Quantum Case Research Articles

Intrinsic damping phenomena from quantum to classical magnets: An ab initio study of Gilbert damping in a Pt/Co bilayer

A fully quantum mechanical description of the precessional damping of Pt/Co bilayer is presented in the framework of the Keldysh Green function approach using {\it ab initio} electronic structure calculations. In contrast to previous calculations of classical Gilbert damping ($\alpha_{GD}$), we demonstrate that $\alpha_{GD}$ in the quantum case does not diverge in the ballistic regime due to the finite size of the total spin, $S$. In the limit of $S\rightarrow\infty$ we show that the formalism recovers the torque correlation expression for $\alpha_{GD}$ which we decompose into spin-pumping and spin-orbital torque correlation contributions. The formalism is generalized to take into account a self consistently determined dephasing mechanism which preserves the conservation laws and allows the investigation of the effect of disorder. The dependence of $\alpha_{GD}$ on Pt thickness and disorder strength is calculated and the spin diffusion length of Pt and spin mixing conductance of the bilayer are determined and compared with experiments.

Quantum de Moivre–Laplace theorem for noninteracting indistinguishable particles in random networks

The asymptotic form of the average probability to count N indistinguishable identical particles in a small number of binned-together output ports of a M-port Haar-random unitary network, proposed recently in Shchesnovich (2017 Sci. Rep. 7 31) in a heuristic manner with some numerical confirmation, is presented with mathematical rigour and generalised to an arbitrary (mixed) input state of N indistinguishable particles. It is shown that, both in the classical (distinguishable particles) and quantum (indistinguishable particles) cases, the average counting probability into r output bins factorises into a product of counting probabilities into two bins. This fact relates the asymptotic Gaussian law to the de Moivre–Laplace theorem in the classical case and similarly in the quantum case where an analogous theorem can be stated. The results have applications to the setups where randomness plays a key role, such as the multiphoton propagation in disordered media and the scattershot Boson sampling.

Early and strong relativistic self-Focusing of cosh-Gaussian laser beam in cold quantum plasma

Relativistic self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian laser beam in the cold quantum plasma has been investigated theoretically. For a decentered parameter b=0.9, we present a comparative analysis for self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian laser beam in relativistic cold quantum (RCQ) and classical relativistic (CR) case. It is observed that as the beam penetrates deeper inside the RCQ plasma, the self-focusing ability of the laser beam enhances and shifted towards lower value of normalized propagation distance due to quantum contribution. The beam width parameter as a function of normalized propagation distance for various values of relative density parameter of the medium and intensity parameter has also been studied. The self-focusing is observed to be stronger with the increase in relative density parameter. Observation of early and strong self-focusing for higher values of relative density parameter and intensity parameter are reported. The present study might be very useful in the applications like the generation of inertial fusion energy driven by lasers, laser driven accelerators, scribing type of applications in electronics etc.

A Quantum Analog of Generalized Cluster Algebras

We define a quantum analog of a class of generalized cluster algebras which can be viewed as a generalization of quantum cluster algebras defined in Berenstein and Zelevinsky (Adv. Math. 195(2), 405–455 2005). In the case of rank two, we extend some structural results from the classical theory of generalized cluster algebras obtained in Chekhov and Shapiro (Int. Math. Res. Notices 10, 2746–2772 2014) and Rupel (2013) to the quantum case.

Dark Energy and Inflation from Gravitational Waves

In this seven-part paper, we show that gravitational waves (classical and quantum) produce the accelerated de Sitter expansion at the start and at the end of the cosmological evolution of the Universe. In these periods, the Universe contains no matter fields but contains classical and quantum metric fluctuations, i.e., it is filled with classical and quantum gravitational waves. In such evolution of the Universe, dominated by gravitational waves, the de Sitter state is the exact solution to the self-consistent equations for classical and quantum gravitational waves and background geometry for the empty space-time with FLRW metric. In both classical and quantum cases, this solution is of the instanton origin since it is obtained in the Euclidean space of imaginary time with the subsequent analytic continuation to real time. The cosmological acceleration from gravitational waves provides a transparent physical explanation to the coincidence, threshold and “old cosmological constant” paradoxes of dark energy avoiding recourse to the anthropic principle. The cosmological acceleration from virtual gravitons at the start of the Universe evolution produces inflation, which is consistent with the observational data on CMB anisotropy. Section 1 is devoted to cosmological acceleration from classical gravitational waves. Section 2 is devoted to the theory of virtual gravitons in the Universe. Section 3 is devoted to cosmological acceleration from virtual gravitons. Section 4 discusses the consistency of the theory with observational data on dark energy and inflation. The discussion of mechanism of acceleration and cosmological scenario are contained in Sections 5 and 6. Appendix contains the theory of stochastic nonlinear gravitational waves of arbitrary wavelength and amplitude in an isotropic Universe.

Distribution of eigenstate populations and dissipative beating dynamics in uniaxial single-spin magnets

Numerical simulations of magnetization reversal of a quantum uniaxial magnet under a swept magnetic field [Hatomura et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 037203 (2016)] are extended. In particular, how the ``wave packet'' describing the time evolution of the system is scattered in the successive avoided level crossings is investigated from the viewpoint of the distribution of the eigenstate populations. It is found that the peak of the distribution as a function of the magnetic field does not depend on spin-size $S$, which indicates that the delay of magnetization reversal due to the finite sweeping rate is the same in both the quantum and classical cases. The peculiar synchronized oscillations of all the spin components result in the beating of the spin length. Here, dissipative effects on this beating are studied by making use of the generalized Lindblad-type master equation. The corresponding experimental situations are also discussed in order to find conditions for experimental observations.

Classical and quantum cosmology with two perfect fluids: stiff matter and radiation

In this work the homogeneous and isotropic Universe of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker is studied in the presence of two fluids: stiff matter and radiation described by the Schutz's formalism. We obtain to the classic case the behaviour of the scale factor of the universe. For the quantum case the wave packets are constructed and the wave function of the universe is found.

On the structure of quantum L\u221e algebras

It is believed that any classical gauge symmetry gives rise to an L∞ algebra. Based on the recently realized relation between classical mathcal{W} algebras and L∞ algebras, we analyze how this generalizes to the quantum case. Guided by the existence of quantum W algebras, we provide a physically well motivated definition of quantum L∞ algebras describing the consistency of global symmetries in quantum field theories. In this case we are restricted to only two non-trivial graded vector spaces X0 and X−1 containing the symmetry variations and the symmetry generators. This quantum L∞ algebra structure is explicitly exemplified for the quantum {mathcal{W}}_3 algebra. The natural quantum product between fields is the normal ordered one so that, due to contractions between quantum fields, the higher L∞ relations receive off-diagonal quantum corrections. Curiously, these are not present in the loop L∞ algebra of closed string field theory.

Flexible constrained de Finetti reductions and applications

De Finetti theorems show how sufficiently exchangeable states are well-approximated by convex combinations of independent identically distributed states. Recently, it was shown that in many quantum information applications, a more relaxed de Finetti reduction (i.e., only a matrix inequality between the symmetric state and one of the de Finetti forms) is enough and that it leads to more concise and elegant arguments. Here we show several uses and general flexible applicability of a constrained de Finetti reduction in quantum information theory, which was recently discovered by Duan, Severini, and Winter. In particular, we show that the technique can accommodate other symmetries commuting with the permutation action and permutation-invariant linear constraints. We then demonstrate that, in some cases, it is also fruitful with convex constraints, in particular separability in a bipartite setting. This is a constraint particularly interesting in the context of the complexity class QMA(2) of interactive quantum Merlin-Arthur games with unentangled provers, and our results relate to the soundness gap amplification of QMA(2) protocols by parallel repetition. It is also relevant for the regularization of certain entropic channel parameters. As an aside, we present an alternative way of attacking this problem, relying on an entanglement measure theory rather than the de Finetti approach. Finally, we explore an extension to infinite-dimensional systems, which usually pose inherent problems to de Finetti techniques in the quantum case.

Long-range interactions in antiferromagnetic quantum spin chains

We study the role of long range dipolar interactions on antiferromagnetic spin chains, from the classical $S\to \infty$ limit to the deep quantum case $S=1/2$, including a transverse magnetic field. To this end, we combine different techniques such as classical energy minima, classical Monte Carlo, linear spin waves, bosonization and DMRG. We find a phase transition from the already reported dipolar ferromagnetic region to an antiferromagnetic region for high enough antiferromagnetic exchange. Thermal and quantum fluctuations destabilize the classical order before reaching magnetic saturation in both phases, and also close to zero field in the antiferromagnetic phase. In the extreme quantum limit $S=1/2$, extensive DMRG computations show that the main phases remain present with transition lines to saturation significatively shifted to lower fields, in agreement with the bosonization analysis. The overall picture keeps close analogy with the phase diagram of the anisotropic XXZ spin chain in a transverse field.

Deformed Jarzynski Equality

The well-known Jarzynski equality, often written in the form $e^{-\beta\Delta F}=\langle e^{-\beta W}\rangle$, provides a non-equilibrium means to measure the free energy difference $\Delta F$ of a system at the same inverse temperature $\beta$ based on an ensemble average of non-equilibrium work $W$. The accuracy of Jarzynski's measurement scheme was known to be determined by the variance of exponential work, denoted as ${\rm var}\left(e^{-\beta W}\right)$. However, it was recently found that ${\rm var}\left(e^{-\beta W}\right)$ can systematically diverge in both classical and quantum cases. Such divergence will necessarily pose a challenge in the applications of Jarzynski equality because it may dramatically reduce the efficiency in determining $\Delta F$. In this work, we present a deformed Jarzynski equality for both classical and quantum non-equilibrium statistics, in efforts to reuse experimental data that already suffers from a diverging ${\rm var}\left(e^{-\beta W}\right)$. The main feature of our deformed Jarzynski equality is that it connects free energies at different temperatures and it may still work efficiently subject to a diverging ${\rm var}\left(e^{-\beta W}\right)$. The conditions for applying our deformed Jarzynski equality may be met in experimental and computational situations. If so, then there is no need to redesign experimental or simulation methods. Furthermore, using the deformed Jarzynski equality, we exemplify the distinct behaviors of classical and quantum work fluctuations for the case of a time-dependent driven harmonic oscillator dynamics and provide insights into the essential performance differences between classical and quantum Jarzynski equalities.

Synchronization dynamics of two nanomechanical membranes within a Fabry-Perot cavity

Spontaneous synchronization is a significant collective behavior of weakly coupled systems. Due to their inherent nonlinear nature, optomechanical systems can exhibit self-sustained oscillations which can be exploited for synchronizing different mechanical resonators. In this paper, we explore the synchronization dynamics of two membranes coupled to a common optical field within a cavity, and pumped with a strong blue-detuned laser drive. We focus on the system quantum dynamics in the parameter regime corresponding to synchronization of the classical motion of the two membranes. With an appropriate definition of the phase difference operator for the resonators, we study synchronization in the quantum case through the covariance matrix formalism. We find that for sufficiently large driving, quantum synchronization is robust with respect to quantum fluctuations and to thermal noise up to not too large temperatures. Under synchronization, the two membranes are never entangled, while quantum discord behaves similarly to quantum synchronization, that is, it is larger when the variance of the phase difference is smaller.

Quantum parameter estimation with the Landau-Zener transition

We investigate the fundamental limits in precision allowed by quantum mechanics from Landau-Zener transitions, concerning Hamiltonian parameters. While the Landau-Zener transition probabilities depend sensitively on the system parameters, much more precision may be obtained using the acquired phase, quantified by the quantum Fisher information. This information scales with a power of the elapsed time for the quantum case, whereas it is time-independent if the transition probabilities alone are used. We add coherent control to the system, and increase the permitted maximum precision in this time-dependent quantum system. The case of multiple passes before measurement, "Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg interferometry", is considered, and we demonstrate that proper quantum control can cause the quantum Fisher information about the oscillation frequency to scale as $T^4$, where $T$ is the elapsed time.

Probabilities of Bremsstrahlung Emission of Photons at Low-Energy Electron-Nuclear Collisions in a Magnetic Field

We consider quantum-mechanical probabilities of bremsstrahlung of photons in the case of low-energy Coulomb collisions in a magnetic field, where the scattering center so perturbs the state of the incident electron that the motion of the latter becomes quasi-bound. Quantum formulas for the spectral power of bremsstrahlung radiation are obtained from the classical formulas by replacing the Fourier amplitudes of the particle velocity with matrix elements of the velocity operator for wave functions, which are normalized by the condition of a unit flux being incident on the nucleus (or an equivalent outgoing flux), with summation over finite Landau levels and quantized values of the impact parameter. Equivalent forms of the specified matrix elements, which are expressed in terms of the Coulomb field and annihilation/creation operators for the eigenfunctions of the operator of the squared impact parameter, are presented. The obtained presentations for the spectral power of bremsstrahlung radiation in the case of quasi-bound electron motion allow one to translate the results of calculating this value in the classical limit to the quantum case, which is typical of white dwarfs with the strongest magnetic fields.

Quantum Common Causes and Quantum Causal Models

Reichenbach's principle asserts that if two observed variables are found to be correlated, then there should be a causal explanation of these correlations. Furthermore, if the explanation is in terms of a common cause, then the conditional probability distribution over the variables given the complete common cause should factorize. The principle is generalized by the formalism of causal models, in which the causal relationships among variables constrain the form of their joint probability distribution. In the quantum case, however, the observed correlations in Bell experiments cannot be explained in the manner Reichenbach's principle would seem to demand. Motivated by this, we introduce a quantum counterpart to the principle. We demonstrate that under the assumption that quantum dynamics is fundamentally unitary, if a quantum channel with input A and outputs B and C is compatible with A being a complete common cause of B and C, then it must factorize in a particular way. Finally, we show how to generalize our quantum version of Reichenbach's principle to a formalism for quantum causal models, and provide examples of how the formalism works.

Numerical treatment of spin systems with unrestricted spin length S : A functional renormalization group study

We develop a generalized pseudo-fermion functional renormalization group (PFFRG) approach that can be applied to arbitrary Heisenberg models with spins ranging from the quantum case $S=1/2$ to the classical limit $S\rightarrow\infty$. Within this framework, spins of magnitude $S$ are realized by implementing $M=2S$ copies of spin-1/2 degrees of freedom on each lattice site. We confirm that even without explicitly projecting onto the highest spin sector of the Hilbert space, ground states tend to select the largest possible local spin magnitude. This justifies the average treatment of the pseudo fermion constraint in previous spin-1/2 PFFRG studies. We apply this method to the antiferromagnetic $J_1$-$J_2$ honeycomb Heisenberg model with nearest neighbor $J_1>0$ and second neighbor $J_2>0$ interactions. Mapping out the phase diagram in the $J_2/J_1$-$S$ plane we find that upon increasing $S$ quantum fluctuations are rapidly decreasing. In particular, already at $S=1$ we find no indication for a magnetically disordered phase. In the limit $S\rightarrow\infty$, the known phase diagram of the classical system is exactly reproduced. More generally, we prove that for $S\rightarrow\infty$ the PFFRG approach is identical to the Luttinger-Tisza method.

Exact diagonalization and cluster mean-field study of triangular-lattice XXZ antiferromagnets near saturation

Quantum magnetic phases near the magnetic saturation of triangular-lattice antiferromagnets with XXZ anisotropy have been attracting renewed interest since it has been suggested that a nontrivial coplanar phase, called the $\ensuremath{\pi}$-coplanar or $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Psi}}$ phase, could be stabilized by quantum effects in a certain range of anisotropy parameter $J/{J}_{z}$ besides the well-known 0-coplanar (known also as $V)$ and umbrella phases. Recently, Sellmann et al. [Phys. Rev. B 91, 081104(R) (2015)] claimed that the $\ensuremath{\pi}$-coplanar phase is absent for $S=1/2$ from an exact-diagonalization analysis in the sector of the Hilbert space with only three down-spins (three magnons). We first reconsider and improve this analysis by taking into account several low-lying eigenvalues and the associated eigenstates as a function of $J/{J}_{z}$ and by sensibly increasing the system sizes (up to 1296 spins). A careful identification analysis shows that the lowest eigenstate is a chirally antisymmetric combination of finite-size umbrella states for $J/{J}_{z}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}2.218$ while it corresponds to a coplanar phase for $J/{J}_{z}\ensuremath{\lesssim}2.218$. However, we demonstrate that the distinction between 0-coplanar and $\ensuremath{\pi}$-coplanar phases in the latter region is fundamentally impossible from the symmetry-preserving finite-size calculations with fixed magnon number. Therefore, we also perform a cluster mean-field plus scaling analysis for small spins $S\ensuremath{\le}3/2$. The obtained results, together with the previous large-$S$ analysis, indicate that the $\ensuremath{\pi}$-coplanar phase exists for any $S$ except for the classical limit $(S\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty})$ and the existence range in $J/{J}_{z}$ is largest in the most quantum case of $S=1/2$.

Mother canonical tensor model

The canonical tensor model (CTM) is a tensor model formulated in the Hamilton formalism as a totally constrained system with first class constraints, the algebraic structure of which is very similar to that of the ADM formalism of general relativity. It has recently been shown that a formal continuum limit of the classical equation of motion of CTM in a derivative expansion of the tensor up to the fourth derivatives agrees with that of a coupled system of general relativity and a scalar field in the Hamilton–Jacobi formalism. This suggests the existence of a ‘mother’ tensor model which derives CTM through the Hamilton–Jacobi procedure, and we have successfully found such a ‘mother’ CTM (mCTM) in this paper. The quantization of the mCTM is as straightforward as the CTM. However, we have not been able to identify all the secondary constraints, and therefore the full structure of the model has been left for future study. Nonetheless, we have found some exact physical wave functions and classical phase spaces, which can be shown to solve the primary and all the (possibly infinite) secondary constraints in the quantum and classical cases, respectively, and have thereby proven the non-triviality of the model. It has also been shown that the mCTM has more interesting dynamics than the CTM from the perspective of randomly connected tensor networks.

Autonomous rotor heat engine.

The triumph of heat engines is their ability to convert the disordered energy of thermal sources into useful mechanical motion. In recent years, much effort has been devoted to generalizing thermodynamic notions to the quantum regime, partly motivated by the promise of surpassing classical heat engines. Here, we instead adopt a bottom-up approach: we propose a realistic autonomous heat engine that can serve as a test bed for quantum effects in the context of thermodynamics. Our model draws inspiration from actual piston engines and is built from closed-system Hamiltonians and weak bath coupling terms. We analytically derive the performance of the engine in the classical regime via a set of nonlinear Langevin equations. In the quantum case, we perform numerical simulations of the master equation. Finally, we perform a dynamic and thermodynamic analysis of the engine's behavior for several parameter regimes in both the classical and quantum case and find that the latter exhibits a consistently lower efficiency due to additional noise.

Hilbert space and ground-state structure of bilayer quantum Hall systems at ν=2/λ

We analyze the Hilbert space and ground state structure of bilayer quantum Hall (BLQH) systems at fractional filling factors $\nu=2/\lambda$ ($\lambda$ odd) and we also study the large $SU(4)$ isospin-$\lambda$ limit. The model Hamiltonian is an adaptation of the $\nu=2$ case [Z.F. Ezawa {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. {B71} (2005) 125318] to the many-body situation (arbitrary $\lambda$ flux quanta per electron). The semiclassical regime and quantum phase diagram (in terms of layer distance, Zeeeman, tunneling, etc, control parameters) is obtained by using previously introduced Grassmannian $\mathbb{G}^4_{2}=U(4)/[U(2)\times U(2)]$ coherent states as variational states. The existence of three quantum phases (spin, canted and ppin) is common to any $\lambda$, but the phase transition points depend on $\lambda$, and the instance $\lambda=1$ is recovered as a particular case. We also analyze the quantum case through a numerical diagonalization of the Hamiltonian and compare with the mean-field results, which give a good approximation in the spin and ppin phases but not in the canted phase, where we detect exactly $\lambda$ energy level crossings between the ground and first excited state for given values of the tunneling gap. An energy band structure at low and high interlayer tunneling (spin and ppin phases, respectively) also appears depending on angular momentum and layer population imbalance quantum numbers.