We propose a method of simulating efficiently many-body interacting fermion lattice models in trapped ions, including highly nonlinear interactions in arbitrary spatial dimensions and for arbitrarily distant couplings. We map products of fermionic operators onto nonlocal spin operators and decompose the resulting dynamics in efficient steps with Trotter methods, yielding an overall protocol that employs only polynomial resources. The proposed scheme can be relevant in a variety of fields such as condensed-matter or high-energy physics, where quantum simulations may solve problems intractable for classical computers.

Storage of quantum information encoded into heralded single photons is an essential constituent of long-distance quantum communication based on quantum repeaters and of optical quantum information processing. The storage of photonic polarization qubits is, however, difficult because many materials are birefringent and have polarization-dependent absorption. Here we present a simple scheme that eliminates these polarization effects, and we demonstrate it by storing heralded polarization qubits into a solid-state quantum memory. The quantum memory is implemented with a biaxial yttrium orthosilicate (${\mathrm{Y}}_2{\mathrm{SiO}}_5$) crystal doped with rare-earth ions. Heralded single photons generated from a filtered spontaneous parametric down-conversion source are stored, and quantum state tomography of the retrieved polarization state reveals an average fidelity of $97.5\pm 0.4\%$, which is significantly higher than what is achievable with a measure-and-prepare strategy.

We report on the quantum storage and retrieval of photonic polarization quantum bits onto and out of a solid state storage device. The qubits are implemented with weak coherent states at the single photon level, and are stored for a predetermined time of 500 ns in a praseodymium doped crystal with a storage and retrieval efficiency of 10%, using the atomic frequency comb scheme. We characterize the storage by using quantum state tomography, and find that the average conditional fidelity of the retrieved qubits exceeds 95% for a mean photon number $\mu =0.4$. This is significantly higher than a classical benchmark, taking into account the Poissonian statistics and finite memory efficiency, which proves that our crystal functions as a quantum storage device for polarization qubits. These results extend the storage capabilities of solid state quantum light matter interfaces to polarization encoding, which is widely used in quantum information science.

Faithfully storing an unknown quantum light state is essential to advanced quantum communication and distributed quantum computation applications. The required quantum memory must have high fidelity to improve the performance of a quantum network. Here we report the reversible transfer of photonic polarization states into collective atomic excitation in a compact solid-state device. The quantum memory is based on an atomic frequency comb (AFC) in rare-earth ion-doped crystals. We obtain up to 0.999 process fidelity for the storage and retrieval process of single-photon-level coherent pulse. This reliable quantum memory is a crucial step toward quantum networks based on solid-state devices.

We obtain the first exact solution for the stationary one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation. A formula for the distribution of the height is given in terms of a Fredholm determinant, which is valid for any finite time $t$. The expression is explicit and compact enough so that it can be evaluated numerically. Furthermore, by extending the same scheme, we find an exact formula for the stationary two-point correlation function.

The first experimental demonstration of a new Pancharatnam-Berry phase for light beams with spatially inhomogeneous, or vector, states of polarization referred to as the higher-order Pancharatnam-Berry phase is presented. This new geometric phase is proportional to light’s total angular momentum, a sum of spin and higher dimensional orbital angular momentum, sharply contrasting the well-known Pancharatnam-Berry phase associated with the plane wave state of polarization of a spatially homogeneous light beam. The higher-order Pancharatnam-Berry phase is directly related to the rotational symmetry of a vortex-bearing electromagnetic field, associated with the rotational frequency shift of a light beam, and has implications in quantum information science as well as other physical systems such as electron vortex beams.

The superactivation of multipartite bound entanglement (BE) is a special protocol proposed by Shor et al. in 2003, which can distill Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement states between two subsystems of two multipartite BE states. Here we present the first experimental realization of the superactivation of the BE state, in which two copies of the four-partite unlockable BE state in a continuous-variable regime are used. Coupling two thermal states with Gaussian noises into two submodes of an EPR entangled state on two 50-50 beam splitters respectively, the four output optical modes form a four-partite unlocklable BE state. Using two EPR entangled states, we experimentally produce two BE states first. Then through a superactivation operation involving measurements and feedback on the two BE states, an EPR entangled state is distilled out between two designated parties of the two four-partite BE states. The experiment demonstrates the superadditivity of quantum entanglement as the individual BE state cannot be distilled, only two BE states together can be distilled.

A fundamental problem in modern thermodynamics is how a molecular-scale machine performs useful work, while operating away from thermal equilibrium without excessive dissipation. To this end, we derive a friction tensor that induces a Riemannian manifold on the space of thermodynamic states. Within the linear-response regime, this metric structure controls the dissipation of finite-time transformations, and bestows optimal protocols with many useful properties. We discuss the connection to the existing thermodynamic length formalism, and demonstrate the utility of this metric by solving for optimal control parameter protocols in a simple nonequilibrium model.

We show that work distributions and nonequilibrium work fluctuation theorems can be measured in optical spectra for a wide class of quantum systems. We consider systems where the absorption or emission of a photon corresponds to the sudden switch on or off of a local perturbation. For the particular case of a weak local perturbation, the Crooks relation establishes a universal relation in absorption as well as in emission spectra. Because of a direct relation between the spectra and work distribution functions this is equivalent to universal relations in work distributions for weak local quenches. As two concrete examples we treat the x-ray edge problem and the Kondo exciton.

We solve the entanglement classification under stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) for general $n$-qubit states. For two arbitrary pure $n$-qubit states connected via local operations, we establish an equation between the two coefficient matrices associated with the states. The rank of the coefficient matrix is preserved under SLOCC and gives rise to a simple way of partitioning all the pure states of $n$ qubits into different families of entanglement classes, as exemplified here. When applied to the symmetric states, this approach reveals that all the Dicke states $|\ell ,n⟩$ with $\ell =1,\dots ,[n/2]$ are inequivalent under SLOCC.

A tractable $N$-state Rabi Hamiltonian is introduced by extending the parity symmetry of the two-state model. The single-mode case provides a few-parameter description of a novel class of periodic systems, predicting that the ground state of certain four-state atom-cavity systems will undergo parity change at strong-coupling. A group-theoretical treatment provides physical insight into dynamics and a modified rotating wave approximation obtains accurate analytical energies. The dissipative case can be applied to study excitation energy transfer in molecular rings or chains.

The surface code is unarguably the leading quantum error correction code for 2D nearest neighbor architectures, featuring a high threshold error rate of approximately 1%, low overhead implementations of the entire Clifford group, and flexible, arbitrarily long-range logical gates. These highly desirable features come at the cost of significant classical processing complexity. We show how to perform the processing associated with an $n\times n$ lattice of qubits, each being manipulated in a realistic, fault-tolerant manner, in $O(n^2)$ average time per round of error correction. We also describe how to parallelize the algorithm to achieve $O(1)$ average processing per round, using only constant computing resources per unit area and local communication. Both of these complexities are optimal.

Anomalous transport in one-dimensional translation invariant Hamiltonian systems with short range interactions is shown to belong in general to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class. Exact asymptotic forms for density-density and current-current time correlation functions and their Fourier transforms are given in terms of the Prähofer-Spohn scaling functions, obtained from their exact solution for the polynuclear growth model. The exponents of corrections to scaling are found as well, but not so the coefficients. Mode coupling theories developed previously are found to be adequate for weakly nonlinear chains but in need of corrections for strongly anharmonic interparticle potentials. A simple condition is given under which Kardar-Parisi-Zhang behavior does not apply, sound attenuation is only logarithmically superdiffusive, and heat conduction is more strongly superdiffusive than under Kardar-Parisi-Zhang behavior.

We have investigated the driven dynamics of a superconducting flux qubit that is tunably coupled to a microwave resonator. We find that the qubit experiences an oscillating field mediated by off-resonant driving of the resonator, leading to strong modifications of the qubit Rabi frequency. This opens an additional noise channel, and we find that low-frequency noise in the coupling parameter causes a reduction of the coherence time during driven evolution. The noise can be mitigated with the rotary-echo pulse sequence, which, for driven systems, is analogous to the Hahn-echo sequence.

For simulation studies of (macro) molecular liquids it would be of significant interest to be able to adjust or increase the level of resolution within one region of space, while allowing for the free exchange of molecules between open regions of different resolution or representation. We generalize the adaptive resolution idea and suggest an interpretation in terms of an effective generalized grand canonical approach. The method is applied to liquid water at ambient conditions.

The total entropy production of stochastic systems can be divided into three quantities. The first corresponds to the excess heat, while the second two comprise the housekeeping heat. We denote these two components the transient and generalized housekeeping heat and we obtain an integral fluctuation theorem for the latter, valid for all Markovian stochastic dynamics. A previously reported formalism is obtained when the stationary probability distribution is symmetric for all variables that are odd under time reversal, which restricts consideration of directional variables such as velocity.

We provide the exact analytic solution of the stochastic Schrödinger equation describing a harmonic oscillator interacting with a non-Markovian and dissipative environment. This result represents an arrival point in the study of non-Markovian dynamics via stochastic differential equations. It is also one of the few exactly solvable models for infinite-dimensional systems. We compute the Green’s function; in the case of a free particle and with an exponentially correlated noise, we discuss the evolution of Gaussian wave functions.

I propose a general quantum hypothesis testing theory that enables one to test hypotheses about any aspect of a physical system, including its dynamics, based on a series of observations. For example, the hypotheses can be about the presence of a weak classical signal continuously coupled to a quantum sensor, or about competing quantum or classical models of the dynamics of a system. This generalization makes the theory useful for quantum detection and experimental tests of quantum mechanics in general. In the case of continuous measurements, the theory is significantly simplified to produce compact formulas for the likelihood ratio, the central quantity in statistical hypothesis testing. The likelihood ratio can then be computed efficiently in many cases of interest. Two potential applications of the theory, namely, quantum detection of a classical stochastic waveform and test of harmonic-oscillator energy quantization, are discussed.

We argue that the freezing transition scenario, previously explored in the statistical mechanics of $1/f$—noise random energy models, also determines the value distribution of the maximum of the modulus of the characteristic polynomials of large $N\times N$ random unitary matrices. We postulate that our results extend to the extreme values taken by the Riemann zeta function $\zeta (s)$ over sections of the critical line $s=1/2+it$ of constant length and present the results of numerical computations in support. Our main purpose is to draw attention to possible connections between the statistical mechanics of random energy landscapes, random-matrix theory, and the theory of the Riemann zeta function.

A time of arrival operator across a square potential barrier is constructed. The expectation value of the barrier time of arrival operator for a sufficiently localized incident wave packet is compared with the expectation value of the free particle time of arrival operator for the same wave packet. The comparison yields an expression for the expected traversal time across the barrier. It is shown that only the above barrier components of the momentum distribution of the incident wave packet contribute to the barrier traversal time, implying that below the barrier components are transmitted without delay. This is consistent with the recent experiment in attosecond ionization in helium indicating that there is no real tunneling delay time [P. Eckle et al., Science 322, 1525 (2008)].