One-step error correction for multipartite polarization entanglement

We present two economical one-step error-correction protocols for multipartite polarization-entangled systems in a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state. One uses spatial entanglement to correct errors in the polarization entanglement of an N-photon system, resorting to linear optical elements. The other uses frequency entanglement to correct errors in the polarization entanglement of an N-photon system. The parties in quantum communication can obtain a maximally entangled state from each N-photon system transmitted with one step in these two protocols, and both of their success probabilities are 100%, in principle. That is, they both work in a deterministic way, and they do not largely consume the less-entangled photon systems, which is far different from conventional multipartite entanglement purification schemes. These features may make these two protocols more useful for practical applications in long-distance quantum communication.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Quantum non-demolition measurement of microwave photons using engineered quadratic interactions

We present a quantum electrical circuit with Josephson junctions formed of two anharmonic oscillators coupled with an interaction $g\gamma_{1}^{2}\gamma_{2}^{2}$ where $\gamma_{1}$ and $\gamma_{2}$ are position-like coordinates. This type of coupling allows the quantum non-demolition measurement of the energy of one oscillator by monitoring the frequency of the second oscillator. Despite the fundamental tradeoff between the coupling strength $g$ and maximum photon storage capacity of the oscillators, it is possible to achieve high fidelity detection of up to 10 photons over time scale of the order of microseconds. We discuss the possibility of observing quantum jumps in the number of photons and related applications.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Rank-frequency relation for Chinese characters

We show that the Zipf's law for Chinese characters perfectly holds for sufficiently short texts (few thousand different characters). The scenario of its validity is similar to the Zipf's law for words in short English texts. For long Chinese texts (or for mixtures of short Chinese texts), rank-frequency relations for Chinese characters display a two-layer, hierarchic structure that combines a Zipfian power-law regime for frequent characters (first layer) with an exponential-like regime for less frequent characters (second layer). For these two layers we provide different (though related) theoretical descriptions that include the range of low-frequency characters (hapax legomena). The comparative analysis of rank-frequency relations for Chinese characters versus English words illustrates the extent to which the characters play for Chinese writers the same role as the words for those writing within alphabetical systems.Comment: To appear in European Physical Journal B (EPJ B), 2014 (22 pages, 7 figures

Entanglement production due to quench dynamics of an anisotropic XY chain in a transverse field

We compute concurrence and negativity as measures of two-site entanglement generated by a power-law quench (characterized by a rate 1/tau and an exponent alpha) which takes an anisotropic XY chain in a transverse field through a quantum critical point (QCP). We show that only the even-neighbor pairs of sites get entangled in such a process. Moreover, there is a critical rate of quench, 1/tau_c, above which no two-site entanglement is generated; the entire entanglement is multipartite. The ratio of the two-site entanglements between consecutive even neighbors can be tuned by changing the quench rate. We also show that for large tau, the concurrence (negativity) scales as sqrt{alpha/tau} (alpha/tau), and we relate this scaling behavior to defect production by the quench through a QCP.Comment: 5 pages including 4 figures; added a figure on multipartite entanglement and some references -- this is the published versio

Dynamical critical scaling and effective thermalization in quantum quenches: the role of the initial state

We explore the robustness of universal dynamical scaling behavior in a quantum system near criticality with respect to initialization in a large class of states with finite energy. By focusing on a homogeneous XY quantum spin chain in a transverse field, we characterize the non-equilibrium response under adiabatic and sudden quench processes originating from a pure as well as a mixed excited initial state, and involving either a regular quantum critical or a multicritical point. We find that the critical exponents of the ground-state quantum phase transition can be encoded in the dynamical scaling exponents despite the finite energy of the initial state. In particular, we identify conditions on the initial distribution of quasi-particle excitation which ensure Kibble-Zurek scaling to persist. The emergence of effective thermal equilibrium behavior following a sudden quench towards criticality is also investigated, with focus on the long-time dynamics of the quasi-particle excitation. For a quench to a regular quantum critical point, this observable is found to behave thermally provided that the system is prepared at sufficiently high temperature, whereas thermalization fails to occur in quenches taking the system towards a multi-critical point. We argue that the observed lack of thermalization originates in this case in the asymmetry of the impulse region that is also responsible for anomalous multicritical dynamical scaling.Comment: 18 pages, 13 eps color figures, published versio