## Physics

### Quantum electrodynamics of ultra-intense laser-matter interactions. (arXiv:2206.04308v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2022-06-18 00:45

Intense laser-matter interactions are at the center of interest in research and technology since the development of high power lasers. They have been widely used for fundamental studies in atomic, molecular, and optical physics, and they are at the core of attosecond physics and ultrafast opto-electronics. Although the majority of these studies have been successfully described using classical electromagnetic fields, recent investigations based on fully quantized approaches have shown that intense laser-atom interactions can be used for the generation of controllable high-photon-number entangled coherent states and coherent state superposition. In this tutorial, we provide a comprehensive fully quantized description of intense laser-atom interactions. We elaborate on the processes of high-harmonic generation, above-threshold-ionization, and we discuss new phenomena that cannot be revealed within the context of semi-classical theories. We provide the description for conditioning the light field on different electronic processes, and their consequences for quantum state engineering of light. Finally, we discuss the extension of the approach to more complex materials, and the impact to quantum technologies for a new photonic platform composed by the symbiosis of attosecond physics and quantum information science.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Reflected Entropy in Boundary/Interface Conformal Field Theory. (arXiv:2206.04630v2 [hep-th] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2022-06-18 00:45

Boundary conformal field theory (BCFT) and interface conformal field theory (ICFT) attract attention in the context of the information paradox problem. On this background, we develop the idea of the reflected entropy in BCFT/ICFT. We first introduce the left-right reflected entropy (LRRE) in BCFT and show that its holographic dual is given by the area of the entanglement wedge cross section (EWCS) through AdS/BCFT. We also present how to evaluate the reflected entropy in ICFT. By using this technique, we can show the universal behavior of the Markov gap in some special cases. Furthermore, we clarify what is the holographic dual of boundary primary correlation functions by using this LRRE/EWCS duality.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### $q$th-root non-Hermitian Floquet topological insulators. (arXiv:2203.09838v2 [cond-mat.mes-hall] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2022-06-18 00:45

Floquet phases of matter have attracted great attention due to their dynamical and topological nature that are unique to nonequilibrium settings. In this work, we introduce a generic way of taking any integer $q$th-root of the evolution operator $U$ that describes Floquet topological matter. We further apply our $q$th-rooting procedure to obtain $2^n$th- and $3^n$th-root first- and second-order non-Hermitian Floquet topological insulators (FTIs). There, we explicitly demonstrate the presence of multiple edge and corner modes at fractional quasienergies $\pm(0,1,...2^{n})\pi/2^{n}$ and $\pm(0,1,...,3^{n})\pi/3^{n}$, whose numbers are highly controllable and capturable by the topological invariants of their parent systems. Notably, we observe non-Hermiticity induced fractional-quasienergy corner modes and the coexistence of non-Hermitian skin effect with fractional-quasienergy edge states. Our findings thus establish a framework of constructing an intriguing class of topological matter in Floquet open systems.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Analysis of quantum correlations within the ground state of a three level Lipkin model. (arXiv:2203.09400v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2022-06-18 00:45

The performance of beyond mean field methods in solving the quantum many body problem for fermions is usually characterized by the correlation energy measured with respect to the underlying mean field value. In this paper we address the issue of characterizing the amount of correlations associated to different approximations from a quantum information perspective. With this goal in mind, we analyze the traditional Hartree-Fock (HF) method with spontaneous symmetry breaking, the HF with symmetry restoration and the generator coordinate method (GCM) in a exactly solvable fermion model known as the three-level Lipkin model. To characterize correlations including entanglement and beyond we use the quantum discord between different partition orbitals. We find that for physically motivated partitions, the quantum discord of the exact ground state is reasonably well reproduced by the different approximations. However, other partitions create "fake quantum correlations" in order to capture quantum correlations corresponding to partitions for which the Hartree-Fock solution fails. Those are removed and redistributed through a symmetry restoration process.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Real Non-Hermitian Energy Spectra Without Any Symmetry. (arXiv:2202.11873v3 [cond-mat.mes-hall] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2022-06-18 00:45

Non-Hermitian models with real eigenenergies are highly desirable for their stability. Yet, most of the currently known ones are constrained by symmetries such as PT-symmetry, which is incompatible with realizing some of the most exotic non-Hermitian phenomena. In this work, we investigate how the non-Hermitian skin effect provides an alternative route towards enforcing real spectra and system stability. We showcase, for different classes of energy dispersions, various ansatz models that possess large parameter space regions with real spectra, despite not having any obvious symmetry. These minimal local models can be quickly implemented in non-reciprocal experimental setups such as electrical circuits with operational amplifiers.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Nobel Lecture: A forty-year journey

Reviews of Modern Physics - Fri, 2022-06-17 12:00

Author(s): Reinhard Genzel

The 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics was shared by Roger Penrose, Andrea Ghez, and Reinhard Genzel. This paper is the text of the address given in conjunction with the award.

[Rev. Mod. Phys. 94, 020501] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Efficient Backcasting Search for Optical Quantum State Synthesis

Author(s): Kosuke Fukui, Shuntaro Takeda, Mamoru Endo, Warit Asavanant, Jun-ichi Yoshikawa, Peter van Loock, and Akira Furusawa

Non-Gaussian states are essential for many optical quantum technologies. The so-called optical quantum state synthesizer (OQSS), consisting of Gaussian input states, linear optics, and photon-number resolving detectors, is a promising method for non-Gaussian state preparation. However, an inevitable…

[Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 240503] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum Asymmetry and Noisy Multimode Interferometry

Author(s): Francesco Albarelli, Mateusz Mazelanik, Michał Lipka, Alexander Streltsov, Michał Parniak, and Rafał Demkowicz-Dobrzański

Quantum asymmetry is a physical resource that coincides with the amount of coherence between the eigenspaces of a generator responsible for phase encoding in interferometric experiments. We highlight an apparently counterintuitive behavior that the asymmetry may increase as a result of a decrease of…

[Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 240504] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Entanglement Phase Transition with Spin Glass Criticality

Author(s): Jeremy Côté and Stefanos Kourtis

We define an ensemble of random Clifford quantum circuits whose output state undergoes an entanglement phase transition between two volume-law phases as a function of measurement rate. Our setup maps exactly the output state to the ground space of a spin glass model. We identify the entanglement pha…

[Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 240601] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Hearing the Quantum Difference

APS Physics - Fri, 2022-06-17 12:00

Author(s): Michael Schirber

At very low volume, a quantum optical microphone performs better than a classical device, and humans can hear the difference.

[Physics 15, 87] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Physics

### More Versatile Quantum Sensors

APS Physics - Fri, 2022-06-17 12:00

Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson

Quantum sensors can now detect signals of arbitrary frequencies thanks to a quantum version of frequency mixing—a widely used technique in electronics.

[Physics 15, s82] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Physics

### Straddling-gates problem in multipartite quantum systems

PRA: Quantum information - Fri, 2022-06-17 12:00

Author(s): Yuxuan Zhang

We study a variant of quantum circuit complexity, the binding complexity: Consider an n-qubit system divided into two sets of k1, k2 qubits each (k1≤k2) and gates within each set are free; what is the least cost of two-qubit gates “straddling” the sets for preparing an arbitrary quantum state, assum…

[Phys. Rev. A 105, 062430] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Statistical complexity of quantum circuits

PRA: Quantum information - Fri, 2022-06-17 12:00

Author(s): Kaifeng Bu, Dax Enshan Koh, Lu Li, Qingxian Luo, and Yaobo Zhang

In theoretical machine learning, the statistical complexity is a notion that measures the richness of a hypothesis space. In this work, we apply a particular measure of statistical complexity, namely, the Rademacher complexity, to the quantum circuit model in quantum computation and study how the st…

[Phys. Rev. A 105, 062431] Published Fri Jun 17, 2022

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Topological Edge Mode Tapering. (arXiv:2206.07056v1 [physics.optics])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

Mode tapering, or the gradual manipulation of the size of some mode, is a requirement for any system that aims to efficiently interface two or more subsystems of different mode sizes. While high efficiency tapers have been demonstrated, they often come at the cost of a large device footprint or challenging fabrication. Topological photonics, offering robustness to certain types of disorder as well as chirality, has proved to be a well-suited design principle for numerous applications in recent years. Here we present a new kind of mode taper realized through topological bandgap engineering. We numerically demonstrate a sixfold change in mode width over an extremely compact 8$\mu$m distance with near unity efficiency in the optical domain. With suppressed backscattering and no excitation of higher-order modes, such a taper could enable new progress in the development of scalable, multi-component systems in classical and quantum optics.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Interaction-induced directed transport in quantum chaotic systems. (arXiv:2206.07063v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

Quantum directed transport can be realized in non-interacting, deterministic, chaotic systems by appropriately breaking the spatio-temporal symmetries in the potential. In this work, the focus is on the class of interacting quantum systems whose classical limit is chaotic. In this limit, one subsystem effectively acts as a source of "noise" to the other leading to temporal symmetry breaking. Thus, the quantum directed currents can be generated with two ingredients -- broken spatial symmetry in the potential and presence of interactions. This is demonstrated in two-body interacting kicked rotor and kicked Harper models. Unlike earlier schemes employed for single-particle ratchet currents, this work provides a minimal framework for realizing quantum directed transport in interacting systems. This can be generalized to many-body quantum chaotic systems.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Tight-binding billiards. (arXiv:2206.07078v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

Recent works have established universal entanglement properties and demonstrated validity of single-particle eigenstate thermalization in quantum-chaotic quadratic Hamiltonians. However, a common property of all quantum-chaotic quadratic Hamiltonians studied in this context so far is the presence of random terms that act as a source of disorder. Here we introduce tight-binding billiards in two dimensions, which are described by non-interacting spinless fermions on a disorder-free square lattice subject to curved open boundaries. We show that many properties of tight-binding billiards match those of quantum-chaotic quadratic Hamiltonians: the average entanglement entropy of many-body eigenstates approaches the random matrix theory predictions and one-body observables in single-particle eigenstates obey the single-particle eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. On the other hand, a degenerate subset of single-particle eigenstates at zero energy (i.e., the zero modes) can be described as chiral particles whose wavefunctions are confined to one of the sublattices.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Failure of the geometric approach prediction of excess work scaling for open and isolated quantum systems. (arXiv:2206.07105v1 [cond-mat.stat-mech])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

The task of finding optimal protocols that minimize the energetic cost of thermodynamic processes of long yet finite duration $\tau$ is a pressing one. We approach this problem here in a rigorous and systematic fashion by means of the adiabatic perturbation theory of closed Hamiltonian quantum systems. Our main finding is a $1/\tau^2$ scaling of the excess work for large $\tau$. This result is at odds with the $1/\tau$ prediction of the geometric approach to optimization, which is predicated on the slow evolution of open systems close to canonical equilibrium. In contrast, our approach does not lead to an obvious geometric interpretation. Furthermore, as the thermodynamic work does not depend on how an isolated quantum system is split into a system of interest and its environment, our results imply the failure of the geometric approach prediction even for open systems. Additionally, we provide alternative optimization procedures, both for slowly-varying processes described by adiabatic perturbation theory and for weakly-varying processes described by linear response theory. Our findings are benchmarked and confirmed through the application to the driven transverse-field Ising chain.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Symmetry-Based Singlet-Triplet Excitation in Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. (arXiv:2206.07109v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

Coupled pairs of spin-1/2 nuclei support one singlet state and three triplet states. In many circumstances the nuclear singlet order, defined as the difference between the singlet population and the mean of the triplet populations, is a long-lived state which persists for a relatively long time in solution. Various methods have been proposed for generating singlet order, starting from nuclear magnetization. This requires the stimulation of singlet-to-triplet transitions by modulated radiofrequency fields. We show that a recently described pulse sequence, known as PulsePol (Schwartz $\textit{et al.}$, Science Advances, $\textbf{4}$, eaat8978 (2018) and arXiv:1710.01508), is an efficient technique for converting magnetization into long-lived singlet order. We show that the operation of this pulse sequence may be understood by adapting the theory of symmetry-based recoupling sequences in magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR. The concept of riffling allows PulsePol to be interpreted using the theory of symmetry-based pulse sequences, and explains its robustness. This theory is used to derive a range of new pulse sequences for performing singlet-triplet excitation and conversion in solution NMR. Schemes for further enhancing the robustness of the transformations are demonstrated.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantumness and speedup limit of a qubit under transition frequency modulation. (arXiv:2206.07147v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

Controlling and maintaining quantum properties of an open quantum system along its evolution is essential for both fundamental and technological aims. We assess the capability of a frequency-modulated qubit embedded in a leaky cavity to exhibit enhancement of its dynamical quantum features. The qubit transition frequency is sinusoidally modulated by an external driving field. We show that a properly optimized quantum witness effectively identifies quantum coherence protection due to frequency modulation while a standard quantum witness fails. We also find an evolution speedup of the qubit through proper manipulation of the modulation parameters of the driving field. Importantly, by introducing a new figure of merit Rg, we discover that the relation between Quantum Speed Limit Time (QSLT) and non-Markovianity depends on the system initial state, which generalizes previous connections between these two dynamical features. The frequency-modulated qubit model thus manifests insightful dynamical properties with potential utilization against decoherence.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Continuous-variable quantum approximate optimization on a programmable photonic quantum processor. (arXiv:2206.07214v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Thu, 2022-06-16 23:45

Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) provide a promising approach to achieving quantum advantage for practical problems on near-term noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. Thus far, intensive studies on qubit-based VQAs have been made theoretically and experimentally on several physical platforms. However, there have been much fewer theoretical proposals and no experimental implementations on continuous-variable (CV) VQAs, although CV quantum computing can process infinite-dimensional quantum information even on single-mode devices and thus has great potential in the NISQ era. Here, we implement the CV version of one of the most typical VQAs, a quantum approximate optimization algorithm, on a single-mode programmable photonic quantum computer. We experimentally demonstrate that this algorithm solves a minimization problem of a given continuous real-valued function by implementing the quantum version of gradient descent and localizing an initially broadly-distributed wavefunction to the minimum of the given function. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration ever of a practical CV quantum algorithm on any physical platform, except for Gaussian Boson sampling. Our work highlights the power of CV quantum computing in the NISQ era, opening a new door to the quantum advantage in practical problems.

Categories: Journals, Physics