Quantum speed limits (QSLs) provide an upper bound for the speed of evolution of quantum states in any physical process. Based on the Stratonovich-Weyl correspondence, we derive a universal QSL bound in arbitrary phase spaces that is applicable for both continuous variable systems and finite-dimensional discrete quantum systems. This QSL bound allows the determination of speed limit bounds in specific phase spaces that are tighter than those in Wigner phase space or Hilbert space under the same metric, as illustrated by several typical examples, e.g., a single-mode free field and $N$-level quantum systems in phase spaces. This QSL bound also provides an experimentally realizable way to examine the speed limit in phase spaces relevant to applications in quantum information and quantum optics.
Quantum speed limits (QSLs) provide an upper bound for the speed of evolution of quantum states in any physical process. Based on the Stratonovich-Weyl correspondence, we derive a universal QSL bound in arbitrary phase spaces that is applicable for both continuous variable systems and finite-dimensional discrete quantum systems. This QSL bound allows the determination of speed limit bounds in specific phase spaces that are tighter than those in Wigner phase space or Hilbert space under the same metric, as illustrated by several typical examples, e.g., a single-mode free field and N-level quantum systems in phase spaces. This QSL bound also provides an experimentally realizable way to examine the speed limit in phase spaces relevant to applications in quantum information and quantum optics.
The quantum speed limit (QSL) is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics, providing a lower bound on the evolution time. The attainability of the QSL, which greatly depends on the understanding of the QSL, is a long-standing open problem, especially for high-dimensional systems. In this paper, we solve this problem by establishing a QSL suitable and attainable for both open and closed quantum systems based on a new proposed state distance. It is shown that, given any initial state in a certain finite dimension, unitary and nonunitary dynamics can always be found to attain our QSL bound in the corresponding dimension, and for any given Hamiltonian for a unitary evolution a pair of states always exists, attaining the bound. As applications, we demonstrate the QSL time attained by various physical settings. This paper will shed light on the QSL problems.
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.
Quantum speed limits (QSLs) identify fundamental time scales of physical processes by providing lower bounds on the rate of change of a quantum state or the expectation value of an observable. We introduce a generalization of QSL for unitary operator flows, which are ubiquitous in physics and relevant for applications in both the quantum and classical domains. We derive two types of QSLs and assess the existence of a crossover between them, that we illustrate with a qubit and a random matrix Hamiltonian, as canonical examples. We further apply our results to the time evolution of autocorrelation functions, obtaining computable constraints on the linear dynamical response of quantum systems out of equilibrium and the quantum Fisher information governing the precision in quantum parameter estimation.
Quantum speed limits (QSLs) impose fundamental constraints on the evolution speed of quantum systems. For systems with time-independent Hamiltonians, the QSLs are intricately linked to the energy spectra of the initial state, which signify the generalization of the time-energy uncertainty relation. Based on arbitrary-order norms of the Hamiltonian, dual energies from inverted spectra, and the standard deviation of energy, different types of QSLs have been proposed, revealing three dynamical parameter regimes of quantum state evolution. Despite the theoretical advancements, a comprehensive experimental examination remains elusive. In this research, by introducing unified bounds suitable for all evolution times, we present the experimental verification to the QSLs in various scenarios with a superconducting circuit. We explore the dynamical evolution with regard to each parameter regime as well as the critical point by carefully engineering the initial-state population of the superconducting resonator. We test our unified bounds over finite-level states and infinite-level classical and nonclassical Gaussian states, which validates the criteria for the QSLs. Our work substantially deepens our comprehension of unitary quantum evolution.
According to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle between time and energy fluctuation, a concept of the quantum speed limit (QSL) has been established to determine the minimum evolutionary time between quantum states. Considerable theoretical and experimental efforts are invested in obtaining the QSL time bounds in various scenarios. However, it remains a long-standing goal to derive a meaningful QSL bound for a general quantum problem. Here, we propose a geometrical approach to derive a QSL bound for closed and open quantum systems. By solving a quantum brachistochrone problem in the framework of the Riemannian metric, we show that the QSL between a given initial state and a final state is determined not only by the entire dynamics of the system but also by the individual dynamics of a critical parameter. We exemplify the utility of the bound in three representative scenarios, demonstrating a pronounced advantage in finding a tight and meaningful QSL bound of a general quantum evolution problem.