Macroscopic quantum phenomena refer to quantum features in objects of 'large' sizes, systems with many components or degrees of freedom, organized in some ways where they can be identified as macroscopic objects. This emerging field is ushered in by several categories of definitive experiments in superconductivity, electromechanical systems, Bose-Einstein condensates and others. Yet this new field which is rich in open issues at the foundation of quantum and statistical physics remains little explored theoretically (with the important exception of the work of A J Leggett [1], while touched upon or implied by several groups of authors represented in this conference. Our attitude differs in that we believe in the full validity of quantum mechanics stretching from the testable micro to meso scales, with no need for the introduction of new laws of physics.) This talk summarizes our thoughts in attempting a systematic investigation into some key foundational issues of quantum macroscopic phenomena, with the goal of ultimately revealing or building a viable theoretical framework. Three major themes discussed in three intended essays are the large N expansion [2], the correlation hierarchy [3] and quantum entanglement [4]. We give a sketch of the first two themes and then discuss several key issues in the consideration of macro and quantum, namely, a) recognition that there exist many levels of structure in a composite body and only by judicious choice of an appropriate set of collective variables can one give the best description of the dynamics of a specific level of structure. Capturing the quantum features of a macroscopic object is greatly facilitated by the existence and functioning of these collective variables; b) quantum entanglement, an exclusively quantum feature [5], is known to persist to high temperatures [6] and large scales [7] under certain conditions, and may actually decrease with increased connectivity in a quantum network [8]. We use entanglement as a measure of quantumness here and pick out these somewhat counter-intuitive examples to show that there are blind spots worthy of our attention and issues which we need to analyze closer. Our purpose is to try to remove the stigma that quantum only pertains to micro, in order to make way for deeper probes into the conditions whereby quantum features of macroscopic systems manifest.
Macroscopic quantum phenomena refer to quantum features in objects of 'large' sizes, systems with many components or degrees of freedom, organized in some ways where they can be identified as macroscopic objects. This emerging field is ushered in by several categories of definitive experiments in superconductivity, electromechanical systems, Bose-Einstein condensates and others. Yet this new field which is rich in open issues at the foundation of quantum and statistical physics remains little explored theoretically (with the important exception of the work of A J Leggett [1], while touched upon or implied by several groups of authors represented in this conference. Our attitude differs in that we believe in the full validity of quantum mechanics stretching from the testable micro to meso scales, with no need for the introduction of new laws of physics.) This talk summarizes our thoughts in attempting a systematic investigation into some key foundational issues of quantum macroscopic phenomena, with the goal of ultimately revealing or building a viable theoretical framework. Three major themes discussed in three intended essays are the large N expansion [2], the correlation hierarchy [3] and quantum entanglement [4]. We give a sketch of the first two themes and then discuss several key issues in the consideration of macro and quantum, namely, a) recognition that there exist many levels of structure in a composite body and only by judicious choice of an appropriate set of collective variables can one give the best description of the dynamics of a specific level of structure. Capturing the quantum features of a macroscopic object is greatly facilitated by the existence and functioning of these collective variables; b) quantum entanglement, an exclusively quantum feature [5], is known to persist to high temperatures [6] and large scales [7] under certain conditions, and may actually decrease with increased connectivity in a quantum network [8]. We use entanglement as a measure of quantumness here and pick out these somewhat counter-intuitive examples to show that there are blind spots worthy of our attention and issues which we need to analyze closer. Our purpose is to try to remove the stigma that quantum only pertains to micro, in order to make way for deeper probes into the conditions whereby quantum features of macroscopic systems manifest.
Macroscopic quantum phenomena (MQP) is a relatively new research venue, with exciting ongoing experiments and bright prospects, yet with surprisingly little theoretical activity. What makes MQP intellectually stimulating is because it is counterpoised against the traditional view that macroscopic means classical. This simplistic and hitherto rarely challenged view need be scrutinized anew, perhaps with much of the conventional wisdoms repealed. In this series of papers we report on a systematic investigation into some key foundational issues of MQP, with the hope of constructing a viable theoretical framework for this new endeavour. The three major themes discussed in these three essays are the large N expansion, the correlation hierarchy and quantum entanglement for systems of 'large' sizes, with many components or degrees of freedom. In this paper we use different theories in a variety of contexts to examine the conditions or criteria whereby a macroscopic quantum system may take on classical attributes, and, more interestingly, that it keeps some of its quantum features. The theories we consider here are, the O ( N ) quantum mechanical model, semiclassical stochastic gravity and gauge / string theories; the contexts include that of a 'quantum roll' in inflationary cosmology, entropy generation in quantum Vlasov equation for plasmas, the leading order and next-to-leading order large N behaviour, and hydrodynamic / thermodynamic limits. The criteria for classicality in our consideration include the use of uncertainty relations, the correlation between classical canonical variables, randomization of quantum phase, environment-induced decoherence, decoherent history of hydrodynamic variables, etc. All this exercise is to ask only one simple question: Is it really so surprising that quantum features can appear in macroscopic objects? By examining different representative systems where detailed theoretical analysis has been carried out, we find that there is no a priori good reason why quantum phenomena in macroscopic objects cannot exist.
We explore in this paper ways to qualify and quantify the quantum entanglement E(M) between two macroscopic objects by way of model studies. Knowing that a macroscopic object is a composite, how does one determine E(M) in terms of the entanglements between its micro-constituents E(μ)? We assert that the notion of `levels of structure', the coupling strength between constituents in different levels, and the use of collective variables in each level are all pertinent factors. We consider two types of coupling, each constituent particle is coupled to only one other particle (1-to-1) versus it coupled to all particles (1-to-all). In the 1-1 case with pairwise interactions of equal strength, the entanglement is independent of the number of constituent particles N in the macroscopic object. In the 1-to-all case the relative coordinates are decoupled and the center of mass (CoM) coupling scales with N. We provide a proof of the conditions whereby the CoM variable decouples, a cause for the special role the CoM variable plays in the entanglement between the two such macroscopic objects. This qualitative behavior is largely not affected by fluctuations in the interaction strength. We also analyzed the entanglement pattern of 4 coupled oscillators in two pairs, representing the two objects A and B (or two adjacent levels of structure), each with two constituents. By assigning different coupling strengths we can investigate the interplay of inter-level entanglement with intra- level interactions. From the entanglement dynamics of the 4-oscillator system with varying coupling strength we see the entanglement between constituents meeting sudden death while the CoM variables may sustain over longer times. This offers another way to determine under what conditions quantum entanglement between macroscopic objects can persist.
In this sequel paper we explore how macroscopic quantum phenomena can be measured or understood from the behavior of quantum correlations which exist in a quantum system of many particles or components and how the interaction strengths change with energy or scale, under ordinary situations and when the system is near its critical point. We use the nPI (master) effective action related to the Boltzmann-BBGKY / Schwinger-Dyson hierarchy of equations as a tool for systemizing the contributions of higher order correlation functions to the dynamics of lower order correlation functions. Together with the large N expansion discussed in our first paper(MQP1) we explore 1) the conditions whereby an H-theorem is obtained, which can be viewed as a signifier of the emergence of macroscopic behavior in the system. We give two more examples from past work: 2) the nonequilibrium dynamics of N atoms in an optical lattice under the large N (field components), 2PI and second order perturbative expansions, illustrating how N and N enter in these three aspects of quantum correlations, coherence and coupling strength. 3) the behavior of an interacting quantum system near its critical point, the effects of quantum and thermal fluctuations and the conditions under which the system manifests infrared dimensional reduction. We also discuss how the effective field theory concept bears on macroscopic quantum phenomena: the running of the coupling parameters with energy or scale imparts a dynamical-dependent and an interaction-sensitive definition of `macroscopia'.
Envisioned by Richard Feynman in the early 1980s, quantum simulation has received dramatic impetus thanks to the development of a variety of plateforms able to emulate a wide class of quantum Hamiltonians.During the past decade, most of the quantum simulators have implemented rather well-known models, hence permitting a direct comparison with theoretical calculations and a precise benchmarking of their reliability.The field has now reached a maturity such that one can address difficult problems, which cannot be solved efficiently using classical algorithms.These advances provide unprecedented opportunities to explore previously unreachable fields, test theoretical predictions, and inspire novel approaches.This contribution is an elementary introduction to quantum simulation.We discuss the challenges, define both digital and analog quantum simulators, and list the demanding conditions they require.We also provide a brief account of the contributions gathered in the dossier on Quantum simulation in the Compte rendus Physique of the French Academy of Sciences [1][2][3][4][5][6].The latter completes excellent reviews that appeared previously, see for instance . Universal models and the role of simulations in many-body physicsUnderstanding the behavior of macroscopic quantum systems is a major challenge of modern physics.The basic laws of low-energy physics are by now quite well known at the microscopic, say atomic, scale.Conversely, many fundamental questions remain open, and even debated, about the collective dynamics at the macroscopic scale.By "macroscopic scale", here we mean systems made up of a huge number of constituents, or degrees of freedom, say 10 6 , 10 23 , or even more, as relevant in condensed matter physics or in astrophysics, for instance.Such huge systems cannot be treated exactly, be it a the classical level and, even worse, at the quantum level.Yet, it is the main outcome of the thermodynamic approach that the collective behavior of a macroscopic system can drastically differ from that of its elementary constituents.For instance, the elementary interactions between the H 2 O molecules are fundamentally unchanged when a water bucket turns from the liquid phase to the solid phase at zero degree Celsius.Similarly, the interactions between the microscopic magnetic moments do not show any brutal change when a magnetic material gets magnetized underneath the Curie temperature.Hence, the dramatic effects observed in macroscopic systems are governed by large-scale instabilities, without obvious counterparts at the microscopic level.This observation takes a universal character, summarized in the celebrated motto "More is Different" [15].Such so-called emerging phenomena also appear in quantum systems, where new effects that are impossible in the classical world show up below some critical temperature or at zero temperature when some interaction parameter passes through a critical value.Celebrated examples include the superfluid transition in helium or super-conducting transitions and other metal-insulator transitions in electronic systems.Strikingly enough at first sight, while emerging phenomena only appear in very large scale macroscopic systems, their germs are contained in the mutual interactions of their elementary constituents.Hence, local two-body interactions are sufficient to explain a huge class of phase transitions, such as the liquid-solid and magnetic transitions mentioned above.The Boltzmann statistical approach proved particularly successful in describing this connection between the microscopic and macroscopic scales.To understand emerging phenomena on grounds as fundamental as possible, the programme is now well established: One tries to identify the basic microscopic terms that seem to be relevant and disregards all the other microscopic details.One then elaborates a model, as generic as possible, likely to reproduce the main experimental observations.The most usual examples are the Ising and Heisenberg models for magnetic transitions, or the Hubbard model for metal-insulator transitions [16][17][18].Then all is left to do is to check that the phenomenon of interest indeed emerges from the dynamics of the simplified model.The realization of this programme is nothing but a simulation.It consists in building up a simplified system that mimics the main properties of a real system.
Recent advances in quantum technologies enabled us to make large quantum states \nand pushed towards examining quantum theory at the macroscopic level. However observation \nof quantum e ects at a macroscopic level still remains a demanding task. In this \nthesis we try to address one of the challenges and propose and explore some new solutions. \nOne of the obstacles for observation of macroscopic quantum e ects is the sensitivity \nto the measurement resolution. For many di erent cases, it has been observed that the \nprecision requirement for measuring quantum e ects increases with the system size. We \nformalize this as a conjecture that for observation of macroscopic quantum e ects, either \nthe outcome precision or the control precision of the measurements has to increase with \nsystem size. This indicates that the complexity of macroscopic quantum measurement \nincreases with the system size and sheds some lights on the quantum-to-classical transition \nat the macroscopic level. \nWe also introduce a technique to go around the sensitivity problem for observation \nof micro-macro entanglement. We propose that using a unitary deampli cation process, \none can bring the system back to the microscopic level where the measurements are less \ndemanding and quantum e ects are easier to verify. As the unitary processes do not change \nthe entanglement, this serves as a veri cation tool for micro-macro entanglement. \nWe also explored the connection between quantum e ects and thermodynamics of \nmacroscopic quantum systems for two speci c cases. For one, we investigated the e ect of \nentanglement in composite bosons and Bose-Einstein condensation. We showed that as the \nstate of the composite boson approaches a maximally entangled state, the condensation \nrate also approaches one. \nThe other case we considered was heat-bath algorithmic cooling. We found the cooling \nlimit of this class of thermodynamic transformations and showed that it decreases \nexponentially with the number of qubits. \nWe also developed an entropic version of Mermin's inequality. Here the idea is to \ndevelop a tool to reveal the entanglement in many-body quantum systems based on the \nentropy of the measurement outcomes. We introduce a new inequality that holds for locally \nrealistic models, yet can be violated with quantum measurements. One of the nice features \nof this inequality is that it can be violated maximally with quantum measurements. This \nresembles the GHZ paradox but for entropies of the measurement outcomes.
Theory and experiment have not fully resolved the apparent dichotomy , which has agonized physics for the past eighty years: on the one hand, the description of microsystems by quantum mechanics and, on the other, the description of macrosystems by classical dynamics or statistical mechanics. Derivations of the time-irreversible Liouville equation for an open quantum system, based on projecting out its environment, have narrowed the gap between the quantum and classical descriptions. Yet our `classical' intuition continues to be confronted by quantum-mechanical results like the Einstein--Podolsky--Rosen paradox that challenges the classical notion of locality, or the quantum Zeno effect which suggests that the isolation of a system is not the only way to preserve its quantum state. There are two key concepts in any discussion of such issues. The first, which is responsible for the most salient nonclassical properties, is entanglement , that is partial or complete correlation or, more generally, inseparability of the elements comprising a quantum ensemble . Even after their interaction has ceased, this inseparability, originating from their past interaction, can affect the state of one element when another element is subject to a nonunitary action, such as its measurement, tracing- out, or thermalization. The second key concept is decoherence of open quantum systems, which is the consequence of their entanglement with their environment, a `meter' or a thermal `reservoir', followed by the tracing-out of the latter. Despite new insights into entanglement and decoherence, there are still no complete, unequivocal answers to the fundamental questions of the transition from quantal to classical behaviour: how do irreversibility and classicality emerge from unitarity as systems and their environments become increasingly complex ? At what stage does system--meter entanglement give rise to a classical readout of the meter? Is there an upper limit on the size or complexity of systems displaying entanglement? Major developments have opened new vistas into controlled entanglement , which is the resource of quantum information processing. However, these developments have mainly focused on ensembles of simple two- and three-level systems that are thoroughly isolated from their environments. Treatments of coherence in quantum computing have mostly assumed that only a single or a few the elements of the quantum ensemble may simultaneously undergo an uncontrolled intervention---a quantum error. Decoherence-control protocols for more general types of errors are still incomplete. In order to resolve the outstanding issues of the quantum--classical transition, and study the control of entanglement and decoherence without the foregoing restrictions, we must venture into the domain of Quantum Complex Systems (QUACS), either consisting of a large number of inseparable elements or having many coupled degrees of freedom. Our conviction is that fundamental understanding and manipulation of entanglement within QUACS or their entanglement with the environment or a meter, call for the creation of a new conceptual framework or paradigm, that would encompass phenomena common to cold atoms in laser fields, large molecules, Josephson junctions, quantum gases and solids, with the view of employing these systems for quantum information processing and computing. Progress within this paradigm should allow us to answer the questions: does entanglement play an essential role in the evolution of large collections of complex systems? What are the size and complexity limits of systems and ensembles still controllable by an external intervention? What are the most appropriate decoherence protection schemes and control algorithms? This special issue addresses the challenge of understanding in depth and manipulating the basic quantum properties of optical, atomic, molecular and condensed-matter QUACS, and large ensembles thereof. In view of the interdisciplinary character of this issue, we find it expedient to look at the presented articles not only according to the physical objects they describe, but also from a unifying standpoint. Several unifying themes may be discerned: memory effects in dephasing and relaxation; protection of quantum information by its distribution throughout the ensemble; control of decoherence and entanglement by time-dependent interventions or measurements; manifestations of entanglement in scattering off statistical ensembles; measurment-induced dynamics. The concerted discussion of the topics outlined above should help us advance the new paradigm that addresses our abilities to diagnose and manipulate the entangled states of complex quantum objects and their robustness against decoherence. These abilities are required for quantum information (QI) applications in matter--wave interferometry in molecular, semiconducting or superconducting systems. On the fundamental level, this book may help establish the notion of dynamical information exchange between quantum systems and chart in detail the route from unitarity to classicality. Further developments within the outlined paradigm should yield novel, advantageous QI processing schemes and high-sensitivity interferometers, owing to decoherence suppression and effective control of many degrees of freedom. In the long run, these strategies may prove to be the first step towards the (hitherto unattempted) use of entanglement in nanotechnology, metrology and chemistry, with potentially remarkable novel applications.