objections hinge largely on the fact that these schemes use unobservable initial states and so, it is claimed, they do not represent experiments that could actually be performed. Here we show how it is possible to overcome these objections by presenting an experimentally feasible scheme that uses realistic initial states. Furthermore, all the techniques required for photons are equally applicable to atoms. It should, therefore, also be possible to use this scheme to verify the nonlocality of a single massive particle.

Regional versus global entanglement in resonating-valence-bond states

We investigate the entanglement properties of resonating-valence-bond states on two and higher dimensional lattices, which play a significant role in our understanding of various many-body systems. We show that these states are genuinely multipartite entangled, while there is only a negligible amount of two-site entanglement. We comment on possible physical implications of our findings.

Entanglement in single-particle systems

We address some of the most commonly raised questions about entanglement, especially with regard to the so-called occupation number entanglement. To answer unambiguously whether entanglement can exist in a one-atom delocalized state, we propose an experiment capable of showing violations of Bell's inequality using only this state and local operations. We review previous discussions for one-photon non-locality and propose a specific experiment for creating one-atom entangled states, showing that the superselection rule of atom number can be overcome. As a by-product, this experiment suggests a means of creating an entangled state of two different chemical species. By comparison with a massless system, we argue that there should be no fundamental objection to such a superposition and its creation may be within reach of present technology.

Optomechanical entanglement between a movable mirror and a cavity field

We show how stationary entanglement between an optical cavity field mode and a macroscopic vibrating mirror can be generated by means of radiation pressure. We also show how the generated optomechanical entanglement can be quantified, and we suggest an experimental readout scheme to fully characterize the entangled state. Surprisingly, such optomechanical entanglement is shown to persist for environment temperatures above 20 K using state-of-the-art experimental parameters.

Geometric phase induced by a cyclically evolving squeezed vacuum reservoir

We propose a new way to generate an observable geometric phase by means of a completely incoherent phenomenon. We show how to imprint a geometric phase to a system by adiabatically manipulating the environment with which it interacts. As a specific scheme, we analyze a multilevel atom interacting with a broadband squeezed vacuum bosonic bath. As the squeezing parameters are smoothly changed in time along a closed loop, the ground state of the system acquires a geometric phase. We also propose a scheme to measure such a geometric phase by means of a suitable polarization detection.

Macroscopic thermal entanglement due to radiation pressure

Can entanglement and the quantum behavior in physical systems survive at arbitrary high temperatures? In this Letter we show that this is the case for a electromagnetic field mode in an optical cavity with a movable mirror in a thermal state. We also identify two different dynamical regimes of generation of entanglement separated by a critical coupling strength.