Quantum trajectory theory

Perry R. Rice

H. J. Carmichael

Angela Sara Cacciapuoti, Marcello Caleffi

In both classical and quantum Shannon's information theory, communication channels are generally assumed to combine through classical trajectories, so that the associated network path traversed by the information carrier is well-defined. Counter-intuitively, quantum mechanics enables a quantum information carrier to propagate through a quantum trajectory, i.e., through a path such that the causal order of the constituting communications channels becomes indefinite. Quantum trajectories exhibit astonishing features, such as providing non-null capacity even when no information can be sent through any classical trajectory. But the fundamental question of investigating the ultimate rates achievable with quantum trajectories is an open and crucial problem. To this aim, in this paper, we derive closed-form expressions for both the upper- and the lower-bound on the quantum capacity achievable via a quantum trajectory. The derived expressions depend, remarkably, on computable single-letter quantities. Our findings reveal the substantial advantage achievable with a quantum trajectory over any classical combination of the communications channels in terms of ultimate achievable communication rates. Furthermore, we identify the region where a quantum trajectory incontrovertibly outperforms the amount of transmissible information beyond the limits of conventional quantum Shannon theory, and we quantify this advantage over classical trajectories through a conservative estimate.

Axel Schild

Quantum trajectory calculations for electrons are a useful tool in the field of molecular dynamics, e.g. to understand processes in ultrafast spectroscopy. They have, however, two limitation: On the one hand, such calculations are typically based on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA) and the electron dynamics for stationary nuclei is considered, thus neglecting quantum effects of the nuclei. On the other hand, even if the quantum nuclear motion would be taken into account, a BOA dynamics on a single potential energy surface would not provide any electron trajectories because the electronic part is treated as a stationary problem. By using the exact factorization method, we overcome these limitations and generalize the theory of electronic quantum trajectories to a fully quantum-mechanical treatment of the nuclei. After reviewing the time-dependent theory of quantum hydrodynamics and quantum trajectories, we show that the nuclei can be viewed as a quantum clock for the electronic motion and we develop a fully quantum-mechanical clock-dependent version of quantum hydrodynamics. This theory is used to obtain electronic trajectories for quantum nuclei, as is exemplified for a model system of a proton-coupled electron transfer dynamics. Our work generalizes the concept of quantum trajectories and lays the foundations for the development of trajectory-based simulation methods of electron dynamics beyond the BOA.

Miguel Orszag