César A. Rodríguez-Rosario

Completely positive maps and classical correlations

We expand the set of initial states of a system and its environment that are known to guarantee completely positive reduced dynamics for the system when the combined state evolves unitarily. We characterize the correlations in the initial state in terms of its quantum discord [1]. We prove that initial states that have only classical correlations lead to completely positive reduced dynamics. The induced maps can be not completely positive when quantum correlations including, but not limited to, entanglement are present.

Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory for Open Quantum Systems with Unitary Propagation

We extend the Runge-Gross theorem for a very general class of open quantum systems under weak assumptions about the nature of the bath and its coupling to the system. We show that for Kohn-Sham (KS) time-dependent density functional theory, it is possible to rigorously include the effects of the environment within a bath functional in the KS potential. A Markovian bath functional inspired by the theory of nonlinear Schrödinger equations is suggested, which can be readily implemented in currently existing real-time codes. Finally, calculations on a helium model system are presented.

Quantum stochastic walks: A generalization of classical random walks and quantum walks

We introduce the quantum stochastic walk (QSW), which determines the evolution of a generalized quantum-mechanical walk on a graph that obeys a quantum stochastic equation of motion. Using an axiomatic approach, we specify the rules for all possible quantum, classical, and quantum-stochastic transitions from a vertex as defined by its connectivity. We show how the family of possible QSWs encompasses both the classical random walk (CRW) and the quantum walk (QW) as special cases but also includes more general probability distributions. As an example, we study the QSW on a line and the glued tree of depth three to observe the behavior of the QW-to-CRW transition.

How state preparation can affect a quantum experiment: Quantum process tomography for open systems

We study the effects of the preparation of input states in a quantum tomography experiment. We show that maps arising from a quantum process tomography experiment (called process maps) differ from the well-known dynamical maps. The difference between the two is due to the preparation procedure that is necessary for any quantum experiment. We study two preparation procedures: stochastic preparation and preparation by measurements. The stochastic preparation procedure yields process maps that are linear, while the preparations using von Neumann measurements lead to nonlinear processes and can only be consistently described by a bilinear process map. A process tomography recipe is derived for preparation by measurement for qubits. The difference between the two methods is analyzed in terms of a quantum process tomography experiment. A verification protocol is proposed to differentiate between linear processes and bilinear processes. We also emphasize that the preparation procedure will have a nontrivial effect for any quantum experiment in which the system of interest interacts with its environment.

Vanishing quantum discord is not necessary for completely-positive maps

Bremen Center for Computational Materials Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany(Dated: January 9, 2014)The description of the dynamics of a system that may be correlated with its environment is only meaningfulwithin the context of a specific framework. Di erent frameworks rely upon di erent assumptions about the ini-tial system-environment state. We reexamine the connections between complete-positivity and quantum discordwithin two di erent sets of assumptions about the relevant family of initial states. We present an example ofa system-environment state with non-vanishing quantum discord that leads to a completely-positive map. Thisinvalidates an earlier claim on the necessity of vanishing quantum discord for completely-positive maps. In ourfinal remarks we discuss the physical validity of each approach.

Linear Assignment Maps for Correlated System-Environment States

Assignment maps are mathematical operators that describe initial system-environment states for open quantum systems. We re-examine the notion of assignments that account for correlations between the system and the environment and show that these maps can be made linear at the expense of giving up positivity or consistency of the map. We study the role of positivity and consistency of the map and show the effects of relaxing these. Finally, we establish a connection between the violation of the positivity of linear assignments and the no-broadcasting theorem.

Sufficient and Necessary Condition for Zero Quantum Entropy Rates under any Coupling to the Environment

We find the necessary and sufficient conditions for the entropy rate of the system to be zero under any system-environment Hamiltonian interaction. We call the class of system-environment states that satisfy this condition lazy states. They are a generalization of classically correlated states defined by quantum discord, but based on projective measurements of any rank. The concept of lazy states permits the construction of a protocol for detecting global quantum correlations using only local dynamical information. We show how quantum correlations to the environment provide bounds to the entropy rate, and how to estimate dissipation rates for general non-Markovian open quantum systems.

Dynamical role of system-environment correlations in non-Markovian dynamics

We analyse the role played by system-environment correlations in the emergence of non-Markovian dynamics. By working within the framework developed in Breuer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009), we unveil a fundamental connection between non-Markovian behaviour and dynamics of system-environment correlations. We derive an upper bound to the rate of change of the distinguishability between different states of the system that explicitly depends on the development and establishment of correlations between system and environment. We illustrate our results using a fully solvable spin-chain model, which allows us to gain insight on the mechanisms triggering non-Markovian evolution.

Positivity in the presence of initial system-environment correlation

The constraints imposed by the initial system-environment correlation can lead to nonpositive dynamical maps. We find the conditions for positivity and complete positivity of such dynamical maps by using the concept of an assignment map. Any initial system-environment correlations make the assignment map nonpositive, while the positivity of the dynamical map depends on the interplay between the assignment map and the system-environment coupling. We show how this interplay can reveal or hide the nonpositivity of the assignment map. We discuss the role of this interplay in Markovian models.

Unification of witnessing initial system-environment correlations and witnessing non-Markovianity

We show the connection between a witness that detects dynamical maps with initial system-environment correlations and a witness that detects non-Markovian open quantum systems. Our analysis is based on studying the role that state preparation plays in witnessing violations of contractivity of open-quantum-system dynamics. Contractivity is a property of some quantum processes where the trace distance of density matrices decrease with time. From this, we show how a witness of initial correlations is an upper bound to a witness of non-Markovianity. We discuss how this relationship shows further connections between initial system-environment correlations and non-Markovianity, at an instance of time, in open quantum systems. Copyright c � EPLA, 2012