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arXiv:1906.00022 · Physical Review A

Autonomous multipartite entanglement engines

Armin Tavakoli, Géraldine Haack, Nicolas Brunner, Jonatan Bohr Brask

Published Jan 13, 2020• 45 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The generation of genuine multipartite entangled states is challenging in practice. Here we explore an alternative route to this task, via autonomous entanglement engines which use only incoherent coupling to thermal baths and time-independent interactions. We present a general machine architecture, which allows for the generation of a broad range of multipartite entangled states in a heralded manner. Specifically, given a target multiple-qubit state, we give a sufficient condition ensuring that it can be generated by our machine. We discuss the cases of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger, Dicke, and cluster states in detail. These results demonstrate the potential of purely thermal resources for creating multipartite entangled states useful for quantum information processing.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.101.012315

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The generation of genuine multipartite entangled states is challenging in practice. Here we explore an alternative route to this task, via autonomous entanglement engines which use only incoherent coupling to thermal baths and time-independent interactions. We present a general machine architecture, which allows for the generation of a broad range of multipartite entangled states in a heralded manner. Specifically, given a target multiple-qubit state, we give a sufficient condition ensuring that it can be generated by our machine. We discuss the cases of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger, Dicke, and cluster states in detail. These results demonstrate the potential of purely thermal resources for creating multipartite entangled states useful for quantum information processing.
Abstract We devise an autonomous quantum thermal machine consisting of three pairwise-interacting qubits, two of which are locally coupled to thermal reservoirs. The machine operates autonomously, as it requires no time-coherent control, external driving or quantum bath engineering, and is instead propelled by a chemical potential bias. Under ideal conditions, we show that this out-of-equilibrium system can deterministically generate a maximally entangled steady-state between two of the qubits, or any desired pure two-qubit entangled state, emerging as a dark state of the system. We study the robustness of entanglement production with respect to several relevant parameters, obtaining nearly-maximally-entangled states well-away from the ideal regime of operation. Furthermore, we show that our machine architecture can be generalised to a configuration with 2n − 1 qubits, in which only a potential bias and two-body interactions are sufficient to generate genuine multipartite maximally entangled steady states in the form of a W state of n qubits.
Thermal machines exploit interactions with multiple heat baths to perform useful tasks, such as work production and refrigeration. In the quantum regime, tasks with no classical counterpart become possible. Here, we consider the minimal setting for quantum thermal machines, namely two-qubit autonomous thermal machines that use only incoherent interactions with their environment, and investigate the fundamental resources needed to generate entanglement. Our investigation is systematic, covering different types of interactions, bosonic and fermionic environments, and different resources that can be supplied to the machine. We adopt an operational perspective in which we assess the nonclassicality of the generated entanglement through its ability to perform useful tasks such as Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering, quantum teleportation and Bell nonlocality. We provide both constructive examples of nonclassical effects and general no-go results that demarcate the fundamental limits in autonomous entanglement generation. Our results open up a path toward understanding nonclassical phenomena in thermal processes.
Entanglement is a fundamental feature of quantum physics and a key resource for quantum communication, computing, and sensing. Entangled states are fragile and maintaining coherence is a central challenge in quantum information processing. Nevertheless, entanglement can be generated and stabilized through dissipative processes. In fact, entanglement has been shown to exist in the steady state of certain interacting quantum systems subject solely to incoherent coupling to thermal baths. This has been demonstrated in a range of bi- and multipartite settings using systems of finite dimension. Here we focus on the steady state of infinite-dimensional bosonic systems. Specifically, we consider any set of bosonic modes undergoing excitation-number-preserving interactions of arbitrary strength and divided between an arbitrary number of parties that each couple weakly to thermal baths at different temperatures. We show that a unique steady state is always separable.
Abstract Natural interactions among multiple quantum objects are fundamentally composed of two-body terms only. In contradistinction, single global unitaries that generate highly entangled states typically arise from Hamiltonians that couple multiple individual subsystems simultaneously. Here, we study the time to produce strongly nonclassical multipartite correlations with a single unitary generated by the natural interactions. We restrict the symmetry of two-body interactions to match the symmetry of the target states and focus on the fastest generation of multipartite entangled Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger, W, Dicke and absolutely maximally entangled states for up to seven qubits. These results are obtained by constraining the energy in the system and accordingly can be seen as state-dependent quantum speed limits for symmetry-adjusted natural interactions. They give rise to a counter-intuitive effect where the creation of particular entangled states with an increasing number of particles does not require more time. The methods used rely on extensive numerical simulations and analytical estimations.
We discuss a simple quantum thermal machine for the generation of steady-state entanglement between two interacting qubits. The machine is autonomous in the sense that it uses only incoherent interactions with thermal baths, but no source of coherence or external control. By weakly coupling the qubits to thermal baths at different temperatures, inducing a heat current through the system, steady-state entanglement is generated far from thermal equilibrium. Finally, we discuss two possible implementations, using superconducting flux qubits or a semiconductor double quantum dot. Experimental prospects for steady-state entanglement are promising in both systems.
We assess quantum nonlocality of multiparty entangled thermal states by studying, quantitatively, both tripartite and quadripartite states belonging to the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger, W, and linear cluster-state classes and showing violation of relevant Bell-like inequalities. We discuss the conditions for maximizing the degree of violation against the local thermal character of the states and the inefficiency of the detection apparatuses. We demonstrate that such classes of multipartite entangled states can be made to last quite significantly, notwithstanding adverse operating conditions. This opens up the possibility for coherent exploitation of multipartite quantum channels made out of entangled thermal states. Our study is accompanied by a detailed description of possible generation schemes for the states analyzed.