macroscopicity_poster.pdfVIP

New criteria for macroscopic quantum states Benjamin Yadin1 and Vlatko Vedral1,2 1 Atomic and Laser Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK 2 Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543 Motivation ? The search for quantum behaviour at the macroscopic scale ? States resembling Schr?dingers cat created in experiments: Interference of large molecules (e.g. Buckminsterfullerene, C60) [1] Superposition of different currents in a superconducting circuit [2] ? We want some way of comparing the states created in different experiments - can one define an `effective quantum size? ? In this work, we look in particular at systems of qubits and investigate the behaviour of quantum macroscopicity under local operations GHZ states and their macroscopic quantum properties Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states with large N provide a natural set of macroscopic quantum states: GHZN ? = 1 √( 2 0??N + 1??N ) What special properties do these states have that determine their macroscopic quantum character? Superpositions of macroscopically distinguishable states The states 0??N and 1??N are easily distinguishable by measuring Z = ∑iN=1 σz i - an accessible measurement at the macroscopic scale. They remain distinguishable even with noisy measurements. probability separation ∝ N measurement noise 0??N 1??N Z outcome More generally, a state of the form φ0? + φ1? can be considered macroscopic if φ0? and φ1? are macroscopically distinguishable in this sense. A very similar concept is that of local distinguishability - when one can distinguish between the branches of the superposition with high probability by measuring a single qubit. [3,4] Fluctuations and metrology z Mz A GHZ state displays a large variance in the Z observable: σ(Z)2 ∶= ?Z2? ? ?Z?2 = N 2 Classically, one would expect a variance scaling with N . A set of spin- 1 2 sites in a state like this would have highly non-classical fluctuations in its