Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2206.14803

Quantum Speed Limit for States with a Bounded Energy Spectrum

Abstract

Quantum speed limits set the maximal pace of state evolution. Two well-known limits exist for a unitary time-independent Hamiltonian: the Mandelstam-Tamm and Margolus-Levitin bounds. The former restricts the rate according to the state energy uncertainty, while the latter depends on the mean energy relative to the ground state. Here we report on an additional bound that exists for states with a bounded energy spectrum. This bound is dual to the Margolus-Levitin one in the sense that it depends on the difference between the state's mean energy and the energy of the highest occupied eigenstate. Each of the three bounds can become the most restrictive one, depending on the spread and mean of the energy, forming three dynamical regimes which are accessible in a multi-level system. The new bound is relevant for quantum information applications, since in most of them, information is stored and manipulated in a Hilbert space with a bounded energy spectrum.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Gal Ness, Andrea Alberti, Yoav Sagi. 2022-10-06. Quantum Speed Limit for States with a Bounded Energy Spectrum. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.129.140403

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Designing a Hybrid Digital / Analog Quantum Physics Emulator as Open Hardware

Existing approaches to emulating quantum computing algorithms using classical electronic hardware are limited by exponential scaling limitations in space, such as circuit size, or time, such as runtime or bandwidth. We introduce a scheme for representing quantum information using analog signals that lessens the bandwidth limitation problem (in certain regimes) seen in existing approaches [1, 2] by taking full advantage of the ability of analog signals to encode information using RMS voltage as well as frequency and phase. We introduce the mathematical framework for this representation, which separates the information relevant for measurement in the computational basis from information that is not relevant to it. We introduce circuits that take advantage of this separation of concerns to achieve simplifications, for working with quantum information in this representation. We argue that it is comparatively very inexpensive (as low as ~$5.00 / qubit) to outmatch the computing capabilities of existing FPGA based emulators [3], though scaling beyond tens of qubits is still impractical due to constraints of analog hardware module precision. However, our approach opens the door to a new avenue by which classical emulators can hope to improve: by improving on analog electronic circuit performance.

quant-ph

Measuring a Quantum Measure Exceeding Unity

The history based formalism known as Quantum Measure Theory (QMT) generalizes the concept of probability-measure so as to incorporate quantum interference. The resulting quantum measure $μ$ is defined for arbitrary events (sets of histories), not just for observables at a fixed moment of time. Thanks to interference effects, $μ$ can exceed unity, exhibiting its non-classical nature in a particularly striking manner. Here, in an optical experiment, we illustrate an ancilla based filtering scheme that gives operational meaning to the quantum measure. For a specific photonic event $E$, we report a measured value of $μ(E)=1.172^{+0.013}_{-0.019}$, which within errors agrees with the theoretical value of $5/4$, while exceeding the maximum value permissible for a classical probability (namely $1$) by $13.32$ upper or $8.89$ lower percentile widths. The directly observed quantity is an ordinary detector probability $p_D\le 1$ (or, with laser light, an equivalent power ratio); the value $μ(E)>1$ is inferred via the calibrated relation $μ(E)=2p_D$ for our filter. If an unconventional theoretical concept is to play a role in meeting the foundational challenges of quantum theory, it seems important to bring it into contact with experiment as much as possible. Our experiment does this for the quantum measure.

quant-ph

Complexity Theory for Quantum Promise Problems

We begin by establishing structural results for several fundamental quantum complexity classes: p/mBQP, p/mQ(C)MA, $\text{p/mQSZK}_{\text{hv}}$, p/mQIP, p/mBQP/qpoly, p/mBQP/poly, and p/mPSPACE. This includes identifying complete problems, as well as proving containment and separation results among these classes. Here, p/mC denotes the corresponding quantum promise complexity class with pure (p) or mixed (m) quantum input states for any classical complexity class C. Surprisingly, our findings uncover relationships that diverge from their classical analogues -- specifically, we show unconditionally that p/mQIP$\neq$p/mPSPACE and p/mBQP/qpoly$\neq$p/mBQP/poly. This starkly contrasts the classical setting, where QIP$=$PSPACE and separations such as BQP/qpoly$\neq$BQP/poly are only known relative to oracles. More interestingly, these separation results further connected to the topic of for both quantum property testing and unitary synthesis. This new framework has numerous applications in quantum cryptography, particularly in the contexts of Microcrypt. We provide a better characterization of its primitives; for example, we show that OWSG and PRS can be broken by a p/mQCMA oracle, leading to a natural quantum analogue of Impagliazzo's five worlds by substituting the classical complexity classes in Pessiland, Heuristica, and Algorithmica with mBQP and mQCMA. Moreover, we establish the relativization barrier for proving the existence of EFI, noting that no such barrier currently exists within traditional complexity theory.

quant-ph