R. M. Angelo

Quantification of Einstein-Podolski-Rosen steering for two-qubit states

In the last few years, several criteria to identify Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering have been proposed and experimentally implemented. On the operational side, however, the evaluation of the steerability degree of a given state has shown to be a difficult task and only a few results are known. In this work, we propose a measure of steering that is based on the maximal violation of well-established steering inequalities. Applying this approach to two-qubit states, we managed to derive simple closed formulas for steering in the two- and three-measurement scenarios. We also provide closed formulas for quantifiers of Bell nonlocality in the respective scenarios. Finally, we show that our measures of steering verify the entanglement-steering-nonlocality hierarchy and reproduce results reported so far.

Entanglement dynamics in a two-mode nonlinear bosonic Hamiltonian

An exactly solvable case of an interacting Hamiltonian of two bosonic modes is considered to study fundamental properties of the entanglement dynamics for coupled nonlinear oscillators. Such an interaction is of physical importance, either in a two-species Bose–Einstein condensate or in the case of two modes of electromagnetic fields interacting in Kerr media. The time-evolved state is obtained analytically for initial products of two Fock and two coherent states, and the purification times of the subsystems are determined. The possibility of dynamical generation of a quantum superposition state is discussed at such purification times. We also identify the existence of two regimes: the short time, phase spread regime where subsystem entropy rises monotonically and the self-interference regime where it oscillates and a purification phenomenon can be observed. Our results also show that the break time from the first regime to the second one becomes longer, as well as the purification and reversibility times, as the Planck constant becomes much smaller than a typical action in phase space.

Physics within a quantum reference frame

We investigate the physics of quantum reference frames. Specifically, we study several simple scenarios involving a small number of quantum particles, whereby we promote one of these particles to the role of a quantum observer and ask what is the description of the rest of the system, as seen by this observer? We highlight the interesting aspects of such questions by presenting a number of apparent paradoxes. By unravelling these paradoxes, we obtain a better understanding of the physics of quantum reference frames.

Wave–Particle Duality: An Information-Based Approach

Recently, Bohr’s complementarity principle was assessed in setups involving delayed choices. These works argued in favor of a reformulation of the aforementioned principle so as to account for situations in which a quantum system would simultaneously behave as wave and particle. Here we defend a framework that, supported by well-known experimental results and consistent with the decoherence paradigm, allows us to interpret complementarity in terms of correlations between the system and an informer. Our proposal offers formal definition and operational interpretation for the dual behavior in terms of both nonlocal resources and the couple work-information. Most importantly, our results provide a generalized information-based trade-off for the wave–particle duality and a causal interpretation for delayed-choice experiments.

Decoherence induced by a phase-damping reservoir

A phase damping reservoir composed by N-bosons coupled to a system of interest through a cross-Kerr interaction is proposed and its effects on quantum superpositions are investigated. By means of analytical calculations we show that: (i) the reservoir induces a Gaussian decay of quantum coherences, and (ii) the inherent incommensurate character of the spectral distribution yields irreversibility. A state-independent decoherence time and a master equation are both derived analytically. These results, which have been extended for the thermodynamic limit, show that nondissipative decoherence can be suitably contemplated within the environment-induced decoherence (EID) approach. Finally, it is shown that the same mechanism yielding decoherence are also responsible for inducing dynamical disentanglement.

A measure of physical reality

From the premise that an observable is real after it is measured, we envisage a tomography-based protocol that allows us to propose a quantifier for the degree of indefiniteness of an observable given a quantum state. Then, we find that the reality of an observable can be inferred locally only if this observable is not quantumly correlated with an informer. In other words, quantum discord precludes Einsteins notion of separable realities. Also, by monitoring changes in the reality of a local observable upon measurements on a remote system, we are led to define a measure of nonlocality. Proved upper bounded by discordlike correlations and requiring indefiniteness as a basic ingredient, our measure signals nonlocality even for separable states, thus revealing nonlocal aspects that are not captured by Bell inequality violations.

Quantum linear mutual information and classical correlations in globally pure bipartite systems

We investigate the correlations of initially separable probability distributions in a globally pure bipartite system with two degrees of freedom for classical and quantum systems. A classical version of the quantum linear mutual information is introduced and the two quantities are compared for a system of oscillators coupled with both linear and non-linear interactions. The classical correlations help to understand how much of the quantum loss of purity are due to intrinsic quantum effects and how much is related to the probabilistic character of the initial states, a characteristic shared by both the classical and quantum pictures. Our examples show that, for initially localized Gaussian states, the classical statistical mutual linear entropy follows its quantum counterpart for short times. For non-Gaussian states the behavior of the classical and quantum measures of information are still qualitatively similar, although the fingerprints of the non-classical nature of the initial state can be observed in their different amplitudes of oscillation.

Integrability in time-dependent systems with one degree of freedom

The notion of integrability is discussed for classical nonautonomous systems with one degree of freedom. The analysis is focused on models which are linearly spanned by finite Lie algebras. By constructing the autonomous extension of the time-dependent Hamiltonian, we prove the existence of two invariants in involution which are shown to obey the criterion of functional independence. The implication of this result is that chaotic motion cannot exist in these systems. In addition, if the invariant manifold is compact, then the system is Liouville integrable. As an application, we discuss regimes of integrability in models of dynamical tunneling and parametric resonance, and in the dynamics of two-level systems under generic classical fields. A corresponding quantum algebraic structure is shown to exist which satisfies analog conditions of Liouville integrability and reproduces the classical dynamics in an appropriate limit within the Weyl–Wigner formalism. The quantum analog is then conjectured to be integrable as well.

Bayes' rule, generalized discord, and nonextensive thermodynamics

are shown to admit operational interpretation in terms of the difference in efficiency of quantum and classical demons in allowing for the extraction of generalized work from a heat bath. The link with discord is established by adopting the q entropy as entropic principle. This allows us to reproduce, within a one-parameter formalism, both the entropic and the geometric measures of discord and physically distinguish them within the context of the nonextensive thermodynamics. Besides offering a unified view of several measures of correlations in terms of the Bayesian principle and its connection with thermodynamics, our approach unveils a bridge to the nonextensive statistical mechanics.

Correspondence principle for the diffusive dynamics of a quartic oscillator: Deterministic aspects and the role of temperature

The correspondence principle is investigated in the framework of deterministic predictions for individual systems. Exact analytical results are obtained for the quantum and Liouvillian dynamics of a nonlinear oscillator coupled to a phase-damping reservoir at a finite temperature. In this context, the time of critical wave function spreading - the Ehrenfest time - emerges as the characteristic time scale within which the concept of deterministic behavior is admissible in physics. A scenario of quasideterminism may then be defined, within which the motion is experimentally indistinguishable from the truly deterministic motion of Newtonian mechanics. Beyond this time scale, predictions for individual systems can be given only statistically and, in this case, it is shown that diffusive decoherence is indeed a necessary ingredient to establish the quantum-classical correspondence. Moreover, the high-temperature regime is shown to be an additional condition for the quantum-classical transition and, accordingly, a lower bound for the reservoir temperature is derived for our model.