Single Qubit System Research Articles

Generalized measurements on qubits in quantum randomness certification and expansion

Quantum mechanics has greatly impacted our understanding of microscopic nature. One of the key concepts of this theory is generalized measurements, which have proven useful in various quantum information processing tasks. However, despite their significance, they have not yet been shown empirically to provide an advantage in quantum randomness certification and expansion protocols. This investigation explores scenarios where generalized measurements can yield more than 1 bit of certified randomness with a single-qubit system measurement on untrusted devices and against a quantum adversary. We compare the robustness of several protocols to exhibit the advantage of exploiting generalized measurements. In our analysis of experimental data, we were able to obtain 1.21 bits of min-entropy from a measurement taken on one qubit of an entangled state. We also obtained 1.07 bits of min-entropy from an experiment with quantum state preparation and generalized measurement on a single qubit. We also provide finite data analysis for a protocol using generalized measurements and the Entropy Accumulation Theorem. Our exploration demonstrates the potential of generalized measurements to improve the certification of quantum sources of randomness and enhance the security of quantum cryptographic protocols and other areas of quantum information. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Action formalism for geometric phases from self-closing quantum trajectories

When subject to measurements, quantum systems evolve along stochastic quantum trajectories that can be naturally equipped with a geometric phase observable via a post-selection in a final projective measurement. When post-selecting the trajectories to form a close loop, the geometric phase undergoes a topological transition driven by the measurement strength. Here, we study the geometric phase of a subset of self-closing trajectories induced by a continuous Gaussian measurement of a single qubit system. We utilize a stochastic path integral that enables the analysis of rare self-closing events using action methods and develop the formalism to incorporate the measurement-induced geometric phase therein. We show that the geometric phase of the most likely trajectories undergoes a topological transition for self-closing trajectories as a function of the measurement strength parameter. Moreover, the inclusion of Gaussian corrections in the vicinity of the most probable self-closing trajectory quantitatively changes the transition point in agreement with results from numerical simulations of the full set of quantum trajectories.

Maximum power of coupled-qubit Otto engines

We put forward four schemes of a coupled-qubit quantum Otto machine, a generalization of the single-qubit quantum Otto machine, based on work and heat transfer between an internal system consisting of a coupled pair of qubits and an external environment consisting of two heat baths and two work storages. The four schemes of our model are defined by the positions of attaching the heat baths, which play a key role in the power of the coupled-qubit engine. First, for the single-qubit heat engine, we find a maximum-power relation, and the fact that its efficiency at the maximum power is equal to the Otto efficiency, which is greater than the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency. Second, we compare the coupled-qubit engines to the single-qubit engine from the point of view of achieving the maximum power based on the same energy-level change for work production and find that the coupling between the two qubits can lead to greater powers but the system efficiency at the maximum power is lower than the single-qubit system's efficiency and the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Non-Hermitian CHSH* Game with a Single Trapped-Ion Qubit

Abstract The Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt (CHSH) game provides a captivating illustration of the advantages of quantum strategies over classical ones. In a recent study, a variant of the CHSH game leveraging a single qubit system, referred to as the CHSH* game, has been identified. We demonstrate that this mapping relationship between these two games remains effective even for a non-unitary gate. Here we delve into the breach of Tsirelson’s bound in a non-Hermitian system, predicting changes in the upper and lower bounds of the player’s winning probability when employing quantum strategies in a single dissipative qubit system. We experimentally explore the impact of the CHSH* game on the player’s winning probability in a single trapped-ion dissipative system, demonstrating a violation of Tsirelson’s bound under the influence of parity-time ( P T ) symmetry. These results contribute to a deeper understanding of the influence of non-Hermitian systems on quantum games and the behavior of quantum systems under P T symmetry, which is crucial for designing more robust and efficient quantum protocols.

Experimental Investigation of Lee–Yang Criticality Using Non-Hermitian Quantum System

Lee–Yang theory clearly demonstrates where the phase transition of many-body systems occurs and the asymptotic behavior near the phase transition using the partition function under complex parameters. The complex parameters make the direct investigation of Lee–Yang theory in practical systems challenging. Here we construct a non-Hermitian quantum system that can correspond to the one-dimensional Ising model with imaginary parameters through the equality of partition functions. By adjusting the non-Hermitian parameter, we successfully obtain the partition function under different imaginary magnetic fields and observe the Lee–Yang zeros. We also observe the critical behavior of free energy in vicinity of Lee–Yang zero that is consistent with theoretical prediction. Our work provides a protocol to study Lee–Yang zeros of the one-dimensional Ising model using a single-qubit non-Hermitian system.

Non-Markovian dynamics of time-fractional open quantum systems

The Time-Fractional Schrödinger Equation (TFSE) is suitable to describe the non-Markovian dynamics of a quantum system exposed to an environment, which is instructive for understanding and characterizing the time behavior of actual physical systems. Three popular TFSEs, namely Naber’s TFSE I, Naber’s TFSE II, and XGF’s TFSE, have been introduced in the form of ∂β∂tβ with β∈0,1. However, they suffer from the drawbacks. In their respective descriptions, the total probability for finding a particle in the entire space equals one only when β=1, implying that time-fractional quantum mechanics violates quantum mechanical probability conservation. By applying the three TFSEs to a basic single-qubit open system model, we discover that in describing the non-Markovian evolution of the system, the three TFSEs are limited by their own applicable ranges of β. This indicates that the three TFSEs cannot effectively describe the non-Markovian quantum dynamics. To address these issues, we introduce a well-performed TFSE by constructing a new analytic continuation of time without iβ combined with the conformable fractional derivative. In its description, for one thing, the total probability for finding the system in any single-qubit state equals one when β∈0,1. For another, the system evolves correctly in the non-Markovian manner at all values of β. Furthermore, we study the performances of the four TFSEs applying to a two-qubit open system model and show that our TFSE still possesses the above two advantages compared with the other three TFSEs.

Parity-Time Symmetric Holographic Principle.

Originating from the Hamiltonian of a single qubit system, the phenomenon of the avoided level crossing is ubiquitous in multiple branches of physics, including the Landau-Zener transition in atomic, molecular, and optical physics, the band structure of condensed matter physics and the dispersion relation of relativistic quantum physics. We revisit this fundamental phenomenon in the simple example of a spinless relativistic quantum particle traveling in (1+1)-dimensional space-time and establish its relation to a spin-1/2 system evolving under a PT-symmetric Hamiltonian. This relation allows us to simulate 1-dimensional eigenvalue problems with a single qubit. Generalizing this relation to the eigenenergy problem of a bulk system with N spatial dimensions reveals that its eigenvalue problem can be mapped onto the time evolution of the edge state with (N-1) spatial dimensions governed by a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. In other words, the bulk eigenenergy state is encoded in the edge state as a hologram, which can be decoded by the propagation of the edge state in the temporal dimension. We argue that the evolution will be PT-symmetric as long as the bulk system admits parity symmetry. Our work finds the application of PT-symmetric and non-Hermitian physics in quantum simulation and provides insights into the fundamental symmetries.

Individual versus simultaneous estimation of two parameters in a correlated noisy environment

Recently, the phase parametric estimation for a single qubit system driven by a phase noisy laser under non-Markovian dynamics has been reported [Annals of Physics 351, 952 (2014)]. We here generalize the single-parameter estimation to the two-parameter scenario where a two-qubit system is influenced by the classical correlated noisy laser, and compare the performances of two-parameter estimation in both individual and simultaneous strategies by using the quantum Fisher information and the quantum Fisher information matrix, respectively. Our results show the phase parametric estimation precision can be significantly improved due to the memory effect arising from successive applications of the noisy laser. With the memory coefficient μ increasing, the precision of parameter estimation becomes more accurate. Besides, the phase parameter estimation precision can be drastically enhanced by engineering the ratios of classical phase diffusion rate and system-environment coupling strength in both Markovian and non-Markovian regions. Remarkably, we find the simultaneous estimation of two-phase parameters is not always advantageous over the individual strategy.

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and localization in nonequilibrium steady states of interactive quantum systems

The time evolution of a physical system is generally described by a differential equation, which can be solved numerically by adopting a difference scheme with space–time discretization. This discretization, as a numerical artifact, results in accumulated errors during evolution and thus usually plays a negative role in simulations. In a quantum circuit, however, the “evolution time” is represented by the depth of the circuit layer, and thus is intrinsically discrete. Hence, the discretization-induced error therein is not a numerical artifact, but a physical observable effect responsible for remarkable nonequilibrium phenomena absent in conventional quantum dynamics. In this paper, we show that the combination of measurement feedback and temporal discretization can give rise to a new type of quantum dynamics. As physical consequences of this interactive quantum dynamics, a nonequilibrium steady state with spontaneous symmetry breaking is revealed in a zero-dimensional (single-qubit) system. A localization mechanism distinct from that in the well-established Anderson localization has also been proposed in a one-dimensional interactive quantum system.

Demonstration of a Bosonic Quantum Classifier with Data Reuploading.

In a single qubit system, a universal quantum classifier can be realized using the data reuploading technique. In this study, we propose a new quantum classifier applying this technique to bosonic systems and successfully demonstrate it using a silicon-based photonic integrated circuit. We established a theory of quantum machine learning algorithm applicable to bosonic systems and implemented a programmable optical circuit combined with an interferometer. Learning and classification using part of the implemented optical quantum circuit with uncorrelated two photons resulted in a classification with a success probability of 94±0.8% in the proof of principle experiment. As this method can be applied to an arbitrary two-mode N-photon system, further development of optical quantum classifiers, such as extensions to quantum entangled and multiphoton states, is expected in the future.

Exploring the teleported information in two two-level atoms interacting with a deformed cavity field

The possibility of teleporting a single-qubit system in an atomic system that interacts with a deformed cavity mode is being discussed. The average fidelity is used to investigate the quality of the teleported information in either ideal or deformed cavity. The quantum Fisher information is used as an estimator for the weight and phase angle parameters of the initial input state. The study shows that maximizing/minimizing the estimation degree and fidelity depends on the initial state settings of the atomic system, dipole–dipole coupling, and the estimated parameters. To maximize the information in the presence of a deformed cavity, one has to set large values of the atomic coupling dipole subsystem and reduce the deformation parameter.

Quantum state protection from finite-temperature thermal noise with application to controlled quantum teleportation

We propose a quantum state protection scheme via quantum feedforward control combined with environment-assisted measurement to protect arbitrary unknown initial states from the finite-temperature thermal noise (FTTN). The main strategy is to transfer the quantum system to a noise-robust state by weak measurement and feedforward control before the noise channel. Then we apply the environment-assisted measurement on the noise channel to select our desired damped states that are invertible to the initial state. After the noise channel, the reversal operations are applied to restore the initial state. We consider the protection of a single-qubit system, derive the analytical expressions of the success probability and the fidelity, and analyze the influence of key parameters on the performance of the proposed scheme. Unlike previous studies, there is no trade-off between the fidelity and the success probability in the proposed scheme; hence one could maximize them separately. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can greatly improve the fidelity of the quantum state with a certain success probability. Moreover, the proposed scheme is successfully applied to improving the fidelity of controlled quantum teleportation through two independent FTTN channels from the perspective of protecting the shared entanglement.

Search for optimal driving in finite quantum systems with precursors of criticality

Using the adiabatic perturbation theory of driven dynamics [Phys. Rev. A 78, 052508 (2008)] we design a hierarchy of quantum state preparation protocols that systematically increase the fidelity at very long driving times. We test these and other protocols, including those based on the geometric analysis of the parameter space, in a single-qubit system and in a fully connected multiqubit system showing in its infinite-size limit several quantum phase transitions. Our protocols excel in the asymptotic driving regime, above a crossover time from the Landau-Zener regime which increases with a decreasing minimal energy gap along the driving path (with the size of the system). In the medium-time domain, the performance of all tested protocols is indecisive.

Genetic Algorithm for Searching Bipolar Single-Flux-Quantum Pulse Sequences for Qubit Control

Nowadays most of superconducting quantum processors use charge qubits of a transmon type. They require implementation of energy efficient qubit state control scheme. A promising approach is the use of superconducting digital circuits operating with single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulses. The duration of SFQ pulse control sequence is typically larger than that of conventional microwave drive pulses but its length can be optimized for the system with known parameters. Here we introduce a genetic algorithm for unipolar or bipolar SFQ control sequence search that minimize qubit state leakage from the computational subspace. The algorithm is also able to find a solution in the form of a repeating subsequence in order to save memory on the control chip. Its parallel implementation can find the appropriate sequence for arbitrary system parameters from a practical range in a reasonable time. The algorithm is illustrated by the example of the rotation gate around the Y-axis by an angle $$\pi/2$$ with fidelity over 99.99 $$\%$$ . In this paper, we present the results for a single-qubit system, but in the future we will apply the developed approach to study a system of two qubits.

Strongly coupled quantum Otto cycle with single qubit bath.

We discuss a model of a closed quantum evolution of two qubits where the joint Hamiltonian is so chosen such that one of the qubits acts as a bath and thermalizes the other qubit which is acting as the system. The corresponding exact master equationfor the system is derived. Interestingly, for a specific choice of parameters the master equationtakes the Gorini-Kossakowski-Lindblad-Sudarshan (GKLS) form, with constant coefficients representing pumping and damping of a single qubit system. Based on this model we construct an Otto cycle connected to a single qubit bath and study its thermodynamic properties. Our analysis goes beyond the conventional weak coupling scenario and illustrates the effects of finite baths, including non-Markovianity. We find closed form expressions for efficiency (coefficient of performance), power (cooling power) for the heat engine regime (refrigerator regime), and for different modifications of the joint Hamiltonian.

Experimental verification of trade-off relation for coherence and disturbance

When a quantum system is sent through a noisy channel, it is usually disturbed. At the same time, the system undergoes decoherence and tends to lose some delicate quantum features. For a particular basis, the coherence of the state changes. Otherwise, if the system is not disturbed, its state might retain all of coherence. As quantum noisy channels lead to both disturbance and decoherence, it is natural to ask about the relation between disturbance and decoherence. Recently, a trade-off relation for coherence and disturbance has been presented by Sharma and Pati (2018 Phys. Rev. A 97 062308). In this paper, with entangled photon pairs and linear optics, we experimentally verify this trade-off relation for a single-qubit system undergoing various noisy channels. Our experimental results agree with the theoretical predictions and provide a quantitative understanding of the relation between quantum channels and resources.

Quantum speed limit for mixed states in a unitary system

Since the evolution of a mixed state in a unitary system is equivalent to the joint evolution of the eigenvectors contained in it, we could use the tool of instantaneous angular velocity for pure states to study the quantum speed limit (QSL) of a mixed state. We derive a lower bound for the evolution time of a mixed state to a target state in a unitary system, which automatically reduces to the quantum speed limit induced by the Fubini–Study metric for pure states. The computation of the QSL of a degenerate mixed state is more complicated than that of a non-degenerate mixed state, where we have to make a singular value decomposition (SVD) on the inner product between the two eigenvector matrices of the initial and target states. By combing these results, a lower bound for the evolution time of a general mixed state is presented. In order to compare the tightness among the lower bound proposed here and lower bounds reported in the references, two examples in a single-qubit system and in a single-qutrit system are studied analytically and numerically, respectively. All conclusions derived in this work are independent of the eigenvalues of the mixed state, which is in accord with the evolution properties of a quantum unitary system.

Enhancement of charging performance of quantum battery via quantum coherence of bath

An open quantum battery (QB) model of a single qubit system charging in a coherent auxiliary bath (CAB) consisting of a series of independent coherent ancillae is considered. According to the collision charging protocol we derive a quantum master equation and obtain the analytical solution of QB in a steady state. We find that the full charging capacity (or the maximal extractable work (MEW)) of QB, in the weak QB-ancilla coupling limit, is positively correlated with the coherence magnitude of ancilla. Combining with the numerical simulations we compare with the charging properties of QB at finite coupling strength, such as the MEW, average charging power and the charging efficiency, when considering the bath to be a thermal auxiliary bath (TAB) and a CAB, respectively. We find that when the QB with CAB, in the weak coupling regime, is in fully charging, both its capacity and charging efficiency can go beyond its classical counterpart, and they increase with the increase of coherence magnitude of ancilla. In addition, the MEW of QB in the regime of relative strong coupling and strong coherent magnitude shows the oscillatory behavior with the charging time increasing, and the first peak value can even be larger than the full charging MEW of QB. This also leads to a much larger average charging power than that of QB with TAB in a short-time charging process. These features suggest that with the help of quantum coherence of CAB it becomes feasible to switch the charging schemes between the long-time slow charging protocol with large capacity and high efficiency and the short-time rapid charging protocol with highly charging power only by adjusting the coupling strength of QB-ancilla. This work clearly demonstrates that the quantum coherence of bath can not only serve as the role of “fuel” of QB to be utilized to improve the QB’s charging performance but also provide an alternative way to integrate the different charging protocols into a single QB.

Robust violation of a multipartite Bell inequality from the perspective of a single-system game

Recently, Fan et al. [Mod. Phys. Lett. A 36, 2150223 (2021)] presented a generalized Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt (CHSH) inequality, to identify [Formula: see text]-qubit Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states. They showed an interesting phenomenon that the maximal violation of the generalized CHSH inequality is robust under some specific noises. In this work, we map the inequality to the CHSH game, and consequently to the CHSH* game in a single-qubit system. This mapping provides an explanation for the robust violations in [Formula: see text]-qubit systems. Namely, the robust violations, resulting from the degeneracy of the generalized CHSH operators correspond to the symmetry of the maximally entangled two-qubit states and the identity transformation in the single-qubit game. This explanation enables us to exactly demonstrate that the degeneracy is [Formula: see text].

Thermal information and teleportation in two-qutrit Heisenberg XX chain model

We employ the concepts of quantum Fisher information, quantum coherence, and fidelity to study a thermally environmental effect on the teleportation process. It is assumed that a single qutrit is teleported through a thermally environmental containing a two-qutrit Heisenberg XX chain under the external magnetic field (EMF) and Dzyaloshinski Moriya (DM) interaction. The energy spectrum of the physical Hamiltonian and its eigenstates are employed to obtain the thermal density matrix, which is used as a thermal teleportation environment. The Resort to the definition of quantum Fisher information for a single qubit system, we estimate the optimal behaviour concerning the EMF and temperature. The result shows that maximizing the estimation degree depends on increasing the EMF and minimizing it requires lowering temperature. The effect of temperature and DM coupling on the quantum coherence and fidelity of the teleported state is studied. It is shown that temperature destroyed the maximum bounds of the two physical quantity, while the DM coupling delays the effect of EMF at the same periods.