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arXiv:1104.5104 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Energy–time uncertainty relation for driven quantum systems

Sebastian Deffner, Eric Lutz

Published Jul 29, 2013• 199 citations
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Abstract

We derive generalizations of the energy-time uncertainty relation for driven quantum systems. Using a geometric approach based on the Bures length between mixed quantum states, we obtain explicit expressions for the quantum speed limit time, valid for arbitrary initial and final quantum states and arbitrary driving protocols. Our results establish the fundamental limit on the rate of evolution of generic quantum systems.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/46/33/335302

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We derive generalizations of the energy-time uncertainty relation for driven quantum systems. Using a geometric approach based on the Bures length between mixed quantum states, we obtain explicit expressions for the quantum speed limit time, valid for arbitrary initial and final quantum states and arbitrary driving protocols. Our results establish the fundamental limit on the rate of evolution of generic quantum systems.
The uncertainty principle is a cornerstone of modern physics, and its implications have a fundamental impact on theoretical and applied quantum mechanics. The aim of this thesis is to study and apply the uncertainty relations between time and energy, which are interpreted operationally as the speed limit of quantum evolution. A geometric approach is used to derive improved bounds for the evolution of isolated and open systems and obtain a constructive approach for efficient and fast quantum driving. These results are applied to set the limits for the rate of information transfer and processing, and the power of nanomachines.
The concept of quantum acceleration limit has been recently introduced for any unitary time evolution of quantum systems under arbitrary nonstationary Hamiltonians. While Alsing and Cafaro used the Robertson uncertainty relation in their derivation, employed the Robertson–Schrödinger uncertainty relation to find the upper bound on the temporal rate of change of the speed of quantum evolutions. In this paper, we provide a comparative analysis of these two alternative derivations for quantum systems specified by an arbitrary finite-dimensional projective Hilbert space. Furthermore, focusing on a geometric description of the quantum evolution of two-level quantum systems on a Bloch sphere under general time-dependent Hamiltonians, we find the most general conditions needed to attain the maximal upper bounds on the acceleration of the quantum evolution. In particular, these conditions are expressed explicitly in terms of two three-dimensional real vectors, the Bloch vector that corresponds to the evolving quantum state and the magnetic field vector that specifies the Hermitian Hamiltonian of the system. For pedagogical reasons, we illustrate our general findings for two-level quantum systems in explicit physical examples characterized by specific time-varying magnetic field configurations. Finally, we briefly comment on the extension of our considerations to higher-dimensional physical systems in both pure and mixed quantum states.
We establish a relation between the geometric time-energy uncertainty and multipartite entanglement. In particular, we show that the time-energy uncertainty relation is bounded below by the geometric measure of multipartite entanglement for an arbitrary quantum evolution of any multipartite system. The product of the time-averaged speed of the quantum evolution and the time interval of the evolution is bounded below by the multipartite entanglement of the target state. This relation holds for pure as well as for mixed states. We provide examples of physical systems for which the bound reaches close to saturation.
In this paper we establish important relations between Hamiltonian dynamics and Riemannian structures on phase spaces for unitarily evolving finite level quantum systems in mixed states. We show that the energy dispersion (i.e. 1/ℏ1/\hbar1/ℏ times the path integral of the energy uncertainty) of a unitary evolution is bounded from below by the length of the evolution curve. Also, we show that for each curve of mixed states there is a Hamiltonian for which the curve is a solution to the corresponding von Neumann equation, and the energy dispersion equals the curve's length. This allows us to express the distance between two mixed states in terms of a measurable quantity, and derive a time-energy uncertainty relation for mixed states. In a final section we compare our results with an energy dispersion estimate by Uhlmann.
Abstract. Inequalities of Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin type provide lower bounds on the time it takes for a quantum system to evolve from one state into another. Knowledge of such bounds, called quantum speed limits, is of utmost importance in virtually all areas of physics, where determination of the minimum time required for a quantum process is of interest. Most Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin inequalities found in the literature have been derived from growth estimates for the Bures length, which is a statistical distance measure. In this paper we derive such inequalities by differential geometric methods, and we compare the obtained quantum speed limits with those involving the Bures length. We also characterize the Hamiltonians which optimize the evolution time for generic finite-level quantum systems. 1.
Inequalities of Mandelstam–Tamm (MT) and Margolus–Levitin (ML) type provide lower bounds on the time that it takes for a quantum system to evolve from one state into another. Knowledge of such bounds, called quantum speed limits, is of utmost importance in virtually all areas of physics, where determination of the minimum time required for a quantum process is of interest. Most MT and ML inequalities found in the literature have been derived from growth estimates for the Bures length, which is a statistical distance measure. In this paper we derive such inequalities by differential geometric methods, and we compare the quantum speed limits obtained with those involving the Bures length. We also characterize the Hamiltonians which optimize the evolution time for generic finite-level quantum systems.