Theory Of Continuous Measurements Research Articles

General quantum-classical dynamics as measurement based feedback

This note derives the stochastic differential equations and partial differential equation of general hybrid quantum–classical dynamics from the theory of continuous measurement and general (non-Markovian) feedback. The advantage of this approach is an explicit parameterization, without additional positivity constraints. The construction also neatly separates the different effects: how the quantum influences the classical and how the classical influences the quantum. This modular presentation gives a better intuition of what to expect from hybrid dynamics, especially when used to construct possibly fundamental theories.

A method for evaluating the design scheme of continuous measuring bridge of the instrumented wheelset

This paper proposes a method for evaluating the design scheme of continuous measuring bridge of the instrumented wheelset, based on the theory of continuous measurement of wheel-rail forces, Finite Element Analysis, and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The elastic strain at each placement point of the strain gauge on the web surface of the wheel is expanded into Fourier series, and the general mathematical expressions of the output signals for each symmetric component, each bridge, and the synthesized bridge are provided. Nine typical measuring bridge schemes of strain gauge arrangement on the wheel web surface and seven typical measuring bridge schemes of strain gauge arrangement inside the measuring holes are given. The finite element model of the wheel is established using software ABAQUS, and the moving force is applied to the rolling surface of the wheel for simulation calculations. The output signals of 16 typical measuring bridges are then obtained. By utilizing the mathematical formulas of the bridge outputs and the simulation results, a matrix expression describing the relationship between amplitudes of all harmonics and the bridge output is given, and the amplitudes of all the former 20 orders harmonics of the bridge signal are obtained by applying Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. Based on the analysis results of the harmonic amplitudes, a method is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the output signals of a single bridge (which can be either harmonic or triangular wave) and the synthesized bridge. The mathematical expressions of the evaluation indicators are provided within the range of 0 to 1. Finally, the analysis results of the evaluation indicators for 16 typical measuring bridges are presented and compared. The proposed method is not only applicable to the bridge design of the instrumented wheelset but also to the evaluation of signals from channels of the data collector when the instrumented wheelset is being calibrated on the test rig.

Computer Simulation of Charge Transfer In a DNA Molecule within a Simple Model of an Open Quantum System

The quantum-statistical model proposed earlier by Skourtis and Nitzan to describe a charge (hole) propagation in a fragment of artificial DNA molecule has been generalized and further investigated. A numerical simulation of a charge transport was carried out taking into account two different dissipative processes, including the capture of the charged carrier by the environment and the decoherence of its quantum wave properties due to the influence of stochastic fields of the environment. The interaction of the carrier with the environment is regulated by a small set of phenomenological parameters whose values vary in the process of simulation. Within this model, the propagation of a hole carrier in DNA is described by solving the quantum Franke-Kossakovski–Lindblad–Glauber–Sudarshan equation (hereinafter referred to as the Lindblad equation) for the carrier density matrix using the Lindblad MPO Solver program. Results of numerical analysis of the model are in a good agreement with experimental observations and demonstrate two different types of the charged carrier motion, presumably tunneling and incoherent hopping. The model is put in more general context and non-unitary dynamics of the hole carrier is treated within the framework of a theory of continuous quantum measurements by the environment in an open quantum system. The main concepts of the theory of decoherence and superselection for open quantum systems and the prospects for their application for further study of various mechanisms of motion of a charged carrier in DNA are briefly discussed.

Experimental Shot-by-Shot Estimation of Quantum Measurement Confidence.

We demonstrate the single-shot confidence estimation for individual quantum measurement outcomes using the continuous measurement theory of the quantum counting process applied to the quantum state identification problem. We experimentally obtain single-shot and average confidences for quantum measurements and show that they favorably compare to that of the idealized classical measurement. Finally, we demonstrate that single-shot confidence estimations correctly represent observed experimental outcomes for a large ensemble of measurements.

Перенос заряда в молекуле ДНК в рамках простой модели открытой квантовой системы

The quantum-mechanical model proposed earlier by Skourtis and Nitzan (J. of Chem. Phys. 119, (2003) 6271) to describe a charge transfer in a fragment of artificial DNA molecule has been numerically investigated. The current rationale for the model is carried out and values of its parameters are indicated. Within this model, the description of the transport of a hole carrier in DNA is based on solutions to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation including damping effects. The non-unitary dynamics of the hole carrier is treated by us within the framework of a theory of continuous quantum measurements by the environment in an open quantum system. Results of numerical analysis of the model are in a good agreement with experimental observations and demonstrate two different types of the charged carrier motion, presumably tunneling and incoherent hopping. The main concepts of the theory of decoherence and superselection for open quantum systems and the prospects for their application for further study of various mechanisms of motion of a charged carrier in DNA are briefly discussed.

Notes on the Cauchy problem for the self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint Schrödinger equations with polynomially growing potentials

The Cauchy problem is studied for the self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint Schrodinger equations. We first prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions in the weighted Sobolev spaces. Secondly we prove that if potentials are depending continuously and differentiably on a parameter, so are the solutions, respectively. The non-self-adjoint Schrodinger equations that we study are those used in the theory of continuous quantum measurements. The results on the existence and uniqueness of solutions in the weighted Sobolev spaces will play a crucial role in the proof for the convergence of the Feynman path integrals in the theories of quantum mechanics and continuous quantum measurements.

Higher-order moments, cumulants, and spectra of continuous quantum noise measurements

We present general quantum mechanical expressions for higher order moments, cumulants, and spectra of continuously measured quantum systems with applications in spin noise spectroscopy, quantum transport, and measurement theory in general. Starting from the so-called stochastic master equation of continuous measurement theory, we find that the leading orders of the fluctuating detector output $z(t)$ with respect to the measurement strength $\beta$ are a white shot noise background, a constant measurement offset, and the leading order quantum noise of the measured operator $A$. Starting from quantum expressions for the multi-time moments $\langle z(t_n)\cdots z(t_1) \rangle$ we derive three- and four-time cumulants that are valid in all orders of $\beta$ covering the full regime between the weak and strong measurement limit (Zeno-limit). Intriguingly, quantum expressions for the cumulants were found that exhibit the same simple structure as those for the moments after introduction of only a slightly modified system propagator. Very compact expressions for the cumulant-based third and fourth order spectra (bispectrum and trispectrum) follow naturally. We illustrate the usefulness of higher order spectra by treating a real world two-spin system with strong hyperfine interaction.Moreover, spin noise spectroscopy is shown to have the potential for investigating the transition from weak measurements to the famous quantum Zeno regime for realistic probe laser intensities.

Theory of a Quantum Scanning Microscope for Cold Atoms.

We propose and analyze a scanning microscope to monitor "live" the quantum dynamics of cold atoms in a cavity QED setup. The microscope measures the atomic density with subwavelength resolution via dispersive couplings to a cavity and homodyne detection within the framework of continuous measurement theory. We analyze two modes of operation. First, for a fixed focal point the microscope records the wave packet dynamics of atoms with time resolution set by the cavity lifetime. Second, a spatial scan of the microscope acts to map out the spatial density of stationary quantum states. Remarkably, in the latter case, for a good cavity limit, the microscope becomes an effective quantum nondemolition device, such that the spatial distribution of motional eigenstates can be measured backaction free in single scans, as an emergent quantum nondemolition measurement.

Qubit models of weak continuous measurements: markovian conditional and open-system dynamics

In this paper we approach the theory of continuous measurements and the associated unconditional and conditional (stochastic) master equations from the perspective of quantum information and quantum computing. We do so by showing how the continuous-time evolution of these master equations arises from discretizing in time the interaction between a system and a probe field and by formulating quantum-circuit diagrams for the discretized evolution. We then reformulate this interaction by replacing the probe field with a bath of qubits, one for each discretized time segment, reproducing all of the standard quantum-optical master equations. This provides an economical formulation of the theory, highlighting its fundamental underlying assumptions.

Principle of least decoherence for Newtonian semiclassical gravity

Recent works have proved that semi-classical theories of gravity needed not be fundamentally inconsistent, at least in the Newtonian regime. Using the machinery of continuous measurement theory and feedback, it was shown that one could construct well behaved models of hybrid quantum-classical dynamics at the price of an imposed (non unique) decoherence structure. We introduce a principle of least decoherence (PLD) which allows to naturally single out a unique model from all the available options; up to some unspecified short distance regularization scale. Interestingly, the resulting model is found to coincide with the old --erstwhile only heuristically motivated-- proposal of Penrose and one of us for gravity-related spontaneous decoherence and collapse. Finally, this letter suggests that it is in the submillimeter behavior of gravity that new phenomena might be found.

Feedback stabilization of N-dimensional stochastic quantum systems based on bang-bang control

For an N-dimensional quantum system under the influence of continuous measurement, this paper presents a switching control scheme where the control law is of bang-bang type and achieves asymptotic preparation of an arbitrarily given eigenstate of a non-degenerate and degenerate measurement operator, respectively. In the switching control strategy, we divide the state space into two parts: a set containing a target state, and its complementary set. By analyzing the stability of the stochastic system model under consideration, we design a constant control law and give some conditions that the control Hamiltonian satisfies so that the system trajectories in the complementary set converge to the set which contains the target state. Further, for the case of a non-degenerate measurement operator, we show that the system trajectories in the set containing the target state will automatically converge to the target state via quantum continuous measurement theory; while for the case of a degenerate measurement operator, the corresponding system trajectories will also converge to the target state via the construction of the control Hamiltonians. The convergence of the whole closed-loop systems under the cases of a non-degenerate and a degenerate measurement operator is strictly proved. The effectiveness of the proposed switching control scheme is verified by the simulation experiments on a finite-dimensional angular momentum system and a two-qubit system.

Quantum trajectories and open many-body quantum systems

The study of open quantum systems has become increasingly important in the past years, as the ability to control quantum coherence on a single particle level has been developed in a wide variety of physical systems. In quantum optics, the study of open systems goes well beyond understanding the breakdown of quantum coherence. There, the coupling to the environment is sufficiently well understood that it can be manipulated to drive the system into desired quantum states, or to project the system onto known states via feedback in quantum measurements. Many mathematical frameworks have been developed to describe such systems, which for atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) systems generally provide a very accurate description of the open quantum system on a microscopic level. In recent years, AMO systems including cold atomic and molecular gases and trapped ions have been applied heavily to the study of many-body physics, and it has become important to extend previous understanding of open system dynamics in single- and few-body systems to this many-body context. A key formalism that has already proven very useful in this context is the quantum trajectories technique. This was developed as a numerical tool for studying dynamics in open quantum systems, and falls within a broader framework of continuous measurement theory as a way to understand the dynamics of large classes of open quantum systems. We review the progress that has been made in studying open many-body systems in the AMO context, focussing on the application of ideas from quantum optics, and on the implementation and applications of quantum trajectories methods. Control over dissipative processes promises many further tools to prepare interesting and important states in strongly interacting systems, including the realisation of parameter regimes in quantum simulators that are inaccessible via current techniques.

Quantum stochastic dynamics in multi-photon optics

Multi-photon models are theoretically and experimentally important because in them quantum properly phenomena are verified; as well as squeezed light and quantum entanglement also play a relevant role in quantum information and quantum communication (see Refs. 18–20).In this paper we study a generic model of a multi-photon system with an arbitrary number of pumping and subharmonics fields. This model includes measurement on the system, as could be direct or homodyne detection and we demonstrate the existence of dynamics in the context of Continuous Measurement Theory of Open Quantum Systems (see Refs. 1–11) using Quantum Stochastic Differential Equations with unbounded coefficients (see Refs. 10–15).

Quantum quasi-Markov processes in eventum mechanics dynamics, observation, filtering and control

Quantum mechanical systems exhibit an inherently probabilistic behavior upon measurement which excludes in principle the singular case of direct observability. The theory of quantum stochastic time continuous measurements and quantum filtering was earlier developed by the author on the basis of non-Markov conditionally-independent increment models for quantum noise and quantum nondemolition observability. Here this theory is generalized to the case of demolition indirect measurements of quantum unstable systems satisfying the microcausality principle. The exposition of the theory is given in the most general algebraic setting unifying quantum and classical theories as particular cases. The reduced quantum feedback-controlled dynamics is described equivalently by linear quasi-Markov and nonlinear conditionally-Markov stochastic master equations. Using this scheme for diffusive and counting measurements to describe the stochastic evolution of the open quantum system under the continuous indirect observation and working in parallel with classical indeterministic control theory, we derive the Bellman equations for optimal feedback control of the a posteriori stochastic quantum states conditioned upon these measurements. The resulting Bellman equation for the diffusive observation is then applied to the explicitly solvable quantum linear-quadratic-Gaussian problem which emphasizes many similarities with the corresponding classical control problem.

Double detected spin-dependent quantum dot

We study the dynamics of a spin-dependent quantum dot system, where an unsharp and a sharp detection scenario is introduced. The back-action of the unsharp detection related to the magnetization, proposed in terms of the continuous quantum measurement theory, is observed via the von Neumann measurement (sharp detection) of the electric charge current. The behavior of the average electron charge current is studied as a function of the unsharp detection strength γ, and features of measurement back-action are discussed. The achieved equations reproduce the quantum Zeno effect. Considering magnetic leads, we demonstrate that the measurement process may freeze the system in its initial state. We show that the continuous observation may enhance the transition between spin states, in contradiction with rapidly repeated projective observations, when it slows down. Experimental issue, such as the accuracy of the electric current measurement, is analyzed.

Squeezed coherent state undergoing a continuous nondemolition observation

The time evolution of a squeezed coherent state conditioned by the results of a single and double heterodyne measurement is discussed. The mean values of quadratures as well as the dynamics of quadrature uncertainties have been obtained within the framework of the theory of continuous measurements based on filtration equations. It has been found that while the mean values depend on the measured noise, the uncertainties in the optical quadratures are deterministic. Explicit solutions for the latter have been provided. Finally, a time development of the squeeze parameter for the posterior squeezed coherent state has been found.

Holographic Quantum States

We show how continuous matrix product states of quantum fields can be described in terms of the dissipative nonequilibrium dynamics of a lower-dimensional auxiliary boundary field by demonstrating that the spatial correlation functions of the bulk field correspond to the temporal statistics of the boundary field. This equivalence (1) illustrates an intimate connection between the theory of continuous quantum measurement and quantum field theory, (2) gives an explicit construction of the boundary field allowing the extension of real-space renormalization group methods to arbitrary dimensional quantum field theories without the introduction of a lattice parameter, and (3) yields a novel interpretation of recent cavity QED experiments in terms of quantum field theory, and hence paves the way toward observing genuine quantum phase transitions in such zero-dimensional driven quantum systems.

The dynamics of stock exchange based on the formalism of weak continuous quantum measurement

The problem of measurement in economic models and the possibility of their quantum-mechanical description are considered. It is revealed that the apparent paradox of such a description is associated with a priori requirement of conformity of the model to all the alternatives of free choice of the observer. The measurement of the state of a trader on a stock exchange is formally defined as his responses to the proposals of sale at a fixed price. It is shown that an analogue of Bell's inequalities for this measurement model is violated at the most general assumptions related to the strategy of the trader and requires a quantum-mechanical description of the dynamics of his condition. In the framework of the theory of weak continuous quantum measurements, the equation of stock price dynamics and the quantum-mechanical generalization of the F. Black and M. Scholes model for pricing options are obtained. The fundamental distinctions between the obtained model and the classical one are discussed.

Poisson and Diffusion Approximation of Stochastic Master Equations with Control

"Quantum trajectories" are solutions of stochastic differential equations of non-usual type. Such equations are called "Belavkin" or "Stochastic Schr\"odinger Equations" and describe random phenomena in continuous measurement theory of Open Quantum System. Many recent investigations deal with the control theory in such model. In this article, stochastic models are mathematically and physically justified as limit of concrete discrete procedures called "Quantum Repeated Measurements". In particular, this gives a rigorous justification of the Poisson and diffusion approximation in quantum measurement theory with control. Furthermore we investigate some examples using control in quantum mechanics.

The Characteristic Noise Connected with Continuous Measurement in Classical System without Memory

In the present paper we propose the way of passage from quantum theory of continuous measurements based on the Lindblad equation to its “classical” analog. The last one describes the influence of continuous measurement on the behavior of macroscopical Markov system. Such theory can be represented in the form of the Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution function of measured system. The diffusion tensor of this equation is uniquely determined by a type of the measured quantity. As the example of using of the approach proposed we describe the stationary states of linear dissipative systems induced by measurements in them. We consider possible qualitative effects connected with measurements also. In particular we demonstrate on the simple example, how in the macroscopic system, consisting of noninteracting parts, measurement of global integral of motion results in relaxation to the quasi-thermodynamic equilibrium between parts of the system. The “temperature” of such state is determined by the total energy of the system and by mean value of measured quantity.