quantum probes

WHAT ARE THEY?
The possibility of extracting global or local properties of a complex system, which is generally in a highly entangled state, by measuring an immersed quantum probe stems from the fact that the probe decoherence and/or dissipation crucially depends on properties of the environment, such as its spectrum of excitations, its full counting statistics, or its phase (for many-body systems undergoing quantum phase transitions). The quantum probe decoherent or dissipative dynamics can be quantified in terms of the information flowing from the probe to the complex system and back. One can therefore envisage a scenario in which the full control of the quantum probe, under certain conditions, allows one to extract information from the complex system.
OUR RESEARCH
Our approach is based on the quantification and optimisation of the information that can be extracted by observing an immersed quantum probe as opposed to a classical one. Furthermore, the ability to coherently control and entangle multiple probes will allow the measurement of a wide range of temporal and spatial correlations, breaking the boundaries of what is currently accessible through the usual classical investigations. This addresses the key issue of how to read out and benchmark quantum simulators, indispensable to bridge the gap between scientific results and concrete engineering technologies.
Collaborations
Prof. Dieter Jaksch, Oxford University (UK); 
Prof. Francesco Plastina, Università della Calabria (Italy);
Prof. Saverio Pascazio, Università di Bari (Italy);
Dr. Gabriele De Chiara, Queen's University Belfast (UK).
References
F. Cosco, S. Maniscalco: Memory effects in a quasi-periodic Fermi lattice. Phys. Rev. A 98, 053608 (2018) [arXiv].

F. Cosco, M. Borrelli, E.-M. Laine, S. Pascazio, A. Scardicchio, S. Maniscalco: Statistics of orthogonality catastrophe events in localised disordered lattices. New J. Phys. 20, 073041 (2018) [arXiv].

F. Cosco, M. Borrelli, J. J. Mendoza-Arenas, F. Plastina, D. Jaksch, S. Maniscalco: Bose-Hubbard lattice as a controllable environment for open quantum systems. Phys. Rev. A 97, 040101 (2018) [arXiv].

F. Cosco, M. Borrelli, P. Silvi, S. Maniscalco, G. De Chiara: Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics in Coulomb crystals. Phys. Rev. A 95, 063615 (2017) [arXiv].

F. Cosco, M. Borrelli, F. Plastina, S. Maniscalco: Momentum-Resolved and Correlations Spectroscopy Using Quantum Probes. Phys. Rev. A 95, 053620 (2017) [arXiv].

T. H. Johnson, F. Cosco, M. T. Mitchison, D. Jaksch, S. R. Clark: Thermometry of ultracold atoms via non-equilibrium work distributions. Phys. Rev. A 93, 053619 (2016) [arXiv].
Contact Person
Prof. Sabrina Maniscalco