Energy density as a probe of band representations in photonic crystals.

Topological quantum chemistry (TQC) has recently emerged as an instrumental tool to characterize the topological nature of both fermionic and bosonic band structures. TQC is based on the study of band representations and the localization of maximally localized Wannier functions. In this article, we study various two-dimensional photonic crystal structures analyzing their topological character through a combined study of TQC, their Wilson-loop (WL) spectra and the electromagnetic energy density. Our study demonstrates that the analysis of the spatial localization of the energy density complements the study of the topological properties in terms of the spectrum of the WL operator and TQC.

Steady-state entanglement in the nuclear spin dynamics of a double quantum dot.

We propose a scheme for the deterministic generation of steady-state entanglement between the two nuclear spin ensembles in an electrically defined double quantum dot. Because of quantum interference in the collective coupling to the electronic degrees of freedom, the nuclear system is actively driven into a two-mode squeezedlike target state. The entanglement buildup is accompanied by a self-polarization of the nuclear spins towards large Overhauser field gradients. Moreover, the feedback between the electronic and nuclear dynamics leads to multistability and criticality in the steady-state solutions.

Scalable architecture for a room temperature solid-state quantum information processor.

The realization of a scalable quantum information processor has emerged over the past decade as one of the central challenges at the interface of fundamental science and engineering. Here we propose and analyse an architecture for a scalable, solid-state quantum information processor capable of operating at room temperature. Our approach is based on recent experimental advances involving nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond. In particular, we demonstrate that the multiple challenges associated with operation at ambient temperature, individual addressing at the nanoscale, strong qubit coupling, robustness against disorder and low decoherence rates can be simultaneously achieved under realistic, experimentally relevant conditions. The architecture uses a novel approach to quantum information transfer and includes a hierarchy of control at successive length scales. Moreover, it alleviates the stringent constraints currently limiting the realization of scalable quantum processors and will provide fundamental insights into the physics of non-equilibrium many-body quantum systems.

Optical superradiance from nuclear spin environment of single-photon emitters.

We show that superradiant optical emission can be observed from the polarized nuclear spin ensemble surrounding a single-photon emitter such as a single quantum dot or nitrogen-vacancy center. The superradiant light is emitted under optical pumping conditions and would be observable with realistic experimental parameters.

Nuclear spin cooling using Overhauser-field selective coherent population trapping.

We show that a quantum interference effect in optical absorption from two electronic spin states of a solid-state emitter can be used to prepare the surrounding environment of nuclear spins in well-defined states, thereby suppressing electronic spin dephasing. The coupled electron-nuclei system evolves into a coherent population trapping state by optical-excitation-induced nuclear-spin diffusion for a broad range of initial optical detunings. The spectroscopic signature of this evolution where the single-electron strongly modifies its environment is a drastic broadening of the dark resonance in optical absorption experiments. The large difference in electronic and nuclear time scales allows us to verify the preparation of nuclear spins in the desired state.

Noise-free measurement of harmonic oscillators with instantaneous interactions.

We present a method of measuring the quantum state of a harmonic oscillator through instantaneous probe-system selective interactions of the Jaynes-Cummings type. We prove that this scheme is robust to general decoherence mechanisms, allowing the possibility of measuring fast-decaying systems in the weak-coupling regime. This method could be applied to different setups: motional states of trapped ions, microwave fields in cavity or circuit QED, and even intracavity optical fields.

Entanglement of formation for symmetric Gaussian states.

We show that for a fixed amount of entanglement, two-mode squeezed states are those that maximize Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-like correlations. We use this fact to determine the entanglement of formation for all symmetric Gaussian states corresponding to two modes. This is the first instance in which this measure has been determined for genuine continuous variable systems.

Entanglement criteria for all bipartite Gaussian states.

We provide a necessary and sufficient condition for separability of Gaussian states of bipartite systems of arbitrarily many modes. The condition provides an operational criterion since it can be checked by simple computation. Moreover, it allows us to find a pure product-state decomposition of any given separable Gaussian state. We also show that all bipartite Gaussian states with nonpositive partial transpose are distillable.

Entanglement purification of gaussian continuous variable quantum states

We describe an entanglement purification protocol to generate maximally entangled states with high efficiencies from two-mode squeezed states or from mixed Gaussian continuous entangled states. The protocol relies on a local quantum nondemolition measurement of the total excitation number of several continuous variable entangled pairs. We propose an optical scheme to do this kind of measurement using cavity enhanced cross-Kerr interactions.

Inseparability criterion for continuous variable systems

An inseparability criterion based on the total variance of a pair of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type operators is proposed for continuous variable systems. The criterion provides a sufficient condition for entanglement of any two-party continuous variable states. Furthermore, for all Gaussian states, this criterion turns out to be a necessary and sufficient condition for inseparability.