Zehua Tian

Protecting quantum coherence of two-level atoms from vacuum fluctuations of electromagnetic field

In the framework of open quantum systems, we study the dynamics of a static polarizable two-level atom interacting with a bath of fluctuating vacuum electromagnetic field and explore under which conditions the coherence of the open quantum system is unaffected by the environment totally. For both a single-qubit and two-qubit systems, we find that the quantum coherence can not be protected from noise when the atom interacts with a non-boundary electromagnetic field. However, with the presence of a boundary, the dynamical conditions for the insusceptible of quantum coherence are fulfilled only when the atom is close to the boundary and is transversely polarizable. Otherwise, the quantum coherence can only be protected in some degree in other polarizable direction.

Quantum metrology and estimation of Unruh effect

We study the quantum metrology for a pair of entangled Unruh-Dewitt detectors when one of them is accelerated and coupled to a massless scalar field. Comparing with previous schemes, our model requires only local interaction and avoids the use of cavities in the probe state preparation process. We show that the probe state preparation and the interaction between the accelerated detector and the external field have significant effects on the value of quantum Fisher information, correspondingly pose variable ultimate limit of precision in the estimation of Unruh effect. We find that the precision of the estimation can be improved by a larger effective coupling strength and a longer interaction time. Alternatively, the energy gap of the detector has a range that can provide us a better precision. Thus we may adjust those parameters and attain a higher precision in the estimation. We also find that an extremely high acceleration is not required in the quantum metrology process.

Measurement-induced-nonlocality via the Unruh effect

Abstract Treated beyond the single-mode approximation, Measurement-Induced-Nonlocality (MIN) is investigated for both Dirac and Bosonic fields in non-inertial frames. Two distinct differences between the Dirac and Bosonic fields are: (i) the MIN for Dirac fields persists for any acceleration, while the quantity for Bosonic fields does decay to zero in the infinite acceleration limit; (ii) the dynamic behaviors of the MIN for Dirac fields is quite different from the Bosonic fields case. Besides, we also study the nonlocality for Dirac fields and find that the MIN is more general than the quantum nonlocality related to violation of Bell’s inequalities. Meanwhile some discussions of geometric discord are presented too.

How the Unruh effect affects transition between classical and quantum decoherences

Abstract We investigate how the Unruh effect affects the transition between classical and quantum decoherences for a general class of initial states and find that: (i) The quantum decoherence exists while λ t ⩽ λ t ˜ (the transition time) and the classical one can also affect the systemʼs evolution while λ t ⩾ λ t ˜ for both the bit and phase-bit flips, which are different from the cases in inertial frame; (ii) The classical decoherence will not occur, while the quantum decoherence still dominates the evolution of system as λ t ⩾ λ t ˜ for the phase flip; And (iii) as the Unruh temperature increases, the λ t ˜ , compared with that in inertial frame, will be bigger for phase flip but smaller for bit flip. However, the λ t ˜ does not change no matter what the Unruh temperature is for phase-bit flip.

Relativistic Quantum Metrology in Open System Dynamics

Quantum metrology studies the ultimate limit of precision in estimating a physical quantity if quantum strategies are exploited. Here we investigate the evolution of a two-level atom as a detector which interacts with a massless scalar field using the master equation approach for open quantum system. We employ local quantum estimation theory to estimate the Unruh temperature when probed by a uniformly accelerated detector in the Minkowski vacuum. In particular, we evaluate the Fisher information (FI) for population measurement, maximize its value over all possible detector preparations and evolution times, and compare its behavior with that of the quantum Fisher information (QFI). We find that the optimal precision of estimation is achieved when the detector evolves for a long enough time. Furthermore, we find that in this case the FI for population measurement is independent of initial preparations of the detector and is exactly equal to the QFI, which means that population measurement is optimal. This result demonstrates that the achievement of the ultimate bound of precision imposed by quantum mechanics is possible. Finally, we note that the same configuration is also available to the maximum of the QFI itself.

Nonlocality and Entanglement via the Unruh effect

Abstract Modeling the qubit by a two-level semiclassical detector coupled to a massless scalar field, we investigate how the Unruh effect affects the nonlocality and entanglement of two-qubit and three-qubit states when one of the entangled qubits is accelerated. Two distinct differences with the results of free field model in non-inertial frames are (i) for the two-qubit state, the CHSH inequality cannot be violated for sufficiently large but finite acceleration, furthermore, the concurrence will experience “sudden death”; and (ii) for the three-qubit state, not only does the entanglement vanish in the infinite acceleration limit, but also the Svetlichny inequality cannot be violated in the case of large acceleration.

Dynamics and quantum entanglement of two-level atoms in de Sitter spacetime

In the framework of open quantum systems, we study the internal dynamics of both freely falling and static two-level atoms interacting with quantized conformally coupled massless scalar field in de Sitter spacetime. We find that the atomic transition rates depend on both the nature of de Sitter spacetime and the motion of atoms, interestingly the steady states for both cases are always driven to being purely thermal, regardless of the atomic initial states. This thermalization phenomenon is structurally similar to what happens to an elementary quantum system immersed in a thermal field, and thus reveals the thermal nature of de Sitter spacetime. Besides, we find that the thermal baths will drive the entanglement shared by the freely falling atom (the static atom) and its auxiliary partner, a same two-level atom which is isolated from external fields, to being sudden death, and the proper time for the entanglement to be extinguished is computed. We also analyze that such thermalization and disentanglement phenomena, in principle, could be understood from the perspective of table-top simulation experiment.

Parameter estimation for an expanding universe

Abstract We study the parameter estimation for excitations of Dirac fields in the expanding Robertson–Walker universe. We employ quantum metrology techniques to demonstrate the possibility for high precision estimation for the volume rate of the expanding universe. We show that the optimal precision of the estimation depends sensitively on the dimensionless mass m ˜ and dimensionless momentum k ˜ of the Dirac particles. The optimal precision for the ratio estimation peaks at some finite dimensionless mass m ˜ and momentum k ˜ . We find that the precision of the estimation can be improved by choosing the probe state as an eigenvector of the hamiltonian. This occurs because the largest quantum Fisher information is obtained by performing projective measurements implemented by the projectors onto the eigenvectors of specific probe states.

Entropic uncertainty relation in de Sitter space

The uncertainty principle restricts our ability to simultaneously predict the measurement outcomes of two incompatible observables of a quantum particle. However, this uncertainty could be reduced and quantified by a new Entropic Uncertainty Relation (EUR). By the open quantum system approach, we explore how the nature of de Sitter space affects the EUR. When the quantum memory

Influence of relativistic effects on satellite-based clock synchronization

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