Generation of quantum coherence in a magnomechanical system

We investigate theoretically macroscopic quantum coherence and tripartite entanglement in a three-mode magnomechanical system with a yttrium iron garnet sphere, which is simultaneously driven by a magnetic pump and a microwave field pump to establish an effective magnomechanical coupling. We discuss mainly the dependence of quantum properties on the driving power, the cavity field detuning and decay, the magnomechanical coupling strength, the bias magnetic field, and the temperature of an environment. It is found that the quantum coherence of the system can be attained easily in a large range of parameters. In contrast, tripartite photon-magnon-phonon entanglement can only be realized in a relatively small range of optical and magnetic parameters. In particular, the quantum coherence of the mechanical mode can be larger than that of the photon and magnon modes, which means that the environmental incoherence of the mechanical mode in the cavity magnomechanical system can be suppressed significantly. These results may help manipulate simultaneously the macroscopic quantum coherence and the tripartite entanglement of massive objects in coupled magnomechanical system, which may have potential applications for realizing highly tunable information processing through the flexible control of quantum properties.

This study is focused on the quantum dynamics of a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center coupled to a nonlinear, periodically driven mechanical oscillator. For a continuous periodic driving that depends on the position of the oscillator, the mechanical motion is described by Mathieu elliptic functions. This solution is employed to study the dynamics of the quantum spin system including environmental effects and to evaluate the purity and the von Neumann entropy of the NV-spin. The unitary generation of coherence is addressed. We observe that the production of coherence through a unitary transformation depends on whether the system is prepared initially in mixed state. Production of coherence is efficient when the system initially is prepared in the region of the separatrix (i.e., the region where classical systems exhibit dynamical chaos). From the theory of dynamical chaos, we know that phase trajectories of the system passing through the homoclinic tangle have limited memory, and therefore the information about the initial conditions is lost. We proved that quantum chaos and diminishing of information about the mixed initial state favors the generation of quantum coherence through the unitary evolution. We introduced quantum distance from the homoclinic tangle and proved that for the initial states permitting efficient generation of coherence, this distance is minimal.

We address measurement-based generation of quantum coherence in continuous variable systems. We consider Gaussian measurements performed on Gaussian states and focus on two scenarios. In the first one, we assume an initially correlated bipartite state shared by two parties and study how correlations may be exploited to remotely create quantum coherence via measurement back-action. In particular, we focus on conditional states with zero first moments, so as to address coherence due to properties of the covariance matrix. We consider different classes of bipartite states with incoherent marginals and show that the larger the measurement squeezing, the larger the conditional coherence. Homodyne detection is thus the optimal Gaussian measurement to remotely generate coherence. We also show that for squeezed thermal states there exists a threshold value for the generated coherence which separates entangled and separable states at a fixed energy. Finally, we briefly discuss the tripartite case and the relationship between tripartite correlations and the conditional two-mode coherence. In the second scenario, we address the steady state coherence of a system interacting with an environment which is continuously monitored. In particular, we discuss the dynamics of an optical parametric oscillator in order to investigate how the coherence of a Gaussian state may be increased by means of time-continuous Gaussian measurement on the interacting environment.

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) is transforming nuclear magnetic resonance and MRI by significantly enhancing sensitivity through the transfer of polarization from electron spins to nuclear spins via microwave irradiation. However, the use of monochromatic continuous-wave irradiation limits the efficiency of DNP for systems with heterogeneous, broad electron paramagnetic resonance lines. Broadband techniques such as chirp irradiation offer a potential solution, particularly for Solid Effect (SE) DNP in such cases. Despite its widespread use, the role of quantum coherence generated during chirp irradiation remains unclear, even though it is a key factor in determining the maximum achievable DNP efficiency. In this work, we use density matrix formalism to provide a comprehensive understanding of the quantum coherence generated during non-adiabatic passages through electron-nucleus double-quantum (DQ) and zero-quantum (ZQ) SEtransitions and their impact on Integrated Solid Effect (ISE) DNP under chirp irradiation. Our analysis employs fictitious product-operator bases to trace the evolution of electron-nucleus coherence leading to integrated or differentiated SE. We also explore the role of decoherence in maximizing chirped DNP in microwave power or nutation frequency limited scenarios. These findings provide an understanding of the role of coherence generated during pulsed DNP and magic-angle spinning DNP at different temperature ranges. Our results reveal that quantum coherences generated during non-adiabatic passages critically determine whether the chirped DNP process yields ISE or differential solid effect. By analyzing the evolution of the density matrix in DQ and ZQ subspaces, we show how coherence generation and its decay through decoherence play a decisive role in shaping the net DNP enhancement.

We study the dynamics of Gaussian quantum coherence under the background of a Garfinkle–Horowitz–Strominger dilaton black hole. It is shown that the dilaton field has evident effects on the degree of coherence for all the bipartite subsystems. The bipartite Gaussian coherence is not affected by the frequency of the scalar field for an uncharged or an extreme dilaton black hole. It is found that the initial coherence is not completely destroyed even for an extreme dilaton black hole, which is quite different from the behavior of quantum steering because the latter suffers from a “sudden death” under the same conditions. This is nontrivial because one can employ quantum coherence as a resource for quantum information processing tasks even if quantum correlations have been destroyed by the strong gravitational field. In addition, it is demonstrated that the generation of quantum coherence between the initial separable modes is easier for low-frequency scalar fields. At the same time, quantum coherence is smoothly generated betweenone pair of partners and exhibits a “sudden birth” behavior between another pairs in the curved spacetime.

The entropy production in dissipative processes is the essence of the arrow\nof time and the second law of thermodynamics. For dissipation of quantum\nsystems, it was recently shown that the entropy production contains indeed two\ncontributions: a classical one and a quantum one. Here we show that for\ndegenerate (or near-degenerate) quantum systems there are additional quantum\ncontributions which, remarkably, can become negative. Furthermore, such\nnegative contributions are related to significant changes in the ongoing\nthermodynamics. This includes phenomena such as generation of coherences\nbetween degenerate energy levels (called horizontal coherences), alteration of\nenergy exchanges and, last but not least, reversal of the natural convergence\nof the populations toward the thermal equilibrium state. Going further, we\nestablish a complementarity relation between horizontal coherences and\npopulation convergence, particularly enlightening for understanding heat flow\nreversals. Conservation laws of the different types of coherences are derived.\nSome consequences for thermal machines and resource theory of coherence are\nsuggested.\n

Quantum coherence, the ability of a system to be in a quantum superposition of pure states, is a distinct feature of quantum mechanics that has no direct analog in classical mechanics. Quantum states that possess coherence efficiently outperform their classical counterparts in fundamental science and practical applications, including quantum metrology, computation, and simulation. Generation of coherence without the need to employ strong classical drives remains a challenging and not yet experimentally explored task. Beyond individual thermally-induced coherences already proposed for different experiments, correlated quantum coherences of multiple qubits represent a new target. We prove that correlated qubit coherence emerges thermally stimulated from incoherent states in hybrid superconducting and solid-state systems comprising non-interacting qubits coupled only via Dicke-type interaction to a shared thermal mechanical oscillator, exhibits coherences beyond the Tavis–Cummings coupling and, moreover, can be advantageous in quantum sensing.

We explore methods to generate quantum coherence through unitary evolutions, by introducing and studying the coherence generating capacity of Hamiltonians. This quantity is defined as the maximum derivative of coherence that can be achieved by a Hamiltonian. By adopting the relative entropy of coherence as our figure of merit, we evaluate the maximal coherence generating capacity with the constraint of a bounded Hilbert-Schmidt norm for the Hamiltonian. Our investigation yields closed-form expressions for both Hamiltonians and quantum states that induce the maximal derivative of coherence under these conditions. Specifically, for qubit systems, we solve this problem comprehensively for any given Hamiltonian, identifying the quantum states that lead to the largest coherence derivative induced by the Hamiltonian. Our investigation enables a precise identification of conditions under which quantum coherence is optimally enhanced, offering valuable insights for the manipulation and control of quantum coherence in quantum systems.

We study the steady‐state quantum Fisher information (QFI) and several quantum resources entanglement, quantum coherence, and quantum discord for a pair of coupled qubits interacting with either bosonic or fermionic reservoirs. Using the Bloch–Redfield master equation beyond the secular approximation, we derive analytical expressions for the steady‐state density matrix and analyze how equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions shape the resulting quantum correlations. In thermal equilibrium, the quantum resources display distinct behaviors depending on the bath statistics, with fermionic reservoirs enabling stronger stationary correlations due to particle‐exchange processes. Under nonequilibrium driving, generated either by a temperature imbalance or by a chemical potential difference, the system develops steady‐state coherence and enhanced discord, while entanglement and QFI exhibit non‐monotonic dependence governed by the interplay between coherence generation and population mixing. Our results identify the regimes in which steady‐state metrological performance can be optimized, and they provide general guidelines for enhancing quantum correlations in dissipative two‐qubit platforms.

Coherence, being at the heart of interference phenomena, is found to be an useful resource in quantum information theory. Here we want to understand quantum coherence under the combination of two fundamentally dual processes, viz., cloning and deleting. We found the role of quantum cloning and deletion machines with the consumption and generation of quantum coherence. We establish cloning as a cohering process and deletion as a decohering process. Fidelity of the process will be shown to have connection with coherence generation and consumption of the processes.

Quantum coherence of Gaussian states in curved spacetime

We investigate the dynamics of quantum coherence and quantum correlation of two qubits mediated by a one-dimensional plasmonic waveguide. The analytical expression of the dissipative dynamics of the two qubits is obtained for the initial X state. The dynamical behaviors of the quantum coherence and quantum correlation are shown to be largely dependent on the parameters of the initial state. Starting from a product state, quantum coherence and quantum correlation can be induced by the plasmonic waveguide. Under continuous drivings, steady quantum correlation can be obtained at specific distance larger than the operating wavelength and large values of steady quantum coherence are attainable at arbitrary distance. The detuning effect on the dissipation-driven generation of steady quantum coherence and quantum correlation is also explored.

The radical departure from classical physics implies quantum coherence, i.e., coherent superposition of eigenstates of Hermitian operators. In resource theory, quantum coherence is a resource for quantum operations. Typically the stochastic phenomenon induces decoherence effects. However, in the present work, we prove that nonunitary evolution leads to the generation of quantum coherence in some cases. Specifically, we consider the neutrino propagation in the dissipative environment, namely in a magnetic field with a stochastic component, and focus on neutrino flavour, spin and spin-flavour oscillations. We present exact analytical results for quantum coherence in neutrino oscillations quantified in terms of the relative entropy. Starting from an initial zero coherence state, we observe persistent oscillations of coherence during the dissipative evolution of an ultra-high energy neutrino in a random interstellar magnetic field. We found that after dissipative evolution, the initial spin-polarized state entirely “thermalizes”, and in the final steady state, the spin-up/down states have the same probabilities. On the other hand, neutrino flavour states also “thermalize”, but the populations of two flavour states do not equate to each other. The initial flavour still dominates in the final steady state.

A novel scheme producing multiple, coherently phased, high charge (nC), short duration (ps) electron bunches in a radio-frequency (rf) photoinjector is presented. In this configuration, the mirror photocathode is an integral part of an optical resonator. The ultrashort laser pulse is reflected off the photocathode and recirculated through the optical cavity at a subharmonic of the rf drive frequency after extracting a photoelectron bunch. This new technique can dramatically increase the effective quantum efficiency of metals and produce high current, high brightness, prebunched electron beams ideally suited for high power coherent microwave generation. A proof-of-principle experiment operating at 0.250 GHz and using a frequency-quadrupled, mode-locked Nd:YAG laser has shown the production of a train of coherently phased photoelectron bunches, with a measured effective quantum efficiency enhancement of 4.2.

The usefulness of selective isotope labelling patterns is demonstrated using the C-terminal SH2 domain of PLC-gamma1 selectively 13C labelled at methionine methyl groups. We demonstrate the generation and relaxation of coherences that are second rank in protons and first rank in carbons that derive from quadrupolar order in protons. The decay rates of second rank double quantum proton coherences are measured. These terms exhibit fewer channels for cross-correlated relaxation compared to single quantum coherences. Our results indicate the potential application of the measurement of high order proton coherences to the analysis of dynamics in methyl-bearing side chains.