We discuss a phase space description of the photon number distribution of non classical states which is based on Husimi's $Q(α)$ function and does not rely in the WKB approximation. We illustrate this approach using the examples of displaced number states and two photon coherent states and show it to provide an efficient method for computing and interpreting the photon number distribution . This result is interesting in particular for the two photon coherent states which, for high squeezing, have the probabilities of even and odd photon numbers oscillating independently.
The Husimi distribution is proposed for a phase space analysis of quantum phase transitions in the Dicke model of spin-boson interactions. We show that the inverse participation ratio and Wehrl entropy of the Husimi distribution give sharp signatures of the quantum phase transition. The analysis has been done using two frameworks: a numerical treatment and an analytical variational approximation. Additionally we have proposed a new characterization of the Dicke model quantum phase transition by means of the zeros of the Husimi distribution in the variational approach.
We derive a continuity equation for the Husimi function evolving under a general non-hermitian Hamiltonian and identify the phase space flow associated with it. For the case of unitary evolution we obtain explicit formulas for the quantum flow, which can be written as a classical part plus semiclassical corrections. These equations are the analogue of the Wigner flow, which displays several non-intuitive features like momentum inversion and motion of stagnation points. Many of these features also appear in the Husimi flow and, therefore, are not related to the negativity of the Wigner function…
We discuss some basic tools for an analysis of one-dimensionalquantum systems defined on a cyclic coordinate space. The basic features of the generalized coherent states, the complexifier coherent states are reviewed. These states are then used to define the corresponding (quasi)densities in phase space. The properties of these generalized Husimi distributions are discussed, in particular their zeros.Furthermore, the use of the complexifier coherent states for a semiclassical analysis is demonstrated by deriving a semiclassical coherent state propagator in phase space.
Discrete quantum phase space formalism is used to discuss some basic aspects of the spin tunneling occurring in Fe8 magnetic cluster by means of Wigner functions as well as Husimi distributions. Those functions were obtained for sharp angle states and symmetric combinations of the lowest energy doublet with the application of an external magnetic field. The time evolution of those functions carried out numerically allows one to extract valuable information about the dynamics of the states under consideration, in particular, the coherent oscillations associated with the spin tunneling. It is al…
Using the Husimi function, we investigate the phase space signatures of the excited state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) in the Lipkin and coupled top models. We show that the time evolution of the Husimi function exhibits distinct behaviors between the different phases of an ESQPT and the presence of an ESQPT is signaled by the particular dynamics of the Husimi function. We also evaluate the long time averaged Husimi function and its associated marginal distributions, and discuss how to identify the signatures of ESQPT from their properties. Moreover, by exploiting the second moment and W…
For the first time we introduce the Husimi operator Delta_h(gamma,varepsilon;kappa) for studying Husimi distribution in phase space(gamma,varepsilon) for electron's states in uniform magnetic field, where kappa is the Gaussian spatial width parameter. Using the Wigner operator in the entangled state |lambda> representation [Hong-Yi Fan, Phys. Lett. A 301 (2002)153; A 126 (1987) 145) we find that Delta_h(gamma,varepsilon;kappa) is just a pure squeezed coherent state density operator |gamma,varepsilon>_kappa kappa<gamma,varepsilon|, which brings convenience for studying and calculating the Husim…
Based on the proceding Letter [Int. J. Theor. Phys. 48, 1539 (2009)], we expand the relation between wavelet transformation and Husimi distribution function to the entangled case. We find that the optical complex wavelet transformation can be used to study the entangled Husimi distribution function in phase space theory of quantum optics. We prove that the entangled Husimi distribution function of a two-mode quantum state |phi> is just the modulus square of the complex wavelet transform of exp{-(|eta|^2)/2} with phi(eta)being the mother wavelet up to a Gaussian function.
In a previous work the concept of quantum potential is generalized into extended phase space (EPS) for a particle in linear and harmonic potentials. It was shown there that in contrast to the Schrödinger quantum mechanics by an appropriate extended canonical transformation one can obtain the Wigner representation of phase space quantum mechanics in which the quantum potential is removed from dynamical equation. In other words, one still has the form invariance of the ordinary Hamilton-Jacobi equation in this representation. The situation, mathematically, is similar to the disappearance of the …
We study the topological properties of the quantum phase space current in the Husimi representation, focusing on the dynamical differences, induced by these properties, between the quantum and the classical flows. We show that the zeros of the Husimi function are stagnation points of the current and have a nonzero topological charge. Due to overall charge conservation, new stagnation points with opposite charge appear in pairs in the Husimi current and they have important roles in dynamical processes. As an example we show the topological effect of the zeros in the transmission rate of particl…
The Wigner distribution function is a quasi-probability distribution. When properly integrated, it provides the correct charge and current densities, but it gives negative probabilities in some points and regions of the phase space. Alternatively, the Husimi distribution function is positive-defined everywhere, but it does not provide the correct charge and current densities. The origin of all these difficulties is the attempt to construct a phase space within a quantum theory that does not allow well-defined (i.e. simultaneous) values of the position and momentum of an electron. In contrast, …
The Husimi distribution is proposed for a phase space analysis of quantum phase transitions in the two-dimensional $U(3)$ vibron model for $N$-size molecules. We show that the inverse participation ratio and Wehrl's entropy of the Husimi distribution give sharp signatures of the quantum (shape) phase transition from linear to bent. Numerical results are complemented with a variational approach using parity-symmetry-adapted $U(3)$ coherent states, which reach the minimum Wehrl entropy $\frac{N(3+2N)}{(N+1)(N+2)}$, in the rigidly linear phase, according to a generalized Wehrl-Lieb conjecture. We…
We study the Husimi distribution of the ground state in the Dicke model of field-matter interactions to visualize the quantum phase transition, from normal to superradiant, in phase-space. We follow an exact numerical and variational analysis, without making use of the usual Holstein-Primakoff approximation. We find that Wehrl entropy of the Husimi distribution provides an indicator of the sharp change of symmetry trough the critical point. Additionally, we note that the zeros of the Husimi distribution characterize the Dicke model quantum phase transition.
We show that the dynamics of a closed quantum system obeys the Hamilton variation principle. Even though quantum particles lack well-defined trajectories, their evolution in the Husimi representation can be treated as a flow of multidimensional probability fluid in the phase space. By introducing the classical counterpart of the Husimi representation in a close analogy to the Koopman-von Neumann theory, one can largely unify the formulations of classical and quantum dynamics. We prove that the motions of elementary parcels of both classical and quantum Husimi fluid obey the Hamilton variationa…
The analytic properties of a class of generalized Husimi functions are discussed, with particular reference to the problem of state reconstruction. The class consists of the subset of Wodkiewicz's operational probability distributions for which the filter reference state is a squeezed vacuum state. The fact that the function is analytic means that perfectly precise knowledge of its values over any small region of phase space provides enough information to reconstruct the density matrix. If, however, one only has imprecise knowledge of its values, then the amplification of statistical errors wh…
For systems of two and three spins 1/2 it is known that the second moment of the Husimi function can be related to entanglement properties of the corresponding states. Here, we generalize this relation to an arbitrary number of spins in a pure state. It is shown that the second moment of the Husimi function can be expressed in terms of the lengths of the concurrence vectors for all possible partitions of the N-spin system in two subsystems. This relation implies that the phase space distribution of an entangled state is less localized than that of a non-entangled state. As an example, the seco…
We present efficient circuits that can be used for the phase space tomography of quantum states. The circuits evaluate individual values or selected averages of the Wigner, Kirkwood and Husimi distributions. These quantum gate arrays can be programmed by initializing appropriate computational states. The Husimi circuit relies on a subroutine that is also interesting in its own right: the efficient preparation of a coherent state, which is the ground state of the Harper Hamiltonian.
Husimi functions allow one to obtain sensible and useful phase space probability distributions from quantumechanical wavefunctions or classical wave fields, linking them to (semi-)classical methods and intuition. They have been used in several fields of physics, including electronic transport. We show that applying Husimi functions to ballistic electron dynamics in magnetic fields needs special consideration in order for them to obey gauge invariance and energy conservation. We therefore extend the Husimi function formalism to allow for magnetic fields making use of magnetic translation operat…
We propose localization measures in phase space of the ground state of bilayer quantum Hall (BLQH) systems at fractional filling factors $ν=2/λ$, to characterize the three quantum phases (shortly denoted by spin, canted and ppin) for arbitrary $U(4)$-isospin $λ$. We use a coherent state (Bargmann) representation of quantum states, as holomorphic functions in the 8-dimensional Grassmannian phase-space $\mathbb{G}^4_{2}=U(4)/[U(2)\times U(2)]$ (a higher-dimensional generalization of the Haldane's 2-dimensional sphere $\mathbb{S}^2=U(2)/[U(1)\times U(1)]$). We quantify the localization (inverse v…
We report an experimental study of phase-synchronization in a pair of interacting nuclear spins subjected to an external drive in nuclear magnetic resonance architecture. A weak transition-selective radio-frequency field applied on one of the spins is observed to cause phase-localization, which is experimentally established by measuring the Husimi distribution function under various drive conditions. To this end, we have developed a general interferometric technique to directly extract values of the Husimi function via the transverse magnetization of the undriven nuclear spin. We further verif…
We derive entropic inseparability criteria for the phase space representation of quantum states. In contrast to criteria involving differential entropies of marginal phase space distributions, our criteria are based on a joint distribution known as the Husimi Q-distribution. This distribution is experimentally accessible in cold atoms, circuit QED architectures and photonic systems and bears practical advantages compared to the detection of marginals. We exemplify the strengths of our entropic approach by considering several classes of non-Gaussian states where second-order criteria fail. We s…
We propose the second moment of the Husimi distribution as a measure of complexity of quantum states. The inverse of this quantity represents the effective volume in phase space occupied by the Husimi distribution, and has a good correspondence with chaoticity of classical system. Its properties are similar to the classical entropy proposed by Wehrl, but it is much easier to calculate numerically. We calculate this quantity in the quartic oscillator model, and show that it works well as a measure of chaoticity of quantum states.
We study the emergence of a parity breaking coherent photonic state of a photon mode coupled to finite array of two-level systems, represented by pseudospins 1/2. The pseudospin-photon interaction is realised via a shift of the photonic oscillator equilibrium position by an amount linear in Cartesian component of the total pseudospin. We demonstrate analytically, that the instability is manifested in an upturn from concave to convex of the ground state energy dependence on the total pseudospin component coupled to the photons. The perturbation, sufficient for parity breaking, tends to zero in …
We develop the Husimi map for visualizing quantum wavefunctions using coherent states as a measurement of the local phase space to produce a vector field related to the probability flux. Adapted from the Husimi projection, the Husimi map is complimentary to the usual flux map, since they are identical for small coherent states. By improving our understanding of the flux operator and offering a robust and flexible alternative, we show how the Husimi projection can provide a map to the classical dynamics underlying a quantum wavefunction. We demonstrate its capabilities on bound systems with ele…
The phase space representation for a semiconfined harmonic oscillator model with a position-dependent effective mass is constructed. We have found the Husimi distribution function for the stationary states of the oscillator model under consideration for both cases without and with the applied external homogeneous field. The obtained function is expressed through the double sum of the parabolic cylinder function. Different special cases and the limit relations are discussed, too.
Introducing asymmetry into the Weyl representation of operators leads to a variety of phase space representations and new symbols. Specific generalizations of the Husimi and the Glauber-Sudarshan symbols are explicitly derived
We introduce a large class of holomorphic quantum states by choosing their normalization functions to be given by generalized hypergeometric functions. We call them generalized hypergeometric states in general, and generalized hypergeometric coherent states in particular, if they allow a resolution of unity. Depending on the domain of convergence of the generalized hypergeometric functions, we distinguish generalized hypergeometric states on the plane, the open unit disk, and the unit circle. All states are eigenstates of suitably defined lowering operators. We then study their photon number s…
Band Husimi distributions (BHDs) are introduced in the quantum-chaos problem on a toral phase space. In the framework of this phase space, a quantum state must satisfy Bloch boundary conditions (BCs) on a torus and the spectrum consists of a finite number of levels for given BCs. As the BCs are varied, a level broadens into a band. The BHD for a band is defined as the uniform average of the Husimi distributions for all the eigenstates in the band. The generalized BHD for a set of adjacent bands is the average of the BHDs associated with these bands. BHDs are shown to be closer, in several aspe…
We study phase properties of a displacement operator type nonlinear coherent state. In particular we evaluate the Pegg-Barnett phase distribution and compare it with phase distributions associated with the Husimi Q function and the Wigner function. We also study number- phase squeezing of this state.
In a previous paper it was shown that the distribution of measured values for a retrodictively optimal simultaneous measurement of position and momentum is always given by the initial state Husimi function. This result is now generalised to retrodictively optimal simultaneous measurements of an arbitrary pair of rotated quadratures x_theta1 and x_theta2. It is shown, that given any such measurement, it is possible to find another such measurement, informationally equivalent to the first, for which the axes defined by the two quadratures are perpendicular. It is further shown that the distribut…
We study the time evolution of a PT-symmetric, non-Hermitian quantum system for which the associated phase space is compact. We focus on the simplest non-trivial example of such a Hamiltonian, which is linear in the angular momentum operators. In order to describe the evolution of the system, we use a particular disentangling decomposition of the evolution operator, which remains numerically accurate even in the vicinity of the Exceptional Point. We then analyze how the non-Hermitian part of the Hamiltonian affects the time evolution of two archetypical quantum states, coherent and Dicke state…
Electronic transport in nanodevices is commonly studied theoretically and numerically within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism: a device is characterized by its scattering properties to and from reservoirs connected by perfect semi-infinite leads, and transport quantities are derived from the scattering matrix. In some respects, however, the device becomes a "black box" as one only analyses what goes in and out. Here we use the Husimi function as a complementary tool for quantitatively understanding transport in graphene nanodevices. It is a phase space representation of the scattering wavefunct…
The concept of phase space distribution functions and their evolution is used in the case of en enlarged phase space. In particular, we include the intrinsic spin of particles and present a quantum kinetic evolution equation for a scalar quasi-distribution function. In contrast to the proper Wigner transformation technique, for which we expect the corresponding quasi-distribution function to be a complex matrix, we introduce a spin projection operator for the density matrix in order to obtain the aforementioned scalar quasi-distribution function. There is a close correspondence between this pr…
We discuss thermalization of isolated quantum systems by using the Husimi-Wehrl entropy evaluated in the semiclassical treatment. The Husimi-Wehrl entropy is the Wehrl entropy obtained by using the Husimi function for the phase space distribution. The time evolution of the Husimi function is given by smearing the Wigner function, whose time evolution is obtained in the semiclassical approximation. We show the efficiency and usefullness of this semiclassical treatment in describing entropy production of a couple of quantum mechanical systems, whose classical counter systems are known to be chao…
I investigate quantum decoherence in a one-body density matrix of a composite particle consisting of two correlated particles. Because of a two-body correlation in the composite particle, quantum decoherence occurs in the one-body density matrix that has been reduced from the two-body density matrix. As the delocalization of the distribution of the composite particle grows, the entanglement entropy increases, and the system can be well-described by a semi-classical approximation, wherein the center position of the composite particle can be regarded as a classical coordinate. I connect the quan…
We study the efficiency of quantum algorithms which aim at obtaining phase space distribution functions of quantum systems. Wigner and Husimi functions are considered. Different quantum algorithms are envisioned to build these functions, and compared with the classical computation. Different procedures to extract more efficiently information from the final wave function of these algorithms are studied, including coarse-grained measurements, amplitude amplification and measure of wavelet-transformed wave function. The algorithms are analyzed and numerically tested on a complex quantum system sh…
The Husimi distribution provides for a coarse grained representation of the phase space distribution of a quantum system, which may be used to track the growth of entropy of the system. We present a general and systematic method of solving the Husimi equation of motion for an isolated quantum system, and we construct a coarse grained Hamiltonian whose expectation value is exactly conserved. As an application, we numerically solve the Husimi equation of motion for two-dimensional Yang-Mills quantum mechanics (the x-y model) and calculate the time evolution of the coarse grained entropy of a hig…
In this manuscript we study the Wehrl entropy of entangled oscillators. This semiclassical entropy associated with the phase-space description of quantum mechanics can be used for formulating uncertainty relations and for a quantification of entanglement. We focus on a system of two coupled oscillators described within its Segal-Bargmann space. This Hilbert space of holomorphic functions integrable with respect to a given Gaussian-like measure is particularly convenient to deal with harmonic oscillators. Indeed, the Stone-von Neumann theorem allows us to work in this space in a full correspond…
Measuring the degree of localization of quantum states in phase space is essential for the description of the dynamics and equilibration of quantum systems, but this topic is far from being understood. There is no unique way to measure localization, and individual measures can reflect different aspects of the same quantum state. Here, we present a general scheme to define localization in measure spaces, which is based on what we call Rényi occupations, from which any measure of localization can be derived. We apply this scheme to the four-dimensional unbounded phase space of the interacting sp…
We discuss a new phase space method for the computation of quantum expectation values in the high frequency regime. Instead of representing a wavefunction by its Wigner function, which typically attains negative values, we define a new phase space density by adding a first-order Hermite spectrogram term as a correction to the Husimi function. The new phase space density yields accurate approximations of the quantum expectation values as well as allows numerical sampling from non-negative densities. We illustrate the new method by numerical experiments in up to $128$ dimensions.
Probing information theoretic measures of nonlinear ultracold quantum gases using phase-space distributions
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology（萨达尔·瓦拉巴伊国家理工学院）；North Carolina State University（北卡罗来纳州立大学）；Indian Institute of Technology Bombay（孟买印度理工学院）
It is well known that the Husimi Q-function of the signal field can actually be measured by the eight-port homodyne detection technique, provided that the reference beam (used for homodyne detection) is a very strong coherent field so that it can be treated classically. Using recent rigorous results on the quantum theory of homodyne detection observables, we show that any phase space observable, and not only the Q-function, can be obtained as a high amplitude limit of the signal observable actually measured by an eight-port homodyne detector. The proof of this fact does not involve any classic…
Here we consider the Husimi function P for the squeezed states and calculate the marginal and correlation distribution functions when P is projected onto the photon number states. According to the value of the squeezing parameter one verifies the occurence of oscillations and beats as already appointed in the literature. We verify that these phenomena are entirely contained in the correlation function. In particular, we show that since Husimi and its marginal distribution functions satisfy partial differential equations where the squeeze parameter plays the role of time, the solutions (the squ…
There is no unique way to quantify the degree of delocalization of quantum states in unbounded continuous spaces. In this work, we explore a recently introduced localization measure that quantifies the portion of the classical phase space occupied by a quantum state. The measure is based on the $α$-moments of the Husimi function and is known as the Rényi occupation of order $α$. With this quantity and random pure states, we find a general expression to identify states that are maximally delocalized in phase space. Using this expression and the Dicke model, which is an interacting spin-boson mo…
We discuss some properties of the generalized entropies, called Renyi entropies and their application to the case of continuous distributions. In particular it is shown that these measures of complexity can be divergent, however, their differences are free from these divergences thus enabling them to be good candidates for the description of the extension and the shape of continuous distributions. We apply this formalism to the projection of wave functions onto the coherent state basis, i.e. to the Husimi representation. We also show how the localization properties of the Husimi distribution o…
The concept of quantum phase space offers a view on quantum mechanics, which is different from the standard Hilbert space approach, but which more closely resembles the classical phase space. Due to the properties of quantum mechanics there are several equivalent quantum phase space descriptions, and one cannot always prefer one or another as they all have certain merits and drawbacks. For example, the Husimi-Kano Q function is a probability distribution and thus gives rise to entropic quantities, namely the Renyi-Wehrl entropies, of which several properties are known. The Wigner function, on …
We address detection of quantum non-Gaussian states, i.e. nonclassical states that cannot be expressed as a convex mixture of Gaussian states, and present a method to derive a new family of criteria based on generic linear functionals. We then specialise this method to derive witnesses based on $s$-parametrized quasiprobability functions, generalising previous criteria based on the Wigner function. In particular we discuss in detail and analyse the properties of Husimi Q-function based witnesses and prove that they are often more effective than previous criteria in detecting quantum non-Gaussi…
