A consistent description of interactions between classical and quantum systems is relevant to quantum measurement theory, and to calculations in quantum chemistry and quantum gravity. A solution is offered here to this longstanding problem, based on a universally-applicable formalism for ensembles on configuration space. This approach overcomes difficulties arising in previous attempts, and in particular allows for backreaction on the classical ensemble, conservation of probability and energy, and the correct classical equations of motion in the limit of no interaction. Applications include automatic decoherence for quantum ensembles interacting with classical measurement apparatuses; a generalisation of coherent states to hybrid harmonic oscillators; and an equation for describing the interaction of quantum matter fields with classical gravity, that implies the radius of a Robertson-Walker universe with a quantum massive scalar field can be sharply defined only for particular `quantized' values.
We present a simple model which allows us to explain the physical nature of the oscillating entropy. We consider an ensemble of qubits interacting with thermal two-level systems. The entropy of the qubits oscillates between zero and the value of entropy of the thermal systems. We show that the oscillations of the entropy can be clearly explained by the precession of the real or effective spins of the qubits.
Two interacting atomic ensembles display a Dicke-like quantum phase transition above a critical coupling strength. We show that an ensemble-ensemble entanglement accompanies the quantum phase transition. We derive entanglement criteria, which can witness the entanglement of the two interacting ensembles. We observe that all criteria are successful in the thermodynamic limit, while only the newly introduced ones~(number squeezing-like criteria) can witness the ensemble-ensemble entanglement for a finite number of particles. We also mention about implementations of these criteria to two-componen…
We study the collective radiation properties of cold, trapped ensembles of atoms. We consider the high density regime with the mean interatomic distance being comparable to, or smaller than, the wavelength of the resonant optical radiation emitted by the atoms. We find that the emission rate of a photon from an excited atomic ensemble is strongly enhanced for an elongated cloud. We analyze collective single-excitation eigenstates of the atomic ensemble and find that the absorption/emission spectrum is broadened and shifted to lower frequencies as compared to the non-interacting (low density) o…
Ramsey interferometry is routinely used in quantum metrology for the most sensitive measurements of optical clock frequencies. Spontaneous decay to the electromagnetic vacuum ultimately limits the interrogation time and thus sets a lower bound to the optimal frequency sensitivity. In dense ensembles of two-level systems the presence of collective effects such as superradiance and dipole-dipole interaction tends to decrease the sensitivity even further. We show that by a redesign of the Ramsey-pulse sequence to include different rotations of individual spins that effectively fold the collective…
The recently proposed idea to generate entanglement between photon states via exchange interactions in an ensemble of atoms (J.D. Franson and T.B. Pitman, Phys. Rev. A 60, 917 (1999) and J.D. Franson et al., (quant-ph/9912121)) is discussed using an S-matix approach. It is shown that if the nonlinear response of the atoms is negligible and no additional atom-atom interactions are present, exchange interactions cannot produce entanglement between photons states in a process that returns the atoms to their initial state. Entanglement generation requires the presence of a nonlinear atomic respons…
Coupling light to ensembles of strongly interacting particles has emerged as a promising route toward achieving few photon nonlinearities. One specific way to implement this kind of nonlinearity is to interface light with highly excited atomic Rydberg states by means of electromagnetically induced transparency, an approach which allows freely propagating photons to acquire synthetic interactions of hitherto unprecedented strength. Here, we present an overview of this rapidly developing field, from classical effects to quantum manifestations of the nonlocal nonlinearities emerging in such syste…
Using the standard Hamiltonian of the BCS theory, we show that in an ensemble of interacting fermions there exists a coherent state $|NC>$, which nullifies the Hamiltonian of the interparticle interaction. This state has an analogy with the well-known in quantum optics coherent population trapping effect (CPT). A possible application of such CPT-like states in the superconductivity theory is discussed.
We study the depolarization dynamics of a dense ensemble of dipolar interacting spins, associated with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. We observe anomalously fast, density-dependent, and non-exponential spin relaxation. To explain these observations, we propose a microscopic model where an interplay of long-range interactions, disorder, and dissipation leads to predictions that are in quantitative agreement with both current and prior experimental results. Our results pave the way for controlled many-body experiments with long-lived and strongly interacting ensembles of solid-state spins.
We describe an efficient numerical method for simulating the dynamics of interacting spin ensembles in the presence of dephasing and decay. The method builds on the discrete truncated Wigner approximation for isolated systems, which combines the mean-field dynamics of a spin ensemble with a Monte Carlo sampling of discrete initial spin values to account for quantum correlations. Here we show how this approach can be generalized for dissipative spin systems by replacing the deterministic mean-field evolution by a stochastic process, which describes the decay of coherences and populations while …
We investigate the effect of degenerate atomic states on the exciton delocalization of dipole-dipole interacting Rydberg assemblies. Using a frozen gas and regular one-, two-, and three-dimensional lattice arrangements as examples, we see that degeneracies can enhance the delocalization compared to the situation when there is no degeneracy. Using the Zeeman splitting provided by a magnetic field, we controllably lift the degeneracy to study in detail the transition between degenerate and non-degenerate regimes.
We provide an overview of a canonical formalism that describes mixed quantum-classical systems in terms of statistical ensembles on configuration space, and discuss applications to measurement theory. It is shown that the formalism allows a general description of the measurement of a quantum system by a classical apparatus without running into inconsistencies. An example of classical and quantum particles interacting gravitationally is also given.
We study electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of a weakly interacting cold Rydberg gas. We show that the onset of interactions is manifest as a depopulation of the Rydberg state and numerically model this effect by adding a density-dependent non-linear term to the optical Bloch equations. In the limit of a weak probe where the depopulation effect is negligible, we observe no evidence of interaction induced decoherence and obtain a narrow Rydberg dark resonance with a linewidth of <600 kHz, limited by the Rabi frequency of the coupling beam
We consider the dynamics of intracavity electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in an ensemble of strongly interacting Rydberg atoms. By combining the advantage of variable cavity lifetimes with intracavity EIT and strongly interacting Rydberg dark-state polaritons, we show that such intracavity EIT system could exhibit very strong photon blockade effect.
We theoretically characterize the semiclassical dynamics of an ensemble of atoms after a sudden quench across a driven-dissipative second-order phase transition. The atoms are driven by a laser and interact via conservative and dissipative long-range forces mediated by the photons of a single-mode cavity. These forces can cool the motion and, above a threshold value of the laser intensity, induce spatial ordering. We show that the relaxation dynamics following the quench exhibits a long prethermalizing behaviour which is first dominated by coherent long-range forces, and then by their interpla…
Employing one plus two-body random matrix ensembles for bosons, temperature and entropy are calculated, using different definitions, as a function of the two-body interaction strength λfor a system with 10 bosons (m=10) in five single particle levels (N=5). It is found that in a region λ\sim λ_t, different definitions give essentially same values for temperature and entropy, thus defining a thermalization region. Also, (m,N) dependence of λ_t has been derived. It is seen that λ_t is much larger than the λvalues where level fluctuations change from Poisson to GOE and strength functions change f…
Using the standard Hamiltonian of the BCS theory, we show that in an ensemble of interacting fermions with the spin 1/2 there exist coherent states $|NC>$, which nullify the Hamiltonian of the interparticle interaction (scattering). These states have an analogy with the well-known in quantum optics the coherent population trapping (CPT) effect. The structure of these CPT-like states corresponds to Cooper pairs with the total spin $S$=1. The found states have a huge degree of degeneracy and carry a macroscopic magnetic moment, that allows us to construct a new model of the magnetism connected w…
In finite many-body quantum systems such as nuclei, atoms, mesoscopic systems like quantum dots and small metallic grains, interacting spin systems modeling quantum computing core and BEC, the interparticle interactions are essentially two-body in nature. Therefore, it is more appropriate to represent the complex Hamiltonian of these systems by random ensembles that incorporate the two-body nature of interactions. These ensembles are generically called embedded Gaussian ensembles (EGEs). The aim of the present thesis is to identify and systematically analyze many different physically relevant …
We examine quantum statistics of optical photons emitted from atomic ensembles which are classically driven and simultaneously coupled to a two-level atom via microwave photon exchange. Quantum statistics and correlations are analyzed by calculating second order coherence degree, von Neumann entropy, spin squeezing for multi-particle entanglement, as well as genuine two and three-mode entanglement parameters for steady state and non-equilibrium situations. Coherent transfer of population between the radiation modes and quantum state mapping between the two-level atom and the optical modes are …
We apply Hall and Reginatto's theory of interacting classical and quantum ensembles to harmonically coupled particles, with a view to understanding its experimental implications. This hybrid theory has no free parameters and makes distinctive predictions that should allow it to be experimentally distinguished from quantum mechanics. It also bears on the questions of quantum measurement and quantum gravity.
Coupling photons to Rydberg excitations in a cold atomic gas yields unprecedentedly large optical nonlinearities at the level of individual light quanta, where the formation of nearby dark-state polaritons is blocked by the strong interactions between Rydberg atoms. This blockade mechanism, however, realizes an inherently dissipative nonlinearity, which limits the performance of practical applications. In this work, we propose a new approach to strong photon interactions via a largely coherent mechanism at drastically suppressed photon losses. Rather than a polariton blockade, it is based on a…
In this paper, we investigate the classicality and quantumness of a quantum ensemble. We define a quantity called classicality to characterize how classical a quantum ensemble is. An ensemble of commuting states that can be manipulated classically has a unit classicality, while a general ensemble has a classicality less than 1. We also study how quantum an ensemble is by defining a related quantity called quantumness. We find that the classicality of an ensemble is closely related to how perfectly the ensemble can be cloned, and that the quantumness of an ensemble is essentially responsible fo…
We consider an array of coupled optical cavities, each containing a multi-atom ensemble. We show that the nonlinearity inherent in the cooperative dynamics of the atoms in each ensemble coupled to the respective cavity field allows for the formation of solitary waves. Such a prediction can be tested in state-of-the-art semiconducting photonic-crystal microcavities with embedded impurities.
We study the ground state of a finite size ensemble of interacting qubits driven by a quantum field. We find a maximally entangled W-state in the ensemble part of the system for a certain coupling parameters region. The area of this region decreases as the ensemble size increases and, in the classical limit, becomes the line in parameter space that defines the phase transition of the system. In the classical limit, we also study the dynamics of the system and its transition from order to disorder for initial energies close to the ground state energy. We find that a critical energy providing th…
Even after almost a century, the foundations of quantum statistical mechanics are still not completely understood. In this work, we provide a precise account on these foundations for a class of systems of paradigmatic importance that appear frequently as mean-field models in condensed matter physics, namely non-interacting lattice models of fermions (with straightforward extension to bosons). We demonstrate that already the translation invariance of the Hamiltonian governing the dynamics and a finite correlation length of the possibly non-Gaussian initial state provide sufficient structure to …
In integrable many-particle systems, it is widely believed that the stationary state reached at late times after a quantum quench can be described by a generalized Gibbs ensemble (GGE) constructed from their extensive number of conserved charges. A crucial issue is then to identify a complete set of these charges, enabling the GGE to provide exact steady state predictions. Here we solve this long-standing problem for the case of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain by explicitly constructing a GGE which uniquely fixes the macrostate describing the stationary behaviour after a general quantum quench. …
We compare pseudopure state ensemble implementations, quantified by their initial polarization and ensemble size, of Grover's search algorithm to probabilistic classical sequential search algorithms in terms of their success and failure probabilities. We propose a criterion for quantifying the resources used by the ensemble implementation via the aggregate number of oracle invocations across the entire ensemble and use this as a basis for comparison with classical search algorithms. We determine bounds for a critical polarization such that the ensemble algorithm succeeds with a greater probabi…
We demonstrate that CPMG and XYXY decoupling sequences with non-ideal $π$ pulses can reduce dipolar interactions between spins of the same species in solids. Our simulations of pulsed electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments show that $π$ rotations with small ($<$~10\%) imperfections refocus instantaneous diffusion. Here, the intractable N-body problem of interacting dipoles is approximated by the average evolution of a single spin in a changing mean field. These calculations agree well with experiments and do not require powerful hardware. Our results add to past attempts to explain similar …
We theoretically investigate the dynamics of a gas of strongly interacting Rydberg atoms subject to a time-domain Ramsey interferometry protocol. The many-body dynamics is governed by an Ising-type Hamiltonian with long range interactions of tunable strength. We analyze and model the contrast degradation and phase accumulation of the Ramsey signal and identify scaling laws for varying interrogation times, ensemble densities, and ensemble dimensionalities.
As a unique feature, the $^{229}$Th nucleus has an isomeric transition in the vacuum ultraviolet that can be accessed by optical lasers. The interference effects occurring in the interaction between coherent optical light and an ensemble of $^{229}$Th nuclei are investigated theoretically. We consider the scenario of nuclei doped in vacuum ultraviolet-vacuum ultraviolet transparent crystals and take into account the effect of different doping sites and therefore different lattice fields that broaden the nuclear transition width. This effect is shown to come in interplay with interference effec…
A quantization method based on replacement of c-number by c-number parameterized by an unbiased hidden random variable is developed. In contrast to canonical quantization, the replacement has straightforward physical interpretation as statistical modification of classical dynamics of ensemble of trajectories, and implies a unique operator ordering. We then apply the method to develop quantum measurement without wave function collapse á la pilot-wave theory.
Abstract Far-from equilibrium dynamics that lead to self-organization are highly relevant to complex dynamical systems not only in physics, but also in life-, earth-, and social sciences. It is challenging however to find systems with sufficiently controllable parameters that allow quantitatively modelling of emergent properties. Here, we study a non-equilibrium phase transition and observe signatures of self-organized criticality in a dilute thermal vapour of atoms optically excited to strongly interacting Rydberg states. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) provides excellent contr…
We present a classical model for bulk-ensemble NMR quantum computation: the quantum state of the NMR sample is described by a probability distribution over the orientations of classical tops, and quantum gates are described by classical transition probabilities. All NMR quantum computing experiments performed so far with three quantum bits can be accounted for in this classical model. After a few entangling gates, the classical model suffers an exponential decrease of the measured signal, whereas there is no corresponding decrease in the quantum description. We suggest that for small numbers o…
It is shown for classical and quantum ensembles that there is a unique quantity which has the properties of a "volume". This quantity is a function of the ensemble entropy, and hence provides a geometric interpretation for the latter. It further provides a geometric picture for deriving and unifying a number of results in classical and quantum information theory, and for discussing entropic uncertainty relations.
A philosophically consistent axiomatic approach to classical and quantum mechanics is given. The approach realizes a strong formal implementation of Bohr's correspondence principle. In all instances, classical and quantum concepts are fully parallel: the same general theory has a classical realization and a quantum realization. Extending the `probability via expectation' approach of Whittle to noncommuting quantities, this paper defines quantities, ensembles, and experiments as mathematical concepts and shows how to model complementarity, uncertainty, probability, nonlocality and dynamics in t…
The ability to discriminate between simultaneously occurring noise sources in the local environment of semiconductor InGaAs quantum dots, such as electric and magnetic field fluctuations, is key to understanding their respective dynamics and their effect on quantum dot coherence properties. We present a discriminatory approach to all-optical sensing based on two-color resonance fluorescence of a quantum dot charged with a single electron. Our measurements show that local magnetic field fluctuations due to nuclear spins in the absence of an external magnetic field are described by two correlati…
The spectral properties of interacting strongly chaotic systems are investigated for growing interaction strength. A very sensitive transition from Poisson statistics to that of random matrix theory is found. We introduce a new random matrix ensemble modeling this dynamical symmetry breaking transition which turns out to be universal and depends on a single scaling parameter only. Coupled kicked rotors, a dynamical systems paradigm for such transitions, are compared with this ensemble and excellent agreement is found for the nearest-neighbor-spacing distribution. It turns out that this transit…
Conventional wisdom holds that macroscopic classical phenomena naturally emerge from microscopic quantum laws. However, despite this mantra, building direct connections between these two descriptions has remained an enduring scientific challenge. In particular, it is difficult to quantitatively predict the emergent "classical" properties of a system (e.g. diffusivity, viscosity, compressibility) from a generic microscopic quantum Hamiltonian. Here, we introduce a hybrid solid-state spin platform, where the underlying disordered, dipolar quantum Hamiltonian gives rise to the emergence of unconv…
Many effects in the interaction between atoms and a cavity that are usually de-scribed in quantum mechanical terms (cavity quantum electrodynamics, cavity QED) can be understood and quantitatively analyzed within a classical framework. We adopt such a classical picture of a radiating dipole oscillator to derive explicit ex- pressions for the coupling of single atoms and atomic ensembles to Gaussian modes in free space and in an optical resonator. The cooperativity parameter of cavity QED is shown to play a central role, and is given a geometrical interpretation. The classical analysis yields t…
Hybrid quantum-classical systems: statistics, entropy, microcanonical ensemble and its connection to the canonical ensemble
Universidad de Zaragoza（萨拉戈萨大学）；Centro de Astropartículas y Física de Altas Energías (CAPA)（高能粒子与天体物理中心）；Universidad de Burgos（布尔戈斯大学）；Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia（国家远程教育大学）；Universidad de Valladolid（巴利亚多利德大学）；Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI)（生物计算与复杂系统物理研究所）；Instituto Universitario de Matemáticas y Aplicaciones (IUMA)（数学与应用大学研究所）
Multiparticle entangled states generated via interaction between narrow-band light and an ensemble of identical two-level atoms are considered. Depending on the initial photon statistics, correlation between atoms and photons can give rise to entangled states of these systems. It is found that the state of any pair of atoms interacting with weak single-mode squeezed light is inseparable and robust against decay. Optical schemes for preparing entangled states of atomic ensembles by projective measurement are described.
We point out that the bootstrap program in quantum mechanics proposed by Han et al reduces to a bootstrap study of a microcanonical ensemble of the same Hamiltonian in the $\hbar \to 0$ limit. In the limit, the quantum mechanical archipelago becomes an extremely thin line for an anharmonic oscillator. For a double-well potential, a peninsula in $E\le 0$ appears.
We study the fidelity decay in the $k$-body embedded ensembles of random matrices for bosons distributed in two single-particle states, considering the reference or unperturbed Hamiltonian as the one-body terms and the diagonal part of the $k$-body embedded ensemble of random matrices, and the perturbation as the residual off-diagonal part of the interaction. We calculate the ensemble-averaged fidelity with respect to an initial random state within linear response theory to second order on the perturbation strength, and demonstrate that it displays the freeze of the fidelity. During the freeze…
In the report we analyze the indicator/measure of classicality of quantum states defined as the probability to find a state with a positive Wigner function within a unitary invariant random ensemble. The indicators of classicality of three ensembles associated with the Hilbert-Schmidt, Bures and Bogoliubov-Kubo-Mori metrics on the space of quantum states of 3-level system are computed. Their dependence on a moduli parameter of the Wigner function is studied for all strata of a qutrit state space stratified in accordance with the unitary group action.
The coherent transport of $n$ fermions in disordered networks of $l$ single-particle states connected by $k$-body interactions is studied. These networks are modeled by embedded Gaussian random matrix ensemble (EGE). The conductance bandwidth as well as the ensemble-averaged total current attain their maximal values if the system is highly filled $n \sim l-1$ and $k\sim n/2$. For the cases $k=1$ and $k=n$ the bandwidth is minimal. We show that for all parameters the transport is enhanced significantly whenever centrosymmetric ensemble (csEGE) are considered. In this case the transmission shows…
We study theoretically the scattering of light by an ensemble of $N$ resonant atoms in a sub-wavelength volume. We consider the low intensity regime so that each atom responds linearly to the field. While $N$ non-interacting atoms would scatter $N^2$ more than a single atom, we find that $N$ interacting atoms scatter less than a single atom near resonance. In addition, the scattered power presents strong fluctuations, either from one realization to another or when varying the excitation frequency. We analyze this counter-intuitive behavior in terms of collective modes resulting from the light-…
We study a certain class of classical one dimensional piecewise linear maps. For these systems we introduce an infinite family of Markov partitions into equal cells. The symbolic dynamics generated by these systems is described by bistochastic (doubly stochastic) matrices. We analyze the structure of graphs generated from the corresponding symbolic dynamics. We demonstrate that the spectra of quantized graphs corresponding to the regular classical systems have locally Poissonian statistics, while quantized graphs derived from classically chaotic systems display statistical properties character…
