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arXiv:quant-ph/0408080 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Classical robustness of quantum unravellings

D. J Atkins, Zoe Brady, Kurt A. Jacobs, Howard M. Wiseman

Published Jan 1, 2005• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We introduce three measures which quantify the degree to which quantum systems possess the robustness exhibited by classical systems when subjected to continuous observation. Using these we show that for a fixed environmental interaction the level of robustness depends on the measurement strategy, or unravelling, and that no single strategy is maximally robust in all ways.

DOI
10.1209/epl/i2004-10332-1

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We introduce three measures which quantify the degree to which quantum systems possess the robustness exhibited by classical systems when subjected to continuous observation. Using these we show that for a fixed environmental interaction the level of robustness depends on the measurement strategy, or unravelling, and that no single strategy is maximally robust in all ways.
Monitoring the fluorescent radiation of an atom unravels the master equation evolution by collapsing the atomic state into a pure state which evolves stochastically. A robust unraveling is one that gives pure states that, on average, are relatively unaffected by the master-equation evolution (which applies once the monitoring ceases). The ensemble of pure states arising from the maximally robust unraveling has been suggested to be the most natural way of representing the system [H.M. Wiseman and J.A. Vaccaro, Phys. Lett. A 250, 241 (1998)]. We find that the maximally robust unraveling of a resonantly driven atom requires an adaptive interferometric measurement proposed by Wiseman and Toombes [Phys. Rev. A 60, 2474 (1999)]. The resultant ensemble consists of just two pure states which, in the high driving limit, are close to the eigenstates of the driving Hamiltonian $\ensuremath{\Omega}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}/2.$ This ensemble is the closest thing to a classical limit for a strongly driven atom. We also find that it is possible to reasonably approximate this ensemble using just homodyne detection, an example of a continuous Markovian unraveling. This has implications for other systems, for which it may be necessary in practice to consider only continuous Markovian unravelings.
The stationary solution ρ of a quantum master equation can be represented as an ensemble of pure states in a continuous infinity of ways. Here we suggest a definition of the the “most natural” ensemble. The first requirement is that the ensemble be physically realizable through monitoring the system’s environment. We call this an ’unraveling’ of the master equation. The second requirement is that it be the most robust of such ensembles. Robustness of an ensemble is defined in terms of the survival probability S(t) which is the average probability for one of its elements to remain unchanged after a time t . The most natural ensemble can thus be said to be the one produced by the maximally robust unraveling. An application of interest is the atom laser. We show that the nature of the maximally robust unraveling is closely related to the question of whether the output beam satisfies the conditions required to be a true laser beam.
Abstract In recent work, we introduced the asymptotic theory of quantum robust control, which enables control of moments of quantum observables and gates in the presence of Hamiltonian uncertainty or field noise. In this paper, we extend this theory of quantum robust control to encompass two of the most important generalizations: robust control of arbitrary quantum observables and robust control of quantum systems sustaining environmental decoherence. In addition, we present deterministic Pareto optimization algorithms that can be applied in conjunction with either asymptotic or leading order measures of robustness. This enables robust control of any observable in quantum systems with any initial density matrix, and for which the entropy can change arbitrarily during the time evolution. Methods for robust optimal control of open quantum systems are presented that maximize the expected value of a quantum control objective while minimizing the expected environmentally induced decoherence.
Abstract In quantum mechanics performing a measurement is an invasive process which generally disturbs the system. Due to this phenomenon, there exist incompatible quantum measurements, i.e. measurements that cannot be simultaneously performed on a single copy of the system. It is then natural to ask what the most incompatible quantum measurements are. To answer this question, several measures have been proposed to quantify how incompatible a set of measurements is, however their properties are not well-understood. In this work, we develop a general framework that encompasses all the commonly used measures of incompatibility based on robustness to noise. Moreover, we propose several conditions that a measure of incompatibility should satisfy, and investigate whether the existing measures comply with them. We find that some of the widely used measures do not fulfil these basic requirements. We also show that when looking for the most incompatible pairs of measurements, we obtain different answers depending on the exact measure. For one of the measures, we analytically prove that projective measurements onto two mutually unbiased bases are among the most incompatible pairs in every dimension. However, for some of the remaining measures we find that some peculiar measurements turn out to be even more incompatible.
Abstract We investigate the total stochastic entropy production of a two-level bosonic open quantum system under protocols of time dependent coupling to a harmonic environment. These processes are intended to represent the measurement of a system observable, and consequent selection of an eigenstate, whilst the system is also subjected to thermalising environmental noise. The entropy production depends on the evolution of the system variables and their probability density function, and is expressed through system and environmental contributions. The continuous stochastic dynamics of the open system is based on the Markovian approximation to the exact, noise-averaged stochastic Liouville-von Neumann equation, unravelled through the addition of stochastic environmental disturbance mimicking a measuring device. Under the thermalising influence of time independent coupling to the environment, the mean rate of entropy production vanishes asymptotically, indicating equilibrium. In contrast, a positive mean production of entropy as the system responds to time dependent coupling characterises the irreversibility of quantum measurement, and a comparison of its production for two coupling protocols, representing connection to and disconnection from the external measuring device, satisfies a detailed fluctuation theorem.