The present paper explores possible features of electron elastic scattering off endohedral fullerenes $A@{\mathrm{C}}_{60}$. It focuses on how dynamical polarization of the encapsulated atom $A$ by an incident electron might alter scattering off $A@{\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ compared to the static-atom-$A$ case, as well as how the ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ confinement modifies the impact of atomic polarization on electron scattering compared to the free-atom case. The aim is to provide researchers with a “relative frame of reference” for understanding which part of the scattering processes could be due to electron scattering off the encapsulated atom and which could be due to scattering off the ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ cage. To meet the goal, the ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ cage is modeled by an attractive spherical potential of a certain inner radius, thickness, and depth which is a model used frequently in a great variety of fullerene studies to date. Then, the Dyson equation for the self-energy part of the Green's function of an incident electron moving in the combined field of an encapsulated atom $A$ and ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ is solved in order to account for the impact of dynamical polarization of the encaged atom upon $e+A@{\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ scattering. The Ba@${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ endohedral is chosen as the case study. The impact is found to be significant, and its utterly different role compared to that in $e+\text{Ba}$ scattering is unraveled.

The ab initio simulation of quantum vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate is performed by adopting the complex Langevin techniques. We simulate the nonrelativistic boson field theory at finite chemical potential under rotation. In the superfluid phase, vortices are generated above a critical angular velocity and the circulation is clearly quantized even in the presence of quantum fluctuations.

We solve the mixing-demixing transition in repulsive one-dimensional Bose-Bose mixtures. This is done numerically by means of the continuous matrix product states variational ansatz. We show that the effective low-energy bosonization theory is able to detect the transition whenever the Luttinger parameters are exactly computed. We further characterize the transition by calculating the ground-state energy density, the field-field fluctuations, and the density correlations.

We examine the dynamics of circulating modes of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a toroidal lattice. Nonlinearity due to interactions leads to criticality that separates oscillatory and self-trapped phases among counterpropagating modes which however share the same physical space. In the mean-field limit, the criticality is found to substantially enhance sensitivity to rotation of the system. Analysis of the quantum dynamics reveals the fluctuations near criticality are significant, which we explain using spin-squeezing formalism visualized on a Bloch sphere. We utilize the squeezing to propose a Ramsey interferometric scheme that suppresses fluctuation in the relevant quadrature sensitive to rotation.

We analyze the quantum-state purity of heralded single photons produced from frequency-anticorrelated biphotons. We find that the quantum-state purity in the time-frequency domain depends strongly on the response time uncertainty of the trigger-photon detector that heralds the generation of its paired photon. If the trigger response time is much shorter than the two-photon coherence time, the time-frequency quantum-state purity of heralded single photons approaches unity and the heralded single photon is in a nearly pure state. If the trigger response time is much longer than the two-photon coherence time, the heralded photon is then projected onto a mixed state. Making use of the time-frequency entanglement, heralded single photons with a well-defined temporal wave function or a frequency superposition state can be produced and engineered. This time-frequency entanglement allows for shaping heralded single photons through nonlocal spectral modulation.

The main concern of this paper is how to define proper measures of multipartite entanglement for mixed quantum states. Since the structure of partial separability and multipartite entanglement is getting complicated if the number of subsystems exceeds two, one cannot expect the existence of an ultimate scalar entanglement measure, which grasps even a small part of the rich hierarchical structure of multipartite entanglement, and some higher-order structure characterizing that is needed. In this paper we make some steps in this direction. First, we reveal the lattice-theoretic structure of the partial separability classification, introduced earlier [Sz. Szalay and Z. Kökényesi, Phys. Rev. A 86, 032341 (2012)]. It turns out that, mathematically, the structure of the entanglement classes is the up-set lattice of the structure of the different kinds of partial separability, which is the down-set lattice of the lattice of the partitions of the subsystems. It also turns out that, physically, this structure is related to the local operations and classical communication convertibility: If a state from a class can be mapped into another one, then that class can be found higher in the hierarchy. Second, we introduce the notion of multipartite monotonicity, expressing that a given set of entanglement monotones, while measuring the different kinds of entanglement, shows also the same hierarchical structure as the entanglement classes. Then we construct such hierarchies of entanglement measures and propose a physically well-motivated one, being the direct multipartite generalization of the entanglement of formation based on the entanglement entropy, motivated by the notion of statistical distinguishability. The multipartite monotonicity shown by this set of measures motivates us to consider the measures to be the different manifestations of some “unified” notion of entanglement.

A second-order nonlinearity has been proposed as a way to perform a conditional phase gate between two photons. The process involves combining the two photons into a single one (parametric up-conversion) and subsequently splitting that one into two photons identical to the original ones (parametric down-conversion), except for an overall phase shift. We show here that, when the multimode nature of the initial photon wave packets is considered, this approach suffers from the same difficulties as the third-order (Kerr-based) methods: specifically, the final state of the photons is inevitably spectrally distorted and entangled. The maximum fidelity appears to be limited to $F<0.4$ for a free-space configuration, but we find that this could theoretically be pushed to $F\simeq 0.6$ if the nonlinear medium is placed in an optical cavity. We show analytically that this latter result is identical to what one would obtain from a third-order nonlinear medium in the same arrangement.

We present a quantifier of nonclassical correlations for bipartite, multimode Gaussian states. It is derived from the Discriminating Strength measure, introduced for finite dimensional systems in Farace et al., [New J. Phys. 16, 073010 (2014)]. As the latter the new measure exploits the quantum Chernoff bound to gauge the susceptibility of the composite system with respect to local perturbations induced by unitary gates extracted from a suitable set of allowed transformations (the latter being identified by posing some general requirements). Closed expressions are provided for the case of two-mode Gaussian states obtained by squeezing or by linearly mixing via a beam splitter a factorized two-mode thermal state. For these density matrices, we study how nonclassical correlations are related with the entanglement present in the system and with its total photon number.

For experiments with ions confined in a Paul trap, minimization of micromotion is often essential. In order to diagnose and compensate micromotion we have implemented a method that allows for finding the position of the radio-frequency (rf) null reliably and efficiently, in principle, without any variation of direct current (dc) voltages. We apply a trap modulation technique and focus-scanning imaging to extract three-dimensional ion positions for various rf drive powers and analyze the power dependence of the equilibrium position of the trapped ion. In contrast to commonly used methods, the search algorithm directly makes use of a physical effect as opposed to efficient numerical minimization in a high-dimensional parameter space. Using this method we achieve a compensation of the residual electric field that causes excess micromotion in the radial plane of a linear Paul trap down to $0.09\text{V}{\text{m}}^{-1}$. Additionally, the precise position determination of a single harmonically trapped ion employed here can also be utilized for the detection of small forces. This is demonstrated by determining light pressure forces with a precision of 135 yN. As the method is based on imaging only, it can be applied to several ions simultaneously and is independent of laser direction and thus well suited to be used with, for example, surface-electrode traps.

We study the dynamics of persistent bosonic currents in closed-loop atom circuits in the form of ring lattices and under the action of time periodic driving. The closed-loop atom circuits are described by a Bose-Hubbard model in the presence of a Peierls phase and with periodic boundary conditions. We find that the motion of matter waves can be controlled with the help of an external driving only applied in one site of the ring lattice. For tuned values of the interaction strength between particles, we show that there exists a frequency range of the external driving where not only suppression but also reversion of the persistent bosonic currents is achieved. Applications of our results are discussed.

We propose and analyze the use of a three-well Bose-Hubbard model for the creation of two spatially separated entangled atomic samples. Our three wells are in a linear configuration, with all atoms initially in the middle well, which gives some spatial separation of the two end wells. The evolution from the initial quantum state allows for the development of entanglement between the atomic modes in the two end wells. We show how the detected entanglement and the well occupations are time dependent. We propose a method for preserving the en-tanglement by turning off the different interactions when it reaches its first maximum. We analyze the system with both Fock and coherent initial states, showing that the violations of the chosen inequality exist only for initial Fock states and that the collisional nonlinearity degrades them. This system is a preliminary step towards producing entangled atomic samples that can be spatially separated using recently developed methods of potential manipulation and thus help close the locality loophole in tests of quantum mechanics.

In this work, we study the out-of-equilibrium many-body tunneling dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a two-dimensional radial double well. We investigate the impact of interparticle repulsion and compare the influence of angular momentum on the many-body tunneling dynamics. Accurate many-body dynamics are obtained by solving the full many-body Schrödinger equation. We demonstrate that macroscopic vortex states of definite total angular momentum indeed tunnel and that, even in the regime of weak repulsions, a many-body treatment is necessary to capture the correct tunneling dynamics. As a general rule, many-body effects set in at weaker interactions when the tunneling system carries angular momentum.

We present a method for quantum entanglement distribution over a so-called code-division multiple-access network, in which two pairs of users share the same quantum channel to transmit information. The main idea of this method is to use different broadband chaotic phase shifts, generated by electro-optic modulators and chaotic Colpitts circuits, to encode the information-bearing quantum signals coming from different users and then recover the masked quantum signals at the receiver side by imposing opposite chaotic phase shifts. The chaotic phase shifts given to different pairs of users are almost uncorrelated due to the randomness of chaos and thus the quantum signals from different pair of users can be distinguished even when they are sent via the same quantum channel. It is shown that two maximally entangled states can be generated between two pairs of users by our method mediated by bright coherent lights, which can be more easily implemented in experiments compared with single-photon lights. Our method is robust under the channel noises if only the decay rates of the information-bearing fields induced by the channel noises are not quite high. Our study opens up new perspectives for addressing and transmitting quantum information in future quantum networks.

We derive a hierarchy of continuous-variable multipartite entanglement conditions in terms of second-order moments of position and momentum operators that generalize existing criteria. Each condition corresponds to a convex optimization problem which, given the covariance matrix of the state, can be numerically solved in a straightforward way. The conditions are independent of partial transposition and thus are also able to detect bound entangled states. Our approach can be used to obtain an analytical condition for genuine multipartite entanglement. We demonstrate that even a special case of our conditions can detect entanglement very efficiently. Using multiobjective optimization, it is also possible to numerically verify genuine entanglement of some experimentally realizable states.

We explore the statistical properties of the Casimir-Polder potential between a dielectric sphere and a three-dimensional heterogeneous medium, by means of extensive numerical simulations based on the scattering theory of Casimir forces. The simulations allow us to confirm recent predictions for the mean and standard deviation of the Casimir potential, and give us access to its full distribution function in the limit of a dilute distribution of heterogeneities. These predictions are compared with a simple statistical model based on a pairwise summation of the individual contributions of the constituting elements of the medium.

We report on a technique to improve the continuous loading of atomic strontium into a magnetic trap from a magneto-optical trap. This is achieved by adding a depumping laser tuned to the ${}^{3}P_1\to {}^{3}S_1$ (688-nm) transition. The depumping laser increases atom number in the magnetic trap and subsequent cooling stages by up to 65% for the bosonic isotopes and up to 30% for the fermionic isotope of strontium. We optimize this trap loading strategy with respect to the 688-nm laser detuning, intensity, and beam size. To understand the results, we develop a one-dimensional rate equation model of the system, which is in good agreement with the data. We discuss the use of other transitions in strontium for accelerated trap loading and the application of the technique to other alkaline-earth-like atoms.

Radiation pressure effects in ionization by short linearly polarized laser pulses are investigated in the framework of strong-field approximation, in both nonrelativistic and relativistic formulations. Differences between both approaches are discussed, and retardation and recoil corrections are defined. It is demonstrated how these corrections can be incorporated into the nonrelativistic approach, leading to the so-called quasirelativistic formulation. These three approaches are further applied to the analysis of signatures of radiation pressure in energy-angular distributions of photoelectrons. It is demonstrated that, for Ti:sapphire laser pulses of intensities up to ${10}^{16}\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$, predictions of the quasirelativistic formulation agree well with those of the full relativistic one, and that the recoil corrections contribute predominantly to radiation pressure effects.

The concept of nonlinear quantum-beat pump-probe Auger spectroscopy is introduced by discussing a relatively simple four-level model system. We consider a coherent wave packet involving two low-lying states that was prepared by an appropriate pump pulse. This wave packet is subsequently probed by a weak, time-delayed probe pulse with nearly resonant coupling to a core-excited state of the atomic or molecular system. The resonant Auger spectra are then studied as a function of the duration of the probe pulse and the time delay. With a bandwidth of the probe pulse approaching the energy spread of the wave packet, the Auger yields and spectra show quantum beats as a function of pump-probe delay. An analytic theory for the quantum-beat Auger spectroscopy is presented, which allows for the reconstruction of the wave packet by analyzing the delay-dependent Auger spectra. The possibility of extending this method to a more complex manifold of electronic and vibrational energy levels is also discussed.

We study the effects of anisotropic hopping amplitudes on quantum phases of ultracold fermions in optical lattices described by the repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model. In particular, using dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) we investigate the dimensional crossover between the isotropic square and the isotropic cubic lattice. We analyze the phase transition from the antiferromagnetic to the paramagnetic state and observe a significant change in the critical temperature: depending on the interaction strength, the anisotropy can lead to both a suppression or increase. We also investigate the localization properties of the system, such as the compressibility and double occupancy. Using the local-density approximation in combination with DMFT we conclude that density profiles can be used to detect the mentioned anisotropy-driven transitions.

We theoretically consider noninteracting fermions confined to optical lattices and apply a lattice amplitude modulation that we choose to be either homogeneous or of superlattice geometry. We study the atom excitation rate to higher Bloch bands which can be measured by adiabatic band mapping. We find that the atom excitation rate shows a clear signature of the temperature-dependent Fermi distribution in the lowest band of the equilibrium lattice as excitations are quasimomentum resolved. Based on typical experimental parameters and incorporating a trapping potential, we find that thermometry of one- and two-dimensional systems is within the reach of present-day experiments. Our scheme is valid down to temperatures of a few percent of the hopping amplitude comparable to the Néel temperature in interacting systems.