Many-Body Perturbation Theory is put to test as a method for reliable calculations of the electron-electron interaction in two-dimensional quantum dots. We show that second order correlation gives qualitative agreement with experiments on a level which was not found within the Hartree-Fock description. For weaker confinements, the second order correction is shown to be insufficient and higher order contributions must be taken into account. We demonstrate that all order Many-Body Perturbation Theory in the form of the Coupled Cluster Singles and Doubles method yields very reliable results for confinements close to those estimated from experimental data. The possibility to use very large basis sets is shown to be a major advantage compared to Full Configuration Interaction approaches, especially for more than five confined electrons. Also, the possibility to utilize two-electron correlation in combination with tailor made potentials to achieve useful properties is explored. In the case of a two-dimensional quantum dot molecule we vary the interdot distance, and in the case of a two-dimensional quantum ring we vary the ring radius, in order to alter the spectra. In the latter case we demonstrate that correlation in combination with electromagnetic pulses can be used for the realization of quantum logical gates. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 5: Manuscript.

This Thesis focuses on different aspects of quantum computation theory: adiabatic quantum algorithms, decoherence during the adiabatic evolution and quantum simulators. After an overview on the area of quantum computation and setting up the formal ground for the rest of the Thesis we derive a general error estimate for adiabatic quantum computing. We demonstrate that the first-order correction, which has frequently been used as a condition for adiabatic quantum computation, does not yield a good estimate for the computational error. Therefore, a more general criterion is proposed, which includes higher-order corrections and shows that the computational error can be made exponentially small – which facilitates significantly shorter evolution times than the first-order estimate in certain situations. Based on this criterion and rather general arguments and assumptions, it can be demonstrated that a run-time of order of the inverse minimum energy gap is sufficient and necessary. Furthermore, exploiting the similarity between adiabatic quantum algorithms and quantum phase transitions, we study the impact of decoherence on the sweep through a second-order quantum phase transition for the prototypical example of the Ising chain in a transverse field and compare it to the adiabatic version of Grover’s search algorithm. It turns out that (in contrast to first-order transitions) the impact of decoherence caused by a weak coupling to a rather general environment increases with system size (i.e., number of spins/qubits), which might limit the scalability of the system. Finally, we propose the use of electron systems to construct laboratory systems based on present-day technology which reproduce and thereby simulate the quantum dynamics of the Ising model and the O(3) nonlinear sigma model.

<p>Utvecklandet av kvantdatorn är ett ytterst lovande projekt som kombinerar teoretisk och experimental kvantfysik, matematik, teori om kvantinformation och datalogi. Under första steget i utvecklandet av kvantdatorn låg huvudintresset på att skapa några algoritmer med framtida tillämpningar, klargöra grundläggande frågor och utveckla en experimentell teknologi för en leksakskvantdator som verkar på några kvantbitar. Då dominerade förväntningarna om snabba framsteg bland kvantforskare. Men det verkar som om dessa stora förväntningar inte har besannats helt. Många grundläggande och tekniska problem som dekoherens hos kvantbitarna och instabilitet i kvantstrukturen skapar redan vid ett litet antal register tvivel om en snabb utveckling av kvantdatorer som verkligen fungerar. Trots detta kan man inte förneka att stora framsteg gjorts inom kvantteknologin. Det råder givetvis ett stort gap mellan skapandet av en leksakskvantdator med 10-15 kvantregister och att t.ex. tillgodose de tekniska förutsättningarna för det projekt på 100 kvantregister som aviserades för några år sen i USA. Det är också uppenbart att svårigheterna ökar ickelinjärt med ökningen av antalet register. Därför är simulering av kvantdatorer i klassiska datorer en viktig del av kvantdatorprojektet. Självklart kan man inte förvänta sig att en kvantalgoritm skall lösa ett NP-problem i polynomisk tid i en klassisk dator. Detta är heller inte syftet med klassisk simulering. Den klassiska simuleringen av kvantdatorer kommer att täcka en del av gapet mellan den teoretiskt matematiska formuleringen av kvantmekaniken och ett förverkligande av en kvantdator. Ett av de viktigaste problemen i vetenskapen om kvantdatorn är att utveckla ett nytt symboliskt språk för kvantdatorerna och att anpassa redan existerande symboliska språk för klassiska datorer till kvantalgoritmer. Denna avhandling ägnas åt en anpassning av det symboliska språket Mathematica till kända kvantalgoritmer och motsvarande simulering i klassiska datorer. Konkret kommer vi att representera Simons algoritm, Deutsch-Joszas algoritm, Grovers algoritm, Shors algoritm och kvantfelrättande koder i det symboliska språket Mathematica. Vi använder samma stomme i alla dessa algoritmer. Denna stomme representerar de karaktäristiska egenskaperna i det symboliska språkets framställning av kvantdatorn och det är enkelt att inkludera denna stomme i framtida algoritmer.</p> / <p>Quantum computing is an extremely promising project combining theoretical and experimental quantum physics, mathematics, quantum information theory and computer science. At the first stage of development of quantum computing the main attention was paid to creating a few algorithms which might have applications in the future, clarifying fundamental questions and developing experimental technologies for toy quantum computers operating with a few quantum bits. At that time expectations of quick progress in the quantum computing project dominated in the quantum community. However, it seems that such high expectations were not totally justified. Numerous fundamental and technological problems such as the decoherence of quantum bits and the instability of quantum structures even with a small number of registers led to doubts about a quick development of really working quantum computers. Although it can not be denied that great progress had been made in quantum technologies, it is clear that there is still a huge gap between the creation of toy quantum computers with 10-15 quantum registers and, e.g., satisfying the technical conditions of the project of 100 quantum registers announced a few years ago in the USA. It is also evident that difficulties increase nonlinearly with an increasing number of registers. Therefore the simulation of quantum computations on classical computers became an important part of the quantum computing project. Of course, it can not be expected that quantum algorithms would help to solve NP problems for polynomial time on classical computers. However, this is not at all the aim of classical simulation. Classical simulation of quantum computations will cover part of the gap between the theoretical mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics and the realization of quantum computers. One of the most important problems in "quantum computer science" is the development of new symbolic languages for quantum computing and the adaptation of existing symbolic languages for classical computing to quantum algorithms. The present thesis is devoted to the adaptation of the Mathematica symbolic language to known quantum algorithms and corresponding simulation on the classical computer. Concretely we shall represent in the Mathematica symbolic language Simon's algorithm, the Deutsch-Josza algorithm, Grover's algorithm, Shor's algorithm and quantum error-correcting codes. We shall see that the same framework can be used for all these algorithms. This framework will contain the characteristic property of the symbolic language representation of quantum computing and it will be a straightforward matter to include this framework in future algorithms.</p>

Le domaine des systèmes de référence quantiques, dont les dernière avancées sont brièvement présentées au chapitre 1, est extrêmement pertinent à la compréhension de la dégradation des états quantiques et de l’évolution d’instruments de mesures quantiques. Toutefois, pour arriver à comprendre formellement ces avancées et à apporter une contribution originale au domaine, il faut s’approprier un certain nombre de concepts physiques et mathématiques, in- troduits au chapitre 2. La dégradation des états quantiques est très présente dans le contrôle d’états utiles à l’informatique quantique. Étant donné que ce dernier tente de contrôler des sys- tèmes à deux états, le plus souvent des moments cinétiques, l’analyse des systèmes de référence quantiques qui les mesurent s’avère opportune. Puisque, parmi les plus petits moments ciné- tiques, le plus connu est de s = 1 et que son état le plus simple est l’état non polarisé, l’étude 2 du comportement d’un système de référence mesurant successivement ce type de moments ci- nétiques constitue le premier pas à franchir. C’est dans le chapitre 3 qu’est fait ce premier pas et il aborde les questions les plus intéressantes, soit celles concernant l’efficacité du système de référence, sa longévité et leur maximum. La prochaine étape est de considérer des états de moments cinétiques polarisés et généraux, étape qui est abordée dans le chapitre 4. Cette fois, l’analyse de la dégradation du système de référence est un peu plus complexe et nous pouvons l’inspecter approximativement par l’évolution de certains paramètres pour une certaine classe d’états de système de référence. De plus, il existe une interaction entre le système de référence et le moment cinétique qui peut avoir un effet sur le système de référence tout à fait comparable à l’effet de la mesure. C’est cette même interaction qui est étudiée dans le chapitre 5, mais, cette fois, pour des moments cinétiques de s = 1. Après une comparaison avec la mesure, il devient manifeste que les ressemblances entre les deux processus sont beaucoup moins apparentes, voire inexistantes. Ainsi, cette ressemblance ne semble pas générale et semble accidentelle lorsqu’elle apparaît. / The field of quantum reference frames, which recent progress is briefly presented in chap- ter 1, is extremely relevant when it comes to understanding the deterioration of quantum states and the evolution of quantum measurement instruments. However, to fully understand these advances and to be able to bring an original contribution to this field, one must first understand a number of concepts in physics and mathematics. These concepts are explained in chapter 2. Since the deterioration of quantum states is very present when controlling useful states in quan- tum computing, and since quantum computing attempts to control two-states systems, often angular momenta, analyzing quantum reference frames proves to be relevant. Having s = 1 as 2 the smallest known angular momentum, and since its simplest state is the unpolarized state, the study of a reference frame behavior that measures successively this type of angular momentums is the first step to be taken (chapter 3). The most interesting questions concern the efficiency of the reference frame, its longevity, and the optimization of these two quantities. The next step is to consider polarized and general angular momentum states (chapter 4). This time, analyzing the deterioration of the reference frame proves to be more complex, and can be examined in an approximate manner by looking at the evolution of certain parameters given for a certain class of states of reference frames. Furthermore, the existence of an interaction between the reference frame and the angular momentum can affect the reference frame approximatively as much as the measuring it does. It is this very interaction that is studied in chapter 5, but this time, for s = 1 angular momenta. Comparing this interaction with the measurement shows very clearly that the similarities between the two processes are a lot less visible than with s = 1 , and 2 even perhaps nonexistent. Therefore, the similarity does not seem to be general and appears to be accidental when it is significant.

This dissertation studies two different aspects of two-player interaction in the model of quantum communication and quantum computation.First, we study two cryptographic primitives, that are used as basic blocks to construct sophisticated cryptographic protocols between two players, e.g. identification protocols. The first primitive is ''quantum bit commitment''. This primitive cannot be done in an unconditionally secure way. However, security can be obtained by restraining the power of the two players. We study this primitive when the two players can only create quantum Gaussian states and perform Gaussian operations. These operations are a subset of what is allowed by quantum physics, and plays a central role in quantum optics. Hence, it is an accurate model of communication through optical fibers. We show that unfortunately this restriction does not allow secure bit commitment. The proof of this result is based on the notion of ''intrinsic purification'' that we introduce to circumvent the use of Uhlman's theorem when the quantum states are Gaussian. We then examine a weaker primitive, ''quantum weak coin flipping'', in the standard model of quantum computation. Mochon has showed that there exists such a protocol with arbitrarily small bias. We give a clear and meaningful interpretation of his proof. That allows us to present a drastically shorter and simplified proof.The second part of the dissertation deals with different methods of proving lower bounds on the quantum query complexity. This is a very important model in quantum complexity in which numerous results have been proved. In this model, an algorithm has restricted access to the input: it can only query individual bits. We consider a generalization of the standard model, where an algorithm does not compute a classical function, but generates a quantum state. This generalization allows us to compare the strength of the different methods used to prove lower bounds in this model. We first prove that the ''multiplicative adversary method'' is stronger than the ''additive adversary method''. We then show a reduction from the ''polynomial method'' to the multiplicative adversary method. Hence, we prove that the multiplicative adversary method is the strongest one. Adversary methods are usually difficult to use since they involve the computation of norms of matrices with very large size. We show how studying the symmetries of a problem can largely simplify these computations. Last, using these principles we prove the tight lower bound of the INDEX-ERASURE problem. This a quantum state generation problem that has links with the famous GRAPH-ISOMORPHISM problem.

In this thesis we study quantum-like representation and simulation of quantum algorithms by using classical computers.The quantum--like representation algorithm (QLRA) was  introduced by A. Khrennikov (1997) to solve the ``inverse Born's rule problem'', i.e. to construct a representation of probabilistic data-- measured in any context of science-- and represent this data by a complex or more general probability amplitude which matches a generalization of Born's rule.The outcome from QLRA matches the formula of total probability with an additional trigonometric, hyperbolic or hyper-trigonometric interference term and this is in fact a generalization of the familiar formula of interference of probabilities. We study representation of statistical data (of any origin) by a probability amplitude in a complex algebra and a Clifford algebra (algebra of hyperbolic numbers). The statistical data is collected from measurements of two dichotomous and trichotomous observables respectively. We see that only special statistical data (satisfying a number of nonlinear constraints) have a quantum--like representation. We also study simulations of quantum computers on classical computers.Although it can not be denied that great progress have been made in quantum technologies, it is clear that there is still a huge gap between the creation of experimental quantum computers and realization of a quantum computer that can be used in applications. Therefore the simulation of quantum computations on classical computers became an important part in the attempt to cover this gap between the theoretical mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics and the realization of quantum computers. Of course, it can not be expected that quantum algorithms would help to solve NP problems for polynomial time on classical computers. However, this is not at all the aim of classical simulation.  The second part of this thesis is devoted to adaptation of the Mathematica symbolic language to known quantum algorithms and corresponding simulations on classical computers. Concretely we represent Simon's algorithm, Deutsch-Josza algorithm, Shor's algorithm, Grover's algorithm and quantum error-correcting codes in the Mathematica symbolic language. We see that the same framework can be used for all these algorithms. This framework will contain the characteristic property of the symbolic language representation of quantum computing and it will be a straightforward matter to include future algorithms in this framework.

Superconducting qubits are a promising technology for building a scalable quantum computer. An important architecture employed in the field is called Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics (circuit QED), where such qubits are combined with high quality microwave cavities to study the interaction between artificial atoms and single microwave photons. The ultra-strong coupling achieved in these systems allows for control and readout of the quantum state of qubits to perform quantum information processing. The work on circuit QED performed in this thesis consisted of realizing an experimental setup for qubit experiments in a new laboratory, investigating the coherence and decay of higher energy levels of superconducting transmon qubits and finally demonstrating a novel coaxial form of circuit QED. Designing and building a 3D circuit QED setup involved the following main accomplishments: producing high quality 3D cavities; designing and installing the cryogenic microwave setup as well as the room temperature amplification and data acquisition circuitry; successfully developing a recipe for the fabrication of Josephson junctions; controlling and measuring superconducting 3D transmon qubits at 10mK. Several qubits were fully characterised and have shown coherence times of several microseconds and relaxation times up to 25&mu;s. Superconducting qubits in fact possess higher energy levels that can provide significant computational advantages in quantum information applications. In experiments performed at MIT, preparation and control of the five lowest states of a transmon qubit was demonstrated, followed by an investigation of the phase coherence and decay dynamics of these higher energy levels. The decay was found to proceed mainly sequentially with relaxation times in excess of 20&mu;s for all transitions. A direct measurement of the charge dispersion of these levels was performed to explore their characteristics of dephasing. This experiment was also reproduced on a 3D transmon fabricated and measured in Oxford, where due to a higher effective qubit temperature a multi-level decay model including thermal excitations was developed to explain the observed relaxation dynamics. Finally, a coaxial transmon, which we name the coaxmon, is presented and measured with a coaxial LC readout resonator and input/output coupling ports placed inline along the third dimension. This novel coaxial circuit QED architecture holds great promise for developing a scalable planar grid of qubits to build a quantum computer.

Quantum memories are key components in photonics-based quantum information processing networks. Their ability to store and retrieve information on demand makes repeat-until-success strategies scalable. Warm alkali-metal vapours are interesting candidates for the implementation of such memories, thanks to their very long storage times as well as their experimental simplicity and versatility. Operation with the Raman memory protocol enables high time-bandwidth products, which denote the number of possible storage trials within the memory lifetime. Since large time-bandwidth products enable multiple synchronisation trials of probabilistically operating quantum gates via memory-based temporal multiplexing, the Raman memory is a promising tool for such tasks. Particularly, the broad spectral bandwidth allows for direct and technologically simple interfacing with other photonic primitives, such as heralded single photon sources. Here, this kind of light-matter interface is implemented using a warm caesium vapour Raman memory. Firstly, we study the storage of polarisation-encoded quantum information, a common standard in quantum information processing. High quality polarisation preservation for bright coherent state input signals can be achieved, when operating the Raman memory in a dual-rail configuration inside a polarisation interferometer. Secondly, heralded single photons are stored in the memory. To this end, the memory is operated on-demand by feed-forward of source heralding events, which constitutes a key technological capability for applications in temporal multiplexing. Prior to storage, single photons are produced in a waveguide-based spontaneous parametric down conversion source, whose bespoke design spectrally tailors the heralded photons to the memory acceptance bandwidth. The faithful retrieval of stored single photons is found to be currently limited by noise in the memory, with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 0.3 in the memory output. Nevertheless, a clear influence of the quantum nature of an input photon is observed in the retrieved light by measuring the read-out signal's photon statistics via the g⁽²⁾-autocorrelation function. Here, we find a drop in g⁽²⁾ by more than three standard deviations, from g⁽²⁾ ~ 1.69 to g⁽²⁾ ~ 1.59 upon changing the input signal from coherent states to heralded single photons. Finally, the memory noise processes and their scalings with the experimental parameters are examined in detail. Four-wave-mixing noise is determined as the sole important noise source for the Raman memory. These experimental results and their theoretical description point towards practical solutions for noise-free operation.

No description available.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-08-06T19:17:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 HERON ARAGÃO MONTEIRO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2012..pdf: 15948168 bytes, checksum: e445512265f530700a45c3924f68aa02 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-06T19:17:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HERON ARAGÃO MONTEIRO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGCC 2012..pdf: 15948168 bytes, checksum: e445512265f530700a45c3924f68aa02 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-31 / Com o avanço da nanotecnologia, a computação quântica tem recebido grande destaque no meio científico. Utilizando os fundamentos da mecânica quântica, têm sido propostos diversos algoritmos quânticos. E, até então, os mesmos têm apresentado ganhos significativos com relação às suas versões clássicas. Na intenção de poder ser verificada a eficiência dos algoritmos quânticos, diversos simuladores vêm sendo desenvolvidos, visto que a confecção de um computador quântico ainda não foi possível. Há duas grandes vertentes de simuladores: os simuladores por software e os simuladores por hardware, chamados de emuladores. Na primeira classe se encontram os programas desenvolvidos em um computador clássico, procurando implementar os fundamentos da mecânica quântica, fazendo uso das linguagens de programação clássicas. Na segunda, são utilizados recursos que não estejam vinculados à plataforma do computador clássico. Dentre os emuladores, particularmente, estudos têm sido realizados fazendo uso de hardware dedicado (mais especificamente, FPGAV). O presente trabalho propõem a verificação da real utilidade da plataforma FPGA, com a intenção de se desenvolver um emulador universal, que permita a emulação de qualquer classe de circuitos, e que os mesmos possam ser implementados com um maior número de q-bits em relação aos circuitos tratados nos trabalhos anteriores. / With the progress of nanotechnology, quantum computing has received great emphasis in scientific circles. Using the basis of quantum mechanics, different quantum algorithms have been proposed. And so far, they have presented significant gains with respect to its classic versions. In order to verify the efficiency of quantum algorithms, several simulators have been developed, since the construction of a quantum computer is not yet possible. There are two major classes of simulators, simulators via software and via hardware. The latter being also called emulators. In the first class, programs are developed in a classical computer, attempting to implement the fundamentais of quantum mechanics, making use of classic programming languages. In the second, resources are used that are not related to the classic computer platform. Among the emulators, in particular, studies have been made using dedicated hardware (more specifically, FPGA's2). The present work proposes the use of the FPGA boards in emulation of quantum circuits aiming a gain scale in relation to the alternatives presented so far. The present work proposes checking the usefulness of the FPGA with the intention of developing an universal emulator that is able to emulate any type of circuit, and that they can be implemented with a larger number of q-bit in respect to the circuits treated in the previous works.