## Physics

### Parallel Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution. (arXiv:1703.05426v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

A prominent application of quantum cryptography is the distribution of cryptographic keys that are provably secure. Recently, such security proofs were extended by Vazirani and Vidick (Physical Review Letters, 113, 140501, 2014) to the device-independent (DI) scenario, where the users do not need to trust the integrity of the underlying quantum devices. The protocols analyzed by them and by subsequent authors all require a sequential execution of N multiplayer games, where N is the security parameter. In this work, we prove unconditional security of a protocol where all games are executed in parallel. Besides decreasing the number of time-steps necessary for key generation, this result reduces the security requirements for DI-QKD by allowing arbitrary information leakage of each user's inputs within his or her lab. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first parallel security proof for a fully device-independent QKD protocol. Our protocol tolerates a constant level of device imprecision and achieves a linear key rate.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A limit theorem for a splitting distribution of a quantum walk. (arXiv:1704.04554v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Discrete-time quantum walks are considered a counterpart of random walks and the study for them has been getting attention since around 2000. In this paper, we focus on a quantum walk which generates a probability distribution splitting to two parts. The quantum walker with two coin states spreads at points, represented by integers, and we analyze the chance of finding the walker at each position after it carries out a unitary evolution a lot of times. The result is reported as a long-time limit distribution from which one can see an approximation to the finding probability.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Black Hole Evaporation, Quantum Hair and Supertranslations. (arXiv:1707.08580v2 [hep-th] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

In a black hole, hair and quantum information retrieval are interrelated phenomena. The existence of any new form of hair necessarily implies the existence of features in the quantum-mechanically evaporated radiation. Classical supertranslation hair can be only distinguished from global diffeomorphisms if we have access to the interior of the black hole. Indirect information on the interior can only be obtained from the features of the quantum evaporation. Supertranslations $(T^-,T^+) \in BMS_{-}\otimes BMS_{+}$ can be used as bookkepers of the probability distributions of the emitted quanta where the first element describes the classical injection of energy and the second one is associated to quantum-mechanical emission. The connection between $T^-$ and $T^+$ is determined by the interior quantum dynamics of the black hole. We argue that restricting to the diagonal subgroup is only possible for decoupled modes, which do not bring any non-trivial information about the black hole interior and therefore do not constitute physical hair. We show that this is also true for gravitational systems without horizon, for which both injection and emission can be described classically. Moreover, we discuss and clarify the role of infrared physics in purification.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum algorithm for ridge regression. (arXiv:1707.09524v4 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Ridge regression (RR) is an important machine learning technique which introduces a regularization hyperparameter to ordinary multiple linear regression for analyzing data suffering from multicollinearity. In this paper, we present a quantum algorithm for RR, where by giving the technique of parallel Hamiltonian simulation that can simulate a number of Hermitian matrices in parallel, we develop a quantum version of $K$-fold cross-validation approach that can efficiently estimate the predictive performance of RR. Our algorithm consists of two phases: (1) using quantum $K$-fold cross-validation to efficiently determine a good regularization hyperparameter for RR with which RR can achieve good predictive performance, then (2) generating a quantum state encoding the optimal fitting parameters of RR with such hyperparameter, which can be further utilized to predict new data. Since efficient simulation of indefinite density Hamiltonians \cite{RSL} is adopted as the key subroutine, our algorithm is able to handle non-sparse data matrices. It is shown that our algorithm can achieve exponential speedup over the classical counterpart for (low-rank) data matrices with low condition numbers. But when the condition numbers of data matrices is large to be amenable to full or approximately full ranks of data matrices, polynomial speedup can be achieved.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Singularities of Floquet Scattering and Tunneling. (arXiv:1708.09828v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We study quasi-bound states and scattering with short range potentials in three dimensions, subject to an axial periodic driving. We find that poles of the scattering S-matrix can cross the real energy axis as a function of the drive amplitude, making the S-matrix nonanalytic at a singular point. For the corresponding quasi-bound states that can tunnel out of (or get captured within) a potential well, this results in a discontinuous jump in both the angular momentum and energy of emitted (absorbed) waves. We also analyze elastic and inelastic scattering of slow particles in the time dependent potential. For a drive amplitude at the singular point, there is a total absorption of incoming low energy (s-wave) particles and their conversion to high energy outgoing (mostly p-) waves. We examine the relation of such Floquet singularities, lacking in an effective time independent approximation, with well known "spectral singularities" (or "exceptional points"). These results are based on an analytic approach for obtaining eigensolutions of time-dependent periodic Hamiltonians with mixed cylindrical and spherical symmetry, and apply broadly to particles interacting via power law forces and subject to periodic fields, e.g. co-trapped ions and atoms.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Fundamental work cost of quantum processes. (arXiv:1709.00506v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Information-theoretic approaches provide a promising avenue for extending the laws of thermodynamics to the nanoscale. Here, we provide a general fundamental lower limit, valid for systems with an arbitrary Hamiltonian and in contact with any thermodynamic bath, on the work cost for the implementation of any logical process. This limit is given by a new information measure---the coherent relative entropy---which accounts for the Gibbs weight of each microstate. The coherent relative entropy enjoys a collection of natural properties justifying its interpretation as a measure of information, and can be understood as a generalization of a quantum relative entropy difference. As an application, we show that the standard first and second laws of thermodynamics emerge from our microscopic picture in the macroscopic limit. Finally, our results have an impact on understanding the role of the observer in thermodynamics: Our approach may be applied at any level of knowledge---for instance at the microscopic, mesoscopic or macroscopic scales---thus providing a formulation of thermodynamics that is inherently relative to the observer. We obtain a precise criterion for when the laws of thermodynamics can be applied, thus making a step forward in determining the exact extent of the universality of thermodynamics and enabling a systematic treatment of Maxwell-demon-like situations.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A conditionally integrable bi-confluent Heun potential involving inverse square root and centrifugal barrier terms. (arXiv:1709.01164v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We present a conditionally integrable potential, belonging to the bi-confluent Heun class, for which the Schr\"odinger equation is solved in terms of the confluent hypergeometric functions. The potential involves an attractive inverse square root term with arbitrary strength and a repulsive centrifugal barrier core with the strength fixed to a constant. This is a potential well defined on the half-axis. Each of the fundamental solutions composing the general solution of the Schr\"odinger equation is written as an irreducible linear combination, with non-constant coefficients, of two confluent hypergeometric functions. We present the explicit solution in terms of the non-integer order Hermite functions of scaled and shifted argument and discuss the bound states supported by the potential. We derive the exact equation for the energy spectrum and approximate that by a highly accurate transcendental equation involving trigonometric functions. Finally, we construct an accurate approximation for the bound-state energy levels.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Faster Quantum Algorithm to simulate Fermionic Quantum Field Theory. (arXiv:1711.04006v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

In quantum algorithms discovered so far for simulating scattering processes in quantum field theories, state preparation is the slowest step. We present a new algorithm for preparing particle states to use in simulation of Fermionic Quantum Field Theory (QFT) on a quantum computer, which is based on the matrix product state ansatz. We apply this to the massive Gross-Neveu model in one spatial dimension to illustrate the algorithm, but we believe the same algorithm with slight modifications can be used to simulate any one-dimensional massive Fermionic QFT. In the case where the number of particle species is one, our algorithm can prepare particle states using $O\left( \epsilon^{-3.23\ldots}\right)$ gates, which is much faster than previous known results, namely $O\left(\epsilon^{-8-o\left(1\right)}\right)$. Furthermore, unlike previous methods which were based on adiabatic state preparation, the method given here should be able to simulate quantum phases unconnected to the free theory.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Optical levitation of 10 nanogram spheres with nano-$g$ acceleration sensitivity. (arXiv:1711.04675v2 [physics.optics] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We demonstrate optical levitation of SiO$_2$ spheres with masses ranging from 0.1 to 30 nanograms. In high vacuum, we observe that the measured acceleration sensitivity improves for larger masses and obtain a sensitivity of $0.4 \times 10^{-6}\ g/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ for a 12 ng sphere, more than an order of magnitude better than previously reported for optically levitated masses. In addition, these techniques permit long integration times and a mean acceleration of $(-0.7\pm2.4\,[stat] \pm 0.2\,[syst])\times ~ 10^{-9}\,g$ is measured in $1.4\times 10^4$~s. Spheres larger than 10~ng are found to lose mass in high vacuum where heating due to absorption of the trapping laser dominates radiative cooling. This absorption constrains the maximum size of spheres that can be levitated and allows a measurement of the absorption of the trapping light for the commercially available spheres tested here. Spheres consisting of material with lower absorption may allow larger objects to be optically levitated in high vacuum.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Inversion of Qubit Energy Levels in Qubit-Oscillator Circuits in the Deep-Strong-Coupling Regime. (arXiv:1712.05039v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We report on experimentally measured light shifts of superconducting flux qubits deep-strongly coupled to LC oscillators, where the coupling constants are comparable to the qubit and oscillator resonance frequencies. By using two-tone spectroscopy, the energies of the six lowest levels of each circuit are determined. We find huge Lamb shifts that exceed 90% of the bare qubit frequencies and inversions of the qubits' ground and excited states when there are a finite number of photons in the oscillator. Our experimental results agree with theoretical predictions based on the quantum Rabi model.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Dynamical quantum phase transitions in discrete time crystals. (arXiv:1712.05588v2 [cond-mat.quant-gas] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Discrete time crystals are related to non-equilibrium dynamics of periodically driven quantum many-body systems where the discrete time translation symmetry of the Hamiltonian is spontaneously broken into another discrete symmetry. Recently, the concept of phase transitions has been extended to non-equilibrium dynamics of time-independent systems induced by a quantum quench, i.e. a sudden change of some parameter of the Hamiltonian. There, the return probability of a system to the ground state reveals singularities in time which are dubbed dynamical quantum phase transitions. We show that the quantum quench in a discrete time crystal leads to dynamical quantum phase transitions where the return probability of a periodically driven system to a Floquet eigenstate before the quench reveals singularities in time. It indicates that dynamical quantum phase transitions are not restricted to time-independent systems and can be also observed in systems that are periodically driven. We discuss how the phenomenon can be observed in ultra-cold atomic gases.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Observation of stronger-than-binary correlations with entangled photonic qutrits. (arXiv:1712.06557v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We present the first experimental confirmation of the quantum-mechanical prediction of stronger-than-binary correlations. These are correlations that cannot be explained under the assumption that the occurrence of a particular outcome of an $n \ge 3$-outcome measurement is due to a two-step process in which, in the first step, some classical mechanism precludes $n-2$ of the outcomes and, in the second step, a binary measurement generates the outcome. Our experiment uses pairs of photonic qutrits distributed between two laboratories, where randomly chosen three-outcome measurements are performed. We report a violation by {9.3} standard deviations of the optimal inequality for nonsignaling binary correlations.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Interplay of coherent and dissipative dynamics in condensates of light. (arXiv:1801.00155v2 [cond-mat.quant-gas] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Based on the Lindblad master equation approach we obtain a detailed microscopic model of photons in a dye-filled cavity, which features condensation of light. To this end we generalise a recent non-equilibrium approach of Kirton and Keeling such that the dye-mediated contribution to the photon-photon interaction in the light condensate is accessible due to an interplay of coherent and dissipative dynamics. We describe the steady-state properties of the system by analysing the resulting equations of motion of both photonic and matter degrees of freedom. In particular, we discuss the existence of two limiting cases for steady states: photon Bose-Einstein condensate and laser-like. In the former case, we determine the corresponding dimensionless photon-photon interaction strength by relying on realistic experimental data and find a good agreement with previous theoretical estimates. Furthermore, we investigate how the dimensionless interaction strength depends on the respective system parameters.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Absence of long-range order in a triangular spin system with dipolar interactions. (arXiv:1801.00842v2 [cond-mat.quant-gas] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice is perhaps the best known example of frustrated magnets, but it orders at low temperatures. Recent density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations find that next nearest neighbor interaction $J_2$ enhances the frustration and leads to a spin liquid for $J_2/J_1\in (0.08,0.15)$. In addition, DMRG study of a dipolar Heisenberg model with longer range interactions gives evidence for a spin liquid at small dipole titling angle $\theta\in[0,10^\circ)$. In both cases, the putative spin liquid region appears to be small. Here, we show that for the triangular lattice dipolar Heisenberg model, a robust quantum paramagnetic phase exists in a surprisingly wide region, $\theta\in [0,54^\circ)$, for dipoles tilted along the lattice diagonal direction. We obtain the phase diagram of the model by functional renormalization group (RG) which treats all magnetic instabilities on equal footing. The quantum paramagnetic phase is characterized by a smooth continuous flow of vertex functions and spin susceptibility down to the lowest RG scale, in contrast to the apparent breakdown of RG flow in phases with stripe or spiral order. Our finding points to a promising direction to search for quantum spin liquids in ultracold dipolar molecules.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum-enhanced magnetometry by phase estimation algorithms with a single artificial atom. (arXiv:1801.02230v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Phase estimation algorithms are key protocols in quantum information processing. Besides applications in quantum computing, they can also be employed in metrology as they allow for fast extraction of information stored in the quantum state of a system. Here, we implement two suitably modified phase estimation procedures, the Kitaev- and the semiclassical Fourier-transform algorithms, using an artificial atom realized with a superconducting transmon circuit. We demonstrate that both algorithms yield a flux sensitivity exceeding the classical shot-noise limit of the device, allowing one to approach the Heisenberg limit. Our experiment paves the way for the use of superconducting qubits as metrological devices which are potentially able to outperform the best existing flux sensors with a sensitivity enhanced by few orders of magnitude.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum Mechanics and modelling of physical reality. (arXiv:1804.02288v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Quantum mechanics led to spectacular technological developments, discovery of new constituents of matter and new materials. However there is still no consensus on its interpretation and limitations. Some scientists and scientific writers promote some exotic interpretations and evoke quantum magic. In this paper we point out that magical explanations mean the end of the science. Magical explanations are misleading and counterproductive. We explain how a simple probabilistic locally causal model is able to reproduce quantum correlations in Bell tests. We also discuss difficulties of mathematical modelling of the physical reality and dangers of incorrect mental images. We examine in detail when and how a probabilistic model may describe completely a random experiment. We give some arguments in favor of contextual statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics. We conclude that we still do not know whether the quantum theory provides a complete description of physical phenomena and we explain how it may be tested. We also point out that there remain several open questions and challenges which we discuss in some detail. In particular there is still no consensus about how to reconcile quantum theory with general relativity and cosmology.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Soft-Hair-Enhanced Entanglement Beyond Page Curves in a Black-hole Evaporation Qubit Model. (arXiv:1706.07520v4 [gr-qc] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We propose a model with multiple qubits that reproduces the thermal properties of 4-dimensional (4-dim) Schwarzschild black holes (BHs) by simultaneously taking account of the emission of Hawking particles and the zero-energy soft hair evaporation at horizon. The results verify that the entanglement entropy between a qubit and other subsystems, including emitted radiation, is much larger than the BH entropy analogue of the qubit, as opposed to the Page curve prediction. Our result suggests that early Hawking radiation is entangled with soft hair, and that late Hawking radiation can be highly entangled with the degrees of freedom of BH, avoiding the emergence of a firewall at the horizon.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Distributed private randomness distillation. (arXiv:1803.09989v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We develop the resource theory of private randomness extraction in the distributed and device-dependent scenario. We begin by introducing the notion of independent bits (ibits), which are bipartite states that contain ideal private randomness for each party, and motivate the natural set of the allowed free operations. As the main tool of our analysis, we introduce Virtual Quantum State Merging (VQSM), which is essentially the flip side of Quantum State Merging, without the communication. We focus on the bipartite case and find the rate regions achievable in different settings. Perhaps surprisingly, it turns out that local noise can boost randomness extraction. As a consequence of our analysis, we resolve a long-standing problem by giving an operational interpretation for the reverse coherent information in terms of the number of private random bits obtained by sending quantum states from one honest party (server) to another one (client) via the eavesdropped quantum channel.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Coulomb interaction rules timescales in potassium ion channel tunneling. (arXiv:1803.04480v2 [physics.bio-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

Assuming that the selectivity filter of KcsA potassium ion channel may exhibit quantum coherence, we extend a previous model by Vaziri and Plenio (2010) to take into account Coulomb repulsion between potassium ions. We show that typical ion transit timescales are determined by this interaction, which imposes optimal input/output parameter ranges. Also, as observed in other examples of quantum tunneling in biological systems, addition of moderate noise helps coherent ion transport.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Symmetry-protected coherent relaxation of open quantum systems. (arXiv:1802.05293v3 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Tue, 2018-05-08 15:45

We compute the effect of Markovian bulk dephasing noise on the staggered magnetization of the spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg chain, as the system evolves after a N\'eel quench. For sufficiently weak system-bath coupling, the unitary dynamics are found to be preserved up to a single exponential damping factor. This is a consequence of the interplay between $\mathbb{PT}$ symmetry and weak symmetries, which strengthens previous predictions for $\mathbb{PT}$-symmetric Liouvillian dynamics. Requirements are a non-degenerate $\mathbb{PT}$-symmetric generator of time evolution $\hat{\mathcal{L}}$, a weak parity symmetry and an observable that is anti-symmetric under this parity transformation. The spectrum of $\hat{\mathcal{L}}$ then splits up into symmetry sectors, yielding the same decay rate for all modes that contribute to the observable's time evolution. This phenomenon may be realized in trapped ion experiments and has possible implications for the control of decoherence in out-of-equilibrium many-body systems.

Categories: Journals, Physics