Quantum high energy density physics

Abstract:

Using fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate the stability and performance of autoresonant plasma beat-wave excitation in plasmas with tailored density profiles. We show that a prescribed spatial variation of the background density sustains continuous phase locking between the driving laser beat and the excited plasma mode, thereby enabling precise control of the shape and group velocity of the plasma wavepacket and providing an alternative to frequency chirping of the drive lasers. The density-gradient scale is found to govern the nonlinear autoresonant growth, and the attainable saturation amplitude can exceed the classical Rosenbluth–Liu prediction and, for appropriate laser intensities, approach the nonrelativistic wave-breaking limit. We show that a four-laser configuration in a steep parabolic density profile can generate a specially confined two-phase quasi-periodic plasma lattice. The generation of such structures may lead to novel applications in plasma photonics.

Abstract:

Oxygen and other light elements comprise up to 5 wt% of the Earth's outer-core, and may significantly influence its physical properties and the operation of the geodynamo. Here we report in situ X-ray diffraction measurements of Fe, Fe + 4.5 FeO (atomic proportion), and Fe₂O₃ melts at 177-440 GPa, achieved using laser-driven shock compression at an x-ray free-electron laser. The melts exhibit Fe-O coordination numbers between 4.0(0.4) and 4.5(0.4), indicating predominantly four-fold coordination environments. These coordination states are significantly smaller than those of Fe-bearing lower-mantle phases such as bridgmanite and ferropericlase. Shorter Fe-Fe interatomic distances in compressed iron oxide melts drive the denser packing relative to ambient melts, while the structural differences between Fe + 4.5 FeO and Fe₂O₃ melts under shock indicate that the oxidation state modulates oxygen solubility in liquid Fe. At 177 GPa ( ~ 380 km below the core-mantle boundary) and 3800 K, Fe₂O₃ melts exhibit higher Fe-O coordination, suggesting that local variations in oxygen content could contribute to the stratification in the uppermost outer-core inferred from seismological and geomagnetic observations.

Abstract:

Random ensembles of pure states have proven to be extremely important in various aspects of quantum physics such as benchmarking the performance of quantum circuits, testing for quantum advantage, studying many-body thermalization, and the black hole information paradox. Although generating a truly random quantum ensemble is experimentally challenging, approximate realizations are equally valuable and are known to emerge naturally in a variety of physical models, including Rydberg setups. These are referred to as approximate quantum state designs, and verifying their degree of randomness can be a measurement-intensive task, similar to performing full quantum state tomography on many-body systems. In this theoretical work, we present a measurement scheme and analysis techniques to validate the degree of randomness of a quantum ensemble generated by a simulated experimental setup. This is achieved by translating the information residing in the complex many-body state into a succinct representation of classical data using projective measurements in randomly chosen bases, which is then processed using methods of statistical inference such as maximum-likelihood estimation and neural networks, benchmarked against the predictions of shadow tomography. Our scheme only requires individually addressed single-qubit operations to be performed in order to be employed, making it applicable for a range of physical platforms.

Abstract:

The robust diagnosis of conditions generated in warm dense matter experiments remains a persistent challenge. Here, we describe the measurement of shock-compressed aluminium at 50 GPa with angle-resolved femtosecond x-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) over a wide range of scattering wave vectors at the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser. The measured plasmon dispersion and line shape show that the standard approach for analyzing XRTS spectra, using uniform-electron-gas models, systematically overestimates the resonance energy by up to 8 eV. We present an approach using methods that agrees within the experimental uncertainty and demonstrates how accounting for shock-induced disorder in shock-compressed systems is critical for their understanding, providing evidence that treatments are required for reliable XRTS inference in warm dense aluminium.