Thiago R. de Oliveira

Geometric classical and total correlations via trace distance

We introduce the concepts of geometric classical and total correlations through Schatten 1-norm (trace norm), which is the only Schatten p-norm able to ensure a well-defined geometric measure of correlations. In particular, we derive the analytical expressions for the case of two-qubit Bell-diagonal states, discussing the superadditivity of geometric correlations. As an illustration, we compare our results with the entropic correlations, discussing both their hierarchy and monotonicity properties. Moreover, we apply the geometric correlations to investigate the ground state of spin chains in the thermodynamic limit. In contrast to the entropic quantifiers, we show that the classical correlation is the only source of 1-norm geometric correlation that is able to signal an infinite-order quantum phase transition.

Overcoming ambiguities in classical and quantum correlation measures

We identify ambiguities in the available frameworks for defining quantum, classical, and total correlations as measured by discord-like quantifiers. More specifically, we determine situations for which either classical or quantum correlations are not uniquely defined due to degeneracies arising from the optimization procedure over the state space. In order to remove such degeneracies, we introduce a general approach where correlations are independently defined, escaping therefore from a degenerate subspace. As an illustration, we analyze the trace-norm geometric quantum discord for two-qubit Bell-diagonal states.

Nonviolation of Bell's inequality in translation invariant systems

The nature of quantum correlations in strongly correlated systems has been a subject of intense research. In particular, it has been realized that entanglement and quantum discord are present at quantum phase transitions and are able to characterize them. Surprisingly, it has been shown for a number of different systems that qubit pairwise states, even when highly entangled, do not violate Bells inequalities, being in this sense local. Here we show that such a local character of quantum correlations traces back to the the monogamy trade-off obeyed by bipartite Bell correlations, being in fact general for translation invariant systems. We illustrate this result in a quantum spin chain with a soft breaking of translation symmetry. In addition, we provide an extension of the monogamy inequality to the N-qubit scenario, showing that the bound increases with N and providing examples of its saturation through uniformly generated random pure states.

Equilibration time scales in closed many-body quantum systems

We show that the physical mechanism for the equilibration of closed quantum systems is dephasing, and identify the energy scales that determine the equilibration timescale of a given observable. For realistic physical systems (e.g those with local Hamiltonians), our arguments imply timescales that do not increase with the system size, in contrast to previously known upper bounds. In particular we show that, for such Hamiltonians, the matrix representation of local observables in the energy basis is banded, and that this property is crucial in order to derive equilibration times that are non-negligible in macroscopic systems. Finally, we give an intuitive interpretation to recent theorems on equilibration time-scale.

The Unruh quantum Otto engine

We introduce a quantum heat engine performing an Otto cycle by using the thermal properties of the quantum vacuum. Since Hawking and Unruh, it has been established that the vacuum space, either near a black hole or for an accelerated observer, behaves as a bath of thermal radiation. In this work, we present a fully quantum Otto cycle, which relies on the Unruh effect for a single quantum bit (qubit) in contact with quantum vacuum fluctuations. By using the notions of quantum thermodynamics and perturbation theory we obtain that the quantum vacuum can exchange heat and produce work on the qubit. Moreover, we obtain the efficiency and derive the conditions to have both a thermodynamic and a kinematic cycle in terms of the initial populations of the excited state, which define a range of allowed accelerations for the Unruh engine.

Violation of the Bell inequality in quantum critical random spin-1/2 chains

Abstract We investigate the entanglement and nonlocality properties of two random XX spin-1/2 critical chains, in order to better understand the role of breaking translational invariance to achieve nonlocal states in critical systems. We show that breaking translational invariance is a necessary but not sufficient condition for nonlocality, as the random chains remain in a local ground state up to a small degree of randomness. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the random dimer model does not have the same nonlocality properties of the translationally invariant chain, even though they share the same universality class for a certain range of randomness.

Force and torque of a string on a pulley

Every university introductory physics course considers the problem of Atwoods machine taking into account the mass of the pulley. In the usual treatment the tensions at the two ends of the string are offhandedly taken to act on the pulley and be responsible for its rotation. However such a free-body diagram of the forces on the pulley is not {\it a priori} justified, inducing students to construct wrong hypotheses such as that the string transfers its tension to the pulley or that some symmetry is in operation. We reexamine this problem by integrating the contact forces between each element of the string and the pulley and show that although the pulley does behave as if the tensions were acting on it, this comes only as the end result of a detailed analysis. We also address the question of how much friction is needed to prevent the string from slipping over the pulley. Finally, we deal with the case in which the string is on the verge of sliding and show that this will never happen unless certain conditions are met by the coefficient of friction and the masses involved.

Quantum Correlations in Multipartite Quantum Systems

We review some concepts and properties of quantum correlations, in particular multipartite measures, geometric measures and monogamy relations. We also discuss the relation between classical and total correlations.