## Physics

### Hierarchical Majoranas in a Programmable Nanowire Network. (arXiv:1808.04825v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We propose a hierarchical architecture for building "logical" Majorana zero modes using "physical" Majorana zero modes at the Y-junctions of a hexagonal network of semiconductor nanowires. Each Y-junction contains three "physical" Majoranas, which hybridize when placed in close proximity, yielding a single effective Majorana mode near zero energy. The hybridization of effective Majorana modes on neighboring Y-junctions is controlled by applied gate voltages on the links of the honeycomb network. This gives rise to a tunable tight-binding model of effective Majorana modes. We show that selecting the gate voltages that generate a Kekul\'e vortex pattern in the set of hybridization amplitudes yields an emergent "logical" Majorana zero mode bound to the vortex core. The position of a logical Majorana can be tuned adiabatically, \textit{without} moving any of the "physical" Majoranas or closing any energy gaps, by programming the values of the gate voltages to change as functions of time. A nanowire network supporting multiple such "logical" Majorana zero modes provides a physical platform for performing adiabatic non-Abelian braiding operations in a fully controllable manner.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Genuine Counterfactual Communication with a Nanophotonic Processor. (arXiv:1808.04856v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

In standard communication information is carried by particles or waves. Counterintuitively, in counterfactual communication particles and information can travel in opposite directions. The quantum Zeno effect allows Bob to transmit a message to Alice by encoding information in particles he never interacts with. The first suggested protocol not only required thousands of ideal optical components, but also resulted in a so-called "weak trace" of the particles having travelled from Bob to Alice, calling the scalability and counterfactuality of previous proposals and experiments into question. Here we overcome these challenges, implementing a new protocol in a programmable nanophotonic processor, based on reconfigurable silicon-on-insulator waveguides that operate at telecom wavelengths. This, together with our telecom single-photon source and highly-efficient superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, provides a versatile and stable platform for a high-fidelity implementation of genuinely trace-free counterfactual communication, allowing us to actively tune the number of steps in the Zeno measurement, and achieve a bit error probability below 1%, with neither post-selection nor a weak trace. Our demonstration shows how our programmable nanophotonic processor could be applied to more complex counterfactual tasks and quantum information protocols.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum electromechanics of a hypersonic crystal. (arXiv:1808.04874v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Radiation pressure within engineered structures has recently been used to couple the motion of nanomechanical objects with high sensitivity to optical and microwave electromagnetic fields. Here, we demonstrate a form of electromechanical crystal for coupling microwave photons and hypersonic phonons by embedding the vacuum-gap capacitor of a superconducting resonator within a phononic crystal acoustic cavity. Utilizing a two-photon resonance condition for efficient microwave pumping and a phononic bandgap shield to eliminate acoustic radiation, we demonstrate large cooperative coupling ($C \approx 30$) between a pair of electrical resonances at $10$GHz and an acoustic resonance at $0.425$GHz. Electrical read-out of the phonon occupancy shows that the hypersonic acoustic mode has an intrinsic energy decay time of $2.3$ms and thermalizes close to its quantum ground-state of motion (occupancy $1.5$) at a fridge temperature of $10$mK. Such an electromechanical transducer is envisioned as part of a hybrid quantum circuit architecture, capable of interfacing to both superconducting qubits and optical photons.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Operator Spreading in Quantum Maps. (arXiv:1808.04889v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Operators in ergodic spin-chains are found to grow according to hydrodynamical equations of motion. The study of such operator spreading has aided our understanding of many-body quantum chaos in spin-chains. Here we initiate the study of "operator spreading" in quantum maps on a torus, systems which do not have a tensor-product Hilbert space or a notion of spatial locality. Using the perturbed Arnold cat map as an example, we analytically compare and contrast the evolutions of functions on classical phase space and quantum operator evolutions, and identify distinct timescales that characterize the dynamics of operators in quantum chaotic maps. Until an Ehrenfest time, the quantum system exhibits classical chaos, i.e. it mimics the behavior of the corresponding classical system. After an operator scrambling time, the operator looks "random" in the initial basis, a characteristic feature of quantum chaos. These timescales can be related to the quasi-energy spectrum of the unitary via the spectral form factor. Furthermore, we show examples of "emergent classicality" in quantum problems far away from the classical limit. Finally, we study operator evolution in non-chaotic and mixed quantum maps using the Chirikov standard map as an example.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Imaging dynamically-driven strain at the nanometer-scale using stroboscopic Scanning X-ray Diffraction Microscopy. (arXiv:1808.04920v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Phononic manipulation provides a direct route to control diverse materials properties in solid state systems. In materials hosting optically-active defects, strain control near engineered structures is an important path to harnessing the potential of solid-state qubits for quantum information science and nanoscale sensing. While lattice strain can be used both statically and dynamically to tune quantum energy levels and engineer hybrid system responses, the direct, independent observation of in-situ nanoscale strain fields induced near quantum defects remains challenging. We report the development of a stroboscopic Scanning X-ray Diffraction Microscopy (s-SXDM) imaging approach for investigating dynamic strain in 4H-SiC, which hosts vacancy related spin defects for quantum sensing and information. This approach uses nano-focused X-ray photon pulses synchronized to a surface acoustic wave (SAW) launcher, in order achieve static time domain and phase sensitive Bragg diffraction imaging with nanoscale spatial resolution near an engineered acoustic-scattering object. We use this technique to simultaneously map near-surface microstructures and acoustically induced lattice curvatures generated by interdigitated transducers fabricated on 4H-SiC as well as corroborate the images with the photoluminescence response of optically-active defect in the SiC, sensitive to local piezoelectric effects. The nanofocused diffraction patterns, stroboscopically varying in time, are analyzed to reveal micro-radian dynamic curvature oscillations trapped near a model structural defect etched into the SiC. This technique yields 0.01 pm d-spacing sensitivity and an effective time resolution of 100 ps. These results demonstrate a unique route for directly studying local strain induced by acoustically manipulated structures under realistic operating conditions.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Experimental Test of Generalized Hardy's Paradox. (arXiv:1808.04966v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Since the pillars of quantum theory were established, it was already noted that quantum physics may allow certain correlations defying any local realistic picture of nature, as first recognized by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen. These quantum correlations, now termed quantum nonlocality and tested by violation of Bell's inequality that consists of statistical correlations fulfilling local realism, have found loophole-free experimental confirmation. A more striking way to demonstrate the conflict exists, and can be extended to the multipartite scenario. Here we report experimental confirmation of such a striking way, the multipartite generalized Hardy's paradoxes, in which no inequality is used and the conflict is stronger than that within just two parties. The paradoxes we are considering here belong to a general framework [S.-H. Jiang \emph{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 050403 (2018)], including previously known multipartite extensions of Hardy's original paradox as special cases. The conflict shown here is stronger than in previous multipartite Hardy's paradox. Thus, the demonstration of Hardy-typed quantum nonlocality becomes sharper than ever.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Nonclassical effects in optomechanics: Dynamics and collapse of entanglement. (arXiv:1808.04984v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We have investigated a wide range of nonclassical behavior exhibited by a tripartite cavity optomechanical system comprising a two-level atom placed inside a Fabry-P\'{e}rot type optical cavity with a vibrating mirror attached to one end. We have shown that the atom's subsystem von Neumann entropy collapses to its maximum allowed value over a significant time interval during dynamical evolution. This feature is sensitive to the nature of the initial state, the specific form of intensity-dependent tripartite coupling, and system parameters. The extent of nonclassicality of the field is assessed through the Mandel Q parameter and Wigner function. Both entropic and quadrature squeezing properties of the field are quantified directly from optical tomograms, thereby avoiding tedious state reconstruction procedures.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Transmission spectroscopy of a single atom in the presence of tensor light shifts. (arXiv:1808.04987v1 [physics.atom-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We investigate the interplay between Zeeman and light shifts in the transmission spectrum of an optically trapped, spin-polarized Rubidium atom. The spectral shape of the transmission changes from multiple, broad resonances to a single, narrow Lorentzian with a high resonant extinction value when we increase the magnetic field strength and lower the depth of the dipole trap. We present an experimental configuration well-suited for quantum information applications in that it enables not only efficient light-atom coupling but also a long coherence time between ground state hyperfine levels.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Effect of initial system-environment correlations with spin environments. (arXiv:1808.04988v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Understanding the dynamics of open quantum systems is a highly important task for the implementation of emerging quantum technologies. To make the problem tractable theoretically, it is common to neglect initial system-environment correlations. However, this assumption is questionable in situations where the system is interacting strongly with the environment. In particular, the system state preparation can then influence the dynamics of the system via the system-environment correlations. To gain insight into the effect of these correlations, we solve an exactly solvable model of a quantum spin interacting with a spin environment both with and without initial correlations for arbitrary system-environment coupling strengths. We show that the effect of the system state preparation may or may not be significant in the strong system-environment coupling regime at low temperatures. We also study the dynamics of the entanglement between two spins interacting with a common spin environment with and without initial system-environment correlations to demonstrate that the correlations can play a significant role in the dynamics of two-qubit systems as well.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### In-line detection and reconstruction of multi-photon quantum states. (arXiv:1808.05038v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Integrated single-photon detectors open new possibilities for monitoring inside quantum photonic circuits. We present a concept for the in-line measurement of spatially-encoded multi-photon quantum states, while keeping the transmitted ones undisturbed. We theoretically establish that by recording photon correlations from optimally positioned detectors on top of coupled waveguides with detuned propagation constants, one can perform robust reconstruction of the density matrix describing the amplitude, phase, coherence and quantum entanglement. We report proof-of-principle experiments using classical light, which emulates single-photon regime. Our method opens a pathway towards practical and fast in-line quantum measurements for diverse applications in quantum photonics.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A broadband fiber-optic nonlinear interferometer. (arXiv:1808.05041v1 [physics.optics])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We describe an all-fiber nonlinear interferometer based on four-wave mixing in highly nonlinear fiber. Our configuration realizes phase-sensitive interference with 97% peak visibility and >90% visibility over a broad 554 GHz optical band. By comparing the output noise power to the shot-noise level, we confirm noise cancellation at dark interference fringes, as required for quantum-enhanced sensitivity. Our device extends nonlinear interferometry to the important platform of highly nonlinear optical fiber, and could find application in a variety of fiber-based sensors.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Dynamics of Many-Body Quantum Synchronisation. (arXiv:1808.05047v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We analyse the properties of the synchronisation transition in a many-body system consisting of quantum van der Pol oscillators with all-to-all coupling using a self-consistent mean-field method. We find that the synchronised state, which the system can access for oscillator couplings above a critical value, is characterised not just by a lower phase uncertainty than the corresponding unsynchronised state, but also a higher number uncertainty. Just below the critical coupling the system can evolve to the unsynchronised steady state via a long-lived transient synchronised state. We investigate the way in which this transient state eventually decays and show that the critical scaling of its lifetime is consistent with a simple classical model.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Factorizations of Quantum Channels. (arXiv:1808.05048v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We find a connection between the existence of a factorization of a quantum channel and the existence of low-rank solutions to certain linear matrix equations. Using this, we show that if a quantum channel is factorized by a direct integral of factors, it must lie in the convex hull of quantum channels which are factorized respectively by the factors in the direct integral. We use this to characterize some non-trivial extreme points in the set of factorizable quantum channels and give an example.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A Primary Radiation Standard Based on Quantum Nonlinear Optics. (arXiv:1808.05106v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

The spectrum of vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field is determined solely from first physical principles and can be seen as a fundamental property that qualifies as a primary radiation standard. We demonstrate that the amplitude of these quantum fluctuations triggering nonlinear optical processes can be used as a reference for radiometry. In the spontaneous regime of photon pair generation, the shape of the emitted spectrum is nearly independent of laboratory parameters. In the high-gain regime, where spontaneous emission turns to stimulated emission, the shape of the frequency spectrum is uniquely determined by the number of created photons. Both aspects allow us to determine the quantum efficiency of a spectrometer over a broad range of wavelengths without the need of any external calibrated source or detector.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Analytic eigenvalue structure of a coupled oscillator system beyond the ground state. (arXiv:1808.05108v1 [math-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

By analytically continuing the eigenvalue problem of a system of two coupled harmonic oscillators in the complex coupling constant $g$, we have found a continuation structure through which the conventional ground state of the decoupled system is connected to three other lower {\it unconventional} ground states that describe the different combinations of the two constituent oscillators, taking all possible spectral phases of these oscillators into account. In this work we calculate the connecting structures for the higher excitation states of the system and argue that - in contrast to the four-fold Riemann surface identified for the ground state - the general structure is eight-fold instead. Furthermore we show that this structure in principle remains valid for equal oscillator frequencies as well and comment on the similarity of the connection structure to that of the single complex harmonic oscillator.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Deeply-bound (24$D_J$+5$S_{1/2}$) $^{87}$Rb and $^{85}$Rb molecules for eight spin couplings. (arXiv:1808.05136v1 [physics.atom-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

We observe long-range $^{85}$Rb and $^{87}$Rb (24$D$+5$S_{1/2}$) Rydberg molecules for eight different spin couplings, with binding energies up to 440~MHz and sub-percent relative uncertainty. Isotopic effects of the molecular binding energies arise from the different masses and nuclear spins. Because the vibrational states involve different spin configurations and cover a wide range of internuclear separations, the states have different dependencies on the $s$-wave and $p$-wave scattering phase shifts for singlet and triplet scattering. This enables a comprehensive determination of all four scattering lengths from the spectroscopic data. Our unusually high temperature and low density (180 $\mu$K, 1 $\times$ 10$^{11}$ cm$^{-3}$) suggest that the molecule excitation occurs through photo-assisted collisions.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Entanglement makes free riding redundant in the thermodynamic limit. (arXiv:1808.05149v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

The free rider problem is one of the most well studied problems in economics. The solution proposed mainly is punitive in order to deter people from free riding. In this work we introduce quantum strategies and also study the problem in the thermodynamic limit by drawing analogies with the 1D Ising model. We observe that for maximum entanglement, irrespective of the payoffs, quantum strategy is the equilibrium solution, solving the free rider problem.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Asymptotic majorization of finite probability distributions. (arXiv:1808.05157v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

This paper studies majorization of high tensor powers of finitely supported probability distributions. Viewing probability distributions as a resource with majorization as a means of transformation corresponds to the resource theory of pure bipartite quantum states under LOCC transformations vis-\`a-vis Nielsen's Theorem. In [T. Fritz (2017)] a formula for the asymptotic exchange rate between any two finitely supported probability distributions was conjectured. The main result of the present paper is Theorem 3.11, which resolves this conjecture.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Finite energy transfer and better approximation of delta function in the position measurement. (arXiv:1808.05165v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

It is well-accepted that the Dirac delta function can be reached by the limiting case of the square function covering a unit area with decrease of the width of the square, and the eigenvectors of the position operator take the form the delta function. We note that some authors of quantum mechanics texts follow the mathematical convention to approximate the delta function in order to making the state of the position physical. We argue that such an approximation is improper in physics, because during the position measurement the energy transfer from the environment to the particle might be infinitely large. The normalized continuous functions can then be quantified candidate for the proper approximations of the delta function representing the physical states of position.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Two-color phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy with circularly polarized laser pulses. (arXiv:1808.05167v1 [physics.atom-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2018-08-16 17:45

Phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy using two-color colinearly polarized laser pulses has been introduced and experimentally applied to strong-field tunneling ionization in S. Skruszewicz et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 043001 (2015) and recently to multiphoton ionization in M. A. Almajid et al., J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 50, 194001 (2017). The idea behind phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy is to study in a systematic way the change in the photoelectron yield as a function of the relative phase between the strong fundamental field component (of carrier frequency $\omega$) and a weak, second color component (e.g., $2\omega$). The observable of interest is the photoelectron-momentum-dependent phase of the change in the electron yield with respect to the relative phase, hence the name "phase of the phase." In the present paper, phase-of-the-phase spectroscopy is extended to circularly polarized light. With a small, counter-rotating $2\omega$-component, photoelectron spectra have a three-fold symmetry in the polarization plane. The same is true for the corresponding phase-of-the-phase spectra. However, a peculiar, very sharp phase-flip by $\pi$ occurs at a certain radial momentum of the photoelectron that is sensitive to both laser parameters and the ionization potential. Results from the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation are compared to those from the strong-field approximation. An analytical expression for the momentum at which the phase-of-the-phase flipping occurs is presented.

Categories: Journals, Physics