Ignacio Garcia-Mata

Delocalization induced by nonlinearity in systems with disorder

We study numerically the effects of nonlinearity on the Anderson localization in lattices with disorder in one and two dimensions. The obtained results show that at moderate strength of nonlinearity a spreading over the lattice in time takes place with an algebraic growth of number of populated sites Deltan proportional to tnu. This spreading continues up to a maximal dimensionless time scale t=10(9) reached in the numerical simulations. The numerical values of nu are found to be approximately 0.15-0.2 and 0.25 for the dimension d=1 and 2, respectively, being in a satisfactory agreement with the theoretical value d/(3d+2). During the computational times t<or=10(9) the localization is preserved below a certain critical value of nonlinearity. We also discuss the properties of the fidelity decay induced by a perturbation of nonlinear field.

Non-Markovian behavior of small and large complex quantum systems.

The channel induced by a complex system interacting strongly with a qubit is calculated exactly under the assumption of randomness of its eigenvectors. The resulting channel is represented as an isotropic time-dependent oscillation of the Bloch ball, leading to non-Markovian behavior, even in the limit of infinite environments. Two contributions are identified: one due to the density of states and the other due to correlations in the spectrum. Prototype examples, one for chaotic and the other for regular dynamics are explored.

Classical decays in decoherent quantum maps

The linear entropy and the Loschmidt echo have proved to be of interest recently in the context of quantum information and of the quantum to classical transitions. We study the asymptotic long-time behavior of these quantities for open quantum maps and relate the decays to the eigenvalues of a coarse-grained superoperator. In specific ranges of coarse graining, and for chaotic maps, these decay rates are given by the Ruelle-Pollicott resonances of the classical map.

Non-Markovian quantum dynamics and classical chaos

We study the influence of a chaotic environment in the evolution of an open quantum system. We show that there is an inverse relation between chaos and non-Markovianity. In particular, we remark on the deep relation of the short time non-Markovian behavior with the revivals of the average fidelity amplitude-a fundamental quantity used to measure sensitivity to perturbations and to identify quantum chaos. The long time behavior is established as a finite size effect which vanishes for large enough environments.

Loschmidt echo in quantum maps: the elusive nature of the Lyapunov regime

The Loschmidt echo (LE) is a measure of the stability and reversibility of quantum evolution under perturbations of the Hamiltonian. One of the expected and most relevant characteristics of this quantity for chaotic systems is an exponential decay with a perturbation-independent decay rate given by the classical Lyapunov exponent. However, a non-uniform decay—instead of the Lyapunov regime—has been reported in several systems. In this work, we find an analytical semiclassical expression for the averaged fidelity amplitude that can be directly related to the anomalous—unexpected—behaviour of the LE.

Scaling theory of the Anderson transition in random graphs: ergodicity and universality

We study the Anderson transition on a generic model of random graphs with a tunable branching parameter 1<K<2, through large scale numerical simulations and finite-size scaling analysis. We find that a single transition separates a localized phase from an unusual delocalized phase that is ergodic at large scales but strongly nonergodic at smaller scales. In the critical regime, multifractal wave functions are located on a few branches of the graph. Different scaling laws apply on both sides of the transition: a scaling with the linear size of the system on the localized side, and an unusual volumic scaling on the delocalized side. The critical scalings and exponents are independent of the branching parameter, which strongly supports the universality of our results.

Quantum-to-classical transition in the work distribution for chaotic systems

The work distribution is a fundamental quantity in nonequilibrium thermodynamics mainly due to its connection with fluctuation theorems. Here, we develop a semiclassical approximation to the work distribution for a quench process in chaotic systems that provides a link between the quantum and classical work distributions. The approach is based on the dephasing representation of the quantum Loschmidt echo and on the quantum ergodic conjecture, which states that the Wigner function of a typical eigenstate of a classically chaotic Hamiltonian is equidistributed on the energy shell. Using numerical simulations, we show that our semiclassical approximation accurately describes the quantum distribution as the temperature is increased.

Multifractal wave functions of simple quantum maps

We study numerically multifractal properties of two models of one-dimensional quantum maps: a map with pseudointegrable dynamics and intermediate spectral statistics and a map with an Anderson-like transition recently implemented with cold atoms. Using extensive numerical simulations, we compute the multifractal exponents of quantum wave functions and study their properties, with the help of two different numerical methods used for classical multifractal systems (box-counting and wavelet methods). We compare the results of the two methods over a wide range of values. We show that the wave functions of the Anderson map display a multifractal behavior similar to eigenfunctions of the three-dimensional Anderson transition but of a weaker type. Wave functions of the intermediate map share some common properties with eigenfunctions at the Anderson transition (two sets of multifractal exponents, with similar asymptotic behavior), but other properties are markedly different (large linear regime for multifractal exponents even for strong multifractality, different distributions of moments of wave functions, and absence of symmetry of the exponents). Our results thus indicate that the intermediate map presents original properties, different from certain characteristics of the Anderson transition derived from the nonlinear sigma model. We also discuss the importance of finite-size effects.

Noise models for superoperators in the chord representation

We study many-qubit generalizations of quantum noise channels that can be written as an incoherent sum of translations in phase space, for which the chord representation results specially useful. Physical descriptions in terms of the spectral properties of the superoperator and the action in phase space are provided. A very natural description of decoherence leading to a preferred basis is achieved with diffusion along a phase space line. The numerical advantages of using the chord representation are illustrated in the case of coarse-graining noise.

Measuring and using non-Markovianity

We construct measures for the non-Markovianity of quantum evolution with a physically meaningful interpretation. We first provide a general setting in the framework of channel capacities and propose two families of meaningful quantitative measures, based on the largest revival of a channel capacity, avoiding some drawbacks of other non-Markovianity measures. We relate the proposed measures to the task of information screening. This shows that the non-Markovianity of a quantum process may be used as a resource. Under these considerations, we analyze two paradigmatic examples, a qubit in a quantum environment with classically mixed dynamics and the Jaynes-Cummings model.