Precisely timing dissipative quantum information processing.

Dissipative engineering constitutes a framework within which quantum information processing protocols are powered by system-environment interaction rather than by unitary dynamics alone. This framework embraces noise as a resource and, consequently, offers a number of advantages compared to one based on unitary dynamics alone, e.g., that the protocols are typically independent of the initial state of the system. However, the time independent nature of this scheme makes it difficult to imagine precisely timed sequential operations, conditional measurements, or error correction. In this work, we provide a path around these challenges, by introducing basic dissipative gadgets which allow us to precisely initiate, trigger, and time dissipative operations while keeping the system Liouvillian time independent. These gadgets open up novel perspectives for thinking of timed dissipative quantum information processing. As an example, we sketch how measurement-based computation can be simulated in the dissipative setting.

Dissipative preparation of entanglement in optical cavities.

We propose a novel scheme for the preparation of a maximally entangled state of two atoms in an optical cavity. Starting from an arbitrary initial state, a singlet state is prepared as the unique fixed point of a dissipative quantum dynamical process. In our scheme, cavity decay is no longer undesirable, but plays an integral part in the dynamics. As a result, we get a qualitative improvement in the scaling of the fidelity with the cavity parameters. Our analysis indicates that dissipative state preparation is more than just a new conceptual approach, but can allow for significant improvement as compared to preparation protocols based on coherent unitary dynamics.