Asymptotic scattering and duality in the one-dimensional three-state quantum Potts model on a lattice

We determine numerically the single-particle and the two-particle spectrum of the three-state quantum Potts model on a lattice by using the density matrix renormalization group method, and extract information on the asymptotic (small momentum) S-matrix of the quasiparticles. The low energy part of the finite size spectrum can be understood in terms of a simple effective model introduced in a previous work, and is consistent with an asymptotic S-matrix of an exchange form below a momentum scale p*. This scale appears to vanish faster than the Compton scale, mc, as one approaches the critical point, suggesting that a dangerously irrelevant operator may be responsible for the behaviour observed on the lattice.

The tetrahexahedric angular Calogero model

The spherical reduction of the rational Calogero model (of type A n−1 and after removing the center of mass) is considered as a maximally superintegrable quantum system, which describes a particle on the (n−2)-sphere subject to a very particular potential. We present a detailed analysis of the simplest non-separable case, n=4, whose potential is singular at the edges of a spherical tetrahexahedron. A complete set of independent conserved charges and of Hamiltonian intertwiners is constructed, and their algebra is elucidated. They arise from the ring of polynomials in Dunkl-deformed angular momenta, by classifying the subspaces invariant and antiinvariant under all Weyl reflections, respectively.

Long distance coupling of a quantum mechanical oscillator to the internal states of an atomic ensemble

We propose and investigate a hybrid optomechanical system consisting of a micro-mechanical oscillator coupled to the internal states of a distant ensemble of atoms. The interaction between the systems is mediated by a light field which allows the coupling of the two systems in a modular way over long distances. Coupling to internal degrees of freedom of atoms opens up the possibility to employ high-frequency mechanical resonators in the MHz to GHz regime, such as optomechanical crystal structures, and to benefit from the rich toolbox of quantum control over internal atomic states. Previous schemes involving atomic motional states are rather limited in both of these aspects. We derive a full quantum model for the effective coupling including the main sources of decoherence. As an application we show that sympathetic ground-state cooling and strong coupling between the two systems is possible.

Decoherence models for discrete-time quantum walks and their application to neutral atom experiments

We discuss decoherence in discrete-time quantum walks in terms of a phenomenological model that distinguishes spin and spatial decoherence. We identify the dominating mechanisms that affect quantum-walk experiments realized with neutral atoms walking in an optical lattice. From the measured spatial distributions, we determine with good precision the amount of decoherence per step, which provides a quantitative indication of the quality of our quantum walks. In particular, we find that spin decoherence is the main mechanism responsible for the loss of coherence in our experiment. We also find that the sole observation of ballistic-instead of diffusive-expansion in position space is not a good indicator of the range of coherent delocalization. We provide further physical insight by distinguishing the effects of short- and long-time spin dephasing mechanisms. We introduce the concept of coherence length in the discrete-time quantum walk, which quantifies the range of spatial coherences. Unexpectedly, we find that quasi-stationary dephasing does not modify the local properties of the quantum walk, but instead affects spatial coherences. For a visual representation of decoherence phenomena in phase space, we have developed a formalism based on a discrete analogue of the Wigner function. We show that the effects of spin and spatial decoherence differ dramatically in momentum space.

A proposal for self-correcting stabilizer quantum memories in 3 dimensions (or slightly less)

We propose a family of local CSS stabilizer codes as possible candidates for self-correcting quantum memories in 3D. The construction is inspired by the classical Ising model on a Sierpinski carpet fractal, which acts as a classical self-correcting memory. Our models are naturally defined on fractal subsets of a 4D hypercubic lattice with Hausdorff dimension less than 3. Though this does not imply that these models can be realized with local interactions in R3, we also discuss this possibility. The X and Z sectors of the code are dual to one another, and we show that there exists a finite temperature phase transition associated with each of these sectors, providing evidence that the system may robustly store quantum information at finite temperature.

Equilibration of quantum gases

Finding equilibration times is a major unsolved problem in physics with few analytical results. Here we look at equilibration times for quantum gases of bosons and fermions in the regime of negligibly weak interactions, a setting which not only includes paradigmatic systems such as gases confined to boxes, but also Luttinger liquids and the free superfluid Hubbard model. To do this, we focus on two classes of measurements: (i) coarse-grained observables, such as the number of particles in a region of space, and (ii) few-mode measurements, such as phase correlators.Weshow that, in this setting, equilibration occurs quite generally despite the fact that the particles are not interacting. Furthermore, for coarse-grained measurements the timescale is generally at most polynomial in the number of particles N, which is much faster than previous general upper bounds, which were exponential in N. For local measurements on lattice systems, the timescale is typically linear in the number of lattice sites. In fact, for one-dimensional lattices, the scaling is generally linear in the length of the lattice, which is optimal. Additionally, we look at a few specific examples, one of which consists ofNfermions initially confined on one side of a partition in a box. The partition is removed and the fermions equilibrate extremely quickly in time O(1 N).