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arXiv:2104.01802 · Quantum Reports

The Underlying Order Induced by Orthogonality and the Quantum Speed Limit

Francisco J. Sevilla, Andrea Valdés-Hernández, Alan J. Barrios

Published Jul 24, 2021• 3 citations
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Abstract

We perform a comprehensive analysis of the set of parameters {ri} that provide the energy distribution of pure qutrits that evolve towards a distinguishable state at a finite time τ, when evolving under an arbitrary and time-independent Hamiltonian. The orthogonality condition is exactly solved, revealing a non-trivial interrelation between τ and the energy spectrum and allowing the classification of {ri} into families organized in a 2-simplex, δ2. Furthermore, the states determined by {ri} are likewise analyzed according to their quantum-speed limit. Namely, we construct a map that distinguishes those ris in δ2 correspondent to states whose orthogonality time is limited by the Mandelstam–Tamm bound from those restricted by the Margolus–Levitin one. Our results offer a complete characterization of the physical quantities that become relevant in both the preparation and study of the dynamics of three-level states evolving towards orthogonality.

DOI
10.3390/quantum3030024

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We perform a comprehensive analysis of the set of parameters {ri} that provide the energy distribution of pure qutrits that evolve towards a distinguishable state at a finite time τ, when evolving under an arbitrary and time-independent Hamiltonian. The orthogonality condition is exactly solved, revealing a non-trivial interrelation between τ and the energy spectrum and allowing the classification of {ri} into families organized in a 2-simplex, δ2. Furthermore, the states determined by {ri} are likewise analyzed according to their quantum-speed limit. Namely, we construct a map that distinguishes those ris in δ2 correspondent to states whose orthogonality time is limited by the Mandelstam–Tamm bound from those restricted by the Margolus–Levitin one. Our results offer a complete characterization of the physical quantities that become relevant in both the preparation and study of the dynamics of three-level states evolving towards orthogonality.
The speed of evolution between perfectly distinguishable states is thoroughly analyzed in a closed three-level (qutrit) quantum system. Considering an evolution under an arbitrary time-independent Hamiltonian, we fully characterize the relevant parameters according to whether the corresponding quantum speed limit is given by the Mandelstam-Tamm, the Margolus-Levitin, or the Ness-Alberti-Sagi (dual) bound, thereby elucidating their hierarchy and relative importance. We revisit the necessary and sufficient conditions that guarantee the evolution of the initial state towards an orthogonal one in a finite time, and pay special attention to the full characterization of the speed of evolution, offering a speed map in parameter space that highlights regions associated with faster or slower dynamics. The general analysis is applied to concrete physical settings, particularly a pair of bosons governed by an extended Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, and a single particle in a triple-well potential. Our findings provide a framework to explore how the energetic resources and the initial configurations shape the pace of the dynamics in higher-dimensional systems.
Quantum speed limits set the maximal pace of state evolution. Two well-known limits exist for a unitary time-independent Hamiltonian: the Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin bounds. The former restricts the rate according to the state energy uncertainty, while the latter depends on the mean energy relative to the ground state. Here we report on an additional bound that exists for states with a bounded energy spectrum. This bound is dual to the Margolus-Levitin one in the sense that it depends on the difference between the state's mean energy and the energy of the highest occupied eigenstate. Each of the three bounds can become the most restrictive one, depending on the spread and mean of the energy, forming three dynamical regimes which are accessible in a multilevel system. The new bound is relevant for quantum information applications, since in most of them, information is stored and manipulated in a Hilbert space with a bounded energy spectrum.
The quantum speed limit (QSL) is the lower bound on the time required for a state to evolve to a desired final state under a given Hamiltonian evolution. Three well-known QSLs exist: the Mandelstam-Tamm (MT), Margolus-Levitin (ML), and dual ML (ML*) bounds. We consider one-dimensional systems that undergo a delocalization-localization transition in the presence of quasiperiodic and linear potential. By performing sudden quenches across the phase boundary, we find that the exact dynamics gets captured very well by QSLs. We show that the MT bound is always tighter in the short-time limit for any arbitrary state, while the optimal bound for the time of orthogonalization (time required to reach the orthogonal state) depends on the choice of the initial state. Further, for extreme quenches, we prove that the MT bound remains tighter for the time of orthogonalization and it can qualitatively describe the nonanalyticity in free energy for the dynamical quantum phase transition. We also demonstrate that the localization-delocalization transition point can be exactly identified from QSLs for two of the models of noninteracting fermions. Further, we also show that even for interacting systems, an ergodic to many-body localization transition can also be efficiently predicted from QSLs, whose computation cost is much less than other diagnostic tools.
Abstract Quantum speed limit (QSL) is the study of fundamental limits on the evolution time of quantum systems. For instance, under the action of a time-independent Hamiltonian, the evolution time between an initial and a final quantum state obeys various mutually complementary lower bounds. They include the Mandelstam–Tamm (MT) bound, the Margolus–Levitin (ML) bound, the Luo–Zhang bound, the Lee–Chau (LC) bound together with the dual ML bound introduced by Ness and coworkers. Here we show that the MT bound can be obtained by optimizing the LC bound over a certain parameter. More importantly, we report a QSL that includes all the above bounds as special cases before optimizing over the physically meaningless reference energy level of a quantum system. This unifying bound depends on a certain parameter p. For any fixed p, we find all pairs of time-independent Hamiltonian and initial pure quantum state that saturate this unifying bound. More importantly, these pairs allow us to compute this bound accurately and efficiently using an oracle that returns certain pth moments related to the absolute value of energy of the quantum state. Moreover, this oracle can be simulated by a computationally efficient and accurate algorithm for finite-dimensional quantum systems as well as for certain infinite-dimensional quantum states with bounded and continuous energy spectra. This makes our computational method feasible in a lot of practical situations. We further compare the performance of this bound for the case of a fixed p as well as the case of optimizing over p with existing QSLs. We find that if the dimension of the underlying Hilbert space is ≲ 2000 , our unifying bound optimized over p can be computed accurately in a few minutes using Mathematica code with just-in-time compilation in a typical desktop. Besides, this optimized unifying QSL is at least as good as all the existing ones combined and can occasionally be a few percent to a few times better.
We provide a complete characterization of all finite-dimensional quantum systems that saturate the Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limit at arbitrary Uhlmann-Jozsa fidelity. Employing a purification-based approach, we prove that mixed-state saturation occurs precisely when three structural criteria are fulfilled: the state's support is confined to the sum of two energy eigenspaces (the ground level and a single excited level); each eigenvector of the state with nonzero weight is a fixed superposition of one ground- and one excited-state energy eigenvector (determined by the minimizer of the objective function identified by Giovannetti et al.) and all such eigenvectors evolve in mutually orthogonal subspaces. These requirements impose a strict rank bound, ruling out saturation by any faithful state. For quantum bits, we derive a purity-resolved and tight Margolus-Levitin bound that reduces to the pure-state result in the limit of unit purity. Through a time-reversal argument, we further extend the dual Margolus-Levitin quantum speed limit to mixed states and establish the corresponding saturation conditions.