Nonlocal Measurements Research Articles

Classical topological order in kagome ice

We examine the onset of classical topological order in a nearest neighbour kagome icemodel. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we characterize the topological sectors of theground state using a nonlocal cut measure which circumscribes the toroidal geometry of thesimulation cell. We demonstrate that simulations which employ global loop updates thatare allowed to wind around the periodic boundaries cause the topological sector tofluctuate, while restricted local loop updates freeze the simulation into one topologicalsector. The freezing into one topological sector can also be observed in the susceptibility ofthe real magnetic spin vectors projected onto the kagome plane. The ability of thesusceptibility to distinguish between fluctuating and non-fluctuating topological sectorsshould motivate its use as a local probe of topological order in a variety of related systems.

Comparison between charge and spin transport in few-layer graphene

Transport measurements on few layer graphene (FLG) are important as they interpolate between the properties of single layer graphene (SLG) as a true 2-dimensional material and the 3-dimensional bulk properties of graphite. In this article we present 4-probe local charge transport and non-local spin valve and spin precession measurements on lateral spin field-effect transistors (FET) on FLG. We study systematically the charge and spin transport properties depending on the number of layers and the electrical back gating of the device. We explain the charge transport measurements by taking the screening of scattering potentials into account and use the results to understand the spin data. The measured samples are between 3 and 20 layers thick and we include in our analysis our earlier results of the measurements on SLG for comparison. In our room temperature spin transport measurements we manage to observe spin signals over distances up to 10 u m and measure spin-relaxation times up to tau_s ~500 ps, about 4 times higher than in SLG. We calculate the density of states (DOS) of FLG using a zone-folding scheme to determine the charge diffusion coefficient D_C from the square resistance R_S. The resulting D_C and the spin diffusion coefficient D_S show similar values and depend only weakly on the number of layers and gate induced charge carriers. We discuss the implications of this on the identification of the spin-relaxation mechanism.

Sodium lidar measurements of mesopause region temperatures at 23° S

A sodium lidar, capable of measuring temperature in the 80–100km region, has been in operation at São José dos Campos (23° S, 46 W) since March 2007. Good quality data have been obtained for late autumn, winter and spring, but weather conditions make it extremely difficult to make measurements from mid-November to mid- February. We find the temperature structure to be strongly modulated by tides and gravity waves, but average profiles typically show a primary mesopause height close to 100km with temperatures around 180K, and a tendency for a secondary minimum of about 185K to occur close to 90km. Vertical temperature gradients greater than 50K/km are sometimes seen even on profiles averaged over several hours. The strongest gradients are always positive and are frequently associated with strong gradients in sodium concentration. On the other hand, we frequently see rapid changes in the temperature profile, suggesting that models and non-local temperature measurements, as made by satellite radiometers, for example, are of little use in applications such as the analysis of gravity wave propagation seen in airglow images.

Non-Classical Correlations in Bistable Perception?

A violation of Bell’s inequalities is generally considered to be the Holy Grail of experimental proof that a specific natural phenomenon cannot be explained in a classical framework and is based on a non-boolean structure of predications. Generalized quantum theory allows for such non-boolean predications. We formulate temporal Bell’s inequalities for cognitive two-state systems and indicate how these inequalities can be tested. This will introduce the notion of temporally non-local measurements. The Necker-Zeno model for bistable perception predicts a violation of these temporal Bell’s inequalities.

Non-local Quasi-Particles Current in the Lateral SNS Junction with Transparent Interfaces

We have fabricated multi-terminal superconductor/normal metal/superconductor junctions comprising superconductor Nb and normal metal Cu. By means of the local and non-local measurements of the junction, we successfully detected the non-existence of a bias current in the Cu wire and the non-local voltage. These results indicate that the current flowing non-locally over the junction is due to the proximity effects and the conversion of the supercurrent and normal current.

Entanglement consumption of instantaneous nonlocal quantum measurements

Relativistic causality has dramatic consequences on the measurability of nonlocal variables and poses the fundamental question of whether it is physically meaningful to speak about the value of nonlocal variables at a particular time. Recent work has shown that by weakening the role of the measurement in preparing eigenstates of the variable, it is in fact possible to measure all nonlocal observables instantaneously by exploiting entanglement. However, for these measurement schemes to succeed with certainty, an infinite amount of entanglement must be distributed initially and all this entanglement is necessarily consumed. In this work, we sharpen the characterization of instantaneous nonlocal measurements by explicitly devising schemes in which only a finite amount of the initially distributed entanglement is ever utilized. This enables us to determine an upper bound to the average consumption for the most general cases of nonlocal measurements. This includes the tasks of state verification, where the measurement verifies if the system is in a given state, and verification measurements of a general set of eigenstates of an observable. Despite its finiteness, the growth of entanglement consumption is found to display an extremely unfavourable exponential of an exponential scaling with either the number of qubits needed to contain the Schmidt rank of the target state or the total number of qubits in the system for an operator measurement. This scaling is seen to be a consequence of the combination of the generic exponential scaling of unitary decompositions combined with the highly recursive structure of our scheme required to overcome the no-signalling constraint of relativistic causality.

Control of the transmission phase in an asymmetric four-terminal Aharonov-Bohm interferometer

Phase sensitivity and thermal dephasing in coherent electron transport in quasi one-dimensional (1D) waveguide rings of an asymmetric four-terminal geometry are studied by magnetotransport measurements. We demonstrate the electrostatic control of the phase in Aharonov-Bohm (AB) resistance oscillations and investigate the impact of the measurement circuitry on decoherence. Phase rigidity is broken due to the ring geometry: Orthogonal waveguide cross-junctions and 1D leads minimize reflections and resonances between leads allowing for a continuous electron transmission phase shift. The measurement circuitry influences dephasing: Thermal averaging dominates in the non-local measurement configuration while additional influence of potential fluctuations becomes relevant in the local configuration.

Nonlocal Measure Synchronization in Coupled Bosonic Josephson Junctions

We investigate the measure synchronization (MS) in two coupled bosonic Josephson junctions. By tuning up the coupling between the two dynamical systems, in addition to the normal MS, a nonlocal MS (NLMS) state is observed. Furthermore, with the dynamic stability analysis, we present the exact analytical solution of the transition point to NLMS.

Surface Spin Flip Probability of Mesoscopic Ag Wires

Spin relaxation in mesoscopic Ag wires in the diffusive transport regime is studied via nonlocal spin valve and Hanle effect measurements performed on Permalloy/Ag lateral spin valves. The ratio between momentum and spin relaxation times is not constant at low temperatures. This can be explained with the Elliott-Yafet spin relaxation mechanism by considering the momentum surface relaxation time as being temperature dependent. We present a model to separately determine spin flip probabilities for phonon, impurity and surface scattering and find that the spin flip probability is highest for surface scattering.

Svetlichny’s inequality and genuine tripartite nonlocality in three-qubit pure states

The violation of the Svetlichny's inequality (SI) [Phys. Rev. D, 35, 3066 (1987)] is sufficient but not necessary for genuine tripartite nonlocal correlations. Here we quantify the relationship between tripartite entanglement and the maximum expectation value of the Svetlichny operator (which is bounded from above by the inequality) for the two inequivalent subclasses of pure three-qubit states: the GHZ-class and the W-class. We show that the maximum for the GHZ-class states reduces to Mermin's inequality [Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 1838 (1990)] modulo a constant factor, and although it is a function of the three tangle and the residual concurrence, large number of states don't violate the inequality. We further show that by design SI is more suitable as a measure of genuine tripartite nonlocality between the three qubits in the the W-class states, and the maximum is a certain function of the bipartite entanglement (the concurrence) of the three reduced states, and only when their certain sum attains a certain threshold value, they violate the inequality.

Manipulation of Spin Transport in Graphene by Surface Chemical Doping

The effects of surface chemical doping on spin transport in graphene are investigated by performing nonlocal measurements in ultrahigh vacuum while depositing gold adsorbates. We demonstrate manipulation of the gate-dependent nonlocal spin signal as a function of gold coverage. We discover that charged impurity scattering is not the dominant mechanism for spin relaxation in graphene, despite its importance for momentum scattering. Finally, unexpected enhancements of the spin lifetime illustrate the complex nature of spin relaxation in graphene.

Evidence for the ballistic intrinsic spin Hall effect in HgTe nanostructures

Non-local transport measurements on mercury telluride quantum wells show clear signatures of the ballistic spin Hall effect. The ballistic nature of the experiment allows the observed effect to be interpreted as a direct consequence of the band structure of these semiconductor nanostructures, rather that being caused by impurity scattering.

Collective dynamics of two-species Bose-Einstein-condensate mixtures in a double-well potential

By employing a binary mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates in a symmetric double-well potential we study the collective dynamics of a two-coupled-Hamiltonian system. There we find three interesting collective dynamic regimes. Besides measure synchronization, phase synchronization and nonlocal measure synchronization have been found. We demonstrate that by varying the interspecies interaction strength, the transitions between different regimes can be found clearly. A diagram of dynamic regimes with experimentally adjustable parameters has also been presented.

Correlations of Hawking radiation in acoustic black holes

I will review the main motivations and results regarding the proposal to use nonlocal correlations measurements to get evidence of the Hawking effect in acoustic black holes, focussing in particular on those built up with weakly interacting Bose Einstein condensates and rings of ions.

On crack path evolution rules

The models of crack growth in mixed mode conditions are reviewed for the plane and three-dimensional (3D) states of stress. Both critical load value and crack path or surface growth are predicted by different criteria in terms of elastic singular stress states and T-stress component. Monotonic and cyclic loading induced crack growth is considered. The energy and critical plane criteria based on local or non-local measure of stress and strain are most useful in developing predictive crack growth simulation. The finite critical distance from the crack tip should be specified to provide averaged or local stress and strain states. The application of MK-criterion of crack growth expressed in terms of volumetric and deviatoric strain energies is presented for several specific cases of monotonic and cyclic loading. The concepts of smooth and rough crack surface are discussed with application to 3D crack surface growth.

Temperature dependence of spin diffusion length in silicon by Hanle-type spin precession

The Hanle-type spin precession method was carried out in association with nonlocal (NL) magnetoresistance measurement using a highly doped (5×1019 cm−3) silicon (Si) channel. The spin diffusion length obtained by the Hanle-method is in good agreement with that of the gap dependence of NL signals. We have evaluated the interface and bulk channel effects separately, and it was demonstrated that the major factor of temperature dependence of NL signals originates from the spin polarization reduction at interface between the tunnel barrier and silicon.

Simulating local measurements on a quantum many-body system with stochastic matrix product states

We demonstrate how to simulate both discrete and continuous stochastic evolution of a quantum many body system subject to measurements using matrix product states. A particular, but generally applicable, measurement model is analyzed and a simple representation in terms of matrix product operators is found. The technique is exemplified by numerical simulations of the anti-ferromagnetic Heisenberg spin-chain model subject to various instances of the measurement model. In particular we focus on local measurements with small support and non-local measurements which induces long range correlations.

Nonlocal transport through multiterminal diffusive superconducting nanostructures

Motivated by recent experiments on nonlocal transport through multiterminal superconducting hybrid structures, we present self-consistent calculations based on quasiclassical Green's functions for the order parameter, currents and voltages in a system consisting of a diffusive superconductor connected to two normal and one superconducting electrodes. We investigate non-equilibrium effects for different biasing conditions corresponding to measurements of the nonlocal conductance and of the nonlocal resistance. It is shown that while the nonlocal conductance does not change its sign, this change might be observed in a nonlocal resistance measurement for certain parameter range. The change of sign of the nonlocal signal takes places at a voltage of the order of the self-consistent gap of the superconducting region. We show that this is not related to the nonlocal Andreev processes but rather to non-equilibrium effects. We finally discuss the case of four terminal measurements and demonstrate that a change of sign in the nonlocal resistance appears when the current injected into the superconductor exceeds a critical value. The connection to the existing experiments is discussed.

On global effects caused by locally noneffective unitary operations

Given a bipartite quantum state $\rho$ with subsystems $A$ and $B$ of arbitrary dimensions, we study the entanglement detecting capabilities of locally noneffective, or cyclic, unitary operations [Fu, Europhys. Lett., vol. 75]. Local cyclic unitaries have the special property that they leave their target subsystem invariant. We investigate the distance between $\rho$ and the global state after local application of such unitaries as a possible indicator of entanglement. To this end, we derive and discuss closed formulae for the maximal such distance achievable for three cases of interest: (pseudo)pure quantum states, Werner states, and two-qubit states. What makes this criterion interesting, as we show here, is that it surprisingly displays behavior similar to recent anomalies observed for non-locality measures in higher dimensions, as well as demonstrates an equivalence to the CHSH inequality for certain classes of two-qubit states. Yet, despite these similarities, the criterion is not itself a non-locality measure. We also consider entanglement detection in bound entangled states.

Entanglement cost of nonlocal measurements

For certain joint measurements on a pair of spatially separated particles, we ask how much entanglement is needed to carry out the measurement exactly. For a class of orthogonal measurements on two qubits with partially entangled eigenstates, we present upper and lower bounds on the entanglement cost. The upper bound is based on a recent result by D. Berry [Phys. Rev. A 75, 032349 (2007)]. The lower bound, based on the entanglement production capacity of the measurement, implies that for almost all measurements in the class we consider, the entanglement required to perform the measurement is strictly greater than the average entanglement of its eigenstates. On the other hand, we show that for any complete measurement in d x d dimensions that is invariant under all local Pauli operations, the cost of the measurement is exactly equal to the average entanglement of the states associated with the outcomes.