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Exact dynamics in the central-spin model

Michael Bortz

Published Dec 15, 2006• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a single spin-1/2 coupled to a bath of spins-1/2 by inhomogeneous Heisenberg couplings including a central magnetic field. This central-spin model describes decoherence in quantum bit systems. An exact formula for the dynamics of the central spin is presented, based on the Bethe ansatz. This formula is evaluated explicitly for initial conditions such that the bath spins are completely polarized at the beginning. For this case we find, after an initial decay, a persistent oscillatory behaviour of the central spin. For a large number of bath spins $N_b$, the oscillation frequency is proportional to $N_b$, whereas the amplitude behaves like $1/N_b$, to leading order. No asymptotic decay due to the non-uniform couplings is observed, in contrast to some recent studies.

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We study the dynamics of a single spin-1/2 coupled to a bath of spins-1/2 by inhomogeneous Heisenberg couplings including a central magnetic field. This central-spin model describes decoherence in quantum bit systems. An exact formula for the dynamics of the central spin is presented, based on the Bethe ansatz. This formula is evaluated explicitly for initial conditions such that the bath spins are completely polarized at the beginning. For this case we find, after an initial decay, a persistent oscillatory behaviour of the central spin. For a large number of bath spins NbN_bNb​, the oscillation frequency is proportional to NbN_bNb​, whereas the amplitude behaves like 1/Nb1/N_b1/Nb​, to leading order. No asymptotic decay due to the non-uniform couplings is observed, in contrast to some recent studies.
We study the dynamics of a single spin 1∕21∕21∕2 coupled to a bath of spins 1∕21∕21∕2 by inhomogeneous Heisenberg couplings including a central magnetic field. This central-spin model describes decoherence in quantum bit systems. An exact formula for the dynamics of the central spin is presented, based on the Bethe ansatz. For initially completely polarized bath spins and small magnetic field, we find persistent oscillations of the central spin about a nonzero mean value. For a large number of bath spins Nb{N}_{b}Nb​, the oscillation frequency is proportional to Nb{N}_{b}Nb​, whereas the amplitude behaves as 1∕Nb1∕{N}_{b}1∕Nb​, to leading order. No asymptotic decay of the oscillations due to the nonuniform couplings is observed, in contrast to some recent studies.
We calculate exactly the time-dependent reduced density matrix for the central spin in the central-spin model with homogeneous Heisenberg couplings. Therefrom, the dynamics and the entanglement entropy of the central spin are obtained. A rich variety of behaviours are found, depending on the initial state of the bath spins. For an initially unpolarized unentangled bath, the polarization of the central spin decays to zero in the thermodynamic limit, while its entanglement entropy becomes maximal. On the other hand, if the unpolarized environment is initially in an eigenstate of the total bath spin, the central spin and the entanglement entropy exhibit persistent monochromatic large-amplitude oscillations. This raises the question of to what extent entanglement of the bath spins prevents decoherence of the central spin.
Decoherence of a central spin coupled to an interacting spin bath via inhomogeneous Heisenberg coupling is studied by two different approaches, namely an exact equations of motion (EOMs) method and a Chebyshev expansion technique (CET). By assuming a wheel topology of the bath spins with uniform nearest-neighbor XXXXXX-type intrabath coupling, we examine the central spin dynamics with the bath prepared in two different types of bath initial conditions. For fully polarized baths in strong magnetic fields, the polarization dynamics of the central spin exhibits a collapse-revival behavior in the intermediate-time regime. Under an antiferromagnetic bath initial condition, the two methods give excellently consistent central spin decoherence dynamics for finite-size baths of $N\ensuremath{\le}14$ bath spins. The decoherence factor is found to drop off abruptly on a short time scale and approach a finite plateau value which depends on the intrabath coupling strength nonmonotonically. In the ultrastrong intrabath coupling regime, the plateau values show an oscillatory behavior depending on whether N/2N/2N/2 is even or odd. The observed results are interpreted qualitatively within the framework of the EOM and perturbation analysis. The effects of anisotropic spin-bath coupling and inhomogeneous intrabath bath couplings are briefly discussed. Possible experimental realization of the model in a modified quantum corral setup is suggested.
The decohering environment of a quantum bit is often described by the coupling to a large bath of spins. The quantum bit itself can be seen as a spin S=12S=\frac{1}{2}S=21​ which is commonly called the central spin. The resulting central spin model describes an important mechanism of decoherence. We provide mathematically rigorous bounds for a persisting magnetization of the central spin in this model with and without magnetic field. In particular, we show that there is a well-defined limit of infinite number of bath spins. Only if the fraction of very weakly coupled bath spins tends to 100% does no magnetization persist.
The many-body dynamics of an electron spin−1/2 qubit coupled to a bath of nuclear spins by hyperfine interactions, as described by the central spin model in two kinds of external field, are studied in this paper. In a completely polarized bath, we use the state recurrence method to obtain the exact solution of the X X Z central spin model in a constant magnetic field and numerically analyze the influence of the disorder strength of the magnetic field on fidelity and entanglement entropy. For a constant magnetic field, the fidelity presents non-attenuating oscillations. The anisotropic parameter λ and the magnetic field strength B significantly affect the dynamic behaviour of the central spin. Unlike the periodic oscillation in the constant magnetic field, the decoherence dynamics of the central spin act like a damping oscillation in a disordered field, where the central spin undergoes a relaxation process and eventually reaches a stable state. The relaxation time of this process is affected by the disorder strength and the anisotropic parameter, where a larger anisotropic parameter or disorder strength can speed up the relaxation process. Compared with the constant magnetic field, the disordered field can regulate the decoherence over a large range, independent of the anisotropic parameter.
The dynamics and decoherence of an electronic spin-1/2 qubit coupled to a bath of nuclear spins via hyperfine interactions in a quantum dot is studied. We show how exact results from the integrable solution can be used to understand the dynamic behavior of the qubit. It is possible to predict the main frequency contributions and their broadening for relatively general initial states analytically, leading to an estimate of the corresponding decay times, which are related to T1{T}_{1}T1​ of the electron. Furthermore, for a small bath polarization, a distinct low-frequency time scale is observed.