This thesis examines some of the more fundamental requirements of a successful quantum computation, namely the ability to transmit quantum information with maximum efficiency, and the creation of entanglement. I focus specifically on neutron entanglement, showing that the spins of two or more distinct neutrons can be measurably entangled by forward-scattering from an isotropic medium. The interpretation of `time' in scattering experiments is also discussed. I present a simple treatment based on the Heisenberg S-matrix, from which it emerges that in certain situations the quantum-mechanical time parameter appearing in the effective time-evolution operator for the spin system has an intuitive physical interpretation. The final part of the thesis deals with quantum information transfer in arrays of permanently coupled dipolar systems. It is shown that spin chains with dipolar couplings offer high fidelity long-distance state transmission, but transfer times in unmodulated chains are unfeasibly long. Possible optimization methods are discussed, concluding with a review of recent achievements in this field.
This thesis examines some of the more fundamental requirements of a successful quantum computation, namely the ability to transmit quantum information with maximum efficiency, and the creation of entanglement. I focus specifically on neutron entanglement, showing that the spins of two or more distinct neutrons can be measurably entangled by forward-scattering from an isotropic medium. The interpretation of `time' in scattering experiments is also discussed. I present a simple treatment based on the Heisenberg S-matrix, from which it emerges that in certain situations the quantum-mechanical time parameter appearing in the effective time-evolution operator for the spin system has an intuitive physical interpretation. The final part of the thesis deals with quantum information transfer in arrays of permanently coupled dipolar systems. It is shown that spin chains with dipolar couplings offer high fidelity long-distance state transmission, but transfer times in unmodulated chains are unfeasibly long. Possible optimization methods are discussed, concluding with a review of recent achievements in this field.
The quantum information science (QIS) is relatively young, but quite broad and emerging field of modern physics. This is an interdisciplinary field where quantum mechanics, computer science, mathematics and computing technologies meet together. Using the laws of quantum mechanics to deal with information opens many new opportunities. However, these opportunities can only be used if one can construct a quantum logic device to implement QIS methods. In the last decade many researchers proposed the variety of physical systems, that can be used as building blocks of the so called quantum computer. But the question of building an effective connection between different blocks remains open. Recently, the idea to build a ’quantum wire’ using chains of permanently coupled spins was studied by a number of authors. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and develop advanced schemes for using quantum chains as wires. The first part of the thesis shortly describes the concepts of quantum computing and quantum state transfer. We then briefly introduce different schemes to couple two superconducting qubits and analyze more closely one of them. Then we analyze the process of the state transfer for the chain of flux qubits. Next, we propose a new method of improved quantum state transfer which was created as a part of this thesis. Finally, we study the effects and the role of interference in quantum state transfer via spin chains.
One of the most essential processes in classical computation is that related to the information manipulation; each component or register of a computer needs to communicate to others by exchanging information encoded in bits and transforming it through logical operations. Hence the theoretical study of methods for information transfer and processing in classical information theory is of fundamental importance for telecommunications and computer science, along with study of errors and robustness of such proposals. When adding the quantum ingredient, there arises a whole new set of paradigms and devices, based on manipulations of \\emph{qubits}, the quantum analogues of conventional data bits. Such systems can show enormous advantage against their classical analogues, but at the same time present a whole new set of technical and conceptual challenges to overcome. The full and detailed understanding of quantum processes and studies of theoretical models and devices therefore provide the first logical steps to the future technological exploitation of these new machines. In this line, this thesis focuses on spin chains as such theoretical models, formed by series of coupled qubits that can be applied to a wide range of physical systems, and its several potential applications as quantum devices. In this work spin chains are presented as reliable devices for quantum communication with high transfer fidelities, entanglement generation and distribution over distant parties and protected storage of quantum information. Methods to design these tools to have some robustness against errors and noise are provided, giving optimism for future quantum technologies.
Quantum information science has grown from being a very small subfield in the 70s until being one of the most dynamic fields in physics, both in fundamentals and applications. In the theoretical section, perhaps the feature that has attracted most interest is the notion of entanglement, the ghostly relation between particles that dazzled Einstein and has provided fabulous challenges to build a coherent interpretation of quantum mechanics. While not completely solved, we have today learned enough to feel less uneasy with this fundamental problem, and the focus has shifted towards its potential powerful applications. Entanglement is now being studied from different perspectives as a resource for performing information processing tasks.\n\n\t\t\t\t With bipartite entanglement being largely understood nowadays, many questions remain unanswered in the multipartite case. The first part of this thesis deals with multipartite entanglement in different contexts. In the first chapters it is studied within the whole corresponding Hilbert space, and we investigate several entanglement measures searching for states that maximize them, including violations of Bell inequalities. Later, focus is shifted towards hamiltonians that have entangled ground states, and we investigate entanglement as a way to establish a distance between theories and we study frustration and methods to efficiently solve hamiltonians that exhibit it.\n\n\t\t\t\t In the practical section, the most promised upcoming technological advance is the advent of quantum computers. In the 90s some quantum algorithms improving the performance of all known classical algorithms for certain problems started to appear, while in the 2000s the first universal computers of few atoms began to be built, allowing implementation of those algorithms in small scales. The D-Wave machine already performs quantum annealing in thousands of qubits, although some controversy over the true quantumness of its internal workings surrounds it. Many countries in the planet are devoting large amounts of money to this field, with the recent European flagship and the involvement of the largest US technological companies giving reasons for optimism.\n\n\t\t\t\t The second part of this thesis deals with some aspects of quantum computation, starting with the creation of the field of cloud quantum computation with the appearance of the first computer available to the general public through internet, which we have used and analysed extensively. Also small incursions in quantum adiabatic computation and quantum thermodynamics are present in this second part.
In this thesis we investigate theoretically two distinct systems of dipole-coupled atoms. In Part I we investigate light scattering from a system of N ultracold atoms, with laser induced electric dipole interactions. We derive the equations of motion in the Heisenberg picture for the atomic operators, for an arbitrary dipole transition. Then we take the specific case of a jl = 0 → ju = 1 transition and derive the second and third-order inter-atomic correlations. We solve the resulting set of linear equations for two and three atoms exactly, with particular focus on the exact two-atom system. We find a steady-state analytic solution for the two atoms in a specific geometric configuration, and use this to derive explicit expressions for the spatial and coherence properties of the far-field scattered light intensity, valid for the full range of system parameters. A comprehensive survey of the scattering behaviour is given, with key features precisely characterised, including subradiant scattering. We examine in detail a decorrelation approximation that has potential applications for larger systems of atoms that are intractable in a full quantum treatment. We introduce the concept of an effective driving field and show that it can provide a direct and intuitive physical interpretation of key aspects of the system behaviour, including subradiant scattering. Finally, we show that this effective field interpretation, and the decorrelation approximation, is readily extended to a three atom system. In Part II of this thesis we present our investigation of the quantum many-body dynamics of a large ensemble of bosonic S = 3 chromium atoms in a three-dimensional lattice. We implement an extended Bose-Hubbard model which includes the tunnelling, onsite spinor in- teractions and dipole-dipole interactions (giving interactions between atoms on neighbouring sites). We study the dynamics of the population of the different Zeeman levels as a function of lattice depth following a sudden spin rotation, and provide comparison to experimental res- ults. We are able to identify two distinct regimes: At low lattice depths, where atoms are in the superfluid regime, we observe the spin dynamics are strongly determined by the competi- tion between particle transport, onsite interactions and external magnetic field gradients. On the contrary, at high lattice depths, transport is largely frozen out and the spin populations are mainly driven by the long range dipolar interactions and quantum fluctuations.
This thesis is in the field of quantum information science, which is an area that reconceptualizes quantum physics in terms of information. Central to this area is the quantum effect of entanglement in space. It is an interdependence among two or more spatially separated quantum systems that would be impossible to replicate by classical systems. Alternatively, an entanglement in space can also be viewed as a resource in quantum information in that it allows the ability to perform information tasks that would be impossible or very difficult to do with only classical information. Two such astonishing applications are quantum communications which can be harnessed for teleportation, and quantum computers which can drastically outperform the best classical supercomputers. In this thesis our focus is on the theoretical aspect of the field, and we provide one of the first expositions on an analogous quantum effect known as entanglement in time. It can be viewed as an interdependence of quantum systems across time, which is stronger than could ever exist between classical systems. We explore this temporal effect within the study of quantum information and its foundations as well as through relativistic quantum information. An original contribution of this thesis is the design of one of the first quantum information applications of entanglement in time, namely a quantum blockchain. We describe how the entanglement in time provides the quantum advantage over a classical blockchain. Furthermore, the information encoding procedure of this quantum blockchain can be interpreted as non-classically influencing the past, and hence the system can be viewed as a `quantum time machine.'