We analyze the dynamics of a system qubit interacting by means of a sequence of pairwise collisions with an environment consisting of just two qubits. We show that the density operator of the qubits approaches a common time-averaged equilibrium state, characterized by large fluctuations, only for a random sequence of collisions. For a regular sequence of collisions the qubit states of the system and of the reservoir undergo instantaneous periodic oscillations and do not relax to a common state. Furthermore we show that pure bipartite entanglement is developed only when at least two qubits are initially in the same pure state while otherwise also genuine multipartite entanglement builds up.

The computable measure of the mixed-state entanglement, the negativity, is shown to admit a clear geometrical interpretation, when applied to Schmidt-correlated (SC) states: the negativity of a SC state equals a distance of the state from a pertinent separable state. As a consequence, the Peres-Horodecki criterion of separability is both necessary and sufficient for SC states. Another remarkable consequence is that the negativity of a SC can be estimated “at a glance” on the density matrix. These results are generalized to mixtures of SC states, which emerge in bipartite evolutions with additive integrals of motion.

A class of entanglement witnesses (EWs) called reduction-type entanglement witnesses is introduced, which can detect some multipartite entangled states including positive partial transpose ones with Hilbert space of dimension $d_1\otimes d_2\otimes \cdots \otimes d_n$. In fact the feasible regions of these EWs turn out to be convex polygons and hence the manipulation of them reduces to linear programming which can be solved exactly by using the simplex method. The decomposability and nondecomposability of these EWs are studied and it is shown that it has a close connection with eigenvalues and optimality of EWs. Also using the Jamiołkowski isomorphism, the corresponding possible positive maps, including the generalized reduction maps of Hall [Phys. Rev. A 72, 022311 (2005)] are obtained.

Josephson charge qubits are promising candidates for scalable quantum computing. However, their performances are strongly degraded by decoherence due to low-frequency background noise, typically with a $1∕f$ spectrum. In this paper, we investigate the decoherence process of two Cooper pair boxes (CPBs) coupled via a capacitor. Going beyond the common and uncorrelated noise models and the Bloch-Redfield formalism of previous works, we study the coupled system’s quadratic dephasing under the condition of partially correlated noise sources. Based on reported experiments and generally accepted noise mechanisms, we introduce a reasonable assumption for the noise correlation, with which the calculation of multiqubit decoherence can be simplified to a problem on the single-qubit level. For the conventional Gaussian $1∕f$ noise case, our results demonstrate that the quadratic dephasing rates are not very sensitive to the spatial correlation of the noises. Furthermore, we discuss the feasibility and efficiency of dynamical decoupling in the coupled CPBs.

The two metastable levels $5d{}^{2}D_{3∕2}$ and $5d{}^{2}D_{5∕2}$ in $\mathrm{Ba}\mathrm{II}$ both show extremely long lifetimes of the order of several tens of seconds each. This has been found both by experiments and by theoretical predictions. The small transition probabilities associated with these two levels make them interesting and challenging for theoreticians as well as for experimentalists. Several calculations and measurements of these two lifetimes have been made previously but discrepancies between the results are present. This article presents values of $\tau =89.4\pm 15.6\mathrm{s}$ for the ${}^{2}D_{3∕2}$ level and $\tau =32.0\pm 4.6\mathrm{s}$ for the ${}^{2}D_{5∕2}$ level measured in a beam-laser experiment performed at the ion storage ring CRYRING. These values are supported by our new calculations resulting in $\tau =82.0\mathrm{s}$ for the ${}^{2}D_{3∕2}$ level and $\tau =31.6\mathrm{s}$ for the ${}^{2}D_{5∕2}$ level.

In diffraction experiments with particle beams, several effects lead to a fringe visibility reduction of the interference pattern. We theoretically describe the intensity one can measure in a double-slit setup and compare the results with the experimental data obtained with cold neutrons. Our conclusion is that for cold neutrons the fringe visibility reduction is due not to decoherence, but to initial incoherence.

We propose a scheme to implement quantum controlled SWAP gates by directing single-photon pulses to a two-sided cavity with a single trapped atom. The resultant gates can be used to realize quantum fingerprinting and universal photonic quantum computation. We present a theoretical model for our scheme and analyze its performance under practical noise, including spontaneous emission and randomness of atom-cavity coupling strength. It is shown that our scheme should be robust against practical imperfections in current cavity QED experiment setup.

We have investigated the nonlinear response of helium to intense extreme-ultraviolet radiation from the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH). We observe a spectral feature between 24 and $26\mathrm{eV}$ electron kinetic energy in photoemission which shows a quadratic fluence dependence. The feature is explained as a result of subsequent processes involving a resonant two-photon absorption process into doubly excited levels of even parity ($N=5$ and 6), radiative decay to the doubly excited states in the vicinity of the ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ $(N=2)$ ionization threshold and finally the photoionization of the inner electron by the radiation of the next microbunches. This observation suggests that even-parity states, which have been elusive to be measured with the low pulse energy of synchrotron radiation sources, can be investigated with the intense radiation of FLASH. This also demonstrates a first step to bring nonlinear spectroscopy into the xuv and soft-x-ray regime.

We study the decoherence of two ferro- and antiferromagnetically coupled spins that interact with a frustrated spin-bath environment in its ground state. The conditions under which the two-spin system relaxes from the initial spin-up–spin-down state toward its ground state are determined. It is shown that the two-spin system relaxes to its ground state for narrow ranges of the model parameters only. It is demonstrated that the symmetry of the coupling between the two-spin system and the environment has an important effect on the relaxation process. In particular, we show that, if this coupling conserves the magnetization, the two-spin system readily relaxes to its ground state, whereas a nonconserving coupling prevents the two-spin system from coming close to its ground state.

We consider an arbitrary $d_1\otimes d_2\otimes \cdots \otimes d_N$ composite quantum system and find necessary conditions for general $m$-party subsystem states to be the reduced states of a common $N$-party state. These conditions will lead to various monogamy inequalities for bipartite quantum entanglement and partial disorder in multipartite states. Our results are tightly connected with the measures of multipartite entanglement.

Electron-impact excitation of the $6p7s$ ${}^{3}P_1$ state of Pb atom has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Differential cross sections (DCSs) were measured at incident electron energies of $E_0=10$, 20, 40, 60, 80, and $100\mathrm{eV}$ and small scattering angles up to $10°$ using a crossed electron-atom beam technique. The forward scattering function method has been used for determination of the absolute generalized oscillator strengths and DCS values. Corresponding relativistic distorted wave calculations have been performed and compared with experimental results.

We numerically evaluate the cross sections for spontaneous bremsstrahlung emission in a laser field for both circular and linear laser polarization, in a regime where the classical ponderomotive energies for the considered laser intensities are considerably larger than the rest mass of the electron. A fully relativistic quantum-electrodynamic approach using the Volkov solutions of an electron in an external field and Dirac-Volkov propagators for the intermediate electrons is applied. We compare circular to linear polarization and point out several interesting features of the laser-dressed cross sections. Regularizations in both electron and photon propagators are required. Specifically, imaginary mass and energy shifts of the electron must be implemented near resonances which correspond to Doppler-shifted harmonics of the laser frequency. We also introduce a screening to the Coulomb potential in order to avoid long-range Coulomb infinities at zero momentum transfer.

At finite temperature, the hydrodynamic collective modes of superfluid trapped Fermi gases are coupled to the motion of the normal component, which in the BCS limit behaves like a collisionless normal Fermi gas. The coupling between the superfluid and the normal components is treated in the framework of a semiclassical transport theory for the quasiparticle-distribution function, combined with a hydrodynamic equation for the collective motion of the superfluid component. We develop a numerical test-particle method for solving these equations in the linear-response regime. As a first application we study the temperature dependence of the collective quadrupole mode of a Fermi gas in a spherical trap. The coupling between the superfluid collective motion and the quasiparticles leads to a rather strong damping of the hydrodynamic mode already at very low temperatures. At higher temperatures the spectrum has a two-peak structure, the second peak corresponding to the quadrupole mode in the normal phase.

We derive an extension of the Van Cittert and Zernike theorem (VCZT), which holds very near to planar quasihomogeneous radiation sources. This derivation is based on paraxial propagation of the Wigner distribution function of the scalar field. We identify a critical distance from the source. Below this distance (deep Fresnel region) the field autocorrelation function is invariant upon propagation and the propagated field contains information about the correlation properties of the radiation source. Beyond the critical distance, the classical VCZT theorem is found to hold and no information about the source correlation can be recovered. The transition between the two regimes is described analytically for a simple case.

An ultrafast transient population grating induced by a $(1+1)$-dimensional, ultrashort dipole soliton is demonstrated by solving the full-wave Maxwell-Bloch equations. The number of lines and the period of the grating can be controlled by the beam waist and the area of the pulse. Of interest is that a polarization grating is produced. A coherent control scheme based on these phenomena can be contemplated as ultrafast transient grating techniques.

We show how the velocity half-sphere model [S. Menon, Q. Su, and R. Grobe, Phys. Rev. E 72, 041910 (2005)] recently introduced to predict the propagation of light for an infinite turbid medium can be extended to account for the emission of multiply scattered light for a geometry with a planar boundary. A comparison with exact solutions obtained from Monte Carlo simulations suggests that this approach can improve the predictions of the usual diffusion theory for both isotropic and highly forward scattering media with reflecting interfaces.

We study noise-induced perturbations of dispersion-managed solitons. We do so by first developing soliton perturbation theory for the dispersion-managed nonlinear Schrödinger (DMNLS) equation, which governs the long-term behavior of optical fiber transmission systems and certain kinds of femtosecond lasers. We show that the eigenmodes and generalized eigenmodes of the linearized DMNLS equation around traveling-wave solutions can be generated from the invariances of the DMNLS equations, we quantify the perturbation-induced parameter changes of the solution in terms of the eigenmodes and the adjoint eigenmodes, and we obtain evolution equations for the solution parameters. We then apply these results to guide importance-sampled Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and reconstruct the probability density functions of the solution parameters under the effect of noise, and we compare with standard MC simulations of the unaveraged system. The comparison further validates the use of the DMNLS equation as a model for dispersion-managed systems.

We demonstrated that a synthesized laser field consisting of an intense long ($45\mathrm{fs}$, multi-optical-cycle) laser pulse and a weak short ($7\mathrm{fs}$, few-optical-cycle) laser pulse can control the electron dynamics and high-order harmonic generation in argon, and generate extreme ultraviolet supercontinuum towards the production of a single strong attosecond pulse. The long pulse offers a large amplitude field, and the short pulse creates a temporally narrow enhancement of the laser field and a gate for the highest energy harmonic emission. This scheme paves the way to generate intense isolated attosecond pulses with strong multi-optical-cycle laser pulses.

In this paper we derive the evolution equations for non-Markovian multiple-time correlation functions of an open quantum system without using any approximation. We find that these equations conform an open hierarchy in which $N$-time correlation functions are dependent on $(N+1)$-time correlations. This hierarchy of equations is consistently obtained with two different methods: A first one based on Heisenberg equations of system operators, and a second one based on system propagators. The dependency on higher order correlations, and therefore the open hierarchy structure, only disappears in certain particular cases and when some hypothesis or approximations are considered in the equations. In this paper we consider a perturbative approximation and derive the general evolution equation for $N$-time correlations. This equation turns to depend only on $N$-time and lower order correlation functions, conforming a closed hierarchy structure that is useful for computational purposes.

We obtain analytical lower bounds on the concurrence of bipartite quantum systems in arbitrary dimensions related to the violation of separability conditions based on local uncertainty relations and on the Bloch representation of density matrices. We also illustrate how these results complement and improve those recently derived [Chen, Albeverio, and Fei, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 040504 (2005)] by considering the Peres-Horodecki and the computable cross-norm or realignment criteria.