Demonstration of Quantum Brachistochrones between Distant States of an Atom
Transforming an initial quantum state into a target state through the fastest possible route—a quantum brachistochrone—is a fundamental challenge for many technologies based on quantum mechanics. In two-level systems, the quantum brachistochrone solutions are long known. These solutions, however, ar...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
American Physical Society
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/593216d2e397407f9f6b798c6c725ffe |
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| Sumario: | Transforming an initial quantum state into a target state through the fastest possible route—a quantum brachistochrone—is a fundamental challenge for many technologies based on quantum mechanics. In two-level systems, the quantum brachistochrone solutions are long known. These solutions, however, are not applicable to larger systems, especially when the target state cannot be reached through a local transformation. Here, we demonstrate fast coherent transport of an atomic wave packet over a distance of 15 times its size—a paradigmatic case of quantum processes going beyond the two-level system. Our measurements of the transport fidelity reveal the existence of a minimum duration—a quantum speed limit—for the coherent splitting and recombination of matter waves. We obtain physical insight into this limit by relying on a geometric interpretation of quantum state dynamics. These results shed light on a fundamental limit of quantum state dynamics and are expected to find relevant applications in quantum sensing and quantum computing. |
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