We developed a Hermitian operator representation of the Unruh channel for a driven accelerated detector in the presence of external noise. This representation is then used to provide a generalized analytical approach to a non-inertial evolution subjected to quantum weak measurements. The quantum information facets were then improved by performing weak measurements before and after the quantum channel. The external noise was modeled using a phase damping channel. The prominent oscillations of the quantum information are caused by vacuum fluctuations of the quantum fields coupled to the detector. Steady values are obtained for the quantum coherence and quantum Fisher information using the Unruh effect. Thus, quantum weak measurements can effectively suppress the decoherence induced by the relativistic acceleration. By comparing with cases without weak measurements, we demonstrate that there exist some regions with optimal measurement strengths that enhance the quantum coherence and quantum Fisher information. The effects of conditional improvement on the quantum information facets are still obvious in the presence of external noise.
We developed a Hermitian operator representation of the Unruh channel for a driven accelerated detector in the presence of external noise. This representation is then used to provide a generalized analytical approach to a non-inertial evolution subjected to quantum weak measurements. The quantum information facets were then improved by performing weak measurements before and after the quantum channel. The external noise was modeled using a phase damping channel. The prominent oscillations of the quantum information are caused by vacuum fluctuations of the quantum fields coupled to the detector. Steady values are obtained for the quantum coherence and quantum Fisher information using the Unruh effect. Thus, quantum weak measurements can effectively suppress the decoherence induced by the relativistic acceleration. By comparing with cases without weak measurements, we demonstrate that there exist some regions with optimal measurement strengths that enhance the quantum coherence and quantum Fisher information. The effects of conditional improvement on the quantum information facets are still obvious in the presence of external noise.
We make use of the tools of quantum information theory to shed light on the Unruh effect. A modal qubit appears as if subjected to quantum noise that degrades quantum information, as observed in the accelerated reference frame. The Unruh effect experienced by a mode of a free Dirac field, as seen by a relativistically accelerated observer, is treated as a noise channel, which we term the Unruh channel. We characterize this channel by providing its operator-sum representation, and study various facets of quantum correlations, such as, Bell inequality violations, entanglement, teleportation and measurement-induced decoherence under the effect. We compare and contrast this channel from conventional noise due to environmental decoherence. We show that the Unruh effect produces an amplitude-damping-like channel, associated with zero temperature, even though the Unruh effect is associated with a non-zero temperature. Asymptotically, the Bloch sphere subjected to the channel does not converge to a point, as would be expected by fluctuation-dissipation arguments, but contracts by a finite factor. We construct for the Unruh effect the inverse channel, a non-completely-positive map, that formally reverses the effect, and offer some physical interpretation.
We develop a Bloch vector representation of the Unruh channel for a Dirac field mode. This is used to provide a unified, analytical treatment of quantum Fisher and skew information for a qubit subjected to the Unruh channel, both in its pure form as well as in the presence of experimentally relevant external noise channels. The time evolution of Fisher and skew information is studied along with the impact of external environment parameters such as temperature and squeezing. The external noises are modelled by both purely dephasing phase damping and the squeezed generalised amplitude damping channels. An interesting interplay between the external reservoir temperature and squeezing on the Fisher and skew information is observed, in particular, for the action of the squeezed generalised amplitude damping channel. It is seen that for some regimes, squeezing can enhance the quantum information against the deteriorating influence of the ambient environment. Similar features are also observed for the analogous study of skew information, highlighting a similar origin of the Fisher and skew information.
Vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields provide an unavoidable environment for any quantum system coupled to it. We study the interplay between boundary conditions and acceleration in determining decoherence of a two-level Unruh-DeWitt detector coupled to a scalar field in a cylindrical cavity. We show that the decoherence rate closely follows the emission profile, and exhibits {\it Purcell-like} enhancement for both inertial and uniformly accelerated detectors. The acceleration induces an effective smearing of the resonant density of states, diluting the resonance enhancement for large accelerations while replacing the inertial off-resonant decay with an oscillatory behavior for small accelerations. For moderate accelerations, this interplay between cavity-induced and acceleration-assisted effects results in an extended region of cavity parameters where decoherence is strongly suppressed, particularly in regimes where the inertial detector otherwise experience strong decoherence. Thus, contrary to naive expectations, the Unruh thermality in a suitably engineered cavity can enhance rather than degrade quantum coherence, providing a very uncharacteristic feature of quantum fields in non-inertial frames.
We address the quantum estimation of parameters encoded into the initial state of two modes of a Dirac field described by relatively accelerated parties. By using the quantum Fisher information (QFI), we investigate how the weak measurements performed before and after the accelerating observer, affect the optimal estimation of information encoded into the weight and phase parameters of the initial state shared between the parties. Studying the QFI, associated with weight parameter [Formula: see text], we find that the acceleration at which the optimal estimation occurs may be controlled by weak measurements. Moreover, it is shown that the post-measurement plays the role of a quantum key for manifestation of the Unruh effect. On the other hand, investigating the phase estimation optimization and assuming that there is no control over the initial state, we show that the weak measurements may be utilized to match the optimal [Formula: see text] to its predetermined value. Moreover, in addition to determination of a lower bound on the QFI with the local quantum uncertainty (LQU), we unveil an important upper bound on the precision of phase estimation in our relativistic scenario, given by the maximal steered coherence (MSC). We also obtain a compact expression of the MSC for general X states.
We study the quantum metrology for a pair of entangled Unruh-Dewitt detectors when one of them is accelerated and coupled to a massless scalar field. Comparing with previous schemes, our model requires only local interaction and avoids the use of cavities in the probe state preparation process. We show that the probe state preparation and the interaction between the accelerated detector and the external field have significant effects on the value of quantum Fisher information, correspondingly pose variable ultimate limit of precision in the estimation of Unruh effect. We find that the precision of the estimation can be improved by a larger effective coupling strength and a longer interaction time. Alternatively, the energy gap of the detector has a range that can provide us a better precision. Thus we may adjust those parameters and attain a higher precision in the estimation. We also find that an extremely high acceleration is not required in the quantum metrology process.
Unruh-DeWitt detectors interacting locally with a quantum field are systems under consideration for relativistic quantum information processing. In most works, the detectors are assumed to be pointlike and, therefore, couple with the same strength to all modes of the field spectrum. We propose the use of a more realistic detector model where the detector has a finite size conveniently tailored by a spatial profile. We design a spatial profile such that the detector, when inertial, naturally couples to a peaked distribution of Minkowski modes. In the uniformly accelerated case, the detector couples to a peaked distribution of Rindler modes. Such distributions are of special interest in the analysis of entanglement in noninetial frames. We use our detector model to show the noise detected in the Minkowski vacuum and in single particle states is a function of the detector's acceleration.