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# Deviations from Full Aging in Numerical Spin Glass Models

## I Introduction

In a typical aging experiment a spin glass sample is quenched below the glass transition temperature in a small magnetic field. At time $`t_w`$ after the quench, the field is switched off and the subsequent decay of the thermoremanent magnetization is measured. It is well known that linear response functions in spin glasses strongly depend on the age or waiting time $`t_w`$. In general, the rate of change of macroscopic averages in glassy systems systematically decreases with $`t_w`$.

Considering the broad variety of aging systems, microscopic time scales are hardly significant, which highlights $`t/t_w`$ as the obvious choice of scaling variable for aging data. The data collapses obtained in this fashion are fairly good but never perfect: In spin-glass linear response experiments vincent97 ; bouchaud99  much better scalings are obtained using $`t/t_w^\mu `$, with the exponent $`\mu `$ slightly smaller than one. This situation is referred to as sub-aging, since the apparent age $`t_w^\mu `$ is shorter than $`t_w`$, as opposed to ‘pure’ or ‘full’ $`t/t_w`$ aging. In gels bissig03  and colloidal glasses viasnoff02 , the distribution of the waiting time between pairs of consecutive ‘anomalous fluctuations’ features the opposite deviation, i.e. super- or hyper-aging, where $`\mu >1`$. Both sub- and super-aging pose a theoretical challenge as they require the introduction and interpretation of an additional time scale. This remains true even when $`\mu `$ is very close to unity, as in the present study.

Qualitatively, aging reflects the trapping of trajectories in metastable ‘valleys’ of ever increasing thermal stability Sibani89 ; Bouchaud92 ; sibanidall03a : the pseudo-equilibrium fluctuations occur for $`t<t_w`$ within the valley selected at time $`t_w`$, while the exploration of new valleys occurs for $`t>t_w`$ and produces the non-equilibrium part of the aging dynamics. In this picture, the spin rearrangements leading from one valley to the next, ‘quakes’ in our terminology, would appear as anomalous events in a fluctuating background. The waiting time between quakes corresponds to the valley residence time, whose statistical properties have repeatedly been considered in models of complex relaxation Sibani87 ; Bouchaud92 ; rinn00 . According to a recent description of non-equilibrium dynamics as a log-Poisson process sibanidall03a , the distribution $`R(tt_w)`$ of residence time $`t`$ in valleys entered at time $`t_w`$ should scale as $`t/t_w`$ and possess a finite average residence time proportional to $`t_w`$. The best obtainable data collapse of the corresponding simulational data reveals however a slight super-aging behavior.

On the experimental side, it has recently been shown Rodriguez03  that sub-aging of the thermoremanent magnetization can be strongly suppressed by increasing the cooling rate of the quench. For the instantaneous quench implied in isothermal numerical simulations with a random initial configuration, this strengthens the expectation that full aging applies, a conclusion which is not inequivocally supported by the existing numerical studies of the correlation function kisker96 ; berthier02 .

The paper is organized as follows: In Section II we summarize the exploration method used to identify the metastable valleys and describe the procedures followed. In Section III we present our numerical findings for the scaling of the residence time distribution in these valleys for spin glass models defined on Euclidean lattices with nearest neighbor interactions as well as on random regular graphs. In particular, we focus on the system size and temperature dependence of $`\mu `$. Section IV compares the empirical properties of this distribution with the prediction of the idealized log-Poisson theory of Ref. sibanidall03a . We show that the theoretical description becomes gradually better in the sense that full aging is slowly approached as the temperature decreases or the system size increases. Finally, the implications for the correlation function are discussed, and tentative conclusions are drawn regarding the geometrical origin of the deviations from pure aging behavior.

## II Method and Models

While the fluctuation dynamics of glassy systems within metastable valleys is uncontroversially determined by the local free energy, a similarly well established theoretical framework for the irreversible quakes interrupting the pseudo-equilibrium regime is lacking. Surprisingly, there has not been much focus on how these jumps or quakes should be identified and characterized. This question is subtle since the first occurrence of a certain rearrangement could well have a non-equilibrium character, while subsequent rearrangements of similar nature might represent pseudo-equilibrium fluctuations within a larger valley.

The classic analysis of energy landscapes Stillinger84 ; doliwa03b  samples local energy minima using e.g. downhill search algorithms as thermal quenches, and is not overly concerned with how attractors are dynamically selected in the course of unperturbed isothermal aging. An empirical procedure to identify the quakes sibanidall03b  distinguishes ‘first’ and ‘subsequent’ occurrences of certain events by keeping track of the sequence of energies visited while aging. Within this sequence, states of energy lower than all previously visited states, together with barriers 111Barriers are defined as energy differences with respect to the current lowest energy state. higher than all previously surmounted barriers, define a quake as a rearrangement which overcomes a barrier of record height *and* leads to a state of energy lower than the lowest energy seen so far. A valley is then simply the set of states visited between two subsequent quakes, where onset of the latter is marked by the barrier records. Very restrictive by construction, this procedure yields no output if the dynamics is time translationally invariant, and is therefore not available to analyze e.g. the diffusive regime of supercooled glass formers. Within the aging regime, it produces a highly non-trivial yet relatively simple picture of the energy landscape of spin glasses dall03a .

The Edwards-Anderson edwards75  model considered below is an archetypal glassy system which possesses a complex dynamics while remaining relatively easy to simulate. The energy of a configuration in this model is given by

$$E(\{s_1,\mathrm{},s_N\})=\frac{1}{2}\underset{i,j}{}J_{ij}s_is_j.$$
(1)
The couplings $`J_{ij}`$ are symmetric, independent Gaussian variables of unit variance. We used standard cubic lattices with periodic boundary conditions, where $`J_{ij}`$ is non-zero if and only if $`i`$ and $`j`$ are nearest neighbors. To investigate more general networks as well, we additionally explored $`k`$-regular random graphs, i.e. where each spin interacts with exactly $`k`$ other spins chosen at random. This is similar to the Viana-Bray model viana85 , except that the number of links emanating from each spin was fixed to $`k=6`$ for better comparison with the Euclidean $`3d`$ case.

The systems considered contain up to $`N=40^3`$ spins in $`3d`$, and $`N=16000`$ spins in the regular random graph case. The dynamics is simulated using the Waiting Time Method (WTM) Dall01 . This rejectionless method is equivalent to the Metropolis algorithm, but much faster at low $`T`$ for simulations of glassy systems. The intrinsic, size independent time variable $`t`$ of the WTM corresponds to the number of Monte Carlo (lattice) sweeps in the Metropolis algorithm as well as to the physical time of a real experiment.

## III Numerical Results

Using the valley-identification method outlined in Section II, we examine the distribution of residence time $`t_{res}`$ in a valley entered at $`t_w`$, i.e.

$$R(tt_w)=\mathrm{Prob}(t_{res}<tt_w).$$
(2)
The distribution for a $`3d`$ system with $`N=16^3`$ spins at temperature $`T=0.5`$ is shown in Fig. 1 for a wide range of $`t_w`$ values. To collapse the data shown we used the scaling variable $`t/t_w^\mu `$ with $`\mu =1.077(6)`$. The insert confirms that full aging, $`\mu =1`$, is only a fair approximation. The data collapse thus obtained is closely matched by the graph of the function $`f(x)=1(1+x)^\alpha `$, where $`\alpha 2`$. The latter is not shown in order to avoid masking the data—see Fig. 3 of Ref. sibanidall03a  for a direct comparison.

The present simulations greatly extend our earlier findings sibanidall03a ; dall03a  by probing the size and temperature dependence of the small deviations from unity of the scaling exponent $`\mu `$. Numerical investigation of such effects requires the removal of any visible statistical flutter. This has been achieved by averaging over at least 4,000 runs with different realizations of the couplings $`J_{ij}`$ for every combination of $`N`$ and $`T`$. The calculations were performed on a large Linux cluster, with a total run-time equivalent to four years of computation on a single 2GHz processor. The result of these simulations is summed up in Fig. 2.

The high quality of the data collapse in Fig. 1 is representative for all sets of runs at fixed size and temperature on which the data points in Fig. 2 are based. This suggests that the ‘best’ value of $`\mu `$ can readily be estimated by eye, as small variations of $`\mu `$ immediately produce a visible scatter. To remove any personal bias, we did however utilize a quantitative error measure $`e(\mu )`$ gauging the deviation from perfect collapse of a set of scaled exit time distributions: The horizontal standard deviation for a set of $`R(tt_w)`$ values chosen equidistantly between 0.2 and 0.8 is calculated for ten values of $`t/t_w^\mu `$ at fixed $`\mu `$. The value of $`e(\mu )`$ is the sum of these standard deviations, and it attains a minimum within a ‘reasonable’ $`\mu `$-interval. The uncertainty bracket around the $`\mu `$ value producing the least scatter is arbitrarily defined by the two values of $`\mu `$ for which $`e(\mu )`$ is no more than $`20`$% larger then its minimum value.

Figure 2 provides information on $`\mu =\mu (N,T)`$ in both $`3d`$ lattices ($``$) and random graphs ($`\mathrm{}`$). The data points and error bars are determined as explained above, ensuring that the quality of the data collapse behind the estimate of $`\mu `$ is near-perfect, i.e. as good as in Fig. 1. In the left panel, $`\mu (N,T)`$ is shown as a function of $`T`$ for fixed size $`N=16^3`$. There is a clear decreasing trend, which however seems to taper off as the temperature decreases. The diminishing deviation from pure scaling concurs with the results by Kisker et al. kisker96  regarding the correlation function $`C(t_w,t_w+t)`$ in $`3d`$ Gaussian spin glasses. The right panel illustrates the behavior of $`\mu (N,T)`$ for $`T=0.5`$ as a function of the logarithm of $`N`$. Again, as the number of degrees of freedom grows, super-aging is suppressed, albeit in a very slow fashion. Finally, we note the striking similarity between the Euclidean and random networks data in Fig. 2. The scaling of the residence time distribution seems to be indifferent to the topology of the graph considered.

When the system size becomes too small, the quality of the scaling of $`R(tt_w)`$ begins to deteriorate. This applies to systems defined on $`3d`$ lattices as well as on random graphs. A possible explanation is a finite time (or size) effect: by construction, the valley containing the ground state will never be exited. By the same token, very low lying valleys, which are most likely entered for large $`t_w`$ and in small systems, are never exited during the simulation time. This flattens the s-shape of the distribution for large $`t_w`$ values and ruins the scaling. Lacking precise estimates of $`\mu `$ for $`N<1000`$, we present data for larger systems only.

## IV Discussion

The residence time analyzed in the previous section appears from the outset conceptually similar to the trapping time introduced in a heuristic trap model by Bouchaud Bouchaud92  and later considered by Rinn et al. rinn00  in a development specifically dealing with sub-aging behavior. However, the statistical properties hypothesized in the above models deviate considerably from those presently found. Crucially, the fitting form

$$R(tt_w)=1(1+t/t_w^\mu )^\alpha $$
(3)
with $`\alpha =2`$ yields an average residence time

$$t_{res}=\frac{dR}{dt}t𝑑t=\frac{t_w^\mu }{\alpha 1}=t_w^\mu ,$$
(4)
which is finite, in contrast with the assumption of the trap model Bouchaud92 . Secondly, the only temperature dependence is the weak increase of $`\mu `$, while the exponent $`\alpha `$ remains independent of $`T`$.

The numerical results of Fig. 2 points to pure aging as the correct limit for small $`T`$ or large $`N`$, although the sub-logarithmic size dependence of $`N`$ prevents us from turning this into a firm conclusion. The possible physical origin of the deviations from $`\mu =1`$ for finite $`N`$ was already hinted to: Eventually, the trajectory enters the valley containing the ground state and never leaves. While this happens at extreme time scales for realistic system sizes, fewer valleys will in general be available as the trajectories approach the ground state. The residence time for valleys entered at late stages will hence tend to be longer than otherwise expected. In accord with this interpretation, lowering $`T`$ has an effect on $`\mu `$ similar to the effect of enlarging $`N`$. In any case, the deviation from a pure log-Poisson description of quake dynamics sibanidall03a  becomes very small for large $`N`$, irrespective of the topology of the system. This supports the generality of log-Poisson statistics, whose prediction for the distribution of the residence time in a valley entered at age $`t_w`$ coincides with Eq. (3) for $`\mu =1`$ sibanidall03a .

While $`R(tt_w)`$ might be directly accessible in some experimental situations, its relationship to correlation functions for spin glasses is indirect and requires further assumptions and/or empirical input. If one assumes with Ref. rinn00  full decorrelation once a trap is left, and that the age $`t_w`$ uniquely determines the properties of the ‘initial’ trap, the correlation function basically coincides with the probability that no events occur from $`t_w`$ to $`t_w+t`$. As the latter is again given by Eq. (3), this would allow us to extend the conclusions already drawn for $`R`$ to the correlation function.

To assess the validity of such reasoning we will use a cartoon picture of the quake dynamics which neglects the internal structure of the valleys. This is a questionable step, as the time spent searching for the bottom state within a valley is of the same order of magnitude as the residence time itself dall03a , i.e. quakes are not instantaneous events. With this caveat in mind, we write the non-equilibrium thermal correlation function as an average over the distribution of quakes sibanidall03a :

$$C(t_w,t_w+t)=\underset{m,k}{}P_m(t_w)P_k(t_w,t_w+t)c(m,m+k),$$
(5)
valid in the $`t>t_w`$ regime. In the above formula, $`P_m(t_w)`$ is the probability that $`m`$ quakes are recorded during the aging time $`t_w`$, $`P_k(t_w,t_w+t)`$ is the probability that $`k`$ quakes occurred between $`t_w`$ and $`t+t_w`$, and, finally, $`c(m,m+k)`$ is the configurational overlap between the ‘bottom states’ of the $`m`$’th and $`(m+k)`$’th valley.

The log-Poisson statistics prescribes the form of both $`P_m(t_w)`$ and $`P_k(t_w,t_w+t)`$ sibanidall03a . While the latter scales with $`t/t_w`$, the former depends on $`t_w`$ alone. This ruins pure aging for $`C(t_w,t_w+t)`$ unless the sum of $`P_m(t_w)`$ over $`m`$ happens to factor out. This can only occur if the overlap $`c(m,m+k)`$ does not depend on $`m`$. Perfect invariance of $`c(m,m+k)`$ with respect to the index $`m`$ must fail at some stage, since, again, the quake-induced rearrangements are likely to change as the ground state is approached. Numerical investigations presented elsewhere sibanidall03a ; dall03a  show that $`c(m,m+k)`$ has a small but systematic $`m`$ dependence already for small $`m`$ values. This excludes the possibility of ‘perfect’ pure aging of the correlation function for the numerical models studied, even though pure aging is well fulfilled for the waiting time distribution itself.

As the experimental results of Rodriguez et al. Rodriguez03  clearly support pure aging of the correlation function, it is possible that a description more refined than what Eq. (5) provides would modify our conclusion. In view of the smallness of the effects involved, it is also possible that some subtle dynamical feature of the experimental systems is missed by the computer models in the size range considered. A final possibility, which we regard as the most likely, is that $`c(m,m+k)`$ is indeed independent of $`m`$ for systems in the macroscopic limit. This would emphasize the extreme non-equilibrium nature of the observed low $`T`$ dynamics in spin glasses.

Acknowledgments: The Danish Center for Scientific Computing has provided generous time on the Horseshoe Linux cluster in Odense. The authors are also indebted to Greg Kenning and Stefan Boettcher for discussions. This project has been supported by Statens Naturvidenskabelige Forskningsråd.


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# Untitled Document

Non commutative quantum spacetime with topological vortex states,

and dark matter in the Universe

Ajay Patwardhan

Physics Department, St. Xavier’s college,

Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai, 400001, India

Abstract

Non commutative geometry is creating new possibilities for physics. Quantum spacetime geometry and post inflationary models of the universe with matter creation have an enormous range of scales of time, distances and energy in between. There is a variety of physics possible till the nucleosynthesis epoch is reached. The use of topology and non commutative geometry in cosmology is a recent approach. This paper considers the possibility of topological solutions of a vortex kind given by non commutative structures. These are interpreted as dark matter, with the grand unified Yang-Mills field theory energy scale used to describe its properties. The relation of the model with other existing theories is discussed.

Introduction

The role of Geometry and Topology in understanding the physics of the universe of space time and matter has a century of work that is supported by observations. Inflationary cosmological models developed for creation of matter have included the small anisotropic distributions as given by COBE and WMAP observations. The models modified to create the voids and filamentary large scale structure of the early universe , with the ratios of dark energy, dark matter and normal matter are topics of active research.

The non linear evolution equations of the early universe give rise to anisotropy and inhomogenity persisting at all length scales , these are observable with even finer resolution that is expected in subsequent experiments. These indicate analogies with condensed matter. Topological defects and vortex like states in rapid expansion and cooling occur in condensed matter phases.

This paper develops the role of noncommutative geometry in the formation of the vortex like topological states. The typical model of the universe, a few seconds old and a few kilometers in size, is expected to have some $`10^{80}`$ particles of normal matter, and to form a smooth geometry given by Einstein’s theory of general relativity ; with $`10^5`$ parts fluctuation in matter distribution as inferred from the temperature and thermal radiation microwave measurements. \[References\].

The models of the early universe

In the inflation models and their variations that give the later stage expanding universe models with the correct observed properties, there are topologically non trivial states possible. A rubber sheet or expanding balloon picture with locally ’ pinched and popped ’ regions is suggested. These topological ’defects’could be candidates for dark matter with a long (billion years) half life for decay into normal matter. A topological defect would give rise to a graviton and a photon as it ‘pops out of the pinch’, and gives a smooth manifold in its neighbourhood. Typical masses of $`10^{15}`$ kilograms have been suggested, which would give with ($`E=mc^2`$) ,gamma rays of $`10^{21}`$ electron volts ; generating normal matter and the graviton emitted would propagate as a gravitational wave contributing to the smoothing out of the ‘wrinkles’ in local space time. From a $`1:100`$ to a $`1:30`$ ratio of normal to dark matter are reported in the early universe and a ratio $`1:8`$ in galaxies and their halos. The slow decay could be a perturbative or non perturbative effect; but it involves a change in topology. Ultra heavy dark matter at the $`10^{15}`$ Gev GUT scale and its decay into gamma rays and baryon ,lepton production are known as an alternative to the baryogenesis stage of the universe.

The decaying topological defects give rise to the $`10^{21}`$ e.v. gamma ray emission consistent with cosmic rays of highest energy gamma rays observed, and the nearly isotropic distribution of the gamma ray bursts in the early Universe. The dark matter in galaxy halos is the remnant of the earlier rapidly decaying stage ,possibly an exponential decrement of the number of the topological defects. The grand unification (GUT) scale of $`10^{15}`$ Gev , is also comparable and indicates that a single Holonomy gauge field , with gauge bosons treated as nearly massless, and represented by the single coupling constant would describe the loop integral around the ’ defect’ as it decays. In theories of Quantum chromodynamics of the quark gluon plasma phase transitions and the inflation cosmological models with a scalar field , topological defects are possible. At a scale between GUT ( $`10^{15}`$ Gev) and of Quantum Riemann geometry ( $`10^{19}`$ Gev), a non commutative structure can arise in the non linear regime of the evolution of the combined model of all the dynamics of the universe. The so called vaccuum manifold $`M>G/H`$ as a symmetry breaking with group G and subgroup H gives rise to topologically non trivial solutions.

The non commutative $`\theta `$ structure with a length scale of $`10^{27}`$ meters ; $`h/mc`$ with $`m=10^{15}`$ kg, for the vortex like topological defect , goes over to a commutative differential geometry in the large scale. It is possible to retain the symmetric metric and connection and absence of torsion in the large scale. In a geometric interpretation of charge the continuous electromagnetic field F has a topological index as an integral of F\*F , as also for gravity of geons in geometrodynamics. The topological defects of dark matter arise in the background geometry due to the non commutative structure with a $`10^{27}`$ length scale. The number and number density, mass and mass density of the dark matter as topological states in the universe are still not known. As these ’topological defect’ regions are excluded from the else where smooth geometry, they do not interact with electromagnetic radiation and are ’dark’ matter; better called ’dark’ space time matter.

At the Planck scale, theories of Quantum Gravity such as loop space quantum gravity and quantum Riemann geometry give a spin network representation with area and volume operators and holonomy for the fields. Quantum space time with a non commutative geometry is proposed as an alternative to theories with other forms of exotic matter , primordial black holes and sources of gamma bursts. The presence of vorticity can be described by a general Stokes theorem and the second exterior derivative . In the condition for exact and closed forms, the topology of the manifold plays a role; the genus number , betti numbers, Euler numbers, Hopf and Pontryagin index and other topological indexes. The non inertial vaccuum in the accelerated expanding geometry gives rise to particle creation by Bogoliubov transforms. Topologically non trivial solutions are known for a variety of non linear evolution equations. The quartic potential scalar field with a non zero vaccuum state in the standard inflation models is the starting point for various theories of early cosmology. The field could be a residue from the transition of non commutative to commutative geometry and thus have a geometrised rather than independent existence.

The Model including non commutative geometry

Consider the vector field $`\chi `$ that has the non commutative structure $`\chi _i\chi _j\chi _j\chi _i=i\theta _{ij}l^2`$.

The spacetime coordinates are obtained as $`\chi _i>x_i`$ in the limit of commutative geometry.

The congugate momenta have the relation $`p_ip_jp_jp_i=\theta _{ij}^1l^2h^2/4\pi ^2`$.

Therefore the usual quantisation rule of $`\chi _ip_jp_i\chi _j=ih/2\pi \delta _{ij}`$.

This makes consistent the non commutative and symplectic structures. The SU(2) version of the gravity gauge theory expressed as a holonomy in loop space is possible to construct in the commutative geometry limit. The field $`\chi `$ is chosen to have the exact and closed form conditions that fail at the vortex like topological defects. The length scale for the non commutative structure is chosen small enough for the spacetime to be normal almost everywhere to do the usual physics. Are topologically non trivial states consistent with the standard general relativity using commutative geometry and is the use of non commutative structures the only way , or one of the ways, for them to occur is a unresolved question. The consistency of the theory of Yang-Mills type of all fields with non commutative geometry is being established from its inception.There are likely to be connections between loop space quantum gravity and quantum Riemannian geometry with non commutative geometry.

The characterisation of the topological states arising in the cosmological models is done with conditions on the vector field introduced for non commutative geometry. In differential geometry usually the Stokes law would read $`_M𝑑\omega =_M\omega `$, and $`d^2\chi =0`$ every where except at the topological defects. The $`\chi `$ field as a vortex like field will have $`d^2\chi 0`$ ; $`\omega =d\chi `$. This fails at the topological defects. The non commutative structure suggests that these defects are vortex like. The vortex has a ’length’ scale given by $`l`$, and the $`\theta `$ is a skew symmetric form or matrix, so diagonal terms are zero. If the other terms also equal zero then those fields or coordinates commute. The planar vortex for example is described as two non commuting variables, with a $`\theta _{12}`$ form, such that the exterior derivative $`d^2`$ is non zero with an exclusion at the origin, such as $`(\chi _1d\chi _2\chi _2d\chi _1)((\chi _1)^2+(\chi _2)^2)^1`$. In usual vector calculus the curl of the gradient of a scalar field and the divergence of the curl of a vector field are zero. Or as expressed in terms of differential forms the $`d^2`$ is zero. The de Rham integration on non simply connected spaces and those with homotopy and cohomology , gives the condition for the failure of these differential and integral conditions. This indicates presence of vorticity and topologically non trivial states or’defects’.

Consider a simple example of a holonomy loop of the U(1) group around the vortex like topological defect : $`TracePexp(A𝑑x)`$ . That is the ’pinched and popped’ defect in space time which is the dark matter candidate. The length scale of $`10^{27}`$ meters for the loop is associated with the likely mass of $`10^{15}`$kg ; and the gauge field $`A`$ is the massless multiplet of GUT gauge fields at $`10^{15}`$ Gev. The homotopy group $`\pi _1(S^1)=Z`$ and $`\pi _1(SU(N))=Z`$. Higher homotopy groups for higher dimension spheres could be considered. The fundamental group gives the set of integers and a winding number interpretation. A suitable Hopf index can be obtained from the $`\omega d\omega `$ integral. This is a topological invariant on the 3 spheres in space time. The confinement of $`10^{15}`$ kilograms to a region of size $`10^{27}`$ meters in a topologically ’excluded’ part of the spacetime manifold, does not create collapse to a black hole as the Schwarzschild radius for that would be around $`10^{40}`$ meters. This mass energy can be released into the surrounding normal commutative spacetime when the defect decays quantum theoretically into graviton and ultra relativistic (GUT scale) effectively massless gauge bosons. In the holonomy representation these are represented by a U(1) gauge photon, as a non commutative vortex state is destroyed for which the fundamental group was Z, the group of integers.

The abundance of dark matter expected in the universe implies that these ’defects’ occur abundantly, and that the tiny length scales of the loops around them means that for the most part smooth geometry prevails and general coordinate transformations required for Einstein’s Theory of general relativity, remain valid everywhere except in these topologically excluded regions in which most mass/energy resides. The nature of dark energy is less certain and could be the cosmological term in Einstein’s theory and hence at length scales much bigger than the Planck scale or the noncommutative vortex scales. Another major question is the role of the scalar field that is used in inflation models and the Higgs scalar field used in particle physics in these topological solutions. Will it be neccessary to have additional fields to describe dark matter and energy , or are they already contained in the theory, with solutions including the non commutative structure. The reheating phase after the rapid cooling phase in inflation models may not destroy the topological states , although it is supposed to smooth out other anisotropies and inhomogenities.

Vortex formation is associated with angular momentum and the spin network of the quantum space time foam indeed gives the quantised geometric operators of area nad volume in Quantum Riemannian geometry as for example, area proportional to $`(l_p)^2(j(j+1))^{1/2}`$. From the Planck scale $`l_p=10^{35}`$ meters to the non commutative scale of $`l=10^{27}`$ meters, the continuum limit is reached ; and derivation ,commutation operations can be defined. This is taken at the upper limit in energy of the GUT scale with the $`0.033`$ asymptotic converging coupling constant . This is because operationally, the probes for finer grain topology of the space time can be only the GUT scale ; as our measurement methods depend on particle states with respect to locally Lorentzian spacetime. If astronomical observations also give the gamma energies corresponding to a decaying topological defect of this scale, then there is a consistency. The defects of walls, strings, monopoles and texture type have been considered in other work and found to have limitations in explaining the dark matter and decay into high energy gamma rays.

Conclusion

The correspondence with other theories could be made for (a) Vortex and topological defect formation in field theory and condensed matter theories, (b) Quantum Riemann geometry and loop space quantum Yang Mills field theory and quantum gravity theories, (c) Non commutative geometry theories for field theory and condensed matter theory,(d) Inflationary and model cosmologies that give the anisotropy and matter creation observed in the universe.

Acknowledgements

I thank The Director, Dr Balasubramaniam and the Faculty and staff of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences , Chennai, India for supporting my academic visits to the Institute and providing the facilities ; that made four papers possible, listed in arxiv.org quant-ph. The interest of Professors Hari Dass, Simon, Govindarajan, Baskaran, Sharatchandra and Date in my work is particularly acknowledged. I also appreciated the lectures in the Institute, and the discussions with Drs Menon, Shankar, Ganguly, , Balakrishnan, Divakaran, Rajasekaran ; and other members, visitors and students at the Institute.

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text:
# Reduction of the hydrophobic attraction between charged solutes in water

## Abstract

We examine the effective force between two nanometer scale solutes in water by Molecular Dynamics simulations. Macroscopic considerations predict a strong reduction of the hydrophobic attraction between solutes when the latter are charged. This is confirmed by the simulations which point to a surprising constancy of the effective force between oppositely charged solutes at contact, while like charged solutes lead to significantly different behavior between positive and negative pairs. The latter exhibit the phenomenon of “like-charge attraction” previously observed in some colloidal dispersions.

When apolar solutes are dispersed in water, they exert effective, solvent induced forces on each other, generally referred to as hydrophobic attraction. For large solutes, say globular proteins, the mechanism for hydrophobic interactions can be traced back to solvent depletion (or “drying”) from the volume bounded by opposite surfaces of the solutes wallquist:jpc ; lum:jpc . This mechanism, which is reminiscent of polymer-induced depletion attraction between colloidal particles on larger (mesoscopic) scales likos:physrep , is most pronounced when the solvent is near liquid-vapour coexistence lum:jpc . However, many biomolecular solutes are charged, and in this work we present evidence, based on extensive Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, that the electric field due to the charges carried by the solutes leads to a considerable reduction of the hydrophobic attraction.

Such a reduction may be qualitatively understood from macroscopic considerations. It is a well-known fact that a polar liquid, like water, will rise inside a vertical condenser to minimize the overall electrostatic energy (the rise being limited by gravity on a macroscopic scale) landau . Transposing this situation to the nanometric scale, consider two parallel plate-like solutes of area $`A`$, separated by a distance $`D`$, inside a polar solvent of relative dielectric permittivity $`ϵ`$, carrying opposite surface charges $`\pm \sigma `$. Neglecting edge effects, the electric field between the plates is $`E_0/ϵ`$ with $`E_0=\sigma /2ϵ_0`$. We require the difference in the grand potential between the situations where the liquid solvent ($`l`$) or its vapour ($`g`$) fill the volume $`AD`$ between the two plates:

$`\mathrm{\Omega }_\alpha =P_\alpha AD+2\gamma _{w\alpha }A+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}ϵ_0{\displaystyle \frac{E_0^2}{ϵ_\alpha }}AD;\alpha =l,g`$ (1)
where $`P_\alpha `$ is the pressure of phase $`\alpha `$ and $`\gamma _{w\alpha }`$ the surface tension between phase $`\alpha `$ and the plate (“wall”). Consider a state close to phase coexistence at temperature $`T`$, and let $`\delta \mu =\mu \mu _{\mathrm{sat}}`$ be the positive deviation of the chemical potential from its saturation value. Expanding the $`P_\alpha `$ to linear order in $`\delta \mu `$ around their common value at saturation, one easily arrives at the following expression for the difference in grand potentials per unit area:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Omega }_l\mathrm{\Omega }_g}{A}}`$ $`=`$ $`(\rho _g\rho _l)\delta \mu D+2(\gamma _{wl}\gamma _{wg})`$
$`+`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{ϵ_0}{2}}E_0^2({\displaystyle \frac{1}{ϵ_l}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{ϵ_g}})D`$
At the “drying” transition between the plates, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_l\mathrm{\Omega }_g=0`$ and $`\gamma _{wl}\gamma _{wg}=\gamma _{lg}\gamma `$. Since $`\rho _g\rho _l`$, and $`ϵ_lϵϵ_g1`$, eq. (2) yields the following expression for the critical distance $`D_\mathrm{c}`$ between the plates at which drying occurs:

$`D_\mathrm{c}{\displaystyle \frac{2\gamma }{\rho _l\delta \mu +\frac{ϵ_0}{2}E_0^2}}`$ (3)
For strong electric fields, ($`E_010^{10}`$V/m corresponding to surface charges $`\sigma e/\mathrm{nm}^2`$), the electrostatic term in the denominator is typically 10 times larger than the $`\delta \mu `$ term in the vicinity of gas-liquid coexistence, and leads to values of $`D_\mathrm{c}`$ of the order of a few Å. This strong reduction of $`D_\mathrm{c}`$ hints at a considerable weakening of the hydrophobic interaction between two solutes when the latter are charged. Note that within our macroscopic model this reduction is due to the overall electric field, not to any Hydrogen-bonding of the solvent molecules to hydrophilic “patches” on the solute surface.

In order to confirm the qualitative prediction of the schematic model, we have carried out extensive MD simulations of two spherical solutes immersed in a bath of SPC/E water molecules berendsen:jpc . The solutes are spheres of radius $`R`$ which repel the solvent molecules by a repulsive $`ϵ(rR)^{12}`$, where $`r`$ is the distance from the solute center to the oxygen atom of a water molecule; the energy scale $`ϵ`$ is chosen such that the O atom experiences an energy $`k_\mathrm{B}T`$ at a distance of $`rR=`$1Å from the solute surface. The simulation cell is a cube of length up to $`L=40`$Å, containing up to 2000 water molecules, depending on the solute size; solutes are placed at fixed positions on the body diagonal of the simulation cell. The box dimensions are chosen such that the surface to surface distance to the nearest image solute is at least 20Å.

The MD simulations are carried out with the DLPOLY2 package dlpoly , using the Verlet algorithm frenkelsmit , with a timestep of 2fs. The Berendsen barostat and thermostat berendsen:jcp  were used to maintain the SPC/E water at a pressure of 1 bar and a temperature $`T=300`$K. All electrostatic interactions were calculated using particle-mesh Ewald summations essmann:jcp .

We first consider the case of uncharged solutes. The water density profile is illustrated in frame (a) of Fig. 1 for the case of solutes of radius $`R=10`$Å and a surface-to-surface distance along the $`z`$-axis joining the centers $`s=4`$Å. The upper part of the frame shows a density contour plot coded by variable shades of grey. The lower part shows density profiles along the center-to-center to axis $`z`$, averaged over a coaxial-cylindrical volume of radius $`5`$Å. The density profiles show a considerable depletion of the solvent within a radial distance of 5Å from the center-to-center axis, reminiscent of the observations of Wallquist and Berne for flatter solutes wallquist:jpc . As the surface-to-surface distance $`s`$ is increased for fixed radius $`R`$, the water molecules penetrate into the region between opposite solute surfaces, as signalled by a rapid increase of the central peak (around $`z=0`$) in the density profiles. When $`s6.5`$Å, the solvent layers around an isolated solute are hardly disturbed by the presence of the other solute.

The mean effective force acting on each of the solutes in the presence of the second at a surface-to-surface distance $`s`$ is calculated by averaging the total force due to all solvent molecules over the configurations generated by MD runs extending over typically 1ns. This average force obviously goes to zero at large distances $`s`$ and for symmetry reasons, it is directed along the center-to-center axis. Examples for several radii 3Å $`R12`$Å are shown in Fig. 2. The largest radii are of the order of the size of small globular proteins or of oil-in-water micelles. As expected from a depletion mechanism, the force is attractive and its contact values and range increase with $`R`$. The potentials of mean force $`w(s)`$ may be calculated for each $`R`$ by integrating the force. The resulting potentials are shown in the inset to Fig. 2. They closely resemble results obtained for polymer-induced depletion potentials between spherical colloids, albeit on different length and energy scales wallquist:jpc ; louis:jcp . Note that the force at contact, $`F(0)`$, scales roughly with $`R`$. This may be rationalized by a simple consideration of the potential of mean force for plates ($`R=\mathrm{}`$) at contact, $`w(0)=2\gamma `$ (where $`\gamma `$ is now the plate-solvent surface tension which differs little from the liquid-gas surface tension huang:jpc ) and an application of the Derjaguin approximation, valid for weakly curved substrates (i.e. large $`R`$) louis:jcp ; this leads to the estimate $`F(s=0)=2\pi R\gamma `$, which indeed predicts linear scaling; the value $`\gamma 0.05\mathrm{J}/\mathrm{m}^2`$, extracted from the MD value of $`F(0)`$ for the largest $`R`$, is reasonably close to the liquid-vapour surface tension of water under normal conditions ($`\gamma =0.073\mathrm{J}/\mathrm{m}^2`$). The agreement must be considered quite satisfactory in view of the roughness of the estimate.

We now turn to the charged solutes. Frames (b)-(d) in Fig. 1 show water density profiles in the vicinity of two spheres carrying opposite electric charges $`\pm qe`$ at their center (opposite charges ensure overall charge neutrality without any need for counterions). As $`q`$ increases from zero (frame (a)), water is seen to penetrate between the two solutes, the central peak around $`z=0`$ in the density profiles increases rapidly and its amplitude reaches roughly the bulk density of water when $`q=10`$. Note that this central peak is asymmetrically split, indicating the presence of two hydration layers which differ somewhat depending on their association with the anionic or cationic solute. This difference is also evident in the contact values of the outside surfaces of the solutes, and is a consequence of the different arrangements of the water dipoles around the solutes induced by the local electric fields. The asymmetry of the profiles can be rationalized by inspecting the density profiles of O and H atoms around isolated solutes, plotted in Fig. 3. The hydration shell is more sharply defined around the cationic than around the anionic solute. The water dipoles tend to point radially away from the cation, while the opposite configuration is more favourable around anions. Note also that driving water into a narrowly confined region under the action of a strong electric field (here between oppositely charged solutes) is an effect reminiscent of that observed in recent MD simulations of ion permeation of hydrophobic nanopores joe:channel .

The resulting mean forces between solutes are plotted for $`q=0,2,5`$ and 10, as functions of the surface-to-surface distance $`s`$ in Fig. 4 together with corresponding potentials of mean force. The mean force includes the direct Coulomb interaction between the two solutes (with proper account for the periodic images), which is in fact an order of magnitude larger that the total mean force. At large distances hydrophobic interactions become negligible and the force should tend to $`q^2e^2/(4\pi ϵ_0ϵr^2)`$, where $`r=2R+s`$ and $`ϵ`$ is the dielectric permittivity of bulk SPC/E water; the corresponding curve is also shown in Fig. 4.

The most striking result illustrated in Fig. 4 is the near independence of the force at contact, $`s=0`$, with respect to solute charge. From the density profiles in Fig. 1 the hydrophobic attraction is expected to be reduced but this reduction is almost exactly compensated by the Coulomb attraction between solutes in the presence of the solvent. As $`q`$ increases, the initial slope of the effective force increases. The potential of mean force (shown in the inset of Fig. 4) exhibits a contact value which increases with $`q`$, indicating that the reduction of hydrophobic attractive free energy and the reduction of dielectric screening due to restructuring of water by the strong electric field of the solutes clearly outweigh the increase in bare Coulomb attraction between the latter. Simulations calculating the forces at and near contact for $`q=7`$ and $`q=15`$, not shown in Fig. 4, confirm this trend. Note that the potential of mean force curve for $`q=10`$ shows more long range attraction as compared to the smaller $`q`$ data due to the increased electrostatic attractive interaction.The eye-catching kink in the force for $`q=`$10, at a distance $`s1`$Å is reproducible, and is probably related to the pronounced shell structure of water molecules around highly charged solutes, illustrated in Fig. 3. While for neutral (and weakly charged) solutes, the O and H density profiles show little structure, they are sharply peaked at a distance $`s1`$Å of the O atoms from the solute surface. This would lead to a complete shared hydration layer, and consequently to a kink in the force versus distance curve, between 2 flat solutes separated by $`s=2`$Å . This critical separation is shifted to shorter distances due to the curvature of spherical solutes.

In view of this delicate balance between various interactions, we have also examined the case of equally charged solutes. In this case monovalent counterions (Na+ or Cl-) were included to ensure overall charge neutrality. The situation is summarized in Fig. 5 for solutes of radius $`R=10`$Å and charge $`q=\pm 5`$. The water density profiles (not shown here) are symmetric with respect to $`z=0`$ for equally charged solutes, but differ substantially when going from a pair of anions to a pair of cations. In the latter case water is much more structured into well defined hydration shells, as shown in Fig. 3. This difference is reflected in the effective forces and potentials shown in Fig. 5. While the force and potential of mean force are practically zero at all distances in the case of cationic solutes, anionic solutes attract each other significantly, showing that residual hydrophobic attraction overcomes the repulsion between like charges, which may be more efficiently reduced by the local permittivity of water in the immediate vicinity of the anionic solutes.

To summarize, we have shown that electric charges carried by nanometer-scale solutes have a profound influence on hydrophobic interactions. Our MD simulations confirm that for neutral solutes hydrophobic attraction is intimately linked to solvent depletion, and the contact value of the hydrophobic force is directly related to the surface tension of the pure solvent. Solvent depletion is suppressed by the electric field due to any charge carried by the solute, but for oppositely charged solutes the resulting loss of hydrophobic attraction is compensated by their mutual Coulomb attraction, leading to a nearly constant contact force. The effective force between equally charged solutes depends on the sign of their charge. Anionic solutes exhibit a striking “like-charge attraction”, a subject of considerable debate in the field of mesoscopic charge-stabilized colloids hansen:review . Coulombic and hydrophobic effects are intimately entangled, and their inter-relation is expected to play an important role in the analysis of protein aggregation and related biomolecular mechanisms.

The authors are grateful to R. Evans and H. Löwen for useful clarifications. JD acknowledges the financial support of EPSRC within the Portfolio Grant RG37352.


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# Entanglement and purity of two–mode Gaussian states in noisy channels

## I Introduction

In recent years, it has been increasingly realized that Gaussian states and Gaussian channels are essential ingredients of continuous variable quantum information pati03 . Indeed, entangled Gaussian states have been successfully exploited in realizations of quantum key distribution crypto  and teleportation tele  protocols.

In such experimental settings, the entanglement of a bipartite state is usually distilled locally, and then distributed over space, letting the entangled subsystems evolve independently and move to separated spatial regions. In the course of this processes, interaction with the external environment is unavoidable and must be properly understood. Therefore, the analysis of the evolution of quantum correlations and decoherence of Gaussian states in noisy channels is of crucial interest, and has spurred several theoretical works duan97 ; hiroshima01 ; scheel01 ; paris02 ; kim03 ; paris04 ; prauz03 .

The evolution of fidelity of generic bosonic fields in noisy channels has been addressed in Ref. duan97 . Indeed, the relevant instance of initial two–mode squeezed vacua (possessing nontrivial entanglement properties) has drawn most of the attention in the field. Decoherence and entanglement degradation of such states in thermal baths have been analyzed in Refs. scheel01 ; paris02 , whereas phase damping and the effects of squeezed reservoirs are dealt with in Refs. hiroshima01 ; kim03 ; paris04 . In Ref. prauz03  the author studies the evolution of a two–mode squeezed vacuum in a common bath endowed with cross correlations and asymptotic entanglement. Decoherence and entanglement degradation in continuous variable systems have been experimentally investigated in Ref. bowen03 .

In this paper we address the general case of an arbitrary two–mode Gaussian state dissipating in arbitrary local Gaussian environments. The resulting dynamics is governed by a two–mode master equation describing losses and thermal hopping in presence of (local) non classical fluctuations of the environment.

We study the evolution of quantum and total correlations and the behavior of decoherence in noisy channels. Quantum and total correlations of a state will be quantified by, respectively, its logarithmic negativity vidwer  and its mutual information, while the rates of decoherence will be determined by following the evolution of the purity (conjugate to the linear entropy) and of the Von Neumann entropy. We present explicit analytic results, as well as numerical studies, on the optimization of the relevant physical quantities along the non-unitary evolution. Our analysis provides an answer to the question whether possible effective schemes to mimic general Gaussian environments tomvit ; cir  are able to delay the decay of quantum coherence and correlations. We mention that, among such schemes, the most interesting for applications to bosonic fields is based on quantum non demolition (QND) measurements and feedback dynamics tomvit ; wise . We finally remark that the optimization of the quantities we are going to study with respect to phenomenological parameters turns out to be particularly relevant at ‘small times’, before decoherence has irreversibly corrupted the quantum features of the state, crucial for applications in quantum information.

This paper is structured as follows. In Section II we provide a self-contained description of the general structure of two-mode Gaussian states, including the characterization of their mixedness and entanglement. In Section III we review the evolution of Gaussian states in general Gaussian environments. In Section IV we focus on the evolution of purity and entanglement, determining the optimal regimes that can help preserving these quantities from environmental corruption. Finally, in Section V we summarize our results and discuss some outlook on future research.

## II Two–mode Gaussian states: general properties

Let us consider a two–mode continuous variable system, described by an Hilbert space $`=_1_2`$ resulting from the tensor product of the Fock spaces $`_i`$’s. We denote by $`a_i`$ the annihilation operator acting on the space $`_i`$, and by $`\widehat{x}_i=(a_i+a_i^{})/\sqrt{2}`$ and $`\widehat{p}_i=(a_ia_i^{})/\sqrt{2}`$ the quadrature phase operators related to the mode $`i`$ of the field. The corresponding phase space variables will be denoted by $`x_i`$ and $`p_i`$.

The set of Gaussian states is, by definition, the set of states with Gaussian characteristic functions and quasi–probability distributions. Therefore a Gaussian state is completely characterized by its first and second statistical moments, which will be denoted, respectively, by the vector of first moments $`\overline{X}(\widehat{x}_1,\widehat{p}_1,\widehat{x}_2,\widehat{p}_2)`$ and by the covariance matrix $`𝝈`$

$$\sigma _{ij}\frac{1}{2}\widehat{x}_i\widehat{x}_j+\widehat{x}_j\widehat{x}_i\widehat{x}_i\widehat{x}_j.$$
(1)
First moments can be arbitrarily adjusted by local unitary operations, which do not affect any quantity related to entanglement or mixedness. Moreover, as we will see in Sec. III, they do not influence the evolution of second moments in the instances we will deal with. Therefore they will be unimportant to our aims and we will set them to $`0`$ in the following, without any loss of generality for our subsequent results. Throughout the paper, $`𝝈`$ will stand both for the covariance matrix and the Gaussian state $`\varrho `$ itself.

It is convenient to express $`𝝈`$ in terms of the three $`2\times 2`$ matrices $`𝜶`$, $`𝜷`$, $`𝜸`$

$$𝝈\left(\begin{array}{cc}𝜶& 𝜸\\ 𝜸^T& 𝜷\end{array}\right).$$
(2)
Positivity of $`\varrho `$ and the canonical commutation relations impose the following constraint for $`𝝈`$ to be a bona fide covariance matrix simon00

$$𝝈+\frac{i}{2}𝛀0,$$
(3)
where $`𝛀`$ is the standard symplectic form

$$𝛀\left(\begin{array}{cc}𝝎& 0\\ 0& 𝝎\end{array}\right),𝝎\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right).$$

Inequality (3) is a useful and elegant way to express Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

In the following, we will make use of the Wigner quasi–probability representation $`W`$, defined as the Fourier transform of the symmetrically ordered characteristic function barnett . In Wigner phase space picture, the tensor product $`=_1_2`$ of the Hilbert spaces $`H_i`$’s of the two modes results in the direct sum $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_1\mathrm{\Gamma }_2`$ of the associated phase spaces $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_i`$’s. A symplectic transformation acting on the global phase space $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ corresponds to a unitary operator acting on the global Hilbert space $``$ simon8794 . In what follows we will refer to a transformation $`S_l=S_1S_2`$, with each $`S_iSp_{(2,)}`$ acting on $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_i`$, as to a “local symplectic operation”. The corresponding unitary transformation is the “local unitary transformation” $`U_l=U_1U_2`$, with each $`U_i`$ acting on $`_i`$.

The Wigner function of a Gaussian state can be written as follows in terms of phase space quadrature variables

$$W(X)=\frac{\mathrm{e}^{\frac{1}{2}X𝝈^1X^T}}{\pi \sqrt{\mathrm{Det}[𝝈]}},$$
(4)
where $`X`$ stands for the vector $`(x_1,p_1,x_2,p_2)\mathrm{\Gamma }`$.

It is well known that for any covariance matrix $`𝝈`$ there exists a local canonical operation $`S_l=S_1S_2`$ which transforms $`𝝈`$ to the so called standard form $`𝝈_{sf}`$ duan00

$$S_l^T𝝈S_l=𝝈_{sf}\left(\begin{array}{cccc}a& 0& c_1& 0\\ 0& a& 0& c_2\\ c_1& 0& b& 0\\ 0& c_2& 0& b\end{array}\right).$$
(5)
States whose standard form fulfills $`a=b`$ are said to be symmetric. Let us recall that any pure state is symmetric and fulfills $`c_1=c_2=\sqrt{a^21/4}`$. The correlations $`a`$, $`b`$, $`c_1`$, and $`c_2`$ are determined by the four local symplectic invariants $`\mathrm{Det}𝝈=(abc_1^2)(abc_2^2)`$, $`\mathrm{Det}𝜶=a^2`$, $`\mathrm{Det}𝜷=b^2`$, $`\mathrm{Det}𝜸=c_1c_2`$. Therefore, the standard form corresponding to any covariance matrix is unique.

Inequality (3) can be recast as a constraint on the $`Sp_{(4,)}`$ invariants $`\mathrm{Det}𝝈`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝝈)=\mathrm{Det}𝜶+\mathrm{Det}𝜷+2\mathrm{Det}𝜸`$:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(𝝈)\frac{1}{4}+4\mathrm{Det}𝝈.$$
(6)
Finally, let us recall that a centered two–mode Gaussian state can always be written as holevo ; serafozzi

$$𝝈=S^T𝝂S,$$
(7)
where $`SSp_{(4,)}`$ and $`𝝂`$ is the tensor product of thermal states with covariance matrix

$$𝝂=\mathrm{diag}(n_{},n_{},n_+,n_+).$$
(8)
The quantities $`n_{}`$ form the symplectic spectrum of the covariance matrix $`𝝈`$. They can be easily computed in terms of the $`Sp_{(4,)}`$ invariants

$$2n_{}^2=\mathrm{\Delta }(𝝈)\sqrt{\mathrm{\Delta }(𝝈)^24\mathrm{Det}𝝈}.$$
(9)
The symplectic eigenvalues $`n_{}`$ encode essential informations about the Gaussian state $`𝝈`$ and provide powerful, simple ways to express its fundamental properties. For instance, the Heisenberg uncertainty relation (3) can be recast in the compact, equivalent form

$$n_{}\frac{1}{2}.$$
(10)
A relevant subclass of Gaussian states we will make use of is constituted by the two–mode squeezed thermal states. Let $`S_r=\mathrm{exp}(\frac{1}{2}ra_1a_2\frac{1}{2}ra_1^{}a_2^{})`$ be the two mode squeezing operator with real squeezing parameter $`r`$, and let $`𝝂_\mu =1/(2\sqrt{\mu })\mathrm{𝟙}`$ be the tensor product of identical thermal states, where $`\mu =\mathrm{Tr}\left(\varrho ^2\right)`$ is the purity of the state. Then, for a two-mode squeezed thermal state $`𝝃_{\mu ,r}`$ we can write $`𝝃_{\mu ,r}=S_r𝝂_\mu S^{}`$. The covariance matrix of $`𝝃_{\mu ,r}`$ is a symmetric standard form satisfying

$$a=\frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r}{2\sqrt{\mu }},c_1=c_2=\frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r}{2\sqrt{\mu }},$$
(11)
and in the instance $`\mu =1`$ one recovers the pure two–mode squeezed vacuum states. Two–mode squeezed states are endowed with remarkable properties related to entanglement 2max ; giedke03 ; their dynamics in noisy channels will be analyzed in detail.

### II.1 Characterization of mixedness

Let us briefly recall that the degree of purity of a quantum state can be properly characterized either by the Von Neumann entropy $`S_V`$ or by the linear entropy $`S_l`$. Such quantities are defined as follows for continuous variable systems

$`S_V`$ $``$ $`\mathrm{Tr}(\varrho \mathrm{ln}\varrho ),`$ (12)
$`S_l`$ $``$ $`1\mathrm{Tr}(\varrho ^2)1\mu ,`$ (13)
where the purity $`\mu \mathrm{Tr}(\varrho ^2)`$ has already been introduced . We first point out that $`\mu `$ can be easily computed for Gaussian states. In fact, in the Wigner phase space picture the trace of a product of operators corresponds to the integral of the product of their Wigner representations (when existing) over the whole phase space. Because the representation of a state $`\varrho `$ is just $`W`$, for an $`n`$–mode Gaussian state we have, taking into account the proper normalization factor,

$$\mu (𝝈)=\frac{\pi }{2^n}_{^{2n}}W^2\mathrm{d}^nx\mathrm{d}^np=\frac{1}{2^n\sqrt{\mathrm{Det}𝝈}}.$$
(14)
For Gaussian states, the Von Neumann entropy can be computed as well, determining their symplectic spectra. For single–mode Gaussian states, one has agarwal71

$$S_V(𝝈)=\frac{1\mu }{2\mu }\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{1+\mu }{1\mu }\right)\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2\mu }{1+\mu }\right),$$
(15)
where $`\mu `$ can be computed from Eq. (14) for $`n=1`$. $`S_V`$ is in this case an increasing function of the linear entropy, so that both quantities provide the same characterization of mixedness. This is no longer true for two–modes Gaussian states: in this case the Von Neumann entropy reads holevo ; serafozzi

$$S_V(𝝈)=f[\stackrel{~}{n}_{}(𝝈)]+f[\stackrel{~}{n}_+(𝝈)],$$
(16)
where

$$f(x)(x+\frac{1}{2})\mathrm{ln}(x+\frac{1}{2})(x\frac{1}{2})\mathrm{ln}(x\frac{1}{2})$$

and the symplectic eigenvalues $`n_{}(𝝈)`$ are given by Eq. (9).

Knowledge of the Von Neumann entropy $`S_V`$ allows for the determination of the mutual information $`I`$ defined, for a general bipartite quantum state $`\varrho `$, as $`I(\varrho )=S_V(\varrho _1)+S_V(\varrho _2)S_V(\varrho )`$, where $`\varrho _i`$ refers to the reduced state obtained tracing over the variables of subsystem $`ji`$. The mutual information $`I(𝝈)`$ of a two–mode Gaussian state $`𝝈`$ reads serafozzi

$$I(𝝈)=f(a)+f(b)f(n_{})f(n_+).$$
(17)
One can make use of such a quantity to estimate the amount of total (quantum plus classical) correlations contained in a state $`𝝈`$ vedral01 .

### II.2 Characterization of entanglement

We now review some properties of entanglement for two–mode Gaussian states. The necessary and sufficient separability criterion for such states is positivity of the partially transposed state $`\stackrel{~}{𝝈}`$ (“PPT criterion”) simon00 . It can be easily seen from the definition of $`W(X)`$ that the action of partial transposition amounts, in phase space, to a mirror reflection of one of the four canonical variables. In terms of $`Sp_{2,}Sp_{2,}`$ invariants, this results in flipping the sign of $`\mathrm{Det}𝜸`$. Therefore the invariant $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝝈)`$ is changed into $`\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝝈)=\mathrm{\Delta }(\stackrel{~}{𝝈})=\mathrm{Det}𝜶+\mathrm{Det}𝜷2\mathrm{Det}𝜸`$. Now, the symplectic eigenvalues $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ of $`\stackrel{~}{𝝈}`$ read

$$\stackrel{~}{n}_{}=\sqrt{\frac{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝝈)\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝝈)^24\mathrm{Det}𝝈}}{2}}.$$
(18)
The PPT criterion then reduces to a simple inequality that must be satisfied by the smallest symplectic eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ of the partially transposed state

$$\stackrel{~}{n}_{}\frac{1}{2},$$
(19)
which is equivalent to

$$\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}(𝝈)4\mathrm{Det}𝝈+\frac{1}{4}.$$
(20)
The above inequalities imply $`\mathrm{Det}𝜸=c_1c_2<0`$ as a necessary condition for a two–mode Gaussian state to be entangled. The quantity $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ encodes all the qualitative characterization of the entanglement for arbitrary (pure or mixed) two–modes Gaussian states. Note that $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ takes a particularly simple form for entangled symmetric states, whose standard form has $`a=b`$

$$\stackrel{~}{n}_{}=\sqrt{(a|c_1|)(a|c_2|)}.$$
(21)
As for the quantification of entanglement, no fully satisfactory measure is known at present for arbitrary mixed two–mode Gaussian states. However, a quantification of entanglement which can be computed for general two–mode Gaussian states is provided by the negativity $`𝒩`$, introduced by Vidal and Werner for continuous variable systems vidwer . The negativity of a quantum state $`\varrho `$ is defined as

$$𝒩(\varrho )=\frac{\stackrel{~}{\varrho }_11}{2},$$
(22)
where $`\stackrel{~}{\varrho }`$ is the partially transposed density matrix and $`\widehat{o}_1\mathrm{Tr}\sqrt{\widehat{o}^{}\widehat{o}}`$ stands for the trace norm of an operator $`\widehat{o}`$. The quantity $`𝒩(\varrho )`$ is equal to $`|_i\lambda _i|`$, the modulus of the sum of the negative eigenvalues of $`\stackrel{~}{\varrho }`$, and it quantifies the extent to which $`\stackrel{~}{\varrho }`$ fails to be positive. Strictly related to $`𝒩`$ is the logarithmic negativity $`E_𝒩`$, defined as $`E_𝒩\mathrm{ln}\stackrel{~}{\varrho }_1`$. The negativity has been proved to be convex and monotone under LOCC (local operations and classical communications) footnote1 , but fails to be continuous in trace norm on infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces. Anyway, this problem can be somehow eluded by restricting to states with finite mean energy jensplenio . For two–mode Gaussian states it can be easily shown that the negativity is a simple function of $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$, which is thus itself an (increasing) entanglement monotone; one has in fact vidwer

$$E_𝒩(𝝈)=\mathrm{max}\{0,\mathrm{ln}2\stackrel{~}{n}_{}\}.$$
(23)
This is a decreasing function of the smallest partially transposed symplectic eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$, quantifying the amount by which Inequality (19) is violated. Thus, for our aims, the eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ completely qualifies and quantifies the quantum entanglement of a two–mode Gaussian state $`𝝈`$.

We finally mention that, as far as symmetric states are concerned, another measure of entanglement, the entanglement of formation $`E_F`$ footnote2 , can be actually computed giedke03 . Fortunately, since $`E_F`$ turns out to be, again, a decreasing function of $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$, it provides for symmetric states a quantification of entanglement fully equivalent to the one provided by the logarithmic negativity $`E_𝒩`$. Therefore, from now on, we will adopt $`E_𝒩(𝝈)`$ as the entanglement measure of Gaussian states, recalling that this quantity constitutes an upper bound to the distillable entanglement of quantum states vidwer .

## III Evolution in general Gaussian environments

We now consider the local evolution of an arbitrary two–mode Gaussian state in noisy channels, in the presence of arbitrarily squeezed (“phase–sensitive”) environments. In general, the two channels related to the two different modes could be different from one another, each mode evolving independently in its channel. We will refer to the channel (bath) in which mode $`i`$ evolves as to channel (bath) $`i`$. The system is governed, in interaction picture, by the following master equation walls

$`\dot{\varrho }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1,2}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{2}}N_iL[a_i^{}]\varrho +{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{2}}(N_i+1)L[a_i]\varrho `$ (24)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{2}}\left(\overline{M_i}D[a_i]\varrho +M_iD[a_i^{}]\varrho \right),`$
where the dot stands for time–derivative and the Lindblad superoperators are defined by $`L[O]\varrho 2O\varrho O^{}O^{}O\varrho \varrho O^{}O`$ and $`D[O]\varrho 2O\varrho OOO\varrho \varrho OO`$. The complex parameter $`M_i`$ is the correlation function of bath $`i`$; it is usually referred to as the “squeezing” of the bath. $`N_i`$ is instead a phenomenological parameter related to the purity of the asymptotic stationary state. Positivity of the density matrix imposes the constraint $`|M_i|^2N_i(N_i+1)`$. At thermal equilibrium, i.e. for $`M_i=0`$, the parameter $`N_i`$ coincides with the average number of thermal photons in bath $`i`$.

A squeezed environment, leading to the master equation (24), may be modeled as the interaction with a bath of oscillators excited in squeezed thermal states sqbath1 . Several effective realizations of squeezed baths have been proposed in recent years tomvit ; cir . In particular, in Ref. tomvit  the authors show that a squeezed environment can be obtained, for a mode of the radiation field, by means of feedback schemes relying on QND ‘intracavity’ measurements, capable of affecting the master equation of the system. More specifically, an effective squeezed reservoir is shown to be the result of a continuous homodyne monitoring of a field quadrature, with the addition of a feedback driving term, coupling the homodyne output current with another field quadrature of the mode.

Let $`\varrho _i=S(r_i,\phi _i)\nu _{\overline{n}_i}S(r_i,\phi _i)^{}`$ be the environmental Gaussian state of mode $`i`$ marian . Here $`\overline{n}_i`$ denotes the mean number of photons in the thermal state $`\nu _{\overline{n}_i}`$. Its knowledge allows to determine the purity of the state via the relation $`\mu _i=1/(2\overline{n}_i+1)`$. The operator $`S(r,\phi )=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2}r\mathrm{e}^{i2\phi }a^2\frac{1}{2}r\mathrm{e}^{i2\phi }a^2\right)`$ is the one–mode squeezing operator. A more convenient parametrization of the channel, endowed with a direct phenomenological interpretation, can be achieved by expressing $`N_i`$ and $`M_i`$ in terms of the three real variables $`\mu _i`$, $`r_i`$ and $`\phi _i`$ paris03

$`\mu _i`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{(2N_i+1)^24|M_i|^2}}},`$ (25)
$`\mathrm{cosh}(2r_i)`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{1+4\mu _i^2|M_i|^2},`$ (26)
$`\mathrm{tan}(2\phi _i)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{tan}\left(\mathrm{Arg}M_i\right).`$ (27)
Note that the Gaussian state of the environment in bath $`i`$ coincides with the asymptotic state of mode $`i`$, the global asymptotic state being an uncorrelated product of the states $`\varrho _i`$’s, irrespective of the initial state.

With standard techniques, it can be shown that the master equation (24) corresponds to a Fokker–Planck equation for the Wigner function of the system walls . In compact notation, one has

$$\dot{W}(X,t)=\frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{2}\left[_XX^T+_X𝝈_{\mathrm{}}_X^T\right]W(X,t),$$
(28)
with $`_X(_{x_1},_{p_1},_{x_2},_{p_2})`$ and with a diffusion matrix

$$𝝈_{\mathrm{}}=𝝈_1\mathrm{}𝝈_2\mathrm{}=\left(\begin{array}{cc}𝝈_1\mathrm{}& \mathrm{𝟎}\\ \mathrm{𝟎}& 𝝈_2\mathrm{}\end{array}\right),$$
(29)
resulting from the tensor product of the asymptotic Gaussian states $`𝝈_i\mathrm{}`$’s, given by

$$𝝈_i\mathrm{}=\left(\begin{array}{cc}\frac{1}{2}+N_i+\mathrm{Re}M_i& \mathrm{Im}M_i\\ \mathrm{Im}M_i& \frac{1}{2}+N_i\mathrm{Re}M_i\end{array}\right).$$
(30)
For an initial Gaussian state of the form Eq. (4), the Fokker–Planck equation (28) corresponds to a set of decoupled equations for the second moments and can be easily solved. Note that the drift term always damps to $`0`$ the first statistical moments, and it may thus be neglected for our aims. The evolution in the bath preserves the Gaussian form of the initial condition and is described by the following equation for the covariance matrix duan97 ; paris03 ; kim95

$$𝝈(t)=𝝈_{\mathrm{}}\left(1\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}\right)+𝝈(0)\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}.$$
(31)
This is a simple Gaussian completely positive map, and $`𝝈(t)`$ satisfies the uncertainty relation Eq. (3) if and only if the latter is satisfied by both $`𝝈_{\mathrm{}}`$ and $`𝝈_0`$. The compliance of $`𝝈_{\mathrm{}}`$ with inequality Eq. (3) is equivalent to the conditions $`|M_i|N_i(N_i+1)`$.

It is easy to see that Eq. (31) describes the evolution of an initial Gaussian state $`𝝈_0`$ in an arbitrary Gaussian environment $`𝝈_{\mathrm{}}`$, which can in general be different from that defined by Eq. (29). It would be interesting to find systems whose dynamics could be effectively described by the dissipation in a correlated Gaussian environment (recall that the instance we are analyzing involves a completely uncorrelated environment). Some perspectives in this direction, that lie outside the scopes of the present paper, could come from feedback and conditional measurement schemes.

The initial Gaussian state is described, in general, by a set of ten covariances. To simplify the problem and to better point out the relevant features of the non–unitary evolution, we will choose an initial state already brought in standard form: $`𝝈_0=𝝈_{sf}`$. With this choice the parametrization of the initial state is completely determined by the four parameters $`a`$, $`b`$, $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$, defined in Eq. (5). This choice is not restrictive as far as the dynamics of purity and entanglement are concerned. In fact, let us consider the most general initial Gaussian state $`𝝈`$ evolving in the most general Gaussian uncorrelated environment $`_i𝝈_i\mathrm{}`$. The state $`𝝈`$ can always be put in standard form by means of some local transformation $`S_l=_iS_i`$. Under the same transformation, the state of the environment $`_i𝝈_{}^{\mathbf{}}{}_{i\mathrm{}}{}^{}`$ remains uncorrelated, with $`𝝈_{}^{\mathbf{}}{}_{i\mathrm{}}{}^{}=S_i^T𝝈_i\mathrm{}S_i`$. All the properties of entanglement and mixedness for the evolving state are invariant under local operations. Therefore, we can state that the evolution of the mixedness and of the entanglement of any initial Gaussian state $`𝝈`$ in any uncorrelated Gaussian environment $`𝝈_{\mathrm{}}`$ is equivalent to the evolution of the initial state in standard form $`S_l^T𝝈S_l`$ in the uncorrelated Gaussian environment $`S_l^T𝝈_{\mathrm{}}S_l`$.

Finally, to further simplify the dynamics of the state without loss of generality, we can set $`\phi _1=0`$ ( corresponding to $`\mathrm{Im}M_1=0`$) as a “reference choice” for phase space rotations.

Quite obviously, the standard form of the state is not preserved in an arbitrary channel, as can be seen from Eqs. (30) and (31).

## IV Evolution of mixedness and entanglement

Let us now consider the evolution of mixedness and entanglement of a generic state in standard form (parametrized by $`a`$, $`b`$, $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$) in a generic channel (parametrized by $`\mu _1`$, $`r_1`$, $`\mu _2`$, $`r_2`$ and $`\phi _2`$). Knowledge of the exact evolution of the state in the channel, given by Eq. (31), allows to apply the results reviewed in Sec. II to keep track of the quantities $`\mu (t)`$, $`S_V(t)`$, $`I(t)`$ and $`E_𝒩(t)`$ during the non-unitary evolution in the channel. However the explicit dependence of such quantities on the nine parameters characterizing the initial state and the environment is quite involved. We provide the explicit expressions in App. A. They give a systematic recipe to compute the evolution of mixedness, correlations and entanglement for any given Gaussian state in standard form (and, therefore, for any Gaussian state).

We now investigate the duration and robustness of entanglement during the evolution of the field modes in the channels. Let us consider an initial entangled state $`𝝈_e`$ evolving in the bath. Making use of the separability criterion Eq. (20), one finds that the state $`𝝈_e`$ becomes separable at a certain time $`t`$ if

$$u\mathrm{e}^{4\mathrm{\Gamma }t}+v\mathrm{e}^{3\mathrm{\Gamma }t}+w\mathrm{e}^{2\mathrm{\Gamma }t}+y\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}+z=0.$$
(32)
The coefficients $`u`$, $`v`$, $`w`$, $`y`$ and $`z`$ are functions of the nine parameters characterizing the initial state and the channel (see App. A). Eq. (32) is an algebraic equation of fourth degree in the unknown $`k=\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}`$. The solution $`k_{ent}`$ of such an equation closest to one, and satisfying $`k_{ent}1`$ can be found for any given initial entangled state. Its knowledge promptly leads to the determination of the “entanglement time” $`t_{ent}`$ of the initial state in the channel, defined as the time interval after which the initial state becomes separable

$$t_{ent}=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}\mathrm{ln}k_{ent}.$$
(33)
The results of the numerical analysis of the evolution of entanglement and mixedness for several initial states are reported in Figs. 1 through 8. In general, one can see that, trivially, a less mixed environment better preserves both purity and entanglement by prolonging the entanglement time. More remarkably, Fig. 1 shows that local squeezing of the two uncorrelated channels does not help preserving quantum correlations between the evolving modes. Moreover, as can be seen from Fig. 1, states with greater uncertainties on, say, mode $`1`$ ($`a>b`$) better preserves its entanglement if bath $`1`$ is more mixed than bath $`2`$ ($`\mu _1<\mu _2`$). A quite interesting feature is shown in Fig. 8: the mutual information is better preserved in squeezed channels, especially at long times. This property has been tested as well on non entangled states, endowed only with classical correlations, see Fig. 8, and on two–mode squeezed states, see Fig. 7, and seems to hold quite generally. In Fig. 2, the behavior of some initially symmetric states is considered. In this instance we can see that, in squeezed baths, the entanglement of the initial state is better preserved if the squeezing of the two channels is balanced.

The analytic optimization of the relevant quantities characterizing mixedness and correlations in the channel turn out to be difficult in the general case. Thus it is convenient to proceed with our analysis by dealing with particular instances of major phenomenological interest.

### IV.1 Standard form states in thermal channels

In this subsection, we deal with the case of states in generic standard form (parametrized by $`a`$, $`b`$, $`c_i`$) evolving in two thermal channels (parametrized by two – generally different – mean photon numbers $`N_i`$’s). This instance is particularly relevant, because it gives a basic description of actual experimental settings involving, for instance, fiber–mediated communications.

The purity $`\mu `$ of the global quantum state turns out to be a decreasing function of the $`N_i`$’s at any given time. The symplectic eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ is also in general an increasing function of the $`N_i`$’s. Therefore, the entanglement of the evolving state is optimal for ideal vacuum environments, which is quite trivial, recalling the well understood synergy between entanglement and purity for general quantum states.

### IV.2 Entanglement time of symmetric states

We have already provided a way of computing the entanglement time of an arbitrary two–mode state in arbitrary channels. The expression of such a quantity is, unfortunately, rather involved in the general case. However, focusing on symmetric states (which satisfy $`a=b`$), some simple analytic results can be found, thanks to the simple form taken by $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ for these states. An initially symmetric entangled state maintains its symmetric standard form if evolving in equal, independent environments (with $`N_1=N_2N_B`$). This is the instance we will consider in the following.

Let us suppose that $`|c_1||c_2|`$, then Eqs. (19) and (21) provide the following bounds for the entanglement time

$$\mathrm{ln}\left(1+\frac{|c_1|a+\frac{1}{2}}{N_B}\right)\mathrm{\Gamma }t_{ent}\mathrm{ln}\left(1+\frac{|c_2|a+\frac{1}{2}}{N_B}\right).$$
(34)
Imposing the additional property $`c_1=c_2`$ we obtain standard forms which can be written as squeezed thermal states (see Eqs. 11). For such states, Inequality Eq. (34) reduces to

$$t_{ent}=\frac{1}{\mathrm{\Gamma }}\mathrm{ln}\left(1+\frac{1\mathrm{e}^{2r}}{2\sqrt{\mu }N_B}\right).$$
(35)
In particular, for $`\mu =1`$, one recovers the entanglement time of a two–mode squeezed vacuum state in a thermal channel duan00 ; paris02 ; prauz03 . Note that two–mode squeezed vacuum states encompass all the possible standard forms of pure Gaussian states.

### IV.3 Two–mode squeezed thermal states

As we have seen, two–mode squeezed thermal states constitute a relevant class of Gaussian states, parametrized by their purity $`\mu `$ and by the squeezing parameter $`r`$ according to Eqs. (11). In particular, two–mode squeezed vacuum states (or twin-beams), which can be defined as squeezed thermal states with $`\mu =1`$, correspond to maximally entangled symmetric states for fixed marginal purity. Therefore, they constitute a crucial resource for possible applications of Gaussian states in quantum information engineering.

For squeezed thermal states (chosen as initial conditions in the channel), it can be shown analytically that the partially transposed symplectic eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ is at any time an increasing function of the bath squeezing angle $`\phi _2`$: “parallel” squeezing in the two channels optimizes the preservation of entanglement. Both in the instance of two equal squeezed baths (i.e. with $`r_1=r_2=r`$) and of a thermal bath joined to a squeezed one (i.e. $`r_1=r`$ and $`r_2=0`$), it can be shown that $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ is an increasing function of $`r`$. These analytical results agree with those provided in Ref. kim03  in the study of the qualitative degradation of entanglement for pure squeezed states. The proofs of the above statements are sketched in App. B.

Such analytical considerations, supported by direct numerical analysis, clearly show that a local squeezing of the environment faster degrades the entanglement of the initial state. The same behavior occurs for purity. The time evolution of the logarithmic negativity of two–mode squeezed states – thermal and pure – is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The evolution of the global purity is reported in Fig. 5, while the evolutions of the Von Neumann entropy and of the mutual information are shown, respectively, in Figs. 6 and 7.

## V Summary and conclusions

We studied the evolution of mixedness, entanglement and mutual information of initial two–mode Gaussian states evolving in uncorrelated Gaussian environments. We derived exact general relations that allow to determine the time evolution of such quantities, and provided analytical estimates on the entanglement time. The optimal bath parameters for the preservation of quantum correlations and purity have been determined for thermal baths and for two–mode squeezed states in more general baths. A detailed numerical analysis has been performed for the most general cases.

We found that, in general, a local squeezing of the baths does not help to preserve purity and quantum correlations of the evolving state, both at small times (i.e. for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }t1`$) and asymptotically. On the other hand, local squeezing of the baths can improve the preservation of the mutual information in uncorrelated channels. Besides, coherence and correlations are better maintained in environments with lower average number of photons.

The present study may be be extended to the case of $`n`$-mode Gaussian states. This generalization would be desirable, since the practical implementation of quantum information protocols usually requires some redundancy. For three–mode Gaussian states, separability conditions analogous to Inequality Eq. (6) have been determined giedke01 , and could be exploited to provide a qualitative picture of the evolution of three–mode entanglement in noisy channels.

### Acknowledgments

AS, FI and SDS thank INFM, INFN, and MIUR under national project PRIN-COFIN 2002 for financial support. The work of MGAP is supported in part by UE programs ATESIT (Contract No. IST-2000-29681). MGAP is a research fellow at Collegio Volta.

## Appendix A Explicit determination of mixedness and entanglement in the general case

Here we provide explicit expressions which allow to determine the exact evolution in uncorrelated channels of a generic initial state in standard form. The relevant quantities $`E_𝒩`$, $`\mu `$, $`S_V`$, $`I`$, as we have seen, are all functions of the four $`Sp_{(2,)}Sp_{(2,)}`$ invariants. Let us then write such quantities as follows

$`\mathrm{Det}𝝈`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{4}{}}}\mathrm{\Sigma }_k\mathrm{e}^{k\mathrm{\Gamma }t},`$ (36)
$`\mathrm{Det}𝜶`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{2}{}}}\alpha _k\mathrm{e}^{k\mathrm{\Gamma }t},`$ (37)
$`\mathrm{Det}𝜷`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=0}{\overset{2}{}}}\beta _k\mathrm{e}^{k\mathrm{\Gamma }t},`$ (38)
$`\mathrm{Det}𝜸`$ $`=`$ $`\gamma _2\mathrm{e}^{2\mathrm{\Gamma }t},`$ (39)
defining the sets of coefficients $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_i`$, $`\alpha _i`$, $`\beta _i`$, $`\gamma _i`$. One has

$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_4`$ $`=`$ $`a^2b^2+{\displaystyle \frac{a^2}{4\mu _2^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{b^2}{4\mu _1^2}}a^2b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _2}}ab^2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{\mu _1}}+ab{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _1\mu _2}}a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{4\mu _1\mu _2^2}}b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1^2\mu _2}}`$ (41)
$`+(c_1^2+c_2^2)\left(a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{2\mu _2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{b\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{2\mu _1}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}ab\right)`$
$`+(c_1^2c_2^2)\left(a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{2\mu _2}}+b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1}{2\mu _1}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}\right)`$
$`+c_1^2c_2^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\mu _1^2\mu _2^2}},`$
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_3`$ $`=`$ $`2{\displaystyle \frac{a^2}{4\mu _2^2}}2{\displaystyle \frac{b^2}{4\mu _1^2}}+a^2b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _2}}+ab^2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{\mu _1}}2ab{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _1\mu _2}}+3a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{4\mu _1\mu _2^2}}+3b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1^2\mu _2}}`$ (42)
$`(c_1^2c_2^2)\left(a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{2\mu _2}}+b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1}{2\mu _1}}2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}\right)`$
$`(c_1^2+c_2^2)\left(a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{2\mu _2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{b\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{2\mu _1}}2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}2{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}\right){\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _1^2\mu _2^2}},`$
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_2`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{a^2}{4\mu _2^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{b^2}{4\mu _1^2}}+ab{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _1\mu _2}}3a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{4\mu _1\mu _2^2}}3b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1^2\mu _2}}`$ (43)
$`(c_1^2+c_2^2)\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}\right)`$
$`(c_1^2c_2^2)\left({\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r_1\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1\mathrm{sinh}2r_2\mathrm{cos}2\phi _2}{4\mu _1\mu _2}}\right)+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\mu _1^2\mu _2^2}},`$
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_1`$ $`=`$ $`+a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{4\mu _1\mu _2^2}}+b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{4\mu _1^2\mu _2}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _1^2\mu _2^2}},`$ (44)
$`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{16\mu _1^2\mu _2^2}},`$ (45)
$`\alpha _2`$ $`=`$ $`a^2a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{\mu _1}}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _1^2}},`$ (46)
$`\alpha _1`$ $`=`$ $`a{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_1}{\mu _1}}2{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _1^2}},`$ (47)
$`\alpha _0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _1^2}},`$ (48)
$`\beta _2`$ $`=`$ $`b^2b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _2^2}},`$ (49)
$`\beta _1`$ $`=`$ $`b{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r_2}{\mu _2}}2{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _2^2}},`$ (50)
$`\beta _0`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4\mu _2^2}},`$ (51)
$`\gamma _2`$ $`=`$ $`c_1c_2.`$ (52)
The coefficients of Eq. (32), whose solution $`k_{ent}`$ allows to determine the entanglement time of an arbitrary two–mode Gaussian state, read

$`u`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_4,`$ (53)
$`v`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_3,`$ (54)
$`w`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_2\alpha _2\beta _2|\gamma _2|,`$ (55)
$`y`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_1\alpha _1\beta _1,`$ (56)
$`z`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_0\alpha _0\beta _0+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}.`$ (57)
## Appendix B Proofs for two–mode squeezed states

In this appendix we consider a two–mode squeezed thermal state of the form of Eq. (11) as the initial input in the noisy channels.

We first deal with the dependence of entanglement and mixedness on the squeezing angle $`\phi _2`$ of bath $`2`$. It can be easily shown (see App. A) that $`\mathrm{\Delta }(𝝈)`$ does not depend on $`\phi _2`$, whereas $`\mathrm{Det}𝝈`$ turns out to be a decreasing function of $`\mathrm{cos}\phi _2`$. Therefore, since the symplectic eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ increases with $`\mathrm{Det}𝝈`$, one has that $`\phi _2=0`$ is the optimal choice for maximizing both entanglement and purity of the evolving state.

We now address the instance of two equally squeezed baths, with $`N_iN_B`$, $`r_ir_B`$ and $`\phi _2=0`$. The time dependent covariance matrix $`𝝈_{2m}`$ can be written in the form

$$𝝈_{2m}=\left(\begin{array}{cccc}j_{}& 0& k& 0\\ 0& j_+& 0& k\\ k& 0& j_{}& 0\\ 0& k& 0& j_+\end{array}\right),$$

with

$`j_{}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cosh}2r}{2\sqrt{\mu }}}\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}+(N_B+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}})\mathrm{e}^{2r_B}(1\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}),`$
$`k`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{sinh}2r}{2\sqrt{\mu }}}\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}.`$
The standard form of $`𝝈_{2m}`$ is easily found just by squeezing the field in the two modes of the same quantity $`\sqrt{j_+/j_{}}`$. The result is a symmetric standard form, whose smallest partially transposed symplectic eigenvalue $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ can be computed according to Eq. (21)

$$\stackrel{~}{n}_{}=(j_{}k)(j_+k)=d\mathrm{cosh}2r_B+\mathrm{},$$

where the terms that do not depend on $`r_B`$ are irrelevant to our discussion and have thus been neglected. The coefficient $`d`$ is a positive function of $`t`$, $`r`$ and $`N_B`$, so that the best choice to maximize entanglement at any given time is given by $`r_B=0`$. Quite obviously, $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}`$ turns out to be an increasing function of $`N_B`$ as well.

Finally, we deal with the instance in which bath 1 is squeezed while bath 2 is thermal, with $`r_2=0`$. For ease of notation we define $`|𝝈|=\mathrm{Det}𝝈`$. We recall that $`2\stackrel{~}{n}_{}^2=\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}\sqrt{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}^24|𝝈|}`$. Thus, for entangled states (for which $`\stackrel{~}{n}_{}<1/2`$), one finds

$$_{|𝝈|}(2\stackrel{~}{n}_{}^2)>4_{\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}}(2\stackrel{~}{n}_{}^2)>0.$$

The sign of the quantity $`4_{r_1}|𝝈|_{r_1}\stackrel{~}{\mathrm{\Delta }}`$ for the case of the initial two–mode squeezed can be shown, after some algebra, to be determined by

$$4(\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}1)\mathrm{cosh}2rn_2^2+(3+\mathrm{cosh}4r)n_2(\mathrm{e}^{\mathrm{\Gamma }t}+1)\mathrm{cosh}2r.$$

This second degree polynomial is positive for $`n_2N_2+1/21/2`$. This proves that the entanglement decreases as the squeezing of bath 1 increases.