We study the decoherence of even and odd superpositions of displaced number states in the frameworks of the standard master equation, describing phase insensitive attenuators and amplifiers. We compare different possible definitions of the ‘decoherence time’ and show that the frequently used approaches based on the time derivatives of some quantities (such as the ‘quantum purity’), taken at the initial moment, are not quite satisfactory for quantum states characterized by several parameters, due to the absence of the scaling laws. Defining the conditional decoherence time as the time necessary for diminishing the interference peak of the Wigner function to the given relative level, we study its dependence on the initial distance between peaks |α|, excitation number m and parameters of the reservoir. We show that highly excited states with can be more robust against decoherence than the coherent superpositions with m = 0.
We study the decoherence of even and odd superpositions of displaced number states in the frameworks of the standard master equation, describing phase insensitive attenuators and amplifiers. We compare different possible definitions of the ‘decoherence time’ and show that the frequently used approaches based on the time derivatives of some quantities (such as the ‘quantum purity’), taken at the initial moment, are not quite satisfactory for quantum states characterized by several parameters, due to the absence of the scaling laws. Defining the conditional decoherence time as the time necessary for diminishing the interference peak of the Wigner function to the given relative level, we study its dependence on the initial distance between peaks |α|, excitation number m and parameters of the reservoir. We show that highly excited states with can be more robust against decoherence than the coherent superpositions with m = 0.
We study the decoherence of superpositions of displaced quantum states of the form (where | g ⟩ is an arbitrary 'fiducial' state and is the usual displacement operator) within the framework of the standard master equation for a quantum damped or amplified harmonic oscillator interacting with a phase-insensitive (thermal) reservoir. We compare two simple measures of the degree of decoherence: the quantum purity and the height of the central interference peak of the Wigner function. We show that for N > 2 'mesoscopic' components of the superposition, the decoherence process cannot be characterized by a single decoherence time. Therefore, we distinguish the 'initial decoherence time' and 'final decoherence time' and study their dependence on the parameters α k and N . We obtain approximate formulae for an arbitrary state | g ⟩ and explicit exact expressions in the special case of | g ⟩ = | m ⟩, i.e., for (symmetrical) superpositions of displaced Fock states of occupation number m . We show that the superposition with a large number of components N and rich 'internal structure' ( m ∼ |α| 2 ) can be more robust against decoherence than simple superpositions of two coherent states (with m = 0), even if the initial decoherence times coincide. Also, we show how initial pure quantum superpositions are transformed into highly mixed and totally classical superpositions in the case of a phase-insensitive amplifier.
In this paper, the decoherence of the quantum excitation (the photon-added case) of even/odd coherent states, in a photon-loss channel is studied via the evaluation of the negative part of the Wigner quasi-distribution function in terms of the rescaled time ( ). We first obtain the explicit form of the time-dependent Wigner functions of the states considered, for arbitrary values of the photon excitations. To achieve this purpose, an equivalent Fokker–Planck-like equation which describes the time evolution of the Wigner function in the framework of the standard master equation of the density matrix is used. Then, by analyzing the time variation of the corresponding Wigner functions, the loss of the nonclassicality behavior and, hence, the decay of the negative part of the Wigner functions as a result of decoherence are clearly shown. In particular, we derive the threshold value of the rescaled time for single-photon-added even and odd coherent states; through this it is observed that the associated Wigner functions become positive whenever the rescaled time exceeds that value, i.e., the decoherence has become complete. By virtue of numerical calculations, it is also illustrated that the negative volume of the corresponding Wigner functions decreases with increasing time. In addition, the states with larger values of the excitation number m generally (but not absolutely always) possess smaller values of the rescaled threshold time.
In this paper we will study the statistical properties of a generalized superposition of two displaced number states of the form, [Formula: see text] with a phase difference of φ between them. A particular case of this state is obtained when we consider n1=n2=n and α1=-α2=α, which we will call even and odd displaced number state. It will be shown that they are the generalization of the even and odd coherent states. The generation of this states, based on the dispersive interaction with a two-level atom, will also be discussed.
We introduce the quantitative measures characterizing the rates of decoherence and thermalization of quantum systems. We study the time evolution of these measures in the case of a quantum harmonic oscillator whose relaxation is described in the framework of the standard master equation, for various initial states (coherent, `cat', squeezed and number). We establish the conditions under which the true decoherence measure can be approximated by the linear entropy 1-Tr 2 . We show that at low temperatures and for highly excited initial states the decoherence process consists of three distinct stages with quite different time scales. In particular, the `cat' states preserve 50% of the initial coherence for a long time interval which increases logarithmically with the increase of the initial energy.
We study the evolution of Wigner functions of arbitrary initial quantum states of field modes in a one-dimensional ideal cavity, whose boundary performs small harmonic oscillations at the frequency ω W = p ω 1 (where ω 1 is the fundamental field eigenfrequency). Special attention is paid to the case of initial even and odd coherent states, which serve as models of the 'Schrödinger cat states'. We show that the strong intermode interaction (due to the Doppler upshift of the fields reflected from the oscillating mirror) results in the decoherence of initial quantum superpositions in selected modes, even in the absence of any external 'environment'. Different quantitative measures of decoherence are discussed. The analytical solutions obtained show that any initial state of the field goes asymptotically to a highly mixed and moderately squeezed state in the 'principal resonance case' p = 2 and to the vacuum state in the 'semiresonance case' p = 1. It is shown that the decoherence process has several stages. In the first one, the interference between the components of the initial superposition is rapidly destroyed during the time of the primary decoherence , which is inversely proportional to the first power of the initial distance between the components, as opposed to the second power in the case of usual dissipative reservoirs. However, some weak traces of coherence (quantumness of states), such as the regions of negativity of the Wigner function, survive for much longer times, which do not depend on the size of the initial superposition.
We present a detailed report on the decoherence of quantum states of continuous variable systems under the action of a quantum optical master equation resulting from the interaction with general Gaussian uncorrelated environments. The rate of decoherence is quantified by relating it to the decay rates of various, complementary measures of the quantum nature of a state, such as the purity, some non-classicality indicators in phase space, and, for two-mode states, entanglement measures and total correlations between the modes. Different sets of physically relevant initial configurations are considered, including one- and two-mode Gaussian states, number states, and coherent superpositions. Our analysis shows that, generally, the use of initially squeezed configurations does not help to preserve the coherence of Gaussian states, whereas it can be effective in protecting coherent superpositions of both number states and Gaussian wavepackets.