In this thesis, we discuss correlations arising between a system and its environment that lead to errors in an open quantum system. Detecting those correlations would be valuable for avoiding and/or correcting those errors. It was studied previously that we can detect correlations by only measuring the system itself if we know the cause of interaction between the two, for example in the case of a dipole-dipole interaction for a spin 1/2-spin 1/2 interaction Hamiltonian. We investigate the unitary, U which is associated with the exchange Hamiltonian and examine the ability to detect initial correlations between a system and its environment for a spin-1/2(qubit) system interacting with a larger higher dimensional environment. We provide bounds for when we can state with certainty that there are initial system-environment correlations given experimental data.

The overarching theme of this thesis is the question of how constraints influence collective behavior. Constraints are crucial in shaping both static and dynamic properties of systems across diverse areas within condensed matter physics and beyond. For example, the simple geometric constraint that hard particles cannot overlap at high density leads to slow dynamics and jamming in glass formers. Constraints also arise effectively at low temperature as a consequence of strong competing interactions in magnetic materials, where they give rise to emergent gauge theories and unconventional magnetic order. Enforcing constraints artificially in turn can be used to protect otherwise fragile quantum information from external noise. This thesis in particular contains progress on the realization of different unconventional phases of matter in constrained systems. The presentation of individual results is organized by the stage of realization of the respective phase. Novel physical phenomena after conceptualization are often exemplified in simple, heuristic models bearing little resemblance of actual matter, but which are interesting enough to motivate efforts with the final goal of realizing them in some way in the lab. One form of progress is then to devise refined models, which retain a degree of simplification while still realizing the same physics and improving the degree of realism in some direction. Finally, direct efforts in realizing either the original models or some refined version in experiment today are mostly two-fold. One route, having grown in importance rapidly during the last two decades, is via the engineering of artificial systems realizing suitable models. The other, more conventional way is to search for realizations of novel phases in materials. The thesis is divided into three parts, where Part I is devoted to the study of two simple models, while artificial systems and real materials are the subject of Part II and Part III respectively. Below, the content of each part is summarized in more detail. After a general introduction to entropic ordering and slow dynamics we present a family of models devised as a lattice analog of hard spheres. These are often studied to explore whether low-dimensional analogues of mean-field glass- and jamming transitions exist, but also serve as the canonical model systems for slow dynamics in granular materials more generally. Arguably the models in this family do not offer a close resemblance of actual granular materials. However, by studying their behavior far from equilibrium, we observe the onset of slow dynamics and a kinetic arrest for which, importantly, we obtain an essentially complete analytical and numerical understanding. Particularly interesting is the fact that this understanding hinges on the (in-)ability to anneal topological defects in the presence of a hardcore constraints, which resonates with some previous proposals for an understanding of the glass transition. As another example of anomalous dynamics arising in a magnetic system, we also present a detailed study of a two-dimensional fracton spin liquid. The model is an Ising system with an energy function designed to give rise to an emergent higher-rank gauge theory at low energy. We show explicitly that the number of zero-energy states in the model scales exponentially with the system size, establishing a finite residual entropy. A purpose-built cluster Monte-Carlo algorithm makes it possible to study the behavior of the model as a function of temperature. We show evidence for a first order transition from a high-temperature paramagnet to a low-temperature phase where correlations match predictions of a higher-rank coulomb phase. Turning away from heuristic models, the second part of the thesis begins with an introduction to quantum error correction, a scheme where constraints are artificially imposed in a quantum system through measurement and feedback. This is done in order to preserve quantum information in the presence of external noise, and is widely believed to be necessary in order to one day harness the full power of quantum computers. Given a certain error-correcting code as well as a noise model, a particularly interesting quantity is the threshold of the code, that is the critical amount of external noise below which quantum error correction becomes possible. For the toric code under independent bit- and phase-flip noise for example, the threshold is well known to map to the paramagnet to ferromagnet transition of the two-dimensional random-bond Ising model along the Nishimori line. Here, we present the first generalization of this mapping to a family of codes with finite rate, that is a family where the number of encoded logical qubits grows linearly with the number of physical qubits. In particular, we show that the threshold of hyperbolic surface codes maps to a paramagnet to ferromagnet transition in what we call the 'dual'' random-bond Ising model on regular tessellations of compact hyperbolic manifolds. This model is related to the usual random-bond Ising model by the Kramers-Wannier duality but distinct from it even on self-dual tessellations. As a corollary, we clarify long-standing issues regarding self-duality of the Ising model in hyperbolic space. The final part of the thesis is devoted to the study of material candidates of quantum spin ice, a three-dimensional quantum spin liquid. The work presented here was done in close collaboration with experiment and focuses on a particular family of materials called dipolar-octupolar pyrochlores. This family of materials is particularly interesting because they might realize novel exotic quantum states such as octupolar spin liquids, while at the same time being described by a relatively simple model Hamiltonian. This thesis contains a detailed study of ground state selection in dipolar-octupolar pyrochlore magnets and its signatures as observable in neutron scattering. First, we present evidence that the two compounds Ce2Zr2O7 and Ce2Sn2O7 despite their similar chemical composition realize an exotic quantum spin liquid state and an ordered state respectively. Then, we also study the ground-state selection in dipolar-octupolar pyrochlores in a magnetic field. Most importantly, we show that the well-known effective one-dimensional physics -- arising when the field is applied along a certain crystallographic axis -- is expected to be stable at experimentally relevant temperatures. Finally, we make predictions for neutron scattering in the large-field phase and compare these to measurements on Ce2Zr2O7.

A universal, scalable quantum computer will require the use of quantum error correction in order to achieve fault tolerance. The assessment and comparison of error-correcting strategies is performed by classical simulation. However, due to the prohibitive exponential scaling of general quantum circuits, simulations are restrained to specific subsets of quantum operations. This creates a gap between accuracy and efficiency which is particularly problematic when modeling noise, because most realistic noise models are not efficiently simulable on a classical computer. We have introduced extensions to the Pauli channel, the traditional error channel employed to model noise in simulations of quantum circuits. These expanded error channels are still computationally tractable to simulate, but result in more accurate approximations to realistic error channels at the single qubit level. Using the Steane [[7,1,3]] code, we have also investigated the behavior of these expanded channels at the logical error-corrected level. We have found that it depends strongly on whether the error is incoherent or coherent. In general, the Pauli channel will be an excellent approximation to incoherent channels, but an unsatisfactory one for coherent channels, especially because it severely underestimates the magnitude of the error. Finally, we also studied the honesty and accuracy of the expanded channels at the logical level. Our results suggest that these measures can be employed to generate lower and upper bounds to a quantum code's threshold under the influence of a specific error channel.

We explore the connection between quantum error correction and quantum cryptography through the notion of conjugate (or complementary) channels. This connection is at the level of subspaces and operator subsystems; if we use a more general form of subsystem, the link between the two topics breaks down. We explore both the subspace and subsystem settings. Error correction arises as a means of addressing the issue of the introduction of noise to a message being sent from one party to another. Noise also plays a role in quantum measurement theory: If one wishes to measure a system that is in a particular state via a measurement apparatus, one can first act upon the system by a quantum channel, which can be thought of as a noise source, and then measure the resulting system using a different measurement apparatus. Such a setup amounts to the introduction of noise to the measurement process, yet has the advantage of preserving the measurement statistics. Preprocessing by a quantum channel leads to the partial order "cleaner than" on quantum probability measures. Other meaningful partial orders on quantum probability measures exist, and we shall investigate that of cleanness as well as that of absolute continuity. Lastly, we investigate partial orders on vectors corresponding to quantum states; such partial orders, namely majorization and trumping, have been linked to entanglement theory. We characterize trumping first by means of yet another partial order, power majorization, which gives rise to a family of examples. We then characterize trumping through the complete monotonicity of certain Dirichlet polynomials corresponding to the states in question. This not only generalizes a recent characterization of trumping, but the use of such mathematical objects simpli es the derivation of the result. / The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Orientador : Reginaldo Palazzo Junior / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T00:27:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida_AntonioCarlosAidode_D.pdf: 2149041 bytes, checksum: 427f77a8e0ec2774c7b152dd209ba9fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / Resumo: A decoerencia é um dos maiores desafios obstrutivos da computação quantica. Os codigos corretores de erros quanticos tem sido desenvolvidos com o intuito de enfrentar este desafio. Uma estrutura de grupos e uma classe associada de codigos, a classe dos codigos estabilizadores, tem-se mostrado uteis na produção de codigos e no entendimento da estrutura de classes de codigos. Todos os codigos estabilizadores descobertos ate o momentos são codigos de bloco. Nesta tese, construiremos uma classe de codigos convolucional quanticos concatenados. Introduziremos o conceito de memoria convolucional quantica e algumas tecnicas simples para produzir bons codigos convolucionais quanticos a partir de classes de codigos concolucionais classicos / Abstract: Decoherence is one of the major challenges facing the field of quantum computation. The field of quantum error correction has developed to meet this challenge. A group-theoretical structure and associated class of quantum codes, the stabilizer codes, has proved particularly fruitful in producing codes and in understanding the structure of both specified codes and class of codes. All stabilizer codes discovered so far are block codes. In this thesis we will construct a class of concatenated quantum convolutional codes. We will introduce the concept of quantum convolutional memory and some simple techniques to produce good quantum convolutional codes from classes of classical convolutional codes / Doutorado / Telecomunicações e Telemática / Doutor em Engenharia Elétrica

Orientadores: Amir Ordacgi Caldeira, Eduardo Peres Novais de Sá / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-01T01:58:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LopezDelgado_DanielAntonio_D.pdf: 831710 bytes, checksum: 17fbe60b2052b9d8534b963d0e85fe0e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / Resumo: A criação de um computador quântico é um projeto que guia, ao mesmo tempo, avanços tecnológicos e um melhor entendimento das propriedades de sistemas quânticos e da Mecânica Quântica em geral. O teorema do limiar é derivado da teoria quântica de correção de erros e garante que, se o ruido estocástico que afeta os componentes de um computador quântico encontra-se abaixo de um valor limite, podemos operar esse computador quântico confiavelmente. Investigamos como esse teorema é modificado quando consideramos uma memória quântica (a qual usa o código de superfície para corrigir erros) acoplada a um ambiente correlacionado. O limiar de erros nesse caso é relacionado à transição de fase ordem-desordem de um sistema de spin equivalente / Abstract: The design of a quantum computer is a project which drives, at the same time, technological advancement and a better understanding of the properties of quantum systems and of Quantum Mechanics in general. The threshold theorem comes from quantum error correction theory and it guarantees that, if stochastic noise affecting the components of a quantum computer is below some threshold value, we can operate this quantum computer reliably. We investigate how this theorem is modified when we consider a quantum memory (which uses the surface code to correct errors) coupled to a correlated environment. The error threshold in this case is related the order-disorder phase transition of an equivalent spin system / Doutorado / Física / Doutor em Ciências

Dans cette thèse, nous développons des méthodes de contrôle pour stabiliser des systèmes quantiques en temps continu sous mesures quantiques non-destructives. En boucle ouverte, ces systèmes convergent vers un état propre de l'opérateur de mesure, mais l'état résultant est aléatoire. Le rôle du contrôle est de préparer un état prescrit avec une probabilité de un. Le nouvel élément pour atteindre cet objectif est l'utilisation d'un mouvement Brownien pour piloter les actions de contrôle. En utilisant la théorie stochastique de Lyapunov, nous montrons stabilité exponentielle globale du système en boucle fermés. Nous explorons aussi la syntèse du contrôle pour stabiliser un code correcteur d'erreurs quantiques en temps continu. Un autre sujet d'intérêt est l'implementation de contrôles efficacement calculables dans un contexte expérimental. Dans cette direction, nous proposons l'utilisation de contrôles et filtres qui calculent seulement les characteristiques classiques du système, correspondant a la base propre de l'opérateur de mesure. La formulation de dites filtres est importante pour adresser les problèmes de scalabilité du filtre posées par l'avancement des technologies quantiques. / In this thesis, we develop control methods to stabilize quantum systems in continuous-time subject to quantum nondemolition measurements. In open-loop such quantum systems converge towards a random eigenstate of the measurement operator. The role of feedback is to prepare a prescribed eigenstate with unit probability. The novel element to achieve this is the introduction of an exogenous Brownian motion to drive the control actions. By using standard stochastic Lyapunov techniques, we show global exponential stability of the closed-loop dynamics. We explore as well the design of the control layer for a quantum error correction scheme in continuous-time. Another theme of interest is towards the implementation of efficiently computable control laws in experimental settings. In this direction, we propose the use control laws and of reduced-order filters which only track classical characteristics of the system, corresponding to the populations on the measurement eigenbasis. The formulation of these reduced filters is important to address the scalability issues of the filter posed by the advancement of quantum technologies.

[pt] Métodos computacionais se tornam essenciais diante de problemas complexos onde a intuição humana e métodos tradicionais falham. Trabalhos recentes apresentam redes neurais artificiais capazes de realizar eficientemente tarefas intratáveis por algoritmos convencionais com o emprego de aprendizado de máquina, tornando-se assim um dos métodos mais populares. Concomitantemente, algoritmos genéticos, inspirados pelos processos biológicos de seleção natural e mutação, têm sido utilizados como método metaheurístico para encontrar soluções de problemas de otimização. Levantamos então a questão se algoritmos genéticos possuem potencial para resolver problemas no contexto da computação quântica, onde a intuição humana decresce à medida que os sistemas físicos crescem. Especificamente, nos concentramos na evolução de códigos de correção de erros quânticos dentro do formalismo de códigos stabilizer. Ao especificar uma função de fitness apropriada, mostramos que somos capazes de evoluir códigos celebrados, como o código do Shor e o perfeito de 9 e 5 qubits respectivamente, além de novos exemplos não antecipados. Adicionalmente, comparamos com o método força bruta de busca aleatória e verificamos uma crescente superioridade do algoritmo genético conforme aumenta-se o número total de qubits. Diante dos resultados, imaginamos que algoritmos genéticos possam se tornar ferramentas valiosas para desempenhar aplicações complexas em sistemas quânticos e produzir circuitos sob medida que satisfaçam restrições impostas por hardware. / [en] Computational methods become essential in the face of complex problems where human intuition and traditional methods fail. Recent works present artificial neural networks capable of efficiently performing tasks intractable by conventional algorithms using machine learning, rendering it one of the most popular methods. Concomitantly, genetic algorithms, inspired by the biological processes of natural selection and mutation, have been used as a metaheuristic method to find solutions to optimization problems. We then raise the question of whether genetic algorithms have the potential to solve problems in the context of quantum computing, where human intuition decreases as physical systems grow. Specifically, we focus on the evolution of quantum error-correcting codes within the stabilizer code formalism. By specifying an appropriate fitness function, we show that we can evolve celebrated codes, such as the Perfect and Shor s code with respectively 5 and 9 qubits, in addition to new unanticipated examples. Additionally, we compared it with a brute force random search and verified an increasing superiority of the genetic algorithm as the total number of qubits increases. Given the results, we foresee that genetic algorithms can become valuable tools to perform complex applications in quantum systems and produce tailored circuits that satisfy restrictions imposed by hardware.

To address key challenges for both quantum communication and quantum computing applications in a simultaneous manner, we propose to employ the photon angular momentum approach by invoking the well-known fact that photons carry both the spin angular momentum (SAM) and the orbital angular momentum (OAM). SAM is associated with polarization, while OAM is associated with azimuthal phase dependence of the complex electric field. Given that OAM eigenstates are mutually orthogonal, in principle, an arbitrary number of bits per single photon can be transmitted. The ability to generate/analyze states with different photon angular momentum, by using either holographic or interferometric methods, allows the realization of quantum states in multidimensional Hilbert space. Because OAM states provide an infinite basis state, while SAM states are 2-D only, the OAM can also be used to increase the security for quantum key distribution (QKD) applications and improve computational power for quantum computing applications. The goal of this paper is to describe photon angular momentum based deterministic universal quantum qudit gates, namely, {generalized-X, generalized-Z, generalized-CNOT} qudit gates, and different quantum modules of importance for various applications, including (fault-tolerant) quantum computing, teleportation, QKD, and quantum error correction. For instance, the basic quantum modules for quantum teleportation applications include the generalized-Bell-state generation module and the QFT-module. The basic quantum module for quantum error correction and fault-tolerant computing is the nonbinary syndrome calculator module. The basic module for entanglement assisted QKD is either the generalized-Bell-state generation module or the Weyl-operator-module. The possibility of implementing all these modules in integrated optics is discussed as well. Finally, we provide security analysis of entanglement assisted multidimensional QKD protocols, employing the proposed qudit modules, by taking into account the imperfect generation of OAM modes.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions le comportement de circuits Josephson sous l'action de champs microondes forts. Les circuits Josephson dans le régime quantique sont une brique pour émuler une variété d'hamiltoniens, utiles pour traiter l'information quantique. Nous étudions ici le transmon, constitué d'une jonction Josephson et d'un condensateur en parallèle. À travers des simulations numériques et en comparant aux résultats expérimentaux, nous montrons que ces champs conduisent à une instabilité qui envoie le circuit sur des états qui ne sont plus confinés par le potentiel Josephson en cosinus. Quand le transmon occupe de tels états, le circuit se comporte comme si la jonction avait été remplacée par un interrupteur ouvert et toute non-linéarité est perdue, ce qui se traduit par des limitations sur les amplitudes maximales des hamiltoniens émulés. Dans une deuxième partie, nous proposons et étudions un circuit alternatif basé sur un transmon avec une inductance en parallèle, qui fournit un confinement harmonique. La dynamique de ce circuit est stable et bien capturée par un modèle moyennisé qui fournit alors un outil pratique pour l'analyse analytique ou les simulations rapides. Nous avons développé un nouvel outil de simulations modulaire et basé sur la théorie de FloquetMarkov pour permettre de simuler facilement d'autres circuits Josephson en évitant les limitations des analyses perturbatives. Enfin, nous étudions les propriétés d'une version asymétrique du Josephson Ring Modulator, un circuit actuellement utilisé pour l'amplification et la conversion, comme source de non-linéarité pour émuler les hamiltoniens d'interaction à deux et quatre photons requis pour l'encodage de l'information quantique sur des états de chats de Schrödinger. / In this thesis, we investigate the behavior of Josephson circuits under the action of strong microwave drives. Josephson circuits in the quantum regime are a building block to emulate a variety of Hamiltonians, useful to process quantum information. We are here considering a transmon device, made of a Josephson junction and a capacitor in parallel. Through numerical simulations and comparison with experimental results, we show that these drives lead to an instability which results in the escape of the circuit state into states which are no longer confined by the Josephson cosine potential. When the transmon occupies such states, the circuit behaves as if the junction had been removed and all non-linearities are lost, which translates into limitations on the emulated Hamiltonian strengths. In a second part, we propose and study an alternative circuit consisting of a transmon device with an extra inductive shunt, providing a harmonic confinement. This circuit is found to be stable for all pump powers. The dynamics of this circuit is also well captured by a time-averaged model, providing a useful tool for analytical investigation and fast numerical simulations. We developed a novel numerical approach that avoids the built-in limitations of perturbative analysis to investigate the dynamical behavior of both of these circuits. This approach, based on the Floquet-Markov theory, resulted in a modular simulation framework which can be used to study other Josephson-based circuits. Last, we study the properties of an asymmetric version of the Josephson Ring Modulator, a circuit currently used for amplification and conversion, as a more robust source of non-linearity to engineer two-photon and four-photon interaction Hamiltonians required for the catstate encoding of quantum information.