In this thesis a theoretical framework for a spin-1 exchange dynamics is developed by the use of effective Hamiltonian theory. We develop this framework through several applications beginning with the standard Jaynes-Cummings model, which under the method of time-averaging leads to the Hamiltonian described by one-axis twisting in a more efficient manner than standard adiabatic elimination. The process of developing effective many-body spin Hamiltonian’s is then applied in several contexts. The robustness of the systems we studied are demonstrated through the generation of entangled states under various constraints.\nWe find that when fixed within a sub-manifold of the collective angular momentum states the time evolution of minimally uncertain atomic states results in atomic cat states, which have been utilized in a variety of contexts for precision measurements. More so, when the initial state is given freedom to evolve between all angular momentum sub-manifolds large degrees of entanglement results. We give analytic results for the case of two-atoms where the entanglement quantification is given through the fidelity, and Schmidt number. This gives implications for measurement protocols through Ramsey pulses, quantum simulators, and creation of spin-1 Bell states for teleportation.\nUnder different operating conditions, we demonstrate the emergence of electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT) which provides a platform for quantum memory, polarization conversion, and state transfer. A limitation of photonic processes is the short optical resonance lifetime, however, our system is free of this issue due to the dispersive approximation constraining the system to a decoherence free ground state manifold. As a result our EIT scheme can result in longer storage times, and more efficient state transfer as decoherence due to spontaneous emission is not the limiting factor.
In this thesis a theoretical framework for a spin-1 exchange dynamics is developed by the use of effective Hamiltonian theory. We develop this framework through several applications beginning with the standard Jaynes-Cummings model, which under the method of time-averaging leads to the Hamiltonian described by one-axis twisting in a more efficient manner than standard adiabatic elimination. The process of developing effective many-body spin Hamiltonian’s is then applied in several contexts. The robustness of the systems we studied are demonstrated through the generation of entangled states under various constraints.\nWe find that when fixed within a sub-manifold of the collective angular momentum states the time evolution of minimally uncertain atomic states results in atomic cat states, which have been utilized in a variety of contexts for precision measurements. More so, when the initial state is given freedom to evolve between all angular momentum sub-manifolds large degrees of entanglement results. We give analytic results for the case of two-atoms where the entanglement quantification is given through the fidelity, and Schmidt number. This gives implications for measurement protocols through Ramsey pulses, quantum simulators, and creation of spin-1 Bell states for teleportation.\nUnder different operating conditions, we demonstrate the emergence of electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT) which provides a platform for quantum memory, polarization conversion, and state transfer. A limitation of photonic processes is the short optical resonance lifetime, however, our system is free of this issue due to the dispersive approximation constraining the system to a decoherence free ground state manifold. As a result our EIT scheme can result in longer storage times, and more efficient state transfer as decoherence due to spontaneous emission is not the limiting factor.
The generation of entanglement in atomic systems plays a central topic in the fields of quantum information storage and processing. Moreover, a special category of entangled states of multi-atom ensembles, spin squeezed states, have been proven to lead to considerable improvement in the sensitivity of precision measurements compared to systems involving uncorrelated atoms. A treatment of entanglement in open systems is, however, incomplete without a precise description of the process of decoherence which necessarily accompanies it. The theory of entanglement and decoherence are the two main topics of this thesis. Methods are described for the generation of strong correlations in large atomic ensembles using either cavity quantum electrodynamics or measurement outcome conditioned quantum dynamics. Moreover, the description of loss of entanglement resulting from the coupling to a noise reservoir (electromagnetic vacuum) is explored. A spin squeezing parameter is used throughout this thesis as both a measure of entanglement strength and as an indication of the sensitivity improvement above the so-called standard quantum limit (sensitivity obtained with uncorrelated particles) in metrology. The first scheme considered consists of a single mode cavity field interacting with a collection of atoms for which spin squeezing is produced in both resonant and off-resonant regimes. In the resonant case, transfer of squeezing from a field state to the atoms is analyzed, while in the off-resonant regime squeezing is produced via an effective nonlinear interaction (one-axis twisting Hamiltonian). A second, more experimentally realistic case, is one involving the interaction of free space atoms with laser pulses; a projective measurement of a source field originating from atomic fluctuations provides a means of preparing atomic collective states such as spin squeezed and Schrodinger cat states. A new unravelling is proposed, that employs the detection of photon number in a single output channel and is capable of producing mesoscopic Schrodinger cat states in a single step. As a first step to understanding the role of cooperative decoherence, of importance in the case of dense pencil-shaped atomic ensembles, the collective spin decoherence of a two multilevel atom system is derived. This calculation is also relevant to entanglement loss for two qubits manipulated using with reading/writing pulses. Finally, a scheme is proposed in which arbitrarily strong entanglement can be produced in a four-wave mixing setup, where the preparation of the atoms in a dark state limits the decoherence to negligible values.
The object of this PhD Thesis is light and matter quantum interaction including studies on cavity and circuit quantum electrodynamics (CQED and cQED), quantum information theory and entanglement dynamics in open systems. In recent years both theoretical and experimental efforts have been devoted to study problems regarding the transfer of quantum correlations, quantum memories, entanglement protection against decoherence and new regimes accessible in cQED. One of the fundamental model underlying these topics is the well known Jaynes-Cummings (JC) one for light-matter interaction, introduced in quantum optics already in 1963. This paradigmatic model describes the coherent exchange of a single excitation between a qubit (a two-level system) and a mode of a quantized harmonic oscillator. The JC model describes a lot of purely quantum effects such as Rabi oscillations and generation of entangled quantum states, which were confirmed by several sophisticated experiments in CQED. This model has been then applied in many other frameworks. Analytical results can be derived only under the so-called rotating wave approximation (RWA), which allows to neglect the energy contributions coming from the counter-rotating terms, which describe the simultaneous excitation (or de-excitation) of the qubit and the field mode. In this Thesis a first interesting investigation, based on the JC model, is related to the realization of quantum memories. The main aspect is the transfer of generic quantum entangled states of a propagating radiation to some qubits, such as two-level atoms placed in separated optical cavities. Generalizing previous results for bipartite entangled systems, I investigated the more complex case of tripartite systems, where the very quantification of entanglement is still an open problem. This issue is broadened to open systems in contact with a common environment which induces decoherence effects unavoidable in realistic implementations. The main result of this analysis is that it is possible to map in an optimal way a quantum state from radiation to qubits in the unitary dynamics, and even in the presence of a dissipative environment a significative amount of entanglement can be transferred. This study has been carried on with either theoretical calculations or numerical simulations performed adopting the powerful Monte Carlo wave function method. A second important problem for quantum memories faced in this PhD Thesis, regards the protection of qubits entanglement for long enough times in order to implement quantum information tasks. A possible way to obtain this goal is to add an external coherent field driving two or more two-level atoms interacting with a common mode of a cavity electromagnetic field. In fact it is possible to demonstrate that, under certain conditions, an effective Hamiltonian of the whole system involves, together with the familiar JC terms, also the counter-rotating ones. The main feature that comes out from this analysis is the possibility to freeze, during system dynamics, peculiar quantum entangled states of the atomic qubits in so called decoherence-free subspaces. This important property allows to store the entanglement in matter qubits, isolating the quantum state from environment induced decoherence. Though the system includes dissipation, analytical results have been obtained for multipartite entanglement and decoherence by solving the master equation through a projection on a suitable basis and using the method of characteristics. In particular it is possible to monitor the rate of decoherence via measurements of joint atomic probabilities, shading light on the fascinating border between the quantum and the classical world. A last topic investigated in this Thesis concerns the recently developed and quite promising implementation of the JC model well outside CQED, that is cQED. Here superconductive circuits, which play the role of artificial atoms, interact on-chip with transmission line resonators, instead of the usual electromagnetic cavities. These systems have the advantage of being quite easily engineered exploiting the most advanced available technologies. Moreover they allow a great flexibility in handling the relevant parameters, since the inter-system coupling is here of capacitive or inductive nature, instead of the usual electric dipole interaction in CQED. In this way a strong and ultrastrong coupling regime have become available, giving a direct access to the physics beyond the JC model and its possible applications. I first performed a detailed characterization of system dynamics in order to test the main approximations usually introduced to describe superconductive circuits as qubits. Then I described, both analytically and numerically, the dissipative dynamics of a superconductive qubit coupled to a resonator mode in the deep strong regime.
The Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM) describes the interaction of a two-level atom with a single quantised field mode in an optical cavity. In this BSc project we derive the basic Rabi model Hamiltonian and show how it leads to the JCM Hamiltonian. The results are then used to analyse the general time evolution of a bipartite atom-field system and its properties, such as entanglement. We extend a scheme developed by Browne and Plenio [D. Browne and M. B. Plenio, Physical Review A, vol. 67, no. 1, Jan. 2003.] to entangle two cavities that interact with an atom. Our scheme allows to produce states that are arbitrarily close to a Bell state with a success probability greater than 0.75, whereas the success rate of the original method tends to 0 for perfect fidelity. Further, we extend both schemes by allowing the atom or the cavity to be in a thermal state and find that the fidelity of the produced states is reduced with increasing temperature. Finally, we apply our scheme to quantum teleportation, where we find that the fidelity of the teleported state compared to the original state also decreases as the temperature is increased.
In this thesis I explore the use of collective spin angular momentum as a platform for quantum information processing. Such systems have several nice features that make them excellent choices for such protocols, especially ones where information is also stored in photonic variables. The longer coherence times of atoms makes it possible to store information from light in atoms for future use, and it is generally easier to couple atomic variables than to create nonlinear interactions of light. Above and beyond the advantages of atomic systems, collective atomic systems have additional strengths. In the limit of a large number of atoms, the collective variables of atomic systems have a natural connection to the bosonic algebra of light (known as the Holstein-Primakoff or HP approximation) where components of the collective spin angular momentum effectively act as quadratures, making them natural systems for coupling to light. Also, collectively addressing the atoms allows one to access a large state space without individual addressing of the atoms. A natural first step towards control of these collective variables is generating large amounts of atomic spin squeezing. In the HP approximation going from rotations to squeezing corresponds to going from linear to quadratic interactions in the atomic quadratures; for extremely large squeezing one should see the breakdown of the HP approximation and the ability to generate arbitrary collective atomic states. I have sought to improve previous schemes for the spin squeezing of atomic ensembles, such as the proposal of Takeuchi et. al. based on coherent quantum feedback. In this scheme a beam of linearly polarized light passes through the atomic ensemble (prepared in a coherent state), coupling to the atoms through a state-dependent index of refraction (the Faraday effect). The light is then passed through a wave-plate and reflected back through the atoms for a second pass. This double-pass scheme leads to an effective nonlinearity as the atomic fluctuations are mapped onto the light on the first pass and then back on to the atoms in the second pass. The light acts as a bus coupling each atom to each of the others. This nonlinear interaction forms a shearing of the atomic coherent state that results in squeezing. The light is entangled to the atoms through these interactions, and remains entangled as it escapes the system. This leads to decoherence of the atoms as the light is lost to the environment, reducing the amount of spin squeezing achieved. The first step towards improving the double-pass scheme was to add a quantum eraser step in which the light is disentangled from the squeezed atoms. By first measuring one quadrature of the light, and then performing a measurement-dependent rotation on the atomic ensemble, it is possible to decouple the atoms and light so that the loss of the light does not reduce the atomic squeezing. This results in an improvement of the rate of atomic spin squeezing. The nonlinear shearing interaction that remains still falls short of the exponential squeezing seen in optical parametric amplification. The reason for this can be seen by decomposing the shearing interaction into squeezing along a given quadrature followed by a rotation. The rotation leads to a constantly changing axis along which the squeezing occurs, and thus the squeezing builds up more slowly. This can be corrected for by breaking up the light pulse into a sequence of small pulses, and performing a small phase matching rotation after each pulse. The squeezing then adds up along a constant direction, rather than along a constantly varying direction. This results in still further improvement of the rate of atomic spin squeezing. A complete model includes the effects of photon-atom scattering and other noise and loss effects on the overall rate of squeezing. Previous derivations of noise due to photon-atom scattering have started with the unjustified assumptions that the atomic and photonic decoherence channels were both Gaussian and independent of correlations between the two subsystems. They then proceed with very general statistical arguments that rely upon these simplifications. My work begins with the more fundamental master equation picture in which I find the Linblad jump operators. I find that in general the photonic and atomic loss channels are not independent, with the intensity of the light dictating the details of this dependence, and find the conditions under which the Gaussian approximation holds. Squeezing and loss is initially treated assuming ensembles of spin-1/2 atoms, but this work is further extended to higher dimensional subsystems. For a higher spin case, preparing the atoms in spin coherent states is not optimal. One can engineer a stronger interaction by preparing the atoms in an atomic "cat state", i.e., a superposition of the two stretch states along the direction of propagation of the light beam. The fluctuations of such a state are more strongly coupled to the light, resulting in a stronger nonlinearity. This leads to strong correlations between the atoms, but they are not immediately useful for squeezing; the cat state must be coherently mapped to a coherent state to achieve atomic spin squeezing. The state created in this manner is ultimately more squeezed than that achieved with the same interaction but prepared initially in a coherent state.
We study trajectories of collective spin states of an ensemble of spinors. The spinors considered here are either trapped ions in free space or atoms confined in a cavity, both systems of which are engineered through their interactions with light fields to obey an effective Dicke model. In an appropriate limit of the Dicke model, one obtains one-axis twisting dynamics of the collective spin and evolution after a finite time to a spin cat state or, in the long-time limit, the Dicke state ${|S,0\ensuremath{\rangle}}_{x}$, conditioned upon there being no photon emissions from the system (i.e., no quantum jumps). If there is a jump, however, the system evolves probabilistically into one of a finite number of entangled-state cycles, where the system then undergoes a persistent sequence of jumps between two Dicke-state superpositions in a rotated basis. The different cycles can be distinguished by the frequency at which jumps occur.
This thesis contributes to the theory of a light-matter quantum interface based on the Kerr-effect arising in the dispersive interaction of pulsed laser light with a spin-polarized atomic ensemble. The scattering process can be described on the basis of a simple, yet fully quantum mechanical model involving only a small number of bosonic modes referring to transverse spin components and quadratures of forward scattered light. Based on this model we derive protocols for the creation of entangled states of light and atoms and the teleportation of quantum states of light onto atoms employing this entanglement. Furthermore we present a protocol, which allows one to exchange the state of light and atoms and thus provides a quantum memory for states of the light field. For both, the storage and the teleportation of coherent states we prove a benchmark on the average fidelity, which is achievable by purely classical protocols. Both protocols allow one to significantly surpass this threshold and to demonstrate thereby a gain in employing quantum strategies. Under common experimental conditions the initial state of light and atoms is Gaussian and the given interaction preserves this property. Motivated by this observation, we examine in this context, how a given interaction can be used to simulate others and how it can be employed to create entanglement at optimal rates. The results are applied to construct protocols based on several passes of light through an atomic ensemble.