Prof Vlatko Vedral FInstP

Abstract:

We improve previously proposed conditions each measure of entanglement has to satisfy. We present a class of entanglement measures that satisfy these conditions and show that the quantum relative entropy and Bures metric generate two measures of this class. We calculate the measures of entanglement for a number of mixed two spin-1/2 systems using the quantum relative entropy, and provide an efficient numerical method to obtain the measures of entanglement in this case. In addition, we prove a number of properties of our entanglement measure that have important physical implications. We briefly explain the statistical basis of our measure of entanglement in the case of the quantum relative entropy. We then argue that our entanglement measure determines an upper bound to the number of singlets that can be obtained by any purification procedure. © 1998 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

All existing quantum-gravity proposals are extremely hard to test in practice. Quantum effects in the gravitational field are exceptionally small, unlike those in the electromagnetic field. The fundamental reason is that the gravitational coupling constant is about 43 orders of magnitude smaller than the fine structure constant, which governs light-matter interactions. For example, detecting gravitons—the hypothetical quanta of the gravitational field predicted by certain quantum-gravity proposals—is deemed to be practically impossible. Here we adopt a radically different, quantum-information-theoretic approach to testing quantum gravity. We propose witnessing quantumlike features in the gravitational field, by probing it with two masses each in a superposition of two locations. First, we prove that any system (e.g., a field) mediating entanglement between two quantum systems must be quantum. This argument is general and does not rely on any specific dynamics. Then, we propose an experiment to detect the entanglement generated between two masses via gravitational interaction. By our argument, the degree of entanglement between the masses is a witness of the field quantization. This experiment does not require any quantum control over gravity. It is also closer to realization than detecting gravitons or detecting quantum gravitational vacuum fluctuations.

Abstract:

We propose a thermodynamic refrigeration cycle which uses indefinite causal orders to achieve nonclassical cooling. The cycle cools a cold reservoir while consuming purity in a control qubit. We first show that the application to an input state of two identical thermalizing channels of temperature T in an indefinite causal order can result in an output state with a temperature not equal to T. We investigate the properties of the refrigeration cycle and show that thermodynamically, the result is compatible with unitary quantum mechanics in the circuit model but could not be achieved classically. We believe that this cycle could be implemented experimentally using tabletop photonics. Our result suggests the development of a new class of thermodynamic resource theories in which operations are allowed to be performed in an indefinite causal order.

Abstract:

The unification of quantum theory and the general theory of relativity, describing gravity, is one of the most important challenges in science. Einstein's general theory of relativity is based on the principle of equivalence and has been confirmed to great accuracy for large bodies. However, in the quantum domain, the equivalence principle has been predicted to take a unique form involving a gauge phase, which is equal, in the context of a measurement on Earth, to the quantum phase of a free-falling wave packet relative to its counterpart wave packet which is static in Earth's frame. To measure this phase, we realize a novel cold-atom interferometer in which one wave packet stays static in the laboratory frame while the other is in free fall. The observed relative phase of the wave packets confirms the predicted phase and shows that, in our low energy regime, the equivalence principle may be applied to the quantum domain. Our observation constitutes a fundamental test of the interface between quantum theory and gravity. The new interferometer also opens the door for further probing of the latter interface, as well as to searches for new physics.

Abstract:

We propose a witness of temporal quantum entanglement using the imaginary component of the complex heat capacity—a measurable thermodynamic quantity in temperature-modulated calorimetry. By establishing a direct correspondence between complex heat capacity and the pseudodensity matrix formalism, our approach enables the characterization of both spatial and temporal quantum correlations without demanding additional state-level manipulation beyond initial tomography. We analytically demonstrate this connection for an open quantum system modeled by a qubit coupled to a thermal bath and show how both pseudodensity matrix negativity and violations of a temporal Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality emerge as indicators of nonclassical temporal correlations. We further identify bounds on the imaginary heat capacity that guarantee temporal entanglement, providing an experimentally accessible criterion at the macroscopic scale. This framework offers a feasible route for probing temporal quantum effects in condensed-matter systems and opens a viable path toward experimental realization.