We present exact expressions for the quantum sloshing of Bose-Einstein condensates in a tilted two-well potential. Tunneling is suppressed by a small potential difference between wells, or tilt. However, tunneling resonances occur for critical values of the tilt when the barrier is high. At resonance, tunneling times on the order of 10-100 ms are possible. Furthermore, such tilted resonances lead to a dynamical scheme for creating few-body NOON-like macroscopic superposition states which are protected by the many body wavefunction against potential fluctuations.
We consider the collapse of a macroscopic quantum superposition occurring due to the measurement which optimally distinguishes its branches. Given a macroscopic superposition of N spin-1/2 particles, we use such a Helstrom measurement to construct the local unitary operator which maximizes the usefulness of the superposition for Heisenberg-limited phase estimation (i.e., with quantum Cramér Rao bound proportional to 1/N). In contrast, the collapsed state is not useful as a probe for phase estimation below the standard quantum limit. For the case N=2, we compute the entanglement entropy of the …
We consider the creation of superpositions of macroscopically distinct states by a completely-positive (CP) operation on a subsystem. We conclude that the subsystem on which the CP operation acts must be macroscopically large if the success probability of the CP operation does not vanish in the thermodynamic limit. In order to obtain this conclusion, we show two inequalities each of which represents a trade-off relation among the magnitude of an indicator for superpositions of macroscopically distinct states, the success probability of a CP operation, and the volume of the subsystem on which t…
Two quantum Macro-states and their Macroscopic Quantum Superpositions (MQS) localized in two far apart, space - like separated sites can be non-locally correlated by any entangled couple of single-particles having interacted in the past. This novel Macro - Macro paradigm is investigated on the basis of a recent study on an entangled Micro-Macro system involving N=10^5 particles. Crucial experimental issues as the violation of Bell's inequalities by the Macro - Macro system are considered.
Recently there has been much interest in optomechanical devices for the production of macroscopic quantum states. Here we focus on a proposed scheme for achieving macroscopic superpositions via nested interferometry. We consider the effects of finite temperature on the superposition produced. We also investigate in detail the scheme's feasibility for probing various novel decoherence mechanisms.
We utilise a magneto-mechanical levitated massive resonator in the quantum regime to prepare highly macroscopic quantum superposition states. Using these macroscopic superpositions we present a novel interferometry protocol to perform absolute gravimetry with a sensitivity that exceeds state of the art atom-interferometric and corner-cube gravimeters by a factor of 20. In addition, our scheme allows probing the gravitational field on a length scale eight orders of magnitude smaller than other methods.
Gong points out [quant-ph arXiv:1106.0062] a "direct connection" between our measure [PRL 106, 220401 (2011)] recently proposed to quantify macroscopic quantum superpositions and a previously studied quantity introduced to study classical and quantum chaos. We point out that the two measures are obviously different for some mixed states, and the previous one does not work as a sensible measure to quantify quantum superpositions.
We suggest a way to quantify a type of macroscopic entanglement via distillation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states by local operations and classical communication. We analyze how this relates to an existing measure of quantum macroscopicity based on the quantum Fisher information in several examples. Both cluster states and Kitaev surface code states are found to not be macroscopically quantum but can be distilled into macroscopic superpositions. We look at these distillation protocols in more detail and ask whether they are robust to perturbations. One key result is that one-dimensional c…
We study the question of what kind of a macroscopic superposition can(not) naturally exist as a ground state of some gapped local many-body Hamiltonian. We derive an upper bound on the energy gap of an arbitrary physical Hamiltonian provided that its ground state is a superposition of two well-distinguishable macroscopic "semi-classical" states. For a large class of macroscopic superposition states we show that the gap vanishes in the macroscopic limit. This in turn shows that preparation of such states by simple cooling to the ground state is not experimentally feasible and requires different…
We consider fundamental limits on the detectable size of macroscopic quantum superpositions. We argue that a full quantum mechanical treatment of system plus measurement device is required, and that a (classical) reference frame for phase or direction needs to be established to certify the quantum state. When taking the size of such a classical reference frame into account, we show that to reliably distinguish a quantum superposition state from an incoherent mixture requires a measurement device that is quadratically bigger than the superposition state. Whereas for moderate system sizes such a…
Schrödinger's illustration of an imaginary cat in a box, neither alive nor dead, leads to a question of whether and how long a macroscopic quantum superposition can exist in various situations. It is well known that a macroscopic superposition is destroyed very quickly by environmental effects called decoherence. On the contrary, it is often believed that a macroscopic superposition continues to "survive" if it is ideally isolated from its environment. In this paper, using a well-established measure of macroscopic superpositions and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, we show that macros…
We propose a scheme to generate macroscopic superposition states in spin ensembles, where a coherent driving field is applied to accelerate the generation of macroscopic superposition states. The numerical calculation demonstrates that this approach allows us to generate a superposition of two classically distinct states of the spin ensemble with a high fidelity above 0.96 for 300 spins. For the larger spin ensemble, though the fidelity slightly decline, it maintains above 0.85 for an ensemble of 500 spins. The time to generate a macroscopic superposition state is also numerically calculated, …
Macroscopic quantum phenomena such as lasers, Bose-Einstein condensates, superfluids, and superconductors are of great importance in foundations and applications of quantum mechanics. In particular, quantum superposition of a large number of spins in solids is highly desirable for both quantum information processing and ultrasensitive magnetometry. Spin ensembles in solids, however, have rather short collective coherence time (typically less than microseconds). Here we demonstrate that under realistic conditions it is possible to maintain macroscopic quantum superposition of a large spin ensem…
The question as to whether or not quantum mechanics is applicable to the macroscopic scale has motivated efforts to generate superposition states of macroscopic numbers of particles and to determine their effective size. Superpositions of circulating current states in flux qubits constitute candidate states that have been argued to be at least mesoscopic. We present a microscopic analysis that reveals the number of electrons participating in these superpositions to be surprisingly but not trivially small, even though differences in macroscopic observables are large.
We show that all Macroscopic Quantum Superpositions (MQS) based on phase-covariant quantum cloning are characterized by an anomalous high resilence to the de-coherence processes. The analysis supports the results of recent MQS experiments and leads to conceive a useful conjecture regarding the realization of complex decoherence - free structures for quantum information, such as the quantum computer.
A deterministic scheme for generating a macroscopic superposition state of a nanomechanical resonator is proposed. The nonclassical state is generated through a suitably engineered dissipative dynamics exploiting the optomechanical quadratic interaction with a bichromatically driven optical cavity mode. The resulting driven dissipative dynamics can be employed for monitoring and testing the decoherence processes affecting the nanomechanical resonator under controlled conditions.
Quantum entanglement is the quintessence of quantum information processing mostly limited to the microscopic regime governed by Heisenberg uncertainty principle. For practical applications, however, macroscopic entanglement gives great benefits in both photon loss and sensitivity. Recently, a novel method of macroscopic entanglement generation has been proposed and demonstrated in a coupled interferometric system using classical laser light, where superposition between binary bases in each interferometric system plays a key role. Here, the function of path superposition applied to independent …
We propose a scheme to prepare macroscopic quantum superpositions of motion in optomachanical nano- or micromechanical oscillators quadratically coupled to an intracavity field. The nonlinear optomechanical coupling leads to an effective degenerate three-wave mixing interaction between the mechanical and cavity modes. The quantum superpositions result from the combined effects of the interaction and cavity dissipation. We show analytically and confirm numerically that various deterministic quantum superpositions can be achieved, depending on initial mechanical state. The effect of mechanical d…
For any choice of initial state and weak assumptions about the Hamiltonian, large isolated quantum systems undergoing Schrodinger evolution spend most of their time in macroscopic superposition states. The result follows from von Neumann's 1929 Quantum Ergodic Theorem. As a specific example, we consider a box containing a solid ball and some gas molecules. Regardless of the initial state, the system will evolve into a quantum superposition of states with the ball in macroscopically different positions. Thus, despite their seeming fragility, macroscopic superposition states are ubiquitous conse…
We study the stability of superpositions of macroscopically distinct quantum states under decoherence. We introduce a class of quantum states with entanglement features similar to Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states, but with an inherent stability against noise and decoherence. We show that in contrast to GHZ states, these so-called concatenated GHZ states remain multipartite entangled even for macroscopic numbers of particles and can be used for quantum metrology in noisy environments. We also propose a scalable experimental realization of these states using existing ion-trap set-ups.
The phase space measure proposed by Lee and Jeong [PRL 106, 220401 (2011)] is shown to be closely related to a well-studied measure in the literature. For pure states, the newly proposed measure is equivalent to an old measure; for mixed states, some discussions are given.
Quantum superposition in mechanical systems is not only key evidence for macroscopic quantum coherence, but can also be utilized in modern quantum technology. Here we propose an efficient approach for creating macroscopically distinct mechanical superposition states in a two-mode optomechanical system. Photon hopping between the two cavity modes is modulated sinusoidally. The modulated photon tunneling enables an ultrastrong radiation-pressure force acting on the mechanical resonator, and hence significantly increases the mechanical displacement induced by a single photon. We study systematica…
Based on phase-space structures of quantum states, we propose a novel measure to quantify macroscopic quantum superpositions. Our measure simultaneously quantifies two different kinds of essential information for a given quantum state in a harmonious manner: the degree of quantum coherence and the effective size of the physical system that involves the superposition. It enjoys remarkably good analytical and algebraic properties. It turns out to be the most general and inclusive measure ever proposed that it can be applied to any types of multipartite states and mixed states represented in phas…
We show that the quantum states generated by universal optimal quantum cloning of a single photon represent an universal set of quantum superpositions resilient to decoherence. We adopt Bures distance as a tool to investigate the persistence ofquantum coherence of these quantum states. According to this analysis, the process of universal cloning realizes a class of quantum superpositions that exhibits a covariance property in lossy configuration over the complete set of polarization states in the Bloch sphere.
We study how macroscopic superpositions of coherent states produced by the nondissipative dynamics of binary mixtures of ultracold atoms are affected by atom losses. We identify different decoherence scenarios for symmetric or asymmetric loss rates and interaction energies in the two modes. In the symmetric case the quantum coherence in the superposition is lost after a single loss event. By tuning appropriately the energies we show that the superposition can be protected, leading to quantum correlations useful for atom interferometry even after many loss events.
We demonstrate through an exactly solvable model that collective coupling to any thermal bath induces effectively nonlinear couplings in a quantum many-body (multi-spin) system. The resulting evolution can drive an uncorrelated large-spin system with high probability into a macroscopic quantum-superposition state. We discuss possible experimental realizations.
We describe a set of measurement protocols for performing non-classicality tests and the verification of entangled superposition states of macroscopic continuous variable systems, such as nanomechanical resonators. Following earlier works, we first consider a setup where a two-level system is used to indirectly probe the motion of the mechanical system via Ramsey measurements and discuss the application of this methods for detecting non-classical mechanical states. We then show that the generalization of this techniques to multiple resonator modes allows the conditioned preparation and the det…
It is well known that in a quantum phase transition (QPT), entanglement remains short ranged [Osterloh et al., Nature 416 608-610 (2005)]. We ask if there is a quantum property entailing the whole system which diverges near this point. Using the recently proposed measures of quantum macroscopisity, we show that near a quantum critical point, it is the effective size of macroscopic superposition between the two symmetry breaking states which grows to the scale of system size and its derivative with respect to the coupling shows both singular behavior and scaling properties.
We show that a cavity field can evolve from an initial displaced mixed thermal state to a macroscopic superpositions of displaced thermal states via resonant interaction with a two-level atom. As a macroscopic system (meter) is really in a mixed state before coupling with the microscopic system at some temperature, our result is important for studying the quantum measurement problem and decoherence under real conditions. For the two-mode case, entanglement of displaced thermal states between the modes can be obtained.
Equilibration and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis as limits to observing macroscopic quantum superpositions
Escola Politécnica de Pernambuco, Universidade de Pernambuco（伯南布哥联邦大学应用理工学院）；Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz（圣克鲁斯州立大学）；Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal Fluminense（弗鲁米嫩塞联邦大学物理研究所）
A simple procedure for obtaining superpositions of macroscopically distinct states is proposed and analyzed. We find that a thermal equilibrium state can be converted into such a state when a single global measurement of a macroscopic observable, such as the total magnetization, is made. This method is valid for systems with macroscopic degrees of freedom and finite (including zero) temperature. The superposition state is obtained with a high (low) probability when the measurement is made with a high (low) resolution. We find that this method is feasible in an experiment.
We propose to generate macroscopic superposition states of a large number of atoms in the ground state of a three-mode spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. The ground state is protected by a finite energy gap, is immune to phase noise, and the measurement of the number of particles in one mode heralds the coherent preparation of the two other modes simultaneously empty and filled. Highly entangled macroscopic superposition states are generated with large probability also taking into account quasi-adiabatic preparation of the ground state. All the key ingredients necessary to realize our proposal a…
Macroscopically populated quantum superpositions pose a question to what extent macroscopic world obeys quantum mechanical laws. Recently such superpositions for light, generated by optimal quantum cloner, were demonstrated. They are of fundamental and technological interest. We present numerical methods useful for modeling of these states. Their properties are governed by Gaussian hypergeometric function, which cannot be reduced to neither elementary nor easily tractable functions. We discuss the method of efficient computation of this function for half integer parameters and moderate value o…
In this paper, we propose a feasible scheme for generating the Schrödinger cat states of a macroscopic mechanical resonator in pulsed cavity optomechanics. Starting with cooling the mechanical oscillator to its ground state, a red and a blue pulses with different powers are simultaneously employed to drive the cavity to achieve squeezed mechanical states. Subsequently, a second red pulse is utilized to generate the macroscopic mechanical quantum superpositions, conditioned on the detection of cavity output photons. Finally, after being stored in the resonator for a period of time, the mechanic…
We consider the characterization of quantum superposition states beyond the pattern "dead and alive". We propose a measure that is applicable to superpositions of multiple macroscopically distinct states, superpositions with different weights as well as mixed states. The measure is based on the mutual information to characterize the distinguishability between multiple superposition states. This allows us to overcome limitations of previous proposals, and to bridge the gap between general measures for macroscopic quantumness and measures for Schrödinger-cat type superpositions. We discuss a num…
Theory and experiment both demonstrate that an entangled quantum state of two subsystems is neither a superposition of states of its subsystems nor a superposition of composite states but rather a coherent superposition of nonlocal correlations between incoherently mixed local states of the two subsystems. Thus, even if one subsystem happens to be macroscopic as in the entangled "Schrodinger's cat" state resulting from an ideal measurement, this state is not the paradoxical macroscopic superposition it is generally presumed to be. It is, instead, a "macroscopic correlation," a coherent quantum…
