Research
Our group investigates non-equilibrium quantum systems with applications to Quantum Science and Technology and Foundations of Physics.
Quantum Control - Shortcuts to Adiabaticity
Shortcuts to adiabaticity have been recently been proposed as a general tool to tailor the nonadiabatic dynamics of quantum matter far from equilibrium. They provide control protocols to guide the dynamics of a quantum system through an adiabatic reference trajectory in an arbitrary prescheduled time, without the requirement of slow driving. As an alternative to adiabatic protocols, they have found broad applications in quantum science and technology. We have recently generalized these techniques to open quantum systems.
Selected publications:
A. del Campo
Frictionless quantum quenches in ultracold gases: a quantum dynamical microscope
Phys. Rev. A 84, 031606(R) (2011), arXiv:1103.0714
A. del Campo
Shortcuts to adiabaticity by counter-diabatic driving
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 100502 (2013), arXiv:1306.0410
Shuoming An, Dingshun Lv, Adolfo del Campo, Kihwan Kim
Shortcuts to adiabaticity by counterdiabatic driving for trapped-ion displacement in phase space
Nature Communications 7, 12999 (2016); arXiv:1601.05551
Shujin Deng, Aurélia Chenu, Pengpeng Diao, Fang Li, Shi Yu, Ivan Coulamy, Adolfo del Campo, Haibin Wu
Superadiabatic Quantum Friction Suppression in Finite-time Thermodynamics
Science Advances 4, eaar5909 (2018); arXiv:1711.00650
S. Alipour, A Chenu, A. T. Rezakhani, A. del Campo
Shortcuts to Adiabaticity in Driven Open Quantum Systems: Balanced Gain and Loss and Non-Markovian Evolution
L. Dupays, I. L. Egusquiza, A. del Campo, A. Chenu
Shortcuts in open quantum systems: Superadiabatic control of an open quantum oscillator
Adiabatic Quantum Computation
Bringing ideas of critical, quantum open systems and nonequilibrium phenomena we have advanced heuristic protocols and algorithms for quantum annealing. These include the introduction of shortcuts to adiabaticity related to quantum gatchets, spatially inhomogeneous annealing schedules that have recently gained in popularity, and the choice of optimal annealing times in the presence of noise. We have also proposed the benchmarking of quantum annealers by testing principles of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics such as the defect distribution as a function of the annealing time, supporting the fact that current D-Wave quantum annealers are best described as open quantum systems.
A. del Campo, M. M. Rams, W. H. Zurek
Assisted finite-rate adiabatic passage across a quantum critical point: Exact solution for the quantum Ising model
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 115703 (2012), arXiv:1206.2670
A. Dutta, A. Rahmani, A. del Campo
Anti-Kibble-Zurek Scaling in Crossing the Quantum Critical Point of a Thermally Isolated System Driven by a Noisy Control Field
Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 080402 (2016); arXiv:1605.01062
M. M. Rams, M. Mohseni, A. del Campo
Inhomogeneous quasi-adiabatic driving of quantum critical dynamics in weakly disordered spin chains
New J. Phys. 18, 123034 (2016); arXiv:1606.07740
L. P. García-Pintos, D. Tielas, A. del Campo
Spontaneous symmetry breaking induced by quantum monitoring
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 090403 (2019); arXiv:1808.08343
Y. Bando, Y. Susa, H. Oshiyama, N. Shibata, M. Ohzeki, F. J. Gómez-Ruiz, D. A. Lidar, A. del Campo, S. Suzuki, H. Nishimori
Probing the Universality of Topological Defect Formation in a Quantum Annealer: Kibble-Zurek Mechanism and Beyond
Dynamics of Phase transitions - Universality and Topological Defects
Symmetry breaking phase transitions play an important role in Nature. When a system traverses a transition of this type at a finite rate, its causally disconnected regions choose the new broken-symmetry state independently. Where such local choices are incompatible, defects form with densities that are predicted to follow a power law scaling in the rate of the transition. The importance of this universal Kibble-Zurek mechanism ranges from cosmology to condensed matter. This mechanism is expected to limit the performance of Quantum Annealers which solve complex optimization problems by encoding the solution of interest in the ground-state of a quantum physical system.
Selected publications:
K. Pyka, J. Keller, H. L. Partner, R. Nigmatullin, T. Burgermeister, D. M. Meier, K. Kuhlmann, A. Retzker, M. B. Plenio, W.H. Zurek, A. del Campo, T. E. Mehlstäubler
Topological defect formation and spontaneous symmetry breaking in ion Coulomb crystals
Nature Communications 4, 2291 (2013), arXiv:1211.7005
A. del Campo, T. W. B. Kibble, W. H. Zurek
Causality and non-equilibrium second-order phase transitions in inhomogeneous systems
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25, 404210 (2013), arXiv:1302.3648
A. del Campo, W. H. Zurek
Universality of phase transition dynamics: topological defects from symmetry breaking
Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 29, 1430018 (2014), arXiv:1310.1600
A. del Campo
Universal Statistics of Topological Defects Formed in a Quantum Phase Transition
Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 200601 (2018); arXiv:1806.10646
Fernando J. Gómez-Ruiz, Jack J. Mayo, Adolfo del Campo
Full Counting Statistics of Topological Defects After Crossing a Phase Transition
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 080604 (2019); arXiv:1805.00525
Fernando J. Gómez-Ruiz, Jack J. Mayo, Adolfo del Campo
Full Counting Statistics of Topological Defects After Crossing a Phase Transition
Time in Quantum Mechanics - Quantum Speed Limits
The multi-faceted nature of time makes its treatment challenging in the quantum world. Nonetheless, the understanding of time-energy uncertainty relations is somewhat privileged. To a great extent, this is due to their reformulation in terms of quantum speed limits (QSL), concerning the ability to distinguish two quantum states connected via time evolution. While QSL provide fundamental constraints to the pace at which quantum systems can change, a plethora of applications have been found that well extend beyond the realm of quantum dynamics. Indeed, QSL provide limits to the computational capability of physical devices, the performance of quantum thermal machines in finite-time thermodynamics, parameter estimation in quantum metrology, quantum control, the decay of unstable quantum systems and information scrambling, among other examples.
Photo by G. Chenu
Selected publications:
A. del Campo, I. L. Egusquiza, M. B. Plenio, S. F. Huelga
Quantum speed limits in open system dynamics
Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 050403 (2013), arXiv:1209.1737
M. Beau, J. Kiukas, I. L. Egusquiza, A.del Campo
Nonexponential quantum decay under environmental decoherence
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 130401 (2017); arXiv:1706.06943
K. Funo, J.-N. Zhang, C. Chatou, K. Kim, M. Ueda and A. del Campo
Universal Work Fluctuations during Shortcuts To Adiabaticity by Counterdiabatic Driving
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 100602 (2017); arXiv:1609.08889
B. Shanahan, A. Chenu, N. Margolus, A. del Campo
Quantum Speed Limits Across the Quantum-to-Classical Transition
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 070401 (2018); arXiv:1710.07335
Luis Pedro García-Pintos and Adolfo del Campo
Violation of Quantum Speed Limits under Continuous Quantum Measurements
New J. Phys. 21, 033012 (2019); arXiv:1804.01600
Open and Noisy Quantum Systems
Any physical system is embedded in an environment. As a result of this coupling the system is said to be open, and its dynamics is often governed by decoherence. We study the dynamics of open systems with an eye on quantum technologies including adiabatic quantum annealing and quantum metrology. In addition, we explore quantum open systems in relation to foundations of physics, e.g. the role of time in quantum mechanics.
Selected publications:
M. Beau, J. Kiukas, I. L. Egusquiza, A.del Campo
Nonexponential quantum decay under environmental decoherence
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 130401 (2017); arXiv:1706.06943
M. Beau and A. del Campo
Nonlinear quantum metrology of many-body open systems
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 010403 (2017); arXiv:1612.05237
A. Chenu, M. Beau, J. Cao, A. del Campo
Quantum Simulation of Generic Many-Body Open System Dynamics using Classical Noise
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 140403 (2017); arXiv:1608.01317
Z. Xu, L. P. García-Pintos, A. Chenu and A. del Campo
Extreme Decoherence and Quantum Chaos
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 014103 (2019); arXiv:1810.02319
Quantum Thermodynamics
The interplay of quantum technology and foundations of physics has turned quantum thermodynamics into a blooming field. With the miniaturization to the nanoscale, a need has emerged to understand and control the dynamics of devices operating in the presence of thermal and quantum fluctuations. Quantum heat engines (QHEs) constitute a prominent example, targeting the efficient conversion of heat into mechanical work. The relevance of this goal is further strengthened by the connection between QHEs and both natural and artificial light harvesting systems as well as by the progress in the experimental realization of heat engines and refrigerators at the nanoscale.
Selected publications:
A. del Campo, J. Goold, M. Paternostro
More bang for your buck: Towards super-adiabatic quantum engines
Sci. Rep. 4, 6208 (2014), arXiv:1305.3223
Juan Jaramillo, Mathieu Beau, Adolfo del Campo
Quantum Supremacy of Many-Particle Thermal Machines
New J. Phys. 18, 075019 (2016); arXiv:1510.04633
Mathieu Beau, Juan Jaramillo, Adolfo del Campo
Scaling-up quantum heat engines efficiently via shortcuts to adiabaticity
Entropy 18, 168 (2016); arXiv:1603.06019
G. Watanabe, B. P. Venkatesh, P. Talkner and A. del Campo
Quantum performance of thermal machines over many cycles
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 050601(2017); arXiv:1612.05586; Editor's Suggestion, featured in Physics
Yang-Yang Chen, Gentaro Watanabe, Yi-Cong Yu, Xi-Wen Guan, Adolfo del Campo
An Interaction-Driven Many-Particle Quantum Heat Engine: Universal Behavior
npj Quantum Information 5, 88 (2019); arXiv:1812.09327
Gentaro Watanabe, B. Prasanna Venkatesh, Peter Talkner, Myung-Joong Hwang, Adolfo del Campo
Quantum Statistical Enhancement of the Collective Performance of Multiple Bosonic Engines
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 210603 (2020); arXiv:1904.07811
Strongly coupled quantum systems - in and out of equilibrium
The understanding of strongly-coupled quantum systems is an open problem at the frontiers of physics with widespread applications. Prominent examples include the description of atomic nuclei, quark-gluon plasma, quantum liquids and other exotic phases of matter. Understanding systems made of strongly-interacting particles is generally a challenging task as most of the theoretical tools at hand (e.g., perturbation theory, notion of quasi-particles, etc.) fail. In ultracold atom physics, a unitary Fermi gas constitutes an excellent test-bed for physics at strong coupling. Other experimental prospects are at reach in the field of quantum simulation.
Selected publications:
J. Sonner, A. del Campo, W. H. Zurek
Universal far-from equilibrium dynamics of a holographic superconductor
Nature Communications 6, 7406 (2015), arXiv:1406.2329
L. García-Álvarez, I. L. Egusquiza, L. Lamata, A. del Campo, J. Sonner, E. Solano
Digital Quantum Simulation of Minimal AdS/CFT
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 040501 (2017); arXiv:1607.08560
Adolfo del Campo, Javier Molina-Vilaplana, Julian Sonner
Scrambling the spectral form factor: unitarity constraints and exact results
Phys. Rev. D 95, 126008 (2017); arXiv:1702.04350
Shujin Deng, Pengpeng Diao, Qianli Yu, Adolfo del Campo, Haibin Wu
Shortcuts to adiabaticity in the strongly-coupled regime: nonadiabatic control of a unitary Fermi gas
Phys. Rev. A 97, 013628 (2018); arXiv:1610.09777
Adolfo del Campo, Tadashi Takayanagi
Decoherence in Conformal Field Theory
