Topological insulator and quantum memory

Abstract

Measurements done on the quantum systems are too specific. Contrary to their classical counterparts, quantum measurements can be invasive and destroy the state of interest. Besides, quantumness limits the accuracy of measurements done on quantum systems. Uncertainty relations define the universal accuracy limit of the quantum measurements. Relatively recently, it was discovered that quantum correlations and quantum memory might reduce the uncertainty of quantum measurements. In the present work, we study two different types of measurements done on the topological system. Namely, we discuss measurements done on the spin operators and the canonical pair of operators: momentum and coordinate. We quantify the spin operator's measurements through the entropic measures of uncertainty and exploit the concept of quantum memory. While for the momentum and coordinate operators, we exploit the improved uncertainty relations. We discovered that quantum memory reduces the uncertainties of spin measurements. On the hand, we proved that the uncertainties in the measurements of the coordinate and momentum operators depend on the value of the momentum and are substantially enhanced at small distances between itinerant and localized electrons (the large momentum limit). We note that the topological nature of the system leads to the spin-momentum locking. The momentum of the electron depends on the spin and vice versa. Therefore, we suggest the indirect measurement scheme for the momentum and coordinate operators through the spin operator. Due to the factor of quantum memory, such indirect measurements in topological insulators have smaller uncertainties rather than direct measurements.