We provide a basic introduction to discrete-variable, rotor, and continuous-variable quantum phase spaces, explaining how the latter two can be understood as limiting cases of the first. We extend the limit-taking procedures used to travel between phase spaces to a general class of Hamiltonians (including many local stabilizer codes) and provide six examples: the Harper equation, the Baxter parafermionic spin chain, the Rabi model, the Kitaev toric code, the Haah cubic code (which we generalize to qudits), and the Kitaev honeycomb model. We obtain continuous-variable generalizations of all models, some of which are novel. The Baxter model is mapped to a chain of coupled oscillators and the Rabi model to the optomechanical radiation pressure Hamiltonian. The procedures also yield rotor versions of all models, five of which are novel many-body extensions of the almost Mathieu equation. The toric and cubic codes are mapped to lattice models of rotors, with the toric code case related to U(1) lattice gauge theory.
We consider the existence of a continuous set of mutually unbiased bases for the continuous and periodic degree of freedom that describes motion on a circle (rotor degree of freedom). By a singular mapping of the circle to the line, we find a first, but somewhat unsatisfactory, continuous set which does not relate to an underlying Heisenberg pair of complementary observables. Then, by a nonsingular mapping of the discrete angular momentum basis of the rotor onto the Fock basis for linear motion, we construct such a Heisenberg pair for the rotor and use it to obtain a second, fully satisfactory…
Time reversal in quantum or classical systems described by an Hermitian Hamiltonian is a physically allowed process, which requires in principle inverting the sign of the Hamiltonian. Here we consider the problem of time reversal of a subsystem of discrete states coupled to an external environment characterized by a continuum of states, into which they generally decay. It is shown that, by flipping the discrete-continuum coupling from an Hermitian to a non-Hermitian interaction, thus resulting in a non unitary dynamics, time reversal of the subsystem of discrete states can be achieved, while t…
We have combined two remarkable phenomena: resonance tunneling and Anderson localization. It results in unexpected spectrum reverse to usual notions. It is demonstrated by the quantum system with chaotic distribution of potential resonance tunneling traps over the whole coordinate axis. The corresponding spectrum contains continuum of 'bound' states (Anderson's localization) and discrete tunneling resonances of unlimited wave propagation. It is in contrast to the usual situation with discrete bound and continuum of scattering states.
A discrete protocol for teleportation of superpositions of coherent states of optical cavity fields is presented. Displacement and parity operators are unconventionally used in Bell-like measurement for field states.
One to one correspondence between the decay law of the von Neumann-Wigner type potentials and the asymptotic behaviour of the wave functions representing bound states in the continuum is established.
The discrete time quantum walk (DTQW) is a universal quantum computational model. Significant relationships between discrete and corresponding continuous quantum systems have been studied since the work of Pauli and Feynman. This work continues the study of relationships between discrete quantum models and their ostensive continuum counterparts by developing a formal transition between discrete and continuous quantum systems through a formal framework for continuum limits of the DTQW. Under this framework, we prove two constructive theorems concerning which internal discrete transitions ("coin…
Flatiron Institute（熨斗研究所）；University of Michigan（密歇根大学）；École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)（洛桑联邦理工学院（EPFL））
We initiate the study of neural-network quantum state algorithms for analyzing continuous-variable lattice quantum systems in first quantization. A simple family of continuous-variable trial wavefunctons is introduced which naturally generalizes the restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) wavefunction introduced for analyzing quantum spin systems. By virtue of its simplicity, the same variational Monte Carlo training algorithms that have been developed for ground state determination and time evolution of spin systems have natural analogues in the continuum. We offer a proof of principle demonstrati…
The interaction of a discrete state coupled to a continuum is a longstanding problem of major interest in different areas of quantum and classical physics. In Hermitian models, several dynamical decoupling schemes have been suggested, in which the discrete-continuum interaction can be substantially reduced and even suppressed. In this work we consider a discrete state interacting with a continuum via a time-dependent {\em non-Hermitian} coupling with finite (albeit arbitrarily long) duration, and show rather generally that for a wide class of coupling temporal shapes, in which the real and ima…
We build a quantum cellular automaton (QCA) which coincides with 1+1 QED on its known continuum limits. It consists in a circuit of unitary gates driving the evolution of particles on a one dimensional lattice, and having them interact with the gauge field on the links. The particles are massive fermions, and the evolution is exactly U(1) gauge-invariant. We show that, in the continuous-time discrete-space limit, the QCA converges to the Kogut-Susskind staggered version of 1+1 QED. We also show that, in the continuous spacetime limit and in the free one particle sector, it converges to the Dir…
We consider a new model of quantum walk on a one-dimensional momentum space that includes both discrete jumps and continuous drift. Its time evolution has two stages; a Markov diffusion followed by localized dynamics. As in the well known quantum kicked rotor, this model can be mapped into a localized one-dimensional Anderson model. For exceptional (rational) values of its scale parameter, the system exhibits resonant behavior and reduce to the usual discrete time quantum walk on the line.
The eigenvalue problem for the dressed bound-state of unstable multilevel systems is examined both outside and inside the continuum, based on the N-level Friedrichs model which describes the couplings between the discrete levels and the continuous spectrum. It is shown that a bound-state eigenenergy always exists below each of the discrete levels that lie outside the continuum. Furthermore, by strengthening the couplings gradually, the eigenenergy corresponding to each of the discrete levels inside the continuum finally emerges. On the other hand, the absence of the eigenenergy inside the cont…
The effects of coherence of quantum transitions and the interference of resonant nonlinear optical processes on the spectra of absorption, amplification, and nonlinear-optical generation are considered. The most favorable conditions are discussed for the inversionless amplification, resonant refraction in the absence of absorption and for resonant enhancement of nonlinear-optical generation at the discrete transitions and the transitions to continuum.
The properties of quantum mechanics with a discrete phase space are studied. The minimum uncertainty states are found, and these states become the Gaussian wave packets in the continuum limit. With a suitably chosen Hamiltonian that gives free particle motion in the continuum limit, it is found that full or approximate periodic time evolution can result. This represents an example of revivals of wave packets that in the continuum limit is the familiar free particle motion on a line. Finally we examine the uncertainty principle for discrete phase space and obtain the correction terms to the con…
A simple quantum mechanical model consisting of a discrete level resonantly coupled to a continuum of finite width, where the coupling can be varied from perturbative to strong (Fano-Anderson model), is considered. The particle is initially localized at the discrete level, and the time dependence of the amplitude to find the particle at the discrete level is calculated without resorting to perturbation theory. The deviations from the exponential decay law, predicted by the Fermi's Golden Rule, are discussed. We also study analytic structure of the Green's function (GF) for the model. We analyz…
We introduce a theoretical framework based on Fano's theory of discrete-continuum interactions to analyze the quantum dynamics of broadband parametric downconversion (PDC) in the few-pump-photon regime of nonlinear quantum nanophotonics. Applying this unified analytic approach to 1D $χ^{(2)}$-nonlinear waveguides, we find a host of remarkable dynamical features due to the coupling of a discrete pump state to the signal continuum, from unit-efficiency (i.e., complete) downconversion when the coupling is dissipative, to Rabi-like oscillations with sub-exponential decay when it is dispersive. The…
We study a single quantum particle in discrete spacetime evolving in a causal way. We see that in the continuum limit any massless particle with a two dimensional internal degree of freedom obeys the Weyl equation, provided that we perform a simple relabeling of the coordinate axes or demand rotational symmetry in the continuum limit. It is surprising that this occurs regardless of the specific details of the evolution: it would be natural to assume that discrete evolutions giving rise to relativistic dynamics in the continuum limit would be very special cases. We also see that the same is not…
This essay advocates the view that any problem that has a meaningful empirical content, can be formulated in constructive, more definitely, finite terms. We consider combinatorial models of dynamical systems and approaches to statistical description of such models. We demonstrate that many concepts of continuous physics --- such as continuous symmetries, the principle of least action, Lagrangians, deterministic evolution equations --- can be obtained from combinatorial structures as a result of the large number approximation. We propose a constructive description of quantum behavior that provi…
Instances of discrete quantum systems coupled to a continuum of oscillators are ubiquitous in physics. Often the continua are approximated by a discrete set of modes. We derive analytical error bounds on expectation values of system observables that have been time evolved under such discretised Hamiltonians. These bounds take on the form of a function of time and the number of discrete modes, where the discrete modes are chosen according to Gauss quadrature rules. The derivation makes use of tools from the field of Lieb-Robinson bounds and the theory of orthonormal polynominals.
