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arXiv:2211.12779 · npj Quantum Information

Revealing inherent quantum interference and entanglement of a Dirac particle

Wen Ning, Ri‐Hua Zheng, Yan Xia, Kai Xu, Hekang Li, Dongning Zheng, Heng Fan, Fan Wu, Zhen‐Biao Yang, Shi‐Biao Zheng

Published Oct 10, 2023• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Although originally predicted in relativistic quantum mechanics, Zitterbewegung can also appear in some classical systems, which leads to the important question of whether Zitterbewegung of Dirac particles is underlain by a more fundamental and universal interference behavior without classical analogs. We here reveal such an interference pattern in phase space, which underlies but goes beyond Zitterbewegung , and whose nonclassicality is manifested by the negativity of the phase space quasiprobability distribution, and the associated pseudospin-momentum entanglement. We confirm this discovery by numerical simulation and an on-chip experiment, where a superconducting qubit and a quantized microwave field respectively emulate the internal and external degrees of freedom of a Dirac particle. The measured quasiprobability negativities agree well with the numerical simulation. Besides being of fundamental importance, the demonstrated nonclassical effects are useful in quantum technology.

DOI
10.1038/s41534-023-00770-0

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Abstract Although originally predicted in relativistic quantum mechanics, Zitterbewegung can also appear in some classical systems, which leads to the important question of whether Zitterbewegung of Dirac particles is underlain by a more fundamental and universal interference behavior without classical analogs. We here reveal such an interference pattern in phase space, which underlies but goes beyond Zitterbewegung , and whose nonclassicality is manifested by the negativity of the phase space quasiprobability distribution, and the associated pseudospin-momentum entanglement. We confirm this discovery by numerical simulation and an on-chip experiment, where a superconducting qubit and a quantized microwave field respectively emulate the internal and external degrees of freedom of a Dirac particle. The measured quasiprobability negativities agree well with the numerical simulation. Besides being of fundamental importance, the demonstrated nonclassical effects are useful in quantum technology.
Abstract We propose a protocol to effectively study the interference of Dirac particles in phase space. The negativity of the quasiprobability distribution in phase space and the entanglement between the internal and external degrees of freedom constitute the non-classical manifestations of this interference. The protocol makes use of a synthetic quantum Rabi model, which is obtained by applying a parametric drive to the Jaynes–Cummings model. When the parametric drive is almost resonant with the cavity frequency, the effective system Hamiltonian takes the same form as the one-dimensional Dirac particle Hamiltonian. We explore the quantum interference using this equivalent model and find that the interference pattern can occur even in the absence of the Zitterbewegung effect. In addition, we simulate the quantum behavior of Dirac particles encountering potential barriers through the simulation of Klein tunneling. These non-classical effects offer potential application in fields such as quantum computing.
In a semiclassical context we investigate the Zitterbewegung of relativistic particles with spin 1/2 moving in external fields. It is shown that the analogue of Zitterbewegung for general observables can be removed to arbitrary order in ℏ by projecting to dynamically almost invariant subspaces of the quantum mechanical Hilbert space which are associated with particles and anti-particles. This not only allows us to identify observables with a semiclassical meaning, but also to recover combined classical dynamics for the translational and spin degrees of freedom. Finally, we discuss properties of eigenspinors of a Dirac–Hamiltonian when these are projected to the almost invariant subspaces, including the phenomenon of quantum ergodicity.
In 1945, Dirac attempted to develop a “formal probability” distribution to describe quantum operators in terms of two noncommuting variables, such as position x and momentum p [Rev. Mod. Phys. 17, 195 (1945)]. The resulting quasiprobability distribution is a complete representation of the quantum state and can be observed directly in experiments. We measure Dirac’s distribution for the quantum state of the transverse degree of freedom of a photon by weakly measuring transverse x so as to not randomize the subsequent p measurement. Furthermore, we show that the distribution has the classical-like feature that it transforms (e.g., propagates) according to Bayes’ law.
The fact that the Dirac equation predicts Zitterbewegung (ZBW) for a free electron is well known from Schrodinger [E. Schrodinger, Sitzungsber Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (Math. Phys.) 24, 418 (1930)] from the very early days of Dirac's relativistic quantum theory. Schrodingerdescribed ZBW qualitatively as a persistent interference between positive and negative energy states, and the objective of this and previous papers by this author [Phys. Essays 28, 1 (2015); Phys. Essays 29, 402 (2016)] is to describe ways to measure the presence or absence ofZBW for a free (or nearly free) electron. If ZBW measurements show that it is not present for a free electron, then the Dirac Equation and Schrodinger's analysis [E. Schrodinger, Sitzungsber Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (Math. Phys.) 24, 418 (1930)] are inaccurate. If ZBW ispresent as Schrodinger's analysis [E. Schrodinger, Sitzungsber Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (Math. Phys.) 24, 418 (1930)] of the Dirac Equation asserts, then a description of a free electron emerges that is significantly different than the present very small, static point electronwith “intrinsic” properties of spin and magnetic moment accepted by most physicists [Eides et al., Phys. Reports 342, 63 (2001).] today. This paper develops a quantitative theory of the free electron directly from the Dirac Equation and Schrodinger's analyses[E. Schrodinger, Sitzungsber Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (Math. Phys.) 24, 418 (1930)] without any other assumptions. The fact that ZBW exists for the electron in the hydrogen atom is confirmed by the Darwin term [J. J. Sakurai, Advanced Quantum Mechanics (Addison-Wesley,Reading, MA, 1967)]. It seems unnatural to the author that ZBW would vanish when the electron is removed from the hydrogen atom, and becomes free. The unanswered question is whether ZBW can be confirmed or refuted by measurement for a free electron, and possible ways to measure its presenceor absence are described in this paper. The remainder of the paper describes the free electron, assuming ZBW exists. The Dirac Equation [J. H. Wilson, Phys. Essays 28, 1 (2015); Phys. Essays 29, 402 (2016)] produces a physical description of a free electron's ZBW as rapidly oscillating,quantized Center of Charge (CoC) point rotating about a fictitious Center of Mass (CoM) at a radius of 3/ 2 times the electron's Compton wavelength. The results in the remainder of this paper, as well as Schrodinger's analyses [E. Schrodinger, Sitzungsber Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (Math. Phys.)24, 418 (1930).], are only true if ZBW can be confirmed by measurement. In case measurements show no ZBW exists for a free electron, the Dirac Equation is not a correct description of a single free electron, and more serious problems arise. The static point like electron deduced fromscattering experiments [Eides et al., Phys. Rep. 342, 63 (2001)] that give estimates of the free electron's internal structure based on far field measurements can be misleading in estimating the free electron's internal structure. In Classical Electrodynamics, when one observesthe electric field from a point electron and from a sphere with the same charge spread uniformly over its surface from the far field, Gauss' Law shows that the electric fields are identical. When one tries to “observe” or “measure” the free electron's internal structurewith the high-energy photons required, the single particle free electron is completely destroyed by the measurement process. In fact, any attempt to observe or measure a free electron's structure ensures that the electron is no longer a totally free single particle, and one must be carefulto use only elastic observation methods [J. H. Wilson, Phys. Essays 28, 1 (2015); Phys. Essays 29, 402 (2016)] for this very difficult measurement. Observing a free Quark, much less its internal structure, has proven very difficult, if not impossible.
The Dirac equation elucidates fundamental physical principles and predicts significant physical phenomena. Its simulation further offers explanations for subsequent physics observations. We map the 3+1-dimensional Dirac equation onto the first excited manifold of four qubits to simulate the internal four-component spinor dynamics. Additionally, we simulate two intriguing and challenging-to-implement physical phenomena: the Zitterbewegung effect and the Sauter-Schwinger effect. Compared to previous simulations, our system provides a larger parameter space, allowing for a more comprehensive exploration of physical properties. This work enhances our understanding of spinor dynamics. The Dirac equation, one of the most fundamental equations in relativistic quantum mechanics, has influenced diverse research fields. The authors demonstrate an analogue simulation of the 3+1-dimensional Dirac equation by applying parametric modulations in superconducting circuits.
Abstract The generation of quantum entanglement through scattering processes is a fundamental mechanism in quantum information science. In this work, we investigate how coherent-state superpositions, represented as spatial Gaussian wave-packet superpositions, modify nonclassical phase-space features and enhance entanglement production during the scattering of a single particle from a localized spin impurity governed by a Heisenberg-type interaction. We construct even and odd superpositions of coherent states and analyze their time evolution using Fourier-space propagation. The corresponding Wigner distributions are computed analytically, revealing os-cillatory interference fringes and negative-valued regions that quantify nonclassicality. Using the nonclassical volume as a metric, we show that increasing the spatial separation between the Gaussian components enhances nonclassicality, eventually saturating at a stable asymptotic maximum. By incorporating these superposed states as incident wave packets, we compute the post-scattering spin entanglement between the reflected particle and the impurity using the negativity measure. Our results demonstrate that the symmetry of the initial coherent-state superposition fundamentally governs the stability of the generated entanglement: while the even superposition exhibits parameter-sensitive, oscillatory entanglement as the wave-packet separation increases, the odd superpo-sition yields a robust, decay-resistant entanglement plateau across all separation scales. These findings highlight the critical role of engineered nonclassical initial states in optimizing scattering-based quantum technologies