Search results for "Quantum physic"

Optical super-resolution sensing of a trapped ion's wave packet size

2021

We demonstrate super-resolution optical sensing of the size of the wave packet of a single trapped ion. Our method extends the well known ground state depletion (GSD) technique to the coherent regime. Here, we use a hollow beam to strongly saturate a coherently driven dipole-forbidden transition around a sub-diffraction limited area at its center and observe state dependent fluorescence. By spatially scanning this laser beam over a single trapped $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^+$ ion, we are able to measure the wave packet sizes of cooled ions. Using a depletion beam waist of $4.2(1)\,\mu$m we reach a spatial resolution which allows us to determine a wave packet size of $39(9)\,$nm for a near ground sta…

Teleportation-assisted optical controlled-sign gates

2019

Reliable entangling gates for qubits encoded in single-photon states represent a major challenge on the road to scalable quantum computing architectures based on linear optics. In this work, we present two approaches to develop high-fidelity, near-deterministic controlled-sign-shift gates based on the techniques of quantum gate teleportation. On the one hand, teleportation in a discrete-variable setting, i.e., for qubits, offers unit-fidelity operations but suffers from low success probabilities. Here, we apply recent results on advanced linear optical Bell measurements to reach a near-deterministic regime. On the other hand, in the setting of continuous variables, associated with coherent …

2017

Fast and reliable reset of a qubit is a key prerequisite for any quantum technology. For real world open quantum systems undergoing non-Markovian dynamics, reset implies not only purification, but in particular erasure of initial correlations between qubit and environment. Here, we derive optimal reset protocols using a combination of geometric and numerical control theory. For factorizing initial states, we find a lower limit for the entropy reduction of the qubit as well as a speed limit. The time-optimal solution is determined by the maximum coupling strength. Initial correlations, remarkably, allow for faster reset and smaller errors. Entanglement is not necessary.

Implications of surface noise for the motional coherence of trapped ions

2016

Electric noise from metallic surfaces is a major obstacle towards quantum applications with trapped ions due to motional heating of the ions. Here, we discuss how the same noise source can also lead to pure dephasing of motional quantum states. The mechanism is particularly relevant at small ion-surface distances, thus imposing a new constraint on trap miniaturization. By means of a free induction decay experiment, we measure the dephasing time of the motion of a single ion trapped 50~$\mu$m above a Cu-Al surface. From the dephasing times we extract the integrated noise below the secular frequency of the ion. We find that none of the most commonly discussed surface noise models for ion trap…

Coordinate-free quantization of first-class constrained systems

1996

The coordinate-free formulation of canonical quantization, achieved by a flat-space Brownian motion regularization of phase-space path integrals, is extended to a special class of closed first-class constrained systems that is broad enough to include Yang-Mills type theories with an arbitrary compact gauge group. Central to this extension are the use of coherent state path integrals and of Lagrange multiplier integrations that engender projection operators onto the subspace of gauge invariant states.

van der Waals Interaction Energy Between Two Atoms Moving With Uniform Acceleration

2013

We consider the interatomic van der Waals interaction energy between two neutral ground-state atoms moving in the vacuum space with the same uniform acceleration. We assume the acceleration orthogonal to their separation, so that their mutual distance remains constant. Using a model for the van der Waals dispersion interaction based on the interaction between the instantaneous atomic dipole moments, which are induced and correlated by the zero-point field fluctuations, we evaluate the interaction energy between the two accelerating atoms in terms of quantities expressed in the laboratory reference frame. We find that the dependence of the van der Waals interaction between the atoms from the…

Nonequilibrium dressing in a cavity with a movable reflecting mirror

2017

We consider a movable mirror coupled to a one-dimensional massless scalar field in a cavity. Both the field and the mirror's mechanical degrees of freedom are described quantum-mechanically, and they can interact each other via the radiation pressure operator. We investigate the dynamical evolution of mirror and field starting from a nonequilibrium initial state, and their local interaction which brings the system to a stationary configuration for long times. This allows us to study the time-dependent dressing process of the movable mirror interacting with the field, and its dynamics leading to a local equilibrium dressed configuration. Also, in order to explore the effect of the radiation …

Field Fluctuations in a One-Dimensional Cavity with a Mobile Wall

2013

We consider a scalar field in a one-dimensional cavity with a mobile wall. The wall is assumed bounded by a harmonic potential and its mechanical degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically. The possible motion of the wall makes the cavity length variable, and yields a wall-field interaction and an effective interaction among the modes of the cavity. We consider the ground state of the coupled system and calculate the average number of virtual excitations of the cavity modes induced by the wall-field interaction, as well as the average value of the field energy density. We compare our results with analogous quantities for a cavity with fixed walls, and show a correction to the Casim…

Flavor vacuum entanglement in boson mixing

2021

Mixing transformations in quantum field theory are non-trivial, since they are intimately related to the unitary inequivalence between Fock spaces for fields with definite mass and fields with definite flavor. Considering the superposition of two neutral scalar (spin-0) bosonic fields, we investigate some features of the emerging condensate structure of the flavor vacuum. In particular, we quantify the flavor vacuum entanglement in terms of the von Neumann entanglement entropy of the reduced state. Furthermore, in a suitable limit, we show that the flavor vacuum has a structure akin to the thermal vacuum of Thermo Field Dynamics, with a temperature dependent on both the mixing angle and the…

Nonlocally-induced (quasirelativistic) bound states: Harmonic confinement and the finite well

2015

Nonlocal Hamiltonian-type operators, like e.g. fractional and quasirelativistic, seem to be instrumental for a conceptual broadening of current quantum paradigms. However physically relevant properties of related quantum systems have not yet received due (and scientifically undisputable) coverage in the literature. In the present paper we address Schr\"{o}dinger-type eigenvalue problems for $H=T+V$, where a kinetic term $T=T_m$ is a quasirelativistic energy operator $T_m = \sqrt{-\hbar ^2c^2 \Delta + m^2c^4} - mc^2$ of mass $m\in (0,\infty)$ particle. A potential $V$ we assume to refer to the harmonic confinement or finite well of an arbitrary depth. We analyze spectral solutions of the per…