About the Project
The 21st century has seen a revival of interest in the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, due to quantum technologies coming within arm reach. Within these fundamentals, the quantum adiabatic theorem demonstrates that, if a quantum system is driven gently enough, it will change very slowly, performing a dynamic known as “quantum adiabatic evolution” (QAE). QAE enters a variety of research fields and technological applications, including charge transfer in molecules and nanostructures; chemical reactions; quantum field theory; quantum thermodynamics; quantum computation; etc. Recently, the quantum adiabatic theorem was extended to closed and open many-body quantum systems (MBQS) at finite temperature [1]. This confirms, in principle, the possibility of adiabatic evolution for systems of importance to quantum technologies. However, researchers need accessible and reliable criteria to establish if a MBQS is evolving, or not, adiabatically. Research is still needed to establish these criteria, and especially so for systems of interest to quantum technologies where this knowledge could be used for maximizing usable work done by quantum systems, perform adiabatic quantum computation, minimizing energy loss, etc. By performing mathematical derivations and numerical simulations, in this project we aim to develop the metric formalism for measuring and tracking adiabaticity proposed in [2] to encompass open quantum systems and at finite temperature. While many models treat systems as isolated from their surroundings (closed systems), real physical systems do not operate in isolation, but are always in contact with their surroundings (environment). Their environment (electro-magnetic fields, interaction with other particles, phonons, etc.) influence their behaviour and hence the type of dynamics they will perform. The outcomes of this project will help in developing protocols and fundamentals for quantum technologies.
[1] PRA 93, 032118 (2016); arXiv:2002.02947
[2] A. H. Skelt and I. D’Amico, Adv. Quantum Technol. 3, 1900139 (2020); arXiv:2004.05842
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