Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 50: Quantum Effects: Entanglement and Decoherence

Q 50.7: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 12:00–12:15, SCH A01

Environment-assisted entanglement in a Penning trap — •Michael Genkin and Alexander Eisfeld — MPIPKS, Dresden, Germany

Penning traps are known as an excellent tool for high precision measurements on charged particles since decades. More recently, however, also their potential in quantum information related applications was pointed out. Motivated by the recent proposals to store quantum information in the spatial degrees of freedom, we study theoretically the possibility of environment-assisted entanglement of the axial and cyclotron motion of a single charged particle in an ideal Penning trap, as the separability of the modes which is normally assumed for an ideal trap cannot be taken for granted in the presence of an environment. The dynamics is treated in the framework of a master equation with linear coupling to the environment, while the emergence of entanglement is monitored by means of the positive partial transpose criterion. Our results strongly suggest that weak environmental coupling of the axial and cyclotron degrees of freedom does not lead to entanglement at experimentally realistic temperatures, since detrimental thermalization appears to be dominant in this regime. The conclusion is supported by observation of entanglement at unrealisticly low temperatures; In this context, we also briefly address the interplay with decoherence which is known to grow with increasing temperature.