In this thesis we address three topics of open quantum systems theory. \nThe first concerns the operational characterization of an open quantum system. We develop a graphical calculus for open quantum systems and use it to review the operational representation and characterization of noisy evolution using completely-positive maps, or quantum channels. These graphical techniques facilitate an intuitive unification of the various representations of CP-maps, and the transformations between these representations. We generalize the channel formalism by introducing quantum superchannels --- effective quantum channels which take another channel as input. Superchannels may be constructed using graphical techniques to rearrange the tensor network for a sequence of channels, and these constructions allow for the description of a strictly greater set of dynamics than is possible with the standard formalism. We demonstrate this by providing a method for the complete characterization of an open system initially correlated with its environment. In doing so we introduce and develop several novel quantitative measures for characterizing the strength and presence of initial correlations in a quantum system. These techniques may be implemented using measurement of the system alone, and do not require any access or prior knowledge about the environment. \n \nThe second topic we discuss is the parallel initialization of an ensemble quantum system into a high purity state. We describe a dissipative state engineering technique where an ensemble of identical spins may be prepared in its ground state by coupling the spins to the resolved sidebands of a high-Q resonator. This allows for parallel removal of entropy from a large number of quantum systems, enabling an ensemble to achieve a polarization greater than thermal equilibrium, and in principle on a time scale much shorter than thermal relaxation processes. This is achieved by the collective enhancement in coupling strength of the coupled angular momentum subspaces which behave as larger effective spins. Cavity cooling is shown to cool each of these subspaces to their respective ground state, however by including a local $T_2$ dephasing dissipator on each spin we show how one may use this to break the identical spin degeneracy and couple the subspaces to enable cooling to the full ground state of the joint system. \n \nThe third topic concerns quantum correlations between the momentum and spin subsystems of a neutron in a neutron interferometer. We explore the robustness of these correlations in the presence of dephasing noise due to randomized phase differences between interferometer paths. We demonstrate that even in the presence of strong noise quantum correlations persist and can be detected by introducing post-selected spin measurements at the output of the interferometer. We relate these post-selected experiments to which-way measurements and a quantum eraser.
In this thesis we address three topics of open quantum systems theory. \nThe first concerns the operational characterization of an open quantum system. We develop a graphical calculus for open quantum systems and use it to review the operational representation and characterization of noisy evolution using completely-positive maps, or quantum channels. These graphical techniques facilitate an intuitive unification of the various representations of CP-maps, and the transformations between these representations. We generalize the channel formalism by introducing quantum superchannels --- effective quantum channels which take another channel as input. Superchannels may be constructed using graphical techniques to rearrange the tensor network for a sequence of channels, and these constructions allow for the description of a strictly greater set of dynamics than is possible with the standard formalism. We demonstrate this by providing a method for the complete characterization of an open system initially correlated with its environment. In doing so we introduce and develop several novel quantitative measures for characterizing the strength and presence of initial correlations in a quantum system. These techniques may be implemented using measurement of the system alone, and do not require any access or prior knowledge about the environment. \n \nThe second topic we discuss is the parallel initialization of an ensemble quantum system into a high purity state. We describe a dissipative state engineering technique where an ensemble of identical spins may be prepared in its ground state by coupling the spins to the resolved sidebands of a high-Q resonator. This allows for parallel removal of entropy from a large number of quantum systems, enabling an ensemble to achieve a polarization greater than thermal equilibrium, and in principle on a time scale much shorter than thermal relaxation processes. This is achieved by the collective enhancement in coupling strength of the coupled angular momentum subspaces which behave as larger effective spins. Cavity cooling is shown to cool each of these subspaces to their respective ground state, however by including a local T2 dephasing dissipator on each spin we show how one may use this to break the identical spin degeneracy and couple the subspaces to enable cooling to the full ground state of the joint system. \n \nThe third topic concerns quantum correlations between the momentum and spin subsystems of a neutron in a neutron interferometer. We explore the robustness of these correlations in the presence of dephasing noise due to randomized phase differences between interferometer paths. We demonstrate that even in the presence of strong noise quantum correlations persist and can be detected by introducing post-selected spin measurements at the output of the interferometer. We relate these post-selected experiments to which-way measurements and a quantum eraser.
We show that the dynamics of any open quantum system that is initially correlated with its environment can be described by a set of d2 (or less) completely positive maps, where d is the dimension of the system. Only one such map is required for the special case of no initial correlations. The same maps describe the dynamics of any system-environment state obtained from the initial state by a local operation on the system. The reduction of the system dynamics to a set of completely positive maps allows known numerical and analytic tools for uncorrelated initial states to be applied to the general case of initially correlated states, which we exemplify by solving the qubit dephasing model for such states, and provides a natural approach to quantum Markovianity for this case. We show that this set of completely positive maps can be experimentally characterized using only local operations on the system, via a generalization of noise spectroscopy protocols. As further applications, we first consider the problem of retrodicting the dynamics of an open quantum system which is in an arbitrary state when it becomes accessible to the experimenter and explore the conditions under which retrodiction is possible. We also introduce a related one-sided or limited-access tomography protocol for determining an arbitrary bipartite state, evolving under a sufficiently rich Hamiltonian, via local operations and measurements on just one component. We simulate this protocol for a physical model of particular relevance to nitrogen-vacancy centers and in particular show how to reconstruct the density matrix of a set of three qubits, interacting via dipolar coupling and in the presence of local magnetic fields, by measuring and controlling only one of them.
This thesis presents a collection of projects spanning different sub-fields of quantum science, undertaken with the goal of understanding and advancing quantum technologies. Broadly, it can be divided into two thematic parts — parameter estimation and open system dynamics. Each project addresses inverse and ill-posed problems in Physics, which lie at the heart of developing robust and scalable quantum devices.A central theme in quantum technology is the challenge of inference of microscopic system parameters from limited, indirect observations. The first part of the thesis investigates this through the problem of Hamiltonian reconstruction via local measurements. Indirect estimation of couplings in quantum systems relies on the measurement of the spectrum and the overlap of eigenvectors with some reference state. For a one-dimensional chain, this data can be obtained by local measurement on one end of the chain, thereby reducing the need for full Hamiltonian tomography. Information about couplings is extracted from the temporal data obtained by measuring the expectation values of the time evolution 𝑒−𝑖𝐻𝑡 for a reference state. In Chapter 3, we analyze the robustness of this estimation scheme under perturbations arising from beyond nearest neighbour interactions. We show that the error scales linearly with the strength of such interactions and on average, the error increases with the distance of interaction between sites.Chapter 4 examines whether coupling information can be extracted from local thermal measurements, using expectation values of the Gibbs state at varying temperatures rather than temporal data. We develop a procedure to obtain the coefficients of the Taylor expansion of these expectation values and relate them to the Hamiltonian parameters. For very small chains, this mapping can be carried out analytically, while for larger systems it reveals the algebraic structure that links local measurements to the underlying couplings and highlights the trade-offs between measurement resources, numerical stability, and identifiability. The analysis also clarifies how additional local fields or self-interaction terms enhance the information content of thermal data, suggesting a role for local thermal probes as practical tools for Hamiltonian verification and parameter estimation.Building on the ideas of controlling and inferring information about a quantum system, we now turn to active intervention through adaptive measurement. In Chapter 5, we develop a process tensor driven procedure for cooling the spin bath that is coupled to a nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in diamond. By modeling the sequence of intermediate quantum instruments acting on a correlated system-environment process, we optimize a pair of completely positive (CP) maps to maximize the population in a lower-energy state. Unlike existing approaches that rely solely on positive operator valued measures (POVMs), our method encompasses a broader class of CP maps, including adaptive feed-forward and mixed operations. We explicitly account for initial correlation between system and environment and distinguish between the controllable and uncontrollable parts of the dynamics. Our framework supports non-Markovian operations and benchmarks them against optimal Markovian strategies. The optimization is performed via Semi-definite Programming (SDP), ensuring global optimality. We also assess robustness to Hamiltonian noise and provide a proposal for implementation using NV center in diamonds.Finally, Chapter 6 explore the relaxation dynamics of topological qubits, focusing on a tetron qubit formed from two uncoupled Kitaev chains coupled to a finite fermionic bath. Using the correlation matrix formalism for purely quadratic couplings, we show that the relaxation is fundamentally independent of temperature when either the bath is large, or the zero-mode energy of the system is close to zero. This challenges a key assumption in the field that cooling enhances coherence. Interestingly, we find that introducing glassy disorder into the system slows down relaxation, offering a potential route to prolong qubit lifetimes.Collectively, these studies form a coherent narrative around extraction, control and utilization of quantum information under fundamental constraints. By tackling such inverse and often ill-posed problems, this thesis contributes new tools and insights essential for the realization of future quantum technologies.
Theoretical investigations of open quantum systems have uncovered a wide variety of unique dynamical phenomena. For instance, current research in quantum information technology aims to control and utilize time-delayed system-reservoir interactions and phonon-induced dynamical dissipative processes for the design of novel chip-integrated quantum optical devices. This thesis develops and advances multiple theoretical approaches for the accurate and efficient description of open quantum systems, where a high degree of information compression is essential to extract crucial information from the open system degrees of freedom which scale exponentially with the system size. The presented methods range from correlation expansions to second-order perturbative master equations, real-time path integral formulations, numerical realizations of high-dimensional tensor networks and, based on the most recent theoretical developments, machine learning implementations in the form of artificial neural networks. We explore all of these techniques with respect to their compression efficiency, performance and representational limits by applying them to a variety of physical setups and scenarios. Firstly, emerging non-Markovian memory effects in open quantum systems are investigated, e.g., resulting from interactions with a structured phonon environment or time-discrete coherent quantum feedback, leading to information exchange and a time-delayed dynamical interplay between system and reservoir. Examined systems range from solid state p-wave topological superconductors coupled to a structured phonon environment, where a memory-induced stabilization and recovery of topological properties is observed, to semiconductor quantum dot nanostructures exhibiting complete population inversion and unidirectional quantum transport as a result of dissipation-induced non-Markovian system-reservoir interactions, and quantum emitters simultaneously subjected to coherent quantum feedback and a decoherence-inducing structured phonon reservoir, leading to the formation of dynamical dissipative structures and population trapping. Secondly, novel machine learning techniques based on artificial neural networks are investigated, enabling simulations of symmetric open quantum spin-1/2 systems with Markovian dynamics. Combining their potential for parallelization and efficient Hilbert space truncation, they facilitate unmatched degrees of information compression and numerical performance for large systems. In this thesis, we expand the representational limits of the restricted Boltzmann machine neural network architecture by developing novel hybrid sampling strategies for a highly customizable compression of configuration space, rendering accurate and efficient simulations of asymmetric systems feasible. Finally, the applicability of the neural network is extended beyond pure spin-1/2 systems by introducing a neural bit encoding scheme for Fock number states, facilitating high performing calculations of large hybrid open quantum systems with bosonic degrees of freedom.
Quantum mechanics has both deepened our understanding of the physical reality and allowed development of quantum technologies beating their classical counterparts in efficiency, security, and sensitivity. As a major downside, the quantum properties behind these technologies are very sensitive to the effects the system’s interaction with its environment. The theory of open quantum systems describes how such interaction influences the system, and as a consequence, how the quantum features are lost, controlled, and possibly returned by manipulating the environment. This thesis begins with a short description of the most relevant features and results of the open quantum system theory. We continue by presenting some commonly used measures to quantify the information encoded in quantum systems and the correlations between spatially or temporally separated parties. The literature review ends with discussion of non-Markovianity and memory effects which combine the fields of open quantum systems and quantum information in a natural way. The rest of the thesis presents the main results of Publications I – VII. We study the memory effects and physicality conditions of open system dynamics described by the vast family of phase-covariant master equations. We show how the open quantum system picture can be exploited to design probing protocols to extract information without knowing how the probe and system interact. Such protocols are considered also from the point-of view of efficiently obtaining the information required in the probing, both in theory and by experimental implementation. The experiment serves also as evidence for applicability of recently developed geometric tools to design informationally incomplete measurements for solving so-called membership problems. We present and experimentally realize a protocol where control over intial correlations between polarization and frequency gives full freedom to implement any dephasing dynamics in the open system polarization, thus dictating how its information content changes in time. We study the two-qubit memory effects of dephasing dynamics and compare them to the effect of such noise in the transmission efficiency in superdense coding. Optimal noise configurations in different situations are found. Finally, we characterize the families of initial states for which the decay of quantum correlations depends or does not depend on the noise location.
Remarkable experimental progress and theoretical advancements in the study of strongly corre- lated systems have opened up new doors towards a better understanding of interesting states of matter. Such states could possibly be used to develop novel technological applications based on the principles of quantum mechanics. In recent years, the investigation of both complex solid state and ultracold atom systems has lead to a number of fascinating discoveries with regards to their non-equilibrium properties. One route to probe non-equilibrium physics is to consider the evolution of open systems defined by the coupling to an external environment introducing dissipation. Engineering the environment according to predefined requirements can then be used to dynamically prepare states which are difficult to access otherwise. This thesis explores the dynamics of many-body open quantum systems aiming at under- standing the effects resulting from the interplay of kinetic motion, interactions and dissipation in different physical settings. First, we build upon recent developments concerning the coupling of ultracold atoms to optical resonators which are subject to photon losses. We show how the dissipation can trigger an attractor dynamics towards a topologically non-trivial steady state that is robust against perturbations. The numerically obtained full open system evolution en- ables us to not only characterize in detail the steady state but also to analyze the features of the approaching dynamics. Second, we study the propagation of two-time correlation functions in interacting quantum spin-1/2 chains in contact with an environment causing dephasing. Pro- vided with the numerically exact full time-evolution, we identify an algebraic scaling regime where time-translation invariance breaks down and uncover the emergence of aging dynam- ics. Finally, we study a system of interacting fermionic atoms in a one-dimensional lattice with particle loss at the central site. There we report on the dissipation-induced deceleration of the non-equilibrium dynamics known as the quantum Zeno effect. As in the majority of cases quantum many-body systems are not solvable analytically, another central aspect of this thesis deals with adapting numerical methods based on matrix product state algorithms to investigate open quantum systems dynamics.