We put forth a unifying formalism for the description of the thermodynamics of continuously monitored systems, where measurements are only performed on the environment connected to a system. We show, in particular, that the conditional and unconditional entropy production, which quantify the degree of irreversibility of the open system's dynamics, are related to each other by the Holevo quantity. This, in turn, can be further split into an information gain rate and loss rate, which provide conditions for the existence of informational steady-states (ISSs), i.e. stationary states of a conditional dynamics that are maintained owing to the unbroken acquisition of information. We illustrate the applicability of our framework through several examples.
The act of measuring a system has profound consequences of dynamical and thermodynamic nature. In particular, the degree of irreversibility ensuing from a non-equilibrium process is strongly affected by measurements aimed at acquiring information on the state of a system of interest: the conditional and unconditional entropy production, which quantify the degree of irreversibility of the open system's dynamics, are related to each other by clearly interpreted informational quantities. Building on a recently proposed collisional-model framework [G. T. Landi {\it et al.}, arXiv:2103.06247], we i…
We analyze the dynamics of entanglement in a paradigmatic noninteracting system subject to continuous monitoring of the local excitation densities. Recently, it was conjectured that the evolution of quantum correlations in such system is described by a semi-classical theory, based on entangled pairs of ballistically propagating quasiparticles and inspired by the hydrodynamic approach to unitary (integrable) quantum systems. Here, however, we show that this conjecture does not fully capture the complex behavior of quantum correlations emerging from the interplay between coherent dynamics and co…
We discuss the problem of estimating a frequency via N-qubit probes undergoing independent dephasing channels that can be continuously monitored via homodyne or photo-detection. We derive the corresponding analytical solutions for the conditional states, for generic initial states and for arbitrary efficiency of the continuous monitoring. For the detection strategies considered, we show that: i) in the case of perfect continuous detection, the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of the conditional states is equal to the one obtained in the noiseless dynamics; ii) for smaller detection efficiencie…
We examine most-likely paths between initial and final states for diffusive quantum trajectories in continuously monitored pure-state qubits, obtained as extrema of a stochastic path integral. We demonstrate the possibility of "multipaths" in the dynamics of continuously-monitored qubit systems, wherein multiple most-likely paths travel between the same pre- and post-selected states over the same time interval. Most-likely paths are expressed as solutions to a Hamiltonian dynamical system. The onset of multipaths may be determined by analyzing the evolution of a Lagrange manifold in this phase…
We consider a quantum particle on a one dimensional lattice subject to weak local measurements and study its stochastic dynamics conditioned on the measurement outcomes. Depending on the measurement strength our analysis of the quantum trajectories reveals dynamical regimes reach- ing from quasi-coherent wave packet oscillations to a Zeno-type dynamics. We analyse how these dynamical regimes are directly reflected in the spectral properties of the noisy measurement records.
We predict that continuously monitored quantum dynamics can be chaotic. The optimal paths between past and future boundary conditions can diverge exponentially in time when there is time-dependent evolution and continuous weak monitoring. Optimal paths are defined by extremizing the global probability density to move between two boundary conditions. We investigate the onset of chaos in pure-state qubit systems with optimal paths generated by a periodic Hamiltonian. Specifically, chaotic quantum dynamics are demonstrated in a scheme where two non-commuting observables of a qubit are continuousl…
The quantum state of a superconducting transmon qubit inside a three-dimensional cavity is monitored by reflection of a microwave field on the cavity. The information inferred from the measurement record is incorporated in a density matrix $ρ_t$, which is conditioned on probe results until $t$, and in an auxiliary matrix $E_t$, which is conditioned on probe results obtained after $t$. Here, we obtain these matrices from experimental data and we illustrate their application to predict and retrodict the outcome of weak and strong qubit measurements.
We study a free fermion model where two sets of non-commuting non-projective measurements stabilize area-law entanglement scaling phases of distinct topological order. We show the presence of a topological phase transition that is of a different universality class than that observed in stroboscopic projective circuits. In the presence of unitary dynamics, the two topologically distinct phases are separated by a region with sub-volume scaling of the entanglement entropy. We find that this entanglement transition is well identified by a combination of the bipartite entanglement entropy and the t…
Monitoring a quantum observable continuously in time produces a stochastic measurement record that noisily tracks the observable. For a classical process such noise may be reduced to recover an average signal by minimizing the mean squared error between the noisy record and a smooth dynamical estimate. We show that for a monitored qubit this usual procedure returns unusual results. While the record seems centered on the expectation value of the observable during causal generation, examining the collected past record reveals that it better approximates a moving-mean Gaussian stochastic process …
CDJ-Pontryagin Optimal Control for General Continuously Monitored Quantum Systems
University of Rochester（罗切斯特大学）；Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics, University of Rochester（罗切斯特大学相干性与量子光学中心）；Institute for Quantum Studies, Chapman University（查普曼大学量子研究所）；Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校化学系）；Berkeley Center for Quantum Information and Computation（伯克利量子信息与计算中心）；Chapman University（查普曼大学）
We propose a fully operational framework to study the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of a quantum system $S$ that is coupled to a detector $D$ whose state is continuously monitored, allowing to single out individual quantum trajectories of $S$. We focus on detailed fluctuation theorems and characterize the entropy production of the system. We establish fundamental differences with respect to the thermodynamic of unmonitored, unitarily evolved systems. We consider the paradigmatic example of circuit-QED, where superconducting qubits can be coupled to a continuously monitored resonator and show …
In quantum physics, measurements give random results and yield a corresponding random back action on the state of the system subject to measurement. If a quantum system is probed continuously over time, its state evolves along a stochastic quantum trajectory. To investigate the characteristic properties of such dynamics, we perform weak continuous measurements on a superconducting qubit that is driven to undergo Rabi oscillations. From the data we observe a number of striking temporal correlations within the time dependent signals and the quantum trajectories of the qubit, and we discuss their…
In a Bayesian analysis, the likelihood that specific candidate parameters govern the evolution of a quantum system are conditioned on the outcome of measurements which, in turn, cause measurement backaction on the state of the system [M. Tsang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 170502 (2012)]. Specializing to the distinction of two candidate hypotheses, we study the achievements of continuous monitoring of the radiation emitted by a quantum system followed by an optimal projective measurement on its conditioned final state. Our study of the radiative decay of a driven two-level system shows an intricate i…
Fluctuation theorems allow one to make generalised statements about the behaviour of thermodynamic quantities in systems that are driven far from thermal equilibrium. In this article we use Crooks' fluctuation theorem to understand the entropy production of a continuously measured, zero-temperature quantum system; namely an optical cavity measured via homodyne detection. At zero temperature, if one uses the classical definition of inverse temperature $β$, then the entropy production becomes divergent. Our analysis shows that the entropy production can be well defined at zero temperature by con…
We consider the evolution of a quantum simple harmonic oscillator in a general Gaussian state under simultaneous time-continuous weak position and momentum measurements. We deduce the stochastic evolution equations for position and momentum expectation values and the covariance matrix elements from the system's characteristic function. By generalizing the Chantasri-Dressel-Jordan (CDJ) formalism (Chantasri et al.~2013 and 2015) to this continuous variable system, we construct its stochastic Hamiltonian and action. Action extremization gives us the equations for the most-likely readout paths an…
Absence of measurement- and unraveling-induced entanglement transitions in continuously monitored one-dimensional free fermions
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck（因斯布鲁克大学理论物理研究所）；Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences（奥地利科学院量子光学与量子信息研究所）
Gaussian states of quantum oscillators are fully characterized by the mean values and the covariance matrix of their quadrature observables. We consider the dynamics of a system of oscillators subject to interactions, damping, and continuous probing which maintain their Gaussian state property. Such dynamics is found in many physical systems that can therefore be efficiently described by the ensuing effective representation of the density matrix $ρ(t)$. Our probabilistic knowledge about the outcome of measurements on a quantum system at time $t$ is not only governed by $ρ(t)$ conditioned on th…
We study the problem of estimating a time dependent magnetic field by continuous optical probing of an atomic ensemble. The magnetic field is assumed to follow a stochastic Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process and it induces Larmor precession of the atomic ground state spin, which is read out by the Faraday polarization rotation of a laser field probe. The interactions and the measurement scheme are compatible with a hybrid quantum-classical Gaussian description of the unknown magnetic field, and the atomic and field variables. This casts the joint conditional quantum dynamics and classical parameter es…
We study cavity quantum electrodynamics of Bose-condensed atoms that are subjected to continuous monitoring of the light leaking out of the cavity. Due to a given detection record of each stochastic realization, individual runs spontaneously break the symmetry of the spatial profile of the atom cloud and this symmetry can be restored by considering ensemble averages over many realizations. We show that the cavity optomechanical excitations of the condensate can be engineered to target specific collective modes. This is achieved by exploiting the spatial structure and symmetries of the collecti…
Unifying Charge-Learnability Transitions in U(1)-Symmetric Quantum Circuits through Informational Power of Local Measurement
Key Laboratory of Atomic and Subatomic Structure and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Structure and Fundamental Interactions of Matter, and School of Physics, South China Normal University（原子与亚原子结构及量子控制重点实验室（教育部），广东省物质结构与基本相互作用卓越研究中心，华南师范大学物理学院）；Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Quantum Matter, and Frontier Research Institute for Physics, South China Normal University（广东省量子工程与量子材料重点实验室，粤港澳量子物质联合实验室，华南师范大学前沿物理研究所）
Parameter Estimation in a Continuously Monitored Non-Markovian Quantum System
Technische Universität Wien（维也纳工业大学）；Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences（奥地利科学院量子光学与量子信息研究所）；University of Basel（巴塞尔大学）；Universidad de La Laguna（拉帕鲁纳大学）
Quantum Cramer-Rao Precision Limit of Noisy Continuous Sensing
Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学合肥国家实验室）；Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学上海量子科学研究中心及中科院量子信息与量子物理卓越创新中心）；Institut für Theoretische Physik and IQST, Universität Ulm（乌尔姆大学理论物理研究所和IQST）；Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi（瓦拉纳西印度理工学院（贝拿勒斯）物理系）
Exact Hilbert-space ergodicity from continuous monitoring
Institute for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University（清华大学高等研究院）；Department of Physics & State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University（复旦大学物理系与表面物理国家重点实验室）
The information on a quantum process acquired through measurements plays a crucial role in the determination of its non-equilibrium thermodynamic properties. We report on the experimental inference of the stochastic entropy production rate for a continuously monitored mesoscopic quantum system. We consider an optomechanical system subjected to continuous displacement Gaussian measurements and characterise the entropy production rate of the individual trajectories followed by the system in its stochastic dynamics, employing a phase-space description in terms of the Wigner entropy. Owing to the …
The evolution of entanglement entropy in quantum circuits composed of Haar-random gates and projective measurements shows versatile behavior, with connections to phase transitions and complexity theory. We reformulate the problem in terms of a classical Markov process for the dynamics of bipartition purities and establish a probabilistic cellular-automaton algorithm to compute entanglement entropy in monitored random circuits on arbitrary graphs. In one dimension, we further relate the evolution of the entropy to a simple classical spin model that naturally generalizes a two-dimensional lattic…
The state of a continuously monitored qubit evolves stochastically, exhibiting competition between coherent Hamiltonian dynamics and diffusive partial collapse dynamics that follow the measurement record. We couple these distinct types of dynamics together by linearly feeding the collected record for dispersive energy measurements directly back into a coherent Rabi drive amplitude. Such feedback turns the competition cooperative, and effectively stabilizes the qubit state near a target state. We derive the conditions for obtaining such dispersive state stabilization and verify the stabilizatio…
We investigate entanglement dynamics in continuously monitored open quantum systems featuring current-carrying non-equilibrium states. We focus on a prototypical one-dimensional model of boundary-driven non-interacting fermions with monitoring of the local density, whose average Lindblad dynamics features a well-studied ballistic to diffusive crossover in transport. Here we analyze the dynamics of the fermionic negativity, mutual information, and purity along different quantum trajectories. We show that monitoring this boundary-driven system enhances its entanglement negativity at long times, …
Scaling Laws of Quantum Information Lifetime in Monitored Quantum Dynamics
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Southern California（南加州大学明思海电气与计算机工程系）；Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University（普林斯顿大学电气与计算机工程系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California（南加州大学物理与天文学系）
The entropy production rate is a key quantity in non-equilibrium thermodynamics of both classical and quantum processes. No universal theory of entropy production is available to date, which hinders progress towards its full grasping. By using a phase space-based approach, here we take the current framework for the assessment of thermodynamic irreversibility all the way to quantum regimes by characterizing entropy production -- and its rate -- resulting from the continuous monitoring of a Gaussian system. This allows us to formulate a sharpened second law of thermodynamics that accounts for th…
Feedback-Enhanced Quantum Metrology and Clock Precision under Thermodynamic Uncertainty
Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optoelectronic Devices and Chips of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, School of Physical Science and Technology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology（江苏高校智能光电器件与芯片重点实验室，苏州科技大学物理科学与技术学院）；Advanced Technology Research Institute of Taihu Photon Center, School of Physical Science and Technology, Suzhou University of Science and Technology（太湖光子中心先进技术研究院，苏州科技大学物理科学与技术学院）；Department of Physics, Zhejiang Normal University（浙江师范大学物理系）
We consider a quantum system continuously monitored in time which in turn is coupled to an arbitrary dissipative classical system (diagonal reduced density matrix). The quantum and classical dynamics can modify each other, being described by an arbitrary time-irreversible hybrid Lindblad equation. Given a measurement trajectory, a conditional bipartite stochastic state can be inferred by taking into account all previous recording information (filtering). Here, we demonstrate that the joint quantum-classical state can also be inferred by taking into account both past and future measurement resu…
We consider continuously monitored quantum systems and introduce definitions of work and heat along individual quantum trajectories that are valid for coherent superpositions of energy eigenstates. We use these quantities to extend the first and second laws of stochastic thermodynamics to the quantum domain. We illustrate our results with the case of a weakly measured driven two-level system and show how to distinguish between quantum work and heat contributions. We finally employ quantum feedback control to suppress detector backaction and determine the work statistics.
