Dynamics of trapped ions in Paul traps: state transfer, entanglement and discord

• Grant number: 13/11630-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Principal Investigator: José Antonio Roversi
• Grantee: Alessandro Silva Santana
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

One of the main challenges in the area of communication and quantum computing lies in the loss of coherence. This is due to the extreme instability of a system of entangled states collapsing to a system of separable states in a fraction of time too short. Takes this into account, a factor that should be taken into consideration is how to implement a quantum state. In this project, we will study a system of trapped ions in interacting cavities through optical fiber or evanescent waves, which has well-defined Hamiltonian and well-controlled dissipation. In these systems, the ions can be brought nearly to the ground state by cooling techniques using lasers and through the coupling and manipulation of a light field. This make them a quite suitable quantum-optical and quantum-dynamics system for quantum information or quantum computation implementation. We will discuss important concepts to either the area of quantum optics and quantum information. We will focus, during the first months, in the studies quasiprobability functions and computational techniques (Mathematica), and strengthen our knowledge on the fundamentals of quantum optics and quantum information. Next, we will focus on the most relevant points of the system of trapped ions studying relevant features of entangled states and quantum information processing. Besides the study of the entanglement, which is a type of strong (quantum) correlation between two systems, we hope to discuss the concept of quantum discord which corresponds to a kind of exclusively quantum correlation (e.g. entanglement), and can be suitable enough for the quantum information processing. The project aims to encourage the student and raise their creativity and ability, resulting in a greater scientific experience in our area. (AU)