The information encoded in a quantum system is generally spoiled by the influences of its environment, leading to a transition from pure to mixed states. Reducing the mixedness of a state is a fundamental step in the quest for a feasible implementati
on of quantum technologies. Here we show that it is impossible to transfer part of such mixedness to a trash system without losing some of the initial information. Such loss is lower-bounded by a value determined by the properties of the initial state to purify. We discuss this interesting phenomenon and its consequences for general quantum information theory, linking it to the information theoretical primitive embodied by the quantum state-merging protocol and to the behaviour of general quantum correlations.
We have recently proposed a two-dimensional quantum walk where the requirement of a higher dimensionality of the coin space is substituted with the alternance of the directions in which the walker can move [C. Di Franco, M. Mc Gettrick, and Th. Busch
, Phys. Rev. Lett. {bf 106}, 080502 (2011)]. For a particular initial state of the coin, this walk is able to perfectly reproduce the spatial probability distribution of the non-localized case of the Grover walk. Here, we present a more detailed proof of this equivalence. We also extend the analysis to other initial states, in order to provide a more complete picture of our walk. We show that this scheme outperforms the Grover walk in the generation of $x$-$y$ spatial entanglement for any initial condition, with the maximum entanglement obtained in the case of the particular aforementioned state. Finally, the equivalence is generalized to wider classes of quantum walks and a limit theorem for the alternate walk in this context is presented.
Although a complete picture of the full evolution of complex quantum systems would certainly be the most desirable goal, for particular Quantum Information Processing schemes such an analysis is not necessary. When quantum correlations between only s
pecific elements of a many-body system are required for the performance of a protocol, a more distinguished and specialised investigation is helpful. Here, we provide a striking example with the achievement of perfect state transfer in a spin chain without state initialisation, whose realisation has been shown to be possible in virtue of the correlations set between the first and last spin of the transmission-chain.
We study the dynamical behavior of two initially entangled qubits, each locally coupled to an environment embodied by an interacting spin chain. We consider energy-exchange qubit-environment couplings resulting in a rich and highly non trivial entang
lement dynamics. We obtain exact results for the time-evolution of the concurrence between the two qubits and find that, by tuning the interaction parameters, one can freeze the dynamics of entanglement, therefore inhibiting its relaxation into the spin environments, as well as activate a sudden-death phenomenon. We also discuss the effects of an environmental quantum phase transition on the features of the two-qubit entanglement dynamics.
We propose a scheme for the determination of the coupling parameters in a chain of interacting spins. This requires only time-resolved measurements over a single particle, simple data post-processing and no state initialization or prior knowledge of
the state of the chain. The protocol fits well into the context of quantum-dynamics characterization and is efficient even when the spin-chain is affected by general dissipative and dephasing channels. We illustrate the performance of the scheme by analyzing explicit examples and discuss possible extensions.
We demonstrate that perfect state transfer can be achieved using an engineered spin chain and clean local end-chain operations, without requiring the initialization of the state of the medium nor fine tuning of control-pulses. This considerably relax
es the prerequisites for obtaining reliable transfer of quantum information across interacting-spin systems. Moreover, it allows us to shed light on the interplay among purity, entanglement and operations on a class of many-body systems potentially useful for quantum information processing tasks.
We use the recently introduced concept of information flux in a many-body register in order to give an alternative viewpoint on quantum state transfer in linear chains of many spins.
We propose a protocol for perfect quantum state transfer that is resilient to a broad class of realistic experimental imperfections, including noise sources that could be modelled either as independent Markovian baths or as certain forms of spatially
correlated environments. We highlight interesting connections between the fidelity of state transfer and quantum stochastic resonance effects. The scheme is flexible enough to act as an effective entangling gate for the generation of genuine multipartite entanglement in a control-limited setting. Possible experimental implementations using superconducting qubits are also briefly discussed.
We find a coupling-strength configuration for a linear chain of N spins which gives rise to simultaneous multiple Bell states. We suggest a way such an interesting entanglement pattern can be used in order to distribute maximally entangled channels t
o remote locations and generate multipartite entanglement with a minimum-control approach. Our proposal thus provides a way to achieve the core resources in distributed information processing. The schemes we describe can be efficiently tested in chains of coupled cavities interacting with three-level atoms.
We introduce and formalize the concept of information flux in a many-body register as the influence that the dynamics of a specific element receive from any other element of the register. By quantifying the information flux in a protocol, we can desi
gn the most appropriate initial state of the system and, noticeably, the distribution of coupling strengths among the parts of the register itself. The intuitive nature of this tool and its flexibility, which allow for easily manageable numerical approaches when analytic expressions are not straightforward, are greatly useful in interacting many-body systems such as quantum spin chains. We illustrate the use of this concept in quantum cloning and quantum state transfer and we also sketch its extension to non-unitary dynamics.
