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An optical magnetometer based on quantum coherence and interference effects in atoms is proposed. The sensitivity of this device is potentially superior to the present state-of-the-art devices. Optimum operating conditions are derived, and a comparison to standard optical pumping magnetometers is made.
States with spontaneously broken symmetry can form due to Coulomb interactions in electronic systems with multiple internal degrees of freedom. Materials with several degenerate regions in the Brillouin zone-called valleys-offer a rich setting for the emergence of such states, which have potential electronic and optical applications. To date, identification of these broken-symmetry phases has mostly relied on macroscopic transport or optical properties. Here we demonstrate a direct approach by visualizing the wavefunctions of bismuth surface states with a scanning tunnelling microscope. Strong spin-orbit coupling on the surface of bismuth leads to six degenerate, teardrop-shaped, hole valleys. Our spectroscopic measurements reveal that exchange interactions fully lift this degeneracy at high magnetic field, and we are able to determine the nature of the valley ordering by imaging the broken-symmetry Landau level wavefunctions. The spatial features of singly degenerate Landau level wavefunctions near isolated defects contain unique signatures of interference between spin-textured valleys, which identify the electronic ground state as a quantum Hall ferroelectric. As a result, our observations confirm the recent prediction that interactions in strongly anisotropic valley systems favour the occupation of a single valley, giving rise to emergent ferroelectricity in the surface state of bismuth.
The dynamics of the O({sup 1}D) + Xe electronic quenching reaction was investigated in a crossed beam experiment at four collision energies. Marked large-scale oscillations in the differential cross sections were observed for the inelastic scattering products, O({sup 3}P) and Xe. The shape and relative phases of the oscillatory structure depend strongly on collision energy. Comparison of the experimental results with time-independent scattering calculations shows qualitatively that this behavior is caused by Stueckelberg interferences, for which the quantum phases of the multiple reaction pathways accessible during electronic quenching constructively and destructively interfere.
Abstract Quantum repeater networks require independent absorptive quantum memories capable of storing and retrieving indistinguishable photons to perform high-repetition entanglement swapping operations. The ability to perform these coherent operations at room temperature is of prime importance for the realization of scalable quantum networks. We perform Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference between photonic polarization states and single-photon-level pulses stored and retrieved from two sets of independent room-temperature quantum memories. We show that the storage and retrieval of polarization states from quantum memories does not degrade the HOM visibility for few-photon-level polarization states in a dual-rail configuration. For single-photon-level pulses, we measure the HOM visibility with various levels of background in a single polarization, single-rail QM, and investigate its dependence on the signal-to-background ratio. We obtain an HOM visibility of 43%, compared to the 48% no-memory limit of our set-up. These results allow us to estimate a 33% visibility for polarization qubits under the same conditions. These demonstrations lay the groundwork for future applications using large-scale memory-assisted quantum networks.
Quantum transport properties are instrumental to understanding quantum coherent transport processes. Potential applications of quantum transport are widespread, in areas ranging from quantum information science to quantum engineering, and not restricted to quantum state transfer, control and manipulation. Here, we study light transport in a ring array of coupled resonators enclosed synthetic magnetic flux. The ring configuration, with an arbitrary number of resonators embedded, forms a two-arm Aharonov–Bohm interferometer. The influence of magnetic flux on light transport is investigated. Tuning the magnetic flux can lead to resonant transmission, while half-integer magnetic flux quantum leads to completely destructive interference and transmission zeros in an interferometer with two equal arms. -- Highlights: •The light transport is investigated through ring array of coupled resonators enclosed synthetic magnetic field. •Aharonov–Bohm ring interferometer of arbitrary configuration is investigated. •The half-integer magnetic flux quantum leads to destructive interference and transmission zeros for two-arm at equal length. •Complete transmission is available via tuning synthetic magnetic flux.
Quantum states are described by wave functions whose phases cannot be directly measured, but which play a vital role in quantum effects such as interference and entanglement. The loss of the relative phase information, termed decoherence, arises from the interactions between a quantum system and its environment. Decoherence is perhaps the biggest obstacle on the path to reliable quantum computing. Here we show that decoherence occurs even in an isolated molecule although not all phase information is lost via a theoretical study of a central electron spin qubit interacting with nearby nuclear spins in prototypical magnetic molecules. The residual coherence, which is molecule-dependent, provides a microscopic rationalization for the nuclear spin diffusion barrier proposed to explain experiments. The contribution of nearby molecules to the decoherence has a non-trivial dependence on separation, peaking at intermediate distances. Molecules that are far away only affect the long-time behavior. Because the residual coherence is simple to calculate and correlates well with the coherence time, it can be used as a descriptor for coherence in magnetic molecules. This work will help establish design principles for enhancing coherence in molecular spin qubits and serve to motivate further theoretical work
Excitonic waves propagating in thick GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells form an interference pattern, which is observed as oscillations in the reflectance spectra. Oscillations in the spectra of wide GaAs quantum wells should reveal a non-trivial behavior as a function of the external uniform electric field as it is found in the theory developed in the present work. The oscillations are suppressed as the electric field increases and then reappear again with an opposite phase at the further rise of the field.
Quantum states cohere and interfere. Atoms arranged imperfectly in a solid rarely display these properties. Here we demonstrate an exception in a disordered quantum magnet that divides itself into nearly isolated subsystems. We probe these coherent spin clusters by driving the system nonlinearly and measuring the resulting hole in the linear spectral response. The Fano shape of the hole encodes the incoherent lifetime as well as coherent mixing of the localized excitations. For the Ising magnet LiHo 0.045 Y 0.955 F 4 , the quality factor Q for spectral holes can be as high as 100,000. We tune the dynamics by sweeping the Fano mixing parameter q through zero via the ac pump amplitude as well as a dc transverse field. The zero crossing of q is associated with a dissipationless response at the drive frequency. Identifying localized two-level systems in a dense and disordered magnet advances the search for qubit platforms emerging from strongly interacting, many-body systems.
A normally ordered characteristic function (NOCF) of Bose operators is calculated for a number of discrete-variable entangled states (Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) and Werner (W) qubit states and a cluster state). It is shown that such NOCFs contain visual information on two types of correlations: pseudoclassical and quantum correlations. The latter manifest themselves in the interference terms of the NOCFs and lead to quantum paradoxes, whereas the pseudoclassical correlations of photons and their cumulants satisfy the relations for classical random variables. Three- and four-qubit states are analyzed in detail. An implementation of an analog of Bernstein's paradox on discrete quantum variables is discussed. A measure of quantumness of an entangled state is introduced that is not related to the entropy approach. It is established that the maximum of the degree of quantumness substantiates the numerical values of the coefficients in multiqubit vector states derived from intuitive considerations.
We demonstrate here the selective excitation of a narrow frequency band of TA phonons throughout the Brillouin zone of germanium using a sinusoidally modulated picosecond laser pulse. The pulse is produced through the combination of two chirped and delayed pulses using a stabilized interferometer. The phonon excitations are probed by time- and momentum- resolved x-ray diffuse scattering.
The optical activity of crystals leads to the occurrence of ellipticity at the reflection of light which is linearly polarized in the interface plane or normally to it. The effect experimentally discovered in the investigated structures with quantum wells is due to a spin-orbit interaction and birefringence. The qualitative dependence of the effect on the change in the orientation of the linear polarization of the incident light has been revealed. A sharp increase in the degree of the polarization conversion in a narrow range of incidence angles for light polarized in the incidence plane has been detected. The latter is due to the influence of the interference of the reflected wave on the structure thickness.
In classical dynamical systems, stochastic feedback can stabilize otherwise unstable periodic orbits, giving rise to distinct controlled and uncontrolled phases as the rate of control application is varied. In this work, we apply these control protocols in classical, semiclassical, and quantum regimes to the kicked top, a paradigmatic model of quantum chaos. The quantum kicked top, modeled as the dynamics of a spin-S object, naturally interpolates between these regimes with the spin size S acting as an effective Planck constant. We show that the dynamics of the kicked top in classical, semiclassical, and fully quantum limits can all be controlled using stochastic feedback protocols. Comparing the full quantum dynamics to a truncated Wigner approximation that captures quantum noise but neglects interference beyond the Ehrenfest time, we find that low-moment observables are largely accounted for semiclassically, while the remaining discrepancy in higher moments is consistent with contributions from interference and possibly nonlinearities in rare trajectories that explore the compact phase space. We also find rapid purification in the numerics studied for all rates of control considered, suggesting that control quenches the top's ability to encode a qubit of quantum information even in the uncontrolled phase.
In this work, we demonstrate the key features of an interference cathode using both simulations and experiments. We deposit Cs 3 Sb photocathodes on Ag to produce an interference enhanced photocathode with 2–5× quantum efficiency (QE) enhancement using a robust procedure that requires only a smooth metal substrate and QE monitoring during growth. We grow both an interference cathode (Ag substrate) and a typical photocathode (Si reference substrate) simultaneously to confirm that the effects are due to optical interactions with the substrate rather than photocathode composition or surface electron affinity differences. Growing the cathodes until the QE converges shows both the characteristic interference peaks during growth and the identical limiting case where the cathode is “infinitely thick,” in agreement with simulations. We also grow a cathode until the QE on Ag peaks and then stop the growth, demonstrating broadband QE enhancement.
Multipath holographic interference in strong-field quantum tunnel ionization is key to revealing subangstrom attosecond dynamics for molecular movies. This critical subcycle motion is often obscured by longer timescale effects such as ring-shaped patterns that appear in above-threshold ionization (ATI). In the present work, we overcome this problem by combining two techniques in theory and experimental analysis: unit-cell averaging and time-filtering data and simulations. Together these suppress ATI rings and enable an unprecedented highly detailed quantitative match between strong-field ionization experiments in argon and the Coulomb-quantum orbit strong-field approximation (CQSFA) theory. Velocity map images reveal fine modulations on the holographic spiderlike interference fringes that form near the polarization axis. CQSFA theory traces this to the interference of three types of electron pathways. The level of agreement between experiment and theory allows sensitive determination of quantum phase differences and symmetries, providing an important tool for quantitative dynamical imaging in quantum systems.
Basic dynamical effects that accompany the cold-polarized-neutron-induced binary and ternary fission of actinide nuclei and which determine the properties of T -odd asymmetries in angular distributions of various prescission and evaporated light third particles emitted in true and delayed ternary fission are analyzed on the basis of quantum-mechanical fission theory. It is emphasized that effects associated with the conservation of axial symmetry of the fissioning system under study at all stages of its evolution from the formation of neutron resonance states of the fissile compound nucleus to the separation of its fission fragments, including the appearance of zero wriggling vibrations of the cold compound nucleus in the vicinity of its scission point, are of particular importance, the influence of quantum collective rotation of the polarized fissile system on the asymmetry of the angular distribution of both fission fragments and third particles being taken into account. It is shown that the difference in the behavior of the coefficients characterizing the T -odd asymmetries under analysis for the target nuclei being studied can be explained, upon taking into account the interference between the fission amplitudes for the neutron resonance states of fissile compound nuclei, by the difference in the contributions of even and odd components of the amplitudes of angular distributions of third particles to the coefficients in question.
Highlights: • Moyal quantum mechanics and Marinov’s path integral. • Classical and semiclassical limits of Marinov’s path integral. • Oscillating functional integrals. • Instantons of the Marinov’s path integral. In quantum statistical mechanics, Moyal’s equation governs the time evolution of Wigner functions and of more general Weyl symbols that represent the density matrix of arbitrary mixed states. A formal solution to Moyal’s equation is given by Marinov’s path integral. In this paper we demonstrate that this path integral can be regarded as the natural link between several conceptual, geometric, and dynamical issues in quantum mechanics. A unifying perspective is achieved by highlighting the pivotal role which the response field, one of the integration variables in Marinov’s integral, plays for pure states even. The discussion focuses on how the integral’s semiclassical approximation relates to its strictly classical limit; unlike for Feynman type path integrals, the latter is well defined in the Marinov case. The topics covered include a random force representation of Marinov’s integral based upon the concept of “Airy averaging”, a related discussion of positivity-violating Wigner functions describing tunneling processes, and the role of the response field in maintaining quantum coherence and enabling interference phenomena. The double slit experiment for electrons and the Bohm–Aharonov effect are analyzed as illustrative examples. Furthermore, a surprising relationship between the instantons of the Marinov path integral over an analytically continued (“Wick rotated”) response field, and the complex instantons of Feynman-type integrals is found. The latter play a prominent role in recent work towards a Picard–Lefschetz theory applicable to oscillatory path integrals and the resurgence program.