We consider the evolution of an arbitrary quantum dynamical semigroup of a finite-dimensional quantum system under frequent kicks, where each kick is a generic quantum operation. We develop a generalization of the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula allowing to reformulate such pulsed dynamics as a continuous one. This reveals an adiabatic evolution. We obtain a general type of quantum Zeno dynamics, which unifies all known manifestations in the literature as well as describing new types.

We consider the reduced dynamics of a small quantum system in interaction with a reservoir when the initial state is factorized. We present a rigorous derivation of a GKLS master equation in the weak-coupling limit for a generic bath, which is not assumed to have a bosonic or fermionic nature, and whose reference state is not necessarily thermal. The crucial assumption is a reservoir state endowed with a mixing property: the n-point connected correlation function of the interaction must be asymptotically bounded by the product of two-point functions (clustering property).

In a recent work (Burgarth et al 2014, Nat. Commun. 5 5173), it was shown that a series of frequent measurements can project the dynamics of a quantum system onto a subspace in which the dynamics can be more complex. In this subspace, even full controllability can be achieved, although the controllability over the system before the projection is very poor since the control Hamiltonians commute with each other. We can also think of the opposite: any Hamiltonians of a quantum system, which are in general noncommutative with each other, can be made commutative by embedding them in an extended Hilbert space, thus the dynamics in the extended space becomes trivial and simple. This idea of making noncommutative Hamiltonians commutative is called 'Hamiltonian purification.' The original noncommutative Hamiltonians are recovered by projecting the system back onto the original Hilbert space through frequent measurements. Here, we generalise this idea to open-system dynamics by presenting a simple construction to make Lindbladians, as well as Hamiltonians, commutative on a larger space with an auxiliary system. We show that the original dynamics can be recovered through frequently measuring the auxiliary system in a non-selective way. Moreover, we provide a universal pair of Lindbladians that describe an 'accessible' open quantum system for generic system sizes. This allows us to conclude that through a series of frequent non-selective measurements a nonaccessible open quantum system generally becomes accessible. This sheds further light on the role of measurement backaction on the control of quantum systems.

We study the interplay of control and parameter estimation on a quantum spin chain. A single qubit probe is attached to one end of the chain, while we wish to estimate a parameter on the other end. We find that control on the probe qubit can substantially improve the estimation performance and discover some interesting connections to quantum state transfer.

We study the Schrodinger Robertson uncertainty relations in an algebraic framework. Moreover, we show that some specific commutation relations imply new equalities, which are regarded as equality versions of well-known inequalities such as Hardy's inequality. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

It is known that each single typical pure state in an energy shell of a large isolated quantum system well represents a thermal equilibrium state of the system. We show that such typicality holds also for nonequilibrium steady states (NESS's). We consider a small quantum system coupled to multiple infinite reservoirs. In the long run, the total system reaches a unique NESS. We identify a large Hilbert space from which pure states of the system are to be sampled randomly and show that the typical pure states well describe the NESS. We also point out that the irreversible relaxation to the unique NESS is important to the typicality of the pure NESS's.

On the basis of the quantum Zeno effect, it has been recently shown [D. K. Burgarth et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 5173 (2014)] that a strong-amplitude-damping process applied locally on a part of a quantum system can have a beneficial effect on the dynamics of the remaining part of the system. Quantum operations that cannot be implemented without the dissipation become achievable by the action of the strong dissipative process. Here we generalize this idea by identifying decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) as the subspaces in which the dynamics becomes more complex. Applying methods from quantum control theory, we characterize the set of reachable operations within the DFSs. We provide three examples that become fully controllable within the DFSs while the control over the original Hilbert space in the absence of dissipation is trivial. In particular, we show that the (classical) Ising Hamiltonian is turned into a Heisenberg Hamiltonian by strong collective decoherence, which provides universal quantum computation within the DFSs. Moreover, we perform numerical gate optimization to study how the process fidelity scales with the noise strength. As a by-product, a subsystem fidelity that can be applied in other optimization problems for open quantum systems is developed.

In the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometric scheme, two identical photons that illuminate a balanced beam splitter always leave through the same exit port. Similar effects have been predicted and (partially) experimentally confirmed for multiphoton Fock-number states. In the limit of large photon numbers, the output distribution follows a (1 - x(2))(-1/2) law, where x is the normalized imbalance in the output photon numbers at the two output ports. We derive an analytical formula that is also valid for imbalanced input photon numbers with a large total number of photons, and focus on the extent to which the hypothesis of perfect balanced input can be relaxed, discussing the robustness and universal features of the output distribution.

The problem of Hamiltonian purification introduced by Burgarth et al. [Nat. Commun. 5, 5173 (2014)] is formalized and discussed. Specifically, given a set of noncommuting Hamiltonians {h(1),..., h(m)} operating on a d-dimensional quantum system H-d, the problem consists in identifying a set of commuting Hamiltonians {H-1,..., H-m} operating on a larger d(E)-dimensional system H-dE which embeds Hd as a proper subspace, such that h(j) = PHjP with P being the projection which allows one to recover Hd from HdE. The notions of spanning-set purification and generator purification of an algebra are also introduced and optimal solutions for u(d) are provided. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

The problem of estimating a parameter of a quantum system through a series of measurements performed sequentially on a quantum probe is analyzed in the general setting where the underlying statistics is explicitly non-i.i.d. We present a generalization of the central limit theorem in the present context, which under fairly general assumptions shows that as the number N of measurement data increases the probability distribution of functionals of the data (e.g., the average of the data) through which the target parameter is estimated becomes asymptotically normal and independent of the initial state of the probe. At variance with the previous studies (Guta M 2011 Phys. Rev. A 83 062324; van Horssen Mand Guta M 2015 J. Math. Phys. 56 022109) we take a diagrammatic approach, which allows one to compute not only the leading orders in N of the moments of the average of the data but also those of the correlations among subsequent measurement outcomes. In particular our analysis points out that the latter, which are not available in usual i.i.d. data, can be exploited in order to improve the accuracy of the parameter estimation. An explicit application of our scheme is discussed by studying how the temperature of a thermal reservoir can be estimated via sequential measurements on a quantum probe in contact with the reservoir.

We search for the optimal quantum pure states of identical bosonic particles for applications in quantum metrology, in particular, in the estimation of a single parameter for the generic two-mode interferometric setup. We consider the general case in which the total number of particles is fluctuating around an average N with variance Delta N-2. By recasting the problem in the framework of classical probability, we clarify themaximal accuracy attainable and show that it is always larger than the one reachable with a fixed number of particles (i.e., Delta N = 0). In particular, for larger fluctuations, the error in the estimation diminishes proportionally to 1/Delta N, below the Heisenberg-like scaling 1/N. We also clarify the best input state, which is a quasi-NOON state for a generic setup and, for some special cases, a two-mode Schrodinger-cat state with a vacuum component. In addition, we search for the best state within the class of pure Gaussian states with a given average N, which is revealed to be a product state (with no entanglement) with a squeezed vacuum in one mode and the vacuum in the other.

Interference is observed when two independent Bose-Einstein condensates expand and overlap. This phenomenon is typical, in the sense that the overwhelming majority of wave functions of the condensates, uniformly sampled out of a suitable portion of the total Hilbert space, display interference with maximal visibility. We focus here on the phases of the condensates and their (pseudo) randomization, which naturally emerges when two-body scattering processes are considered. Relationship to typicality is discussed and analyzed.

The ability of quantum systems to host exponentially complex dynamics has the potential to revolutionize science and technology. Therefore, much effort has been devoted to developing of protocols for computation, communication and metrology, which exploit this scaling, despite formidable technical difficulties. Here we show that the mere frequent observation of a small part of a quantum system can turn its dynamics from a very simple one into an exponentially complex one, capable of universal quantum computation. After discussing examples, we go on to show that this effect is generally to be expected: almost any quantum dynamics becomes universal once 'observed' as outlined above. Conversely, we show that any complex quantum dynamics can be 'purified' into a simpler one in larger dimensions. We conclude by demonstrating that even local noise can lead to an exponentially complex dynamics.

We show that typicality holds for a class of nonequilibrium systems, i.e., nonequilibrium steady states (NESSs): almost all the pure states properly sampled from a certain Hilbert space well represent a NESS and characterize its intrinsic thermal nature. We clarify the relevant Hilbert space from which the pure states are to be sampled, and construct practically all the typical pure NESSs. The scattering approach leads us to the natural extension of the typicality for equilibrium systems. Each pure NESS correctly yields the expectation values of observables given by the standard ensemble approach. It means that we can calculate the expectation values in a NESS with only a single pure NESS. We provide an explicit construction of the typical pure NESS for a model with two reservoirs, and see that it correctly reproduces the Landauer-type formula for the current flowing steadily between the reservoirs. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2014

When a Bose-Einstein condensate is divided into two parts that are subsequently released and overlap, interference fringes are observed. We show here that this interference is typical, in the sense that most wave functions of the condensate, randomly sampled out of a suitable ensemble, display interference. We make no hypothesis of decoherence between the two parts of the condensate.

We provide a general framework for the identification of open quantum systems. By looking at the input-output behavior, we try to identify the system inside a black box in which some Markovian time evolution takes place. Due to the generally irreversible nature of the dynamics, it is difficult to assure full controllability over the system. Still, we show that the system is identifiable up to similarity under a certain rank condition. The framework also covers situations relevant to standard quantum process tomography, where we do not have enough control over the system but have a tomographically complete set of initial states and observables. Remarkably, the similarity cannot in general be reduced to unitarity even for unitary systems, and the spectra of Hamiltonians are not identifiable without additional knowledge.

A connection is established between the non-Abelian phases obtained via adiabatic driving and those acquired via quantum Zeno dynamics induced by repeated projective measurements. In comparison to the adiabatic case, the Zeno dynamics is shown to be more flexible in tuning the system evolution, which paves the way for the implementation of unitary quantum gates and applications in quantum control. © 2013 American Physical Society.

The paper provides a systematic characterization of quantum ergodic and mixing channels in finite dimensions and a discussion of their structural properties. In particular, we discuss ergodicity in the general case where the fixed point of the channel is not a full-rank (faithful) density matrix. Notably, we show that ergodicity is stable under randomizations, namely that every random mixture of an ergodic channel with a generic channel is still ergodic. In addition, we prove several conditions under which ergodicity can be promoted to the stronger property of mixing. Finally, exploiting a suitable correspondence between quantum channels and generators of quantum dynamical semigroups, we extend our results to the realm of continuous-time quantum evolutions, providing a characterization of ergodic Lindblad generators and showing that they are dense in the set of all possible generators. © IOP Publishing and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.

We study the behavior of bipartite entanglement at fixed von Neumann entropy. We look at the distribution of the entanglement spectrum, that is, the eigenvalues of the reduced density matrix of a quantum system in a pure state. We report the presence of two continuous phase transitions, characterized by different entanglement spectra, which are deformations of classical eigenvalue distributions. © 2013 American Physical Society.

We introduce a method to witness the quantumness of a system. The method relies on the fact that the anticommutator of two classical states is always positive. By contrast, we show that there is always a nonpositive anticommutator due to any two quantum states. We notice that interference depends on the trace of the anticommutator of two states, and it is therefore operationally more suitable to detect quantumness by looking at anticommutators of states rather than their commutators. © 2013 American Physical Society.

We study the behavior of bipartite entanglement at fixed von Neumann entropy. We look at the distribution of the entanglement spectrum, that is, the eigenvalues of the reduced density matrix of a quantum system in a pure state. We report the presence of two continuous phase transitions, characterized by different entanglement spectra, which are deformations of classical eigenvalue distributions.

We propose a setup comprising an arbitrarily large array of static qubits (SQs), which interact with a flying qubit (FQ). The SQs work as a quantum register, which can be written or read out by means of the FQ through quantum state transfer (QST). The entire system, including the FQ's motional degrees of freedom, behaves quantum mechanically. We demonstrate a strategy allowing for selective QST between the FQ and a single SQ chosen from the register. This is achieved through a perfect mirror located beyond the SQs and suitable modulation of the inter-SQ distances.

We construct a quantumness witness following the work of Alicki & van Ryn (AvR). We reformulate the AvR test by defining it for quantum states rather than for observables. This allows us to identify the necessary quantities and resources to detect quantumness for any given system. The first quantity turns out to be the purity of the system. When applying the witness to a system with even moderate mixedness, the protocol is unable to reveal any quantumness. We then show that having many copies of the system leads the witness to reveal quantumness. This seems contrary to the Bohr correspondence, which asserts that, in the large-number limit, quantum systems become classical, whereas the witness shows quantumness when several non-quantum systems, as determined by the witness, are considered together. However, the resources required to detect the quantumness increase dramatically with the number of systems. We apply the quantumness witness for systems that are highly mixed but in the large-number limit that resembles nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) systems. We make several conclusions about detecting quantumness in NMR-like systems.

A setup based on the Franson optical interferometer is analyzed, which allows us to detect the coherence properties of Cooper pairs emerging via tunneling from a superconductor in contact with two one-dimensional channels. By tuning the system parameters we show that both the internal coherence of the emitted Cooper pairs, which is proportional to Pippard's length, and the de Broglie wavelength of their center-of-mass motion can be measured via current-current correlation measurements.

A scheme for measuring the purity of a quantum system with a finite number of levels is presented. The method makes use of two root SWAP gates and hinges only on measurements performed on a reference system, prepared in a certain pure state and coupled with the target system. Neither tomographic methods, with the complete reconstruction of the state, nor interferometric setups are needed.

We study the efficiency of quantum tomographic reconstruction where the system under investigation (quantum target) is indirectly monitored by looking at the state of a quantum probe that has been scattered off the target. In particular, we focus on the state tomography of a qubit through a one-dimensional scattering of a probe qubit, with a Heisenberg-type interaction. Via direct evaluation of the associated quantum Cramer-Rao bounds, we compare the accuracy efficiency that one can obtain by adopting entanglement-assisted strategies with that achievable when entanglement resources are not available. Even though sub-shot noise accuracy levels are not attainable, we show that quantum correlations play a significant role in the estimation. A comparison with the accuracy levels obtainable by direct estimation (not through a probe) of the quantum target is also performed.

We analyze the recently introduced notion of quantumness witnesses and compare it to that of entanglement witnesses. We show that any entanglement witness is also a quantumness witness. We then consider some physically relevant examples and explicitly construct some witnesses.

The aim of quantum system identification is to estimate the ingredients inside a black box, in which some quantum-mechanical unitary process takes place, by just looking at its input-output behavior. Here we establish a basic and general framework for quantum system identification, that allows us to classify how much knowledge about the quantum system is attainable, in principle, from a given experimental setup. We show that controllable closed quantum systems can be estimated up to unitary conjugation. Prior knowledge on some elements of the black box helps the system identification. We present an example in which a Bell measurement is more efficient to identify the system. When the topology of the system is known, the framework enables us to establish a general criterion for the estimability of the coupling constants in its Hamiltonian.

The dynamics of an open quantum system, consisting of three superconducting qubits interacting with independent reservoirs, is investigated to elucidate the effects of the environment on a unitary generation scheme of W states (Migliore R et al 2006 Phys. Rev. B 74 104503). To this end a microscopic master equation is constructed and its exact resolution predicts the generation of a Werner-like state instead of the W state. A comparison between our model and a more intuitive phenomenological model is also considered, in order to find the limits of the latter approach in the case of structured reservoirs.

Interference of two independently prepared ideal Bose gases is discussed, on the basis of the idea of measurement-induced interference. It is known that, even if the number of atoms in each gas is individually fixed finite and the symmetry of the system is not broken, an interference pattern is observed on each single snapshot. The key role is played by the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, which leads to an oscillating pattern of the cloud of identical atoms. Then, how essential is the Bose-Einstein condensation to the interference? In this work, we describe two ideal Bose gases trapped in two separate three-dimensional harmonic traps at a finite temperature T, using the canonical ensembles (with fixed numbers of atoms). We compute the full statistics of the snapshot profiles of the expanding and overlapping gases released from the traps. We obtain a simple formula valid for finite T, which shows that the average fringe spectrum (average fringe contrast) is given by the purity of each gas. The purity is known to be a good measure of condensation, and the formula clarifies the relevance of the condensation to the interference. The results for T = 0, previously known in the literature, can be recovered from our analysis. The fluctuation of the interference spectrum is also studied, and it is shown that the fluctuation is vanishingly small only below the critical temperature T-c, meaning that interference pattern is certainly observed on every snapshot below T-c. The fact that the number of atoms is fixed in the canonical ensemble is crucial to this vanishing fluctuation.

Interference of an array of independent Bose-Einstein condensates, whose experiment has been performed recently, is theoretically studied in detail. Even if the number of the atoms in each gas is kept finite and the phases of the gases are not well-defined, interference fringes are observed on each snapshot. The statistics of the snapshot interference patterns, i.e. the average fringe amplitudes and their fluctuations (covariance), are computed analytically, and concise formulas for their asymptotic values for long time of flight are derived. Processes contributing to these quantities are clarified and the relationship with the description on the basis of the symmetry-breaking scenario is revealed.

Repeated measurements on one part of a bipartite system strongly affect the other part that is not measured, the dynamics of which is regulated by an effective contracted evolution operator. When the spectrum of this operator is discrete, the nonmeasured system is driven into a pure state, irrespective of the initial state, provided that the spectrum satisfies certain conditions. We show here that, even in the case of continuous spectrum, an effective distillation can occur under rather general conditions. We confirm it by applying our formalism to a simple model. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

Repeated measurements on one part of a bipartite system strongly affect the other part that is not measured, the dynamics of which is regulated by an effective contracted evolution operator. When the spectrum of this operator is discrete, the nonmeasured system is driven into a pure state, irrespective of the initial state, provided that the spectrum satisfies certain conditions. We show here that, even in the case of continuous spectrum, an effective distillation can occur under rather general conditions. We confirm it by applying our formalism to a simple model.

We discuss the interference in the two-particle distribution of the electrons emitted from two independent superconductors. It is clarified that, while the interference appearing in the antibunching correlation is due to the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, that in the positive correlation due to superconductivity is intrinsically different and is nothing but the first-order interference of Cooper pairs emitted from different sources. This is the equivalent of the interference of two independent Bose-Einstein condensates.

A scheme for the extraction of entanglement in two noninteracting qubits (spins) is proposed. The idea is to make use of the resonant transmission of an ancilla qubit through the two fixed qubits, controlled by the entanglement in the scatterers. Repetition of the resonant transmission extracts the singlet state in the target qubits from their arbitrary given state. Neither the preparation nor the post-selection of the ancilla spin is required, in contrast to the previously proposed schemes.

A scheme for generating an entangled state in a two spin-1/2 system by means of a spin-dependent potential scattering of another qubit is presented and analyzed in three dimensions. The entanglement is evaluated in terms of the concurrence both at the lowest and in full order in perturbation with an appropriate renormalization for the latter, and its characteristics are discussed in the context of (in)distinguishability of alternative paths for a quantum particle.

The dynamics of a system made of a particle interacting with a field mode "thwarted" by the action of repeated projective measurements on the particle is examined. The effect of the partial measurements is discussed by comparing it with the dynamics in the absence of the measurements. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

A scheme for preparing two fixed noninteracting qubits in a maximally entangled state is presented. By repeating on-and off-resonant scattering of ancilla qubits, the target qubits are driven from an arbitrary initial state into a singlet state with probability 1 (perfect efficiency). Neither the preparation nor the post-selection of the ancilla spin state is required. The convergence from an arbitrary input state to the unique fixed point (mixing property) is proved rigorously, and its robustness is investigated by scrutinizing the effects of imperfections in the incident wave of the ancillasuch as mistuning to a resonant momentum, imperfect monochromatization, and fluctuation of the incident momentum-as well as detector efficiency.

We discuss the state tomography of a fixed qubit (a spin-1/2 target particle), which is in general in a mixed state, through one-dimensional scattering of a probe qubit off the target. Two strategies are presented by making use of different degrees of freedom of the probe, i.e. spin and momentum. Remarkably, the spatial degree of freedom of the probe can be utilized for optimizing the tomographic schemes. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

The dynamics of a system, consisting of a particle initially in a Gaussian state interacting with a field mode, under the action of repeated measurements performed on the particle, is examined. It is shown that regardless of its initial state the field is distilled into a squeezed state. The dependence on the physical parameters of the dynamics is investigated.

We discuss the state tomography of a fixed qubit (a spin-1/2 target particle), which is in general in a mixed state, through one-dimensional scattering of a probe qubit off the target. Two strategies are presented by making use of different degrees of freedom of the probe, i.e. spin and momentum. Remarkably, the spatial degree of freedom of the probe can be utilized for optimizing the tomographic schemes.

The correlations of the electrons field-emitted from a superconductor are fully analyzed, both in space and time. It is proposed that a coincidence experiment would reveal a positive correlation between the electrons emitted in opposite directions. The electrons can be entangled and can even violate Bell's inequality. The crucial role played by Andreev's process is scrutinized, analytical formulas are derived for the correlations, and the physics behind the phenomenon is clarified.

A qubit (a spin-1/2 particle) prepared in the up state is scattered by local spin-flipping potentials produced by the two target qubits (two fixed spins), both prepared in the down state, to generate an entangled state in the latter when the former is found in the down state after scattering. The scattering process is analyzed in three dimensions, both to lowest order and in full order in perturbation, with an appropriate renormalization for the latter. The entanglement is evaluated in terms of the concurrence as a function of the incident and scattering angles, the size of the incident wave packet, and the detector resolution to clarify the key elements for obtaining an entanglement with high quality. The characteristics of the results are also discussed in the context of (in)distinguishability of alternative paths for a quantum particle.

Under appropriate circumstances the electrons emitted from a superconducting tip can be entangled. We analyze these nonlocal correlations by studying the coincidences of the field-emitted electrons and show that electrons emitted in opposite directions violate Bell's inequality. We scrutinize the interplay between the bosonic nature of Cooper pairs and the fermionic nature of electrons. We further discuss the feasibility of our analysis in the light of present experimental capabilities.

We investigate the critical short-time scaling of the two-dimensional lattice phi(4) field theory with a Langevin dynamics. Starting from a "hot" initial configuration but with a small magnetization, the critical initial increase of the magnetization is observed through which we determine the critical point. From the short-time relaxation dynamics of various quantities at the critical point obtained, the dynamic critical exponents theta, z and the static exponent beta/nu are evaluated. In executing a Langevin simulation, an appropriate discretization method with respect to the time degree of freedom becomes essentially important to be adopted and we show that the well-know second-order form of discretized Langevin equation works well to investigate the short-time dynamics.

As a possible physical realization of a quantum information processor, a system with stacked self-assembled InAs quantum dots buried in GaAs adjacent to the channel of a spin field-effect transistor has been proposed. In this system, only one of the stacked qubits, i.e., the edge qubit (the qubit closest to the channel), is measurable via "spin-blockade measurement." It is shown that the state tomography of the whole chain of the qubits is still possible even under such a restricted accessibility. The idea is to make use of the entangling dynamics of the qubits. A recipe for the two-qubit system is explicitly constructed and the effect of an imperfect fidelity of the measurement is clarified. A general scheme for multiple qubits based on repeated measurements is also presented.

We diagonalize the XX model with a finite number of spins and periodic boundary conditions. We solve for the ground state, focus on the rapidity of the convergence to the thermodynamic limit and study the features of multipartite entanglement.

The Langmuir (L) and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the J-aggregates formed by amphiphilic merocyanine dye (MID) differ their absorption bands (J-bands), and the J-band in the LB film is located in shorter wavelength than that in the L film. From the grazing incidence X-ray diffraction patterns, the lattice structures and the crystallographic coherent lengths of the MD J-aggregates in the L and LB films were evaluated. Besides a 7% shrinkage of the 2-dimensional lattice in the LB film, more than two-order of magnitude shorter coherent lengths were observed in the LB film, suggesting that the difference of the J-band wavelength was attributed to the size effect of the J-aggregate crystal. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Repeated observations of a quantum system interacting with another one can drive the latter toward a particular quantum state, irrespective of its initial condition, because of an effective nonunitary evolution. If the target state is a pure one, the degree of purity of the system approaches unity, even when the initial condition of the system is a mixed state. In this paper we study the behavior of the purity from the initial value to the final one, that is, unity. Depending on the parameters, after a finite number of measurements, the purity exhibits oscillations that brings about a lower purity than that of the initial state, which is a point to be taken care of in concrete applications.

Decoherence is believed to deteriorate the ability of a purification scheme that is based on the idea of driving a system to a pure state by repeatedly measuring another system in interaction with the former and hinder for a pure state to be extracted asymptotically. Nevertheless, we find a way out of this difficulty by deriving an analytic expression of the reduced density matrix for a two-qubit system immersed in a bath. It is shown that we can still extract a pure state if the environment brings about only dephasing effects. In addition, for a dissipative environment, there is a possibility of obtaining a dominant pure state when we perform a finite number of measurements.

Lateral effects are analyzed in the antibunching of a beam of free noninteracting fermions. The emission of particles from a source is dynamically described in a three-dimensional full quantum-field-theoretical framework. The size of the source and the detectors, as well as the temperature of the source are taken into account and the behavior of the visibility is scrutinized as a function of these parameters.

A quantum system put in interaction with another one that is repeatedly measured is subject to a nonunitary dynamics, through which it is possible to extract subspaces. This key idea has been exploited to propose schemes aimed at the generation of pure quantum states (purification). All such schemes have so far been considered in the ideal situations of isolated systems. In this paper, we analyze the influence of non-negligible interactions with environment during the extraction process, with the scope of investigating the possibility of purifying the state of a system in spite of the sources of dissipation. A general framework is presented and a paradigmatic example consisting of two interacting spins immersed in a bosonic bath is studied. The effectiveness of the purification scheme is discussed in terms of purity for different values of the relevant parameters and in connection with the bath temperature.

A theoretical scheme to generate multipartite entangled states in a Josephson planar-designed architecture is reported. This scheme improves the one published by Migliore [Phys. Rev. B 74, 104503 (2006)] since it speeds up the generation of W entangled states in an MxN array of inductively coupled Josephson flux qubits by reducing the number of necessary steps. In addition, the same protocol is shown to be able to transfer the W state from one row to the other.

We analyze the dynamics of a quantum mechanical system in interaction with a reservoir when the initial state is not factorized. In the weak-coupling (van Hove) limit, the dynamics can be properly described in terms of a master equation, but a consistent application of Nakajima-Zwanzig's projection method requires that the reference (not necessarily equilibrium) state of the reservoir be endowed with the mixing property. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

We analyze some solvable models of a quantum mechanical system in interaction with a reservoir when the initial state is not factorized. We apply Nakajima-Zwanzig's projection method by choosing a reference state of the reservoir endowed with the mixing property. In van Hove's limit, the dynamics is described in terms of a master equation. We observe that Markovianity becomes a valid approximation for timescales that depend both on the form factors of the interaction and on the observables of the reservoir that can be measured. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Generation of entanglement between two qubits by scattering an entanglement mediator is discussed. The mediator bounces between the two qubits and exhibits a resonant scattering. It is clarified how the degree of the entanglement is enhanced by the constructive interference of such bouncing processes. Maximally entangled states are available via adjusting the incident momentum of the mediator or the distance between the two qubits, but their fine tunings are not necessarily required to gain highly entangled states and a robust generation of entanglement is possible.

As a promising physical realization of a quantum computer, we discuss a system with stacked quantum dots buried in adjacent to the channel of a spin field-effect transistor. In this scheme, one can measure only the edge qubit (nearest to the channel) via the spin-blockade measurement, but still it is possible to know the state of the whole qubits.

The so-called Lindblad equation, a typical master equation describing the dissipative quantum dynamics, is shown to be solvable for finite-level systems in a compact form without resort to writing it down as a set of equations among matrix elements. The solution is then naturally given in an operator form, known as the Kraus representation. Following a few simple examples, the general applicability of the method is clarified.

We propose and analyze a scheme for the generation of multipartite entangled states in a system of inductively coupled Josephson flux qubits. The qubits have fixed eigenfrequencies during the whole process in order to minimize decoherence effects and their inductive coupling can be turned on and off at will by tuning an external control flux. Within this framework, we will show that a W state in a system of three or more qubits can be generated by exploiting the sequential one by one coupling of the qubits with one of them playing the role of an entanglement mediator.

We present a novel method for preparing pure quantum states, i.e., purification through Zeuo-like measurements, and its possible applications and extensions.

We propose and analyze a scheme for the generation of multipartite entangled states in a system of inductively coupled Josephson flux qubits. The qubits have fixed eigenfrequencies during the whole process in order to minimize decoherence effects and their inductive coupling can be turned on and off at will by tuning an external control flux. Within this framework, we will show that a W state in a system of three or more qubits can be generated by exploiting the sequential one by one coupling of the qubits with one of them playing the role of an entanglement mediator. © 2006 The American Physical Society.

We propose a method of operating a quantum state machine made of stacked quantum dots buried in adjacent to the channel of a spin field-effect transistor (FET) [S. Datta, B. Das, Appl. Phys. Lett. 56 (1990) 665; K. Yoh, et al., Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference oil Physics of Semiconductors (ICPS) 2004; H. Ohno, K. Yoh et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 42 (2003) L87; K. Yoh, J. Konda, S. Shiina, N. Nishiguchi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 36 (1997) 4134]. In this method, a spin blockade measurement extracts the quantum state of a nearest quantum dot through Coulomb blockade [K. Yoh, J. Konda, S. Shiina, N. Nishiguchi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 36 (1997) 4134; K. Yoh, H. Kazama, Physica E 7 (2000) 440] of the adjacent channel conductance. Repeated quantum Zeno-like (QZ) measurements [H. Nakazato, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (2003) 060401] of the spin blockade is shown to purify the quantum dot states within several repetitions. The growth constraints of the stacked InAs quantum dots are shown to provide an exchange interaction energy in the range of 0.01-1 meV [S. Itoh, et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 38 (1999) L917; A. Tackeuchi, et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 42 (2003) 4278]. We have verified that one can reach the fidelity of 90% by repeating the measurement twice, and that of 99.9% by repeating only eleven QZ measurements. Entangled states with two and three vertically stacked dots are achieved with the sampling frequency of the order of 100 MHz. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A simple scheme to prepare an entanglement between two separated qubits from a given mixed state is proposed. A single qubit (entanglement mediator) is repeatedly made to interact locally and consecutively with the two qubits through rotating-wave couplings and is then measured. It is shown that we need to repeat this kind of process only three times to establish a maximally entangled state directly from an arbitrary initial mixed state, with no need to prepare the state of the qubits in advance or to rearrange the setup step by step. Furthermore, the maximum yield realizable with this scheme is compatible with the maximum entanglement, provided that the coupling constants are properly tuned.

The molecular alignment of a merocyanine (MC) J-aggregate monolayer at the air-water interface was determined by a grazing incidence x-ray diffraction method. The obtained molecular arrangement apparently shows that the conventional formula, which accounts only for the transition dipole interaction, is not sufficient to figure out the exciton band wavelength, suggesting the importance of the electric dipole (ED) interaction. We derived a simple formula for the ED interaction energy under an extended dipole approximation and clarified the ED contribution in the MC J aggregate.

A recently proposed purification method, in which Zeno-like measurements of a subsystem can bring about a distillation of another subsystem in interaction with the former, is utilized to yield entangled states between distant systems. It is shown that measurements of a two-level system, locally interacting with two other spatially separated uncoupled subsystems, can distill entangled states from the latter irrespective of the initial states of the two subsystems.

A method of purification, purification through Zeno-like measurements [ H. Nakazato, T. Takazawa, and K. Yuasa, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 060401 (2003) ], is discussed extensively and applied to a few simple qubit systems. It is explicitly demonstrated how it works and how it is optimized. As possible applications, schemes for initialization of multiple qubits and entanglement purification are presented, and their efficiency is investigated in detail. Simplicity and flexibility of the idea allow us to apply it to various kinds of settings in quantum information and computation, and would provide us with useful and practical methods of state preparation.

We present a novel method for purifying quantum states, i.e. purification through Zeno-like measurements, and show an application to entanglement purification.

A mechanism to purify quantum states by Zeno-like measurements was discussed and was applied to simple qubit systems. A pure state was extracted in a quantum system by a series of measurements on another quantum system in interaction with the former. Entanglement purification was one of the application in the purification method. An extension of this method was in the entanglement between two spatially separated qubits which was necessary for quantum communication and quantum teleportation.

A neutron-spin experimental test of the quantum Zeno effect (QZE) is discussed from a practical point of view, where the nonideal efficiency of the magnetic mirrors, used for filtering the spin state, is taken into account. In the idealized case, the number N of (ideal) mirrors can be indefinitely increased, yielding an increasingly better QZE. In contrast, in a practical situation with imperfect mirrors, there is an optimal number of mirrors, N-opt, at which the QZE becomes maximum: more frequent measurements would deteriorate the performance. However, a quantitative analysis shows that a good experimental test of the QZE is still feasible. These conclusions are of general validity: in a realistic experiment, the presence of losses and imperfections leads to an optimal frequency N-opt, which is in general finite. One should not increase N beyond N-opt. A convenient formula for N-opt, valid in a broad framework, is derived as a function of the parameters characterizing the experimental setup.

A series of frequent measurements on a quantum system (Zeno-like measurements) is shown to result in the "purification" of another quantum system in interaction with the former. Even though the measurements are performed on the former system, their effect drives the latter into a pure state, irrespectively of its initial (mixed) state, provided certain conditions are satisfied.

We present a novel procedure to purify quantum states, i.e., purification through Zeno-like measurements. By simply repeating one and the same measurement on a quantum system, one can purify another system in interaction with the former. The conditions for the (efficient) purification are specified on a rather general setting, and the framework of the method possesses wide applicability. It is explicitly demonstrated on a specific setup that the purification becomes very efficient by tuning relevant parameters. © 2003 The Physical Society of Japan.

Field emission formulae, current-voltage characteristics and energy distribution of emitted electrons, are derived analytically for a nonplanar (hyperboloidal) metallic emitter model. The traditional Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) formulae, which are derived from a planar emitter model, are modified, and the assumption of the planar emitter in the F-N model is reconsidered. Our analytical calculation also reveals the backgrounds of the previous numerical discussion by He et al. on the effect of the geometry of emitter on field emission. The new formulae contain a parameter which characterizes the sharpness of the hyperboloidal emitter, and experimental data of field emissions from clean tungsten emitters and nanotip emitters are analyzed by making use of this feature. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Spin relaxation in a strong-coupling regime (with respect to the spin system) is investigated in detail based on the spin-boson model in a stochastic limit. We find a bifurcation phenomenon in temperature dependence of relaxation constants, which is never observed in the weak-coupling regime. We also discuss inequalities among the relaxation constants in our model and show the well-known relation 2Gamma(T)greater than or equal toGamma(L), for example, for a wider parameter region than before.

The stochastic limit approximation method for "rapid" decay is presented, where the damping rate gamma is comparable to the system frequency Omega, i.e., gamma similar to Omega, whereas the usual stochastic limit approximation is applied only to the weak damping situation gamma much less than Omega. The key formulas for rapid decay are very similar to those for weak damping, but the dynamics are quite different. From a microscopic Hamiltonian, the spin-boson model, a Bloch equation containing two independent time scales is derived. This is a useful method to extract the minimal dissipative dynamics at high temperature k(B)T much greater than(h) over bar Omega and the master equations obtained are of the Lindblad form unlike that of Caldeira and Leggett. The validity of the method is confirmed by comparing the master equation derived through this method with the exact one.

By making use of the Langevin equation with a kernel, it was shown that the Feynman measure e(-S) can be realized in a restricted sense in a diffusive stochastic process, which diverges and has no equilibrium, for bottomless systems. In this paper, the dependence on the initial conditions and the temporal behavior are analyzed for 0-dim bottomless systems. Furthermore, it is shown that it is possible to find stationary quantities.