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arXiv:2003.04164

Exploring the Limits of Open Quantum Dynamics II: Gibbs-Preserving Maps from the Perspective of Majorization

Frederik vom Ende

Published Mar 9, 2020• 2 citations
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Abstract

Motivated by reachability questions in coherently controlled open quantum systems coupled to a thermal bath, as well as recent progress in the field of thermo-/vector-majorization we generalize classical majorization from unital quantum channels to channels with an arbitrary fixed point $D$ of full rank. Such channels preserve some Gibbs-state and thus play an important role in the resource theory of quantum thermodynamics, in particular in thermo-majorization. Based on this we investigate $D$-majorization on matrices in terms of its topological and order properties, such as existence of unique maximal and minimal elements, etc. Moreover we characterize $D$-majorization in the qubit case via the trace norm and elaborate on why this is a challenging task when going beyond two dimensions.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2003.04164

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Motivated by reachability questions in coherently controlled open quantum systems coupled to a thermal bath, as well as recent progress in the field of thermo-/vector-majorization we generalize classical majorization from unital quantum channels to channels with an arbitrary fixed point DDD of full rank. Such channels preserve some Gibbs-state and thus play an important role in the resource theory of quantum thermodynamics, in particular in thermo-majorization. Based on this we investigate DDD-majorization on matrices in terms of its topological and order properties, such as existence of unique maximal and minimal elements, etc. Moreover we characterize DDD-majorization in the qubit case via the trace norm and elaborate on why this is a challenging task when going beyond two dimensions.
Motivated by reachability questions in coherently controlled open quantum systems coupled to a thermal bath, as well as recent progress in the field of thermo-/vector-ddd-majorization we generalize classical majorization from unital quantum channels to channels with an arbitrary fixed point DDD of full rank. Such channels preserve some Gibbs-state and thus play an important role in the resource theory of quantum thermodynamics, in particular in thermo-majorization. Based on this we investigate DDD-majorization on matrices in terms of its topological and order properties, such as existence of unique maximal and minimal elements, etc. Moreover we characterize D-majorization in the qubit case via the trace norm and elaborate on why this is a challenging task when going beyond two dimensions.
Motivated by quantum thermodynamics, we first investigate the notion of strict positivity, that is, linear maps which map positive definite states to something positive definite again. We show that strict positivity is decided by the action on any full-rank state, and that the image of non-strictly positive maps lives inside a lower-dimensional subalgebra. This implies that the distance of such maps to the identity channel is lower bounded by one. The notion of strict positivity comes in handy when generalizing the majorization ordering on real vectors with respect to a positive vector d to majorization on square matrices with respect to a positive definite matrix D. For the two-dimensional case, we give a characterization of this ordering via finitely many trace norm inequalities and, moreover, investigate some of its order properties. In particular it admits a unique minimal and a maximal element. The latter is unique as well if and only if minimal eigenvalue of D has multiplicity one.
Which quantum states can be reached by controlling open Markovian nnn-level quantum systems? Here, we address reachable sets of coherently controllable quantum systems with switchable coupling to a thermal bath of temperature TTT. The core problem reduces to a toy model of studying points in the standard simplex allowing for two types of controls: (i) permutations within the simplex, (ii) contractions by a dissipative semigroup. By illustration, we put the problem into context and show how toy-model solutions pertain to the reachable set of the original controlled Markovian quantum system. Beyond the case T=0T=0T=0 (amplitude damping) we present new results for 0<T<∞0 <T < \infty0<T<∞ using methods of ddd-majorisation.
Which quantum states can be reached by controlling open Markovian nnn-level quantum systems? Here, we address reachable sets of coherently controllable quantum systems with switchable coupling to a thermal bath of temperature TTT. The core problem reduces to a toy model of studying points in the standard simplex allowing for two types of controls: (i) permutations within the simplex, (ii) contractions by a dissipative semigroup. By illustration, we put the problem into context and show how toy-model solutions pertain to the reachable set of the original controlled Markovian quantum system. Beyond the case T=0T=0T=0 (amplitude damping) we present new results for $0
Abstract Two constructive proofs on d -majorization and thermo-majorization are provided. In the first part, we present a diagrammatic proof of the equivalence between d -majorization and the existence of a proper stochastic matrix. We explicitly construct the desired stochastic matrix by using a graphical argument. In the second part, we present a constructive proof of the equivalence between the Gibbs-preserving map and thermal operation in classical systems. We construct the desired thermal operation and a heat bath which emulates any Gibbs-preserving map with arbitrary accuracy.
Quantum thermodynamics is traditionally formulated as a theory of equilibrium states and state transformations. Recent advances in higher-order quantum transformations, which describe physical scenarios beyond states and channels and provide a systematic framework for causal order, raise the question of how equilibrium should be defined and preserved in this more general setting. Starting from the Gibbs state as the unique equilibrium state, we identify equilibrium preservation as its natural higher-order extension. We show that, while this principle can in general give rise to distinct classes of transformations, all such distinctions disappear when equilibrium preservation is required completely, namely under arbitrary ancillary extensions. Remarkably, every transformation satisfying this condition is causally ordered, making causal order an emergent consequence of thermodynamic equilibrium. We establish this result for arbitrary higher-order maps and use the resulting framework to introduce free-energy-like quantities for quantum channels. Our findings reveal a fundamental connection between thermodynamic equilibrium and causal structure, providing a foundation for a fully fledged theory of higher-order quantum thermodynamics.