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arXiv:1609.04396 · Physical Review A

Quantum-speed-limit bounds in an open quantum evolution

Nicolás Mirkin, Fabricio Toscano, Diego A. Wisniacki

Published Nov 22, 2016• 79 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum mechanics dictates bounds for the minimal evolution time between predetermined initial and final states. Several of these quantum-speed-limit (QSL) bounds were derived for nonunitary dynamics using different approaches. Here, we perform a systematic analysis of the most common QSL bounds in the damped Jaynes-Cummings model, covering the Markovian and non-Markovian regimes. We show that only one of the analyzed bounds cleaves to the essence of the QSL theory outlined in the pioneer works of Mandelstam and Tamm and of Margolus and Levitin in the context of unitary evolutions. We also show that all QSL bounds analyzed reflect the fact that in our model non-Markovian effects speed up quantum evolution. However, it is not possible to infer Markovian or non-Markovian behavior of the dynamics by analyzing only the QSL bounds.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.94.052125

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•May 31, 2021•0 citations
Quantum mechanics dictates bounds for the minimal evolution time between predetermined initial and final states. Several of these quantum-speed-limit (QSL) bounds were derived for nonunitary dynamics using different approaches. Here, we perform a systematic analysis of the most common QSL bounds in the damped Jaynes-Cummings model, covering the Markovian and non-Markovian regimes. We show that only one of the analyzed bounds cleaves to the essence of the QSL theory outlined in the pioneer works of Mandelstam and Tamm and of Margolus and Levitin in the context of unitary evolutions. We also show that all QSL bounds analyzed reflect the fact that in our model non-Markovian effects speed up quantum evolution. However, it is not possible to infer Markovian or non-Markovian behavior of the dynamics by analyzing only the QSL bounds.
As one of the fundamental questions, quantum speed limit (QSL) is of vital role in the community of quantum physics, which sets the ultimate, maximal speed with which a quantum system can evolve. QSL originated from the understanding of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. In 1945, Mandelstam and Tamm found the time Δt in the celebrated relation ΔEΔt≥ℏ could be thought as the minimum time that a quantum system needs to evolve from an initial state to the orthogonal state for unitary evolution. QSL sets the lower bound of the evolution. They established the relationship between the minimum evolution time ( τQSL ) and the energy uncertainty of the system (ΔE), namely τQSL=πℏ/(2ΔE) , the Mandelstam-Tamm (MT) bound. Later, Margolus and Levitin derived another different bound for a closed system which connected the τQSL with the average energy of the system ( 〈E〉 ), i.e., τQSL=πℏ/(2〈E〉) , the Margolus-Levitin (ML) bound. Combining the MT and ML bounds together, we can have a unified bound for a unitary system and orthogonal states. In the case of open system dynamics, because there is energy and/or coherence exchange between the system and the environment, the orthogonal final state of the initial state can hardly be reached any longer. An investigation of the QSL on non-unitary quantum evolution needs to be considered. The generalized QSLs are established by employing the distance between the distinguishable states. Different metrics define different distances, leading to different QSL bounds. We show a few typical generalized QSL bounds based on different metrics. And the unified QSL bound for non-unitary evolution is obtained by combining the generalized MT and ML bounds under the same metric. The generations and developments of QSL have successfully generalized the MT bounds. Even the ML bounds have been attempted to generalize, the current studies of ML bound are thought as the significantly harder task, and keep as the open questions. The influences of external environment and quantum system dynamics which include the role of entanglement in QSL for open dynamics and many-body systems, the relation between the maximum interaction speed and QSL in quantum spin systems, the non-Markovianity effect of the environment on accelerating the speed of evolution have been investigated. Furthermore, by employing the gauge invariant distance in the Riemannian metric, we establish a distinct QSL bound, which relates the quantum speed limit time to the geometry phase, and presents the geometric and gauge invariant properties of it. The bound shows the impacts of the transmission modes of the state vectors on the evolution path in the manifold. Different from the established MT and ML bounds, our bound establishes the relation between the QSL and the Pancharatnam connection 1-form, and our results show that the QSL can be controlled via manipulating the generalized Pahcharatnam connection. Also, our results of QSL are holonomy via the generalized Pahcharatnam connection, which show us a possible technique to speed up the holonomic quantum computation. The bound is also interesting to the metrology and non-equilibrium thermodynamics, etc. QSL has also been studied in the quantum representation of Wigner function. In the future research of quantum speed limit, there are many issues that need to be considered, such as the generalized ML bound, the unified QSL bound under different metrics, the application of maximum rate of quantum information derived from the QSL, and the relation between the quantum speed limit and the quantum heat engine, etc.
The quantum speed limit (QSL) refers to the maximum speed of a quantum system to evolve from an initial state to its orthogonal states. The bound on the QSL for Hermitian systems, for example the Mandelstam-Tamm (MT) and Margolus-Levitin (ML) as well as Sun-Zheng(SZ) bound, was studied respectively from the perspectives of average value and variance of the system Hamiltonian as well as the geometry of the system. While the compactness of the MT-type, ML-type and SZ-type bounds has been examined well for Hermitian systems, a compact QSL for non-Hermitian systems has not been well studied. In this work, based on the biorthogonal basis theory we derive two distinct and tighter bounds on the QSL for non-Hermitian systems, which correspond to the MT and ML bounds for Hermitian systems. We show that the shortest evolution time corresponding to the two bounds of the non-Hermitian system can be attained by certain initial states, showing the compactness and tightness of our bounds. These initial states dubbed fastest initial states(FIS) are different from that in Hermitian systems. A bound close to QSL for non-FIS is presented and comparison of our bound with others in literature is performed. To illustrate our results, we present a minimal non-Hermitian system to show QSL, and the condition for the shortest evolution time is derived analytically using the present theory.
The minimal evolution time between two distinguishable states is of fundamental interest in quantum physics. Very recently Mirkin et al. [Phys. Rev. A 94, 052125 (2016)] argued that some of the most common quantum-speed-limit (QSL) bounds which depend on the actual evolution time do not cleave to the essence of the QSL theory as they grow indefinitely but the final state is reached at a finite time in a damped Jaynes-Cummings model. In this paper, we thoroughly study this puzzling phenomenon. We find the inconsistent estimates will happen if and only if the limit of resolution of a calculation program is achieved, through which we propose that the nature of the inconsistency is not a violation of the essence of the QSL theory but an illusion caused by the finite precision in numerical simulations. We also present a generic method to overcome the inconsistent estimates and confirm its effectiveness in both amplitude-damping and phase-damping channels. Additionally, we show special cases which may restrict the QSL bound defined by ``quantumness''.
The minimal time a system needs to evolve from an initial state to its one orthogonal state is defined as the quantum speed limit time, which can be used to characterize the maximal speed of evolution of a quantum system. This is a fundamental question of quantum physics. We investigate the generic bound on the minimal evolution time of the open dynamical quantum system. This quantum speed limit time is applicable to both mixed and pure initial states. We then apply this result to the damped Jaynes-Cummings model and the Ohimc-like dephasing model starting from a general time-evolution state. The bound of this time-dependent state at any point in time can be found. For the damped Jaynes-Cummings model, when the system starts from the excited state, the corresponding bound first decreases and then increases in the Markovian dynamics. While in the non-Markovian regime, the speed limit time shows an interesting periodic oscillatory behavior. For the case of Ohimc-like dephasing model, this bound would be gradually trapped to a fixed value. In addition, the roles of the relativistic effects on the speed limit time for the observer in non-inertial frames are discussed.
Quantum speed limit (QSL) for open quantum systems in the non-Markovian regime is analyzed. We provide the lower bound for the time required to transform an initial state to a final state in terms of thermodynamic quantities such as the energy fluctuation, entropy production rate and dynamical activity. Such bound was already analyzed for Markovian evolution satisfying detailed balance condition. Here we generalize this approach to deal with arbitrary evolution governed by time-local generator. Our analysis is illustrated by three paradigmatic examples of qubit evolution: amplitude damping, pure dephasing, and the eternally non-Markovian evolution.