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# Theory of the tunneling resonances of the bilayer electron systems in strong magnetic field

## Abstract

We develop a theory for the anomalous interlayer conductance peaks observed in bilayer electron systems at $`\nu =1`$. Our model shows the that the size of the peak at zero bias decreases rapidly with increasing in-plane magnetic field, but its location is unchanged. The I-V characteristic is linear at small voltages, in agreement with experimental observations. In addition we make quantitative predictions for how the inter-layer conductance peaks vary in position with in-plane magnetic field at high voltages. Finally, we predict novel bi-stable behavior at intermediate voltages.

The discovery of dual peaks in the interlayer tunneling conductance in double layer quantum Hall systems at total filling factor $`\nu =1`$ by Spielman et. al. spielman1  has stimulated a number of theoretical studies.WenZee ; stern ; schliemann ; balents ; fogler ; mac  Such interlayer tunneling measurements are a valuable tool to study the dynamical aspects of bilayer electron systems (BLES), since the incident quasiparticles interact with the tunneling barrier, impurities, interface roughness of the wells, as well as the two-dimensional electron system (2DES) in the wells. The last of these gives rise to an inelastic scattering mechanism where the tunneling quasiparticle excites the collective modes of the BLES in strong magnetic field. The dispersion relations of these modes, and hence the inelastic scattering rate are sensitive to the external in-plane field, producing a resonant peak in the conductance which varies in voltage with the applied in-plane magnetic field. The observation of this peak at non-zero voltage was been reported by Spielman et al. spielman1 . In addition, tunneling quasiparticles can interact with topological defects in the order parameter such as merons (which carry the electrical charge) causing phase decoherence and dissipation in the tunneling current stern , with an inelastic scattering rate denoted by $`\alpha _{}`$. The height and the width of the interlayer current peak is limited by such dissipative effects.

The least understood aspect of the experiment is the yet unexplained peak in the conductance at zero voltage and its dependence on the in-plane magnetic field. The location of the zero bias voltage peak is insensitive to the in-plane magnetic field, but the height of this peak decreases rapidly with in-plane magnetic field. Among the many theories of this experimentWenZee ; stern ; balents ; fogler ; mac  there are different and even controversial interpretations for these observations. For example in Refs. WenZee ; fogler , it has been argued that the conductance peak is the remnant of the long Josephson effect, however, in Ref. mac  the microscopic calculation indicates this system can be described by the excitonic superfluids.

In this paper we propose an approach based on a damped Landau-Lifshitz equation for the pseudospin order parameter. Our model differs from other approachesmac  in the types of dissipation included and how interlayer current is calculated. WenZee ; stern ; balents ; fogler ; mac  These differences permit allow the model to capture previously unexplained features of the interlayer tunneling spectrum in low and high bias voltages. Our model reproduces the experimentally observed linear interlayer current ($`I_tV`$) at low voltages (fig. 1), along with the value of the peak in the conductance at zero bias. Taking the intrinsic damping mechanism into account, we show the height of the conductance peak falls off as $`1/Q^2`$, where $`Q(B_{}/B_{})(d/\mathrm{}_0^2)`$ is the in-plane magnetic field wave vector, $`\mathrm{}_0`$ is the magnetic length, and $`B_{}`$ ($`B_{}`$) is the component of the the field parallel (perpendicular) to the quantum well. At higher bias voltages the system enters a non-linear regime with a conductance peak whose position changes with in-plane magnetic field. At still higher voltages, the current decays $`I_t1/V^3`$. Furthermore, we argue the low voltage state is different from the Josephson effect, and therefore argue against possibility of the Josephson effect at $`V0`$. Moreover, we predict the existence of a new bistable state between a “rotating” and “locked” states for the order parameter for small voltages in the presence of in-plane magnetic field, could be realized, depending upon the initial conditions.

Our interpretation of the electrical current differs from other approaches. We model the steady state flow of quasiparticles, as an imperfect capacitor with a non-linear charging energy, hence the number of electrons and holes in different layers is fixed (but not equal). This system of a parallel resistor and capacitor (RC), connected to an external electrochemical potential gives the steady state dissipative interlayer current $`I=\delta q(V)/\tau _z`$. Here $`\delta q`$ is the restored charge in the capacitor (which is a function of external potential $`V`$), and $`\tau _z=RC`$ is the relaxation time of the circuit. This analogy leads us to introduce a damping coefficient $`\alpha _z(1/\tau _z)`$ in the theory of the interlayer tunneling effect. This coefficient, absent in previous models, is crucial to producing a zero bias peak.

The low energy physics of the bilayer quantum Hall (pseudo) ferromagnets, which is based upon the microscopic Hartree-Fock model at odd integer filling fractions moon ; yang , is described by the following effective Hamiltonian:

$``$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{eV}{2}}m_z+{\displaystyle \frac{\rho _E}{2}}\left\{\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_x}{x}}\right)^2+\left({\displaystyle \frac{m_y}{x}}\right)^2\right\}+\beta m_z^2`$ (1)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}\left\{m_x\mathrm{cos}(Qx)+m_y\mathrm{sin}(Qx)\right\},`$
where $`\widehat{m}(x,t)`$ is the order parameter unit vector ($`m_z`$ is the particle density difference between two layers, and $`m_x`$, and $`m_y`$ are its canonical conjugate variables), $`\rho _E`$ is the in-plane (pseudo)spin stiffness, $`\beta `$ gives a hard axis anisotropy due to the capacitance energy cost, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}`$ is the tunneling amplitude, $`V`$ is the external interlayer bias voltage, and $`Q`$ is defined above.

Without the external leads, $`m_z=0`$ is the lowest energy state of an isolated BLES. Connecting the layers to the external leads bring this system out of equilibrium. Similar to an imperfect capacitor, the quasi-particles can flow between the layers, via a leakage current. Before reaching steady state, the displacement current $`dm_z/dt`$, (which passes through the capacitor even at $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}=0`$), can be measured. At steady state, the charge density on the capacitor becomes fixed, even though there is still a leakage current. The capacitance charge is given by $`<m_z(x,t)>`$ ($`<>`$ is the average over the temporal and the spatial fluctuations), which is fixed and hence $`<dm_z/dt>=0`$. However, there is still a steady state current due to the interlayer quasiparticle tunneling channel. (This result is distinct from other approaches in which $`<dm_z/dt>=0`$ would imply there is no tunneling current.)

The energy loss by dissipative quasiparticle tunneling can be given phenomenologically by including a damping coefficient $`\alpha _z`$, coupled to $`m_z`$.

$$I_t=\alpha _ze<m_z(x,t)>.$$
(2)
The parameter $`\alpha _z^1`$ which controls the resistance of the system is equivalte to the RC relaxation rate, and scales like $`1/\sqrt{\beta \mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}}`$. To calculate $`m_z`$ we start from the damped Landau-Lifshitz equations (see e.g. slichter ):

$$\stackrel{}{R}+\frac{\widehat{m}}{t}=\left(\widehat{m}\times \stackrel{}{H}_{eff}\right).$$
(3)
$`\stackrel{}{H}_{\mathrm{eff}}=2\left\{\frac{}{\widehat{m}}\frac{}{x}\left[\frac{}{\frac{\widehat{m}}{x}}\right]\right\}`$, is the effective magnetic field, $`\stackrel{}{R}`$ is a Landau-Lifshitz damping term (and $`\mathrm{}=1`$). Our phenomenological model for the damping in BLES are characterized by two coefficients $`\alpha _z`$, and $`\alpha _{}`$ that define the damping vector $`\stackrel{}{R}`$:

$`R_x`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha _zm_z^2m_x^0\alpha _{}m_y(m_ym_x^0m_xm_y^0),`$
$`R_y`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha _zm_z^2m_y^0+\alpha _{}m_x(m_ym_x^0m_xm_y^0),`$ (4)
$`R_z=\alpha _zm_z(m_xm_x^0+m_ym_y^0).`$
which is defined so that $`\widehat{m}\stackrel{}{R}=0`$ and thus the length of $`\widehat{m}`$ is conserved ($`\widehat{m}_t\widehat{m}=0`$). The vector $`\widehat{m^0}`$ is the equilibrium value of the order parameter. It is important to note the solutions of these Landau-Lifshitz equations exhibit different behavior as the bias voltage is increased. As $`V0`$ (but $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}0`$) the tunneling term is dominant and the order parameter stays (almost) along the $`x`$-direction. Without damping the order parameter can precess around this direction, tracing out a cone centered on the $`m_x`$ axis. The effect of the damping is to equilibrate the order parameter along the $`x`$-direction in a finite time, hence we assume $`\widehat{m}^0=(1,0,0)`$ in Eq.(4). Increasing the (small) bias voltage $`V`$ alters the equilibrium state. Without damping, the lowest energy state can be determined by minimizing Hamiltonian (1). The role of damping is to relax the excited states to some steady state $`\widehat{m}^0`$. As $`V`$ increases, the direction of $`\widehat{m}^0`$ rotates towards the y-axis and tilts up slightly from xy-plane. The non-zero value of $`m_y^0`$ reflects a non-zero Josephson current, but this current will vanish if $`V=0`$ due to the damping. We refer to this family of solutions as “damping-locked states.” Starting from $`\widehat{m}^0=(1,0,0)`$ in Eq.(4), and cranking up the bias voltages, when $`eV\sqrt{8\beta \mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}}`$, the electrostatic energy becomes comparable to the tunneling energy, and the order parameter starts to precess around a direction given by $`\stackrel{}{H}_{\mathrm{eff}}`$. The system can no longer follow the tunneling term, and the order parameter becomes “unlocked” due to the bias voltage. The amplitude of these “unlocked” oscillatory solutions decreases with increasing $`V`$, so that at very large bias voltages the order parameter aligns with the z-axis as $`V\mathrm{}`$. In the rest of the paper we detail the solutions of the damped Landau-Lifshitz equations, and evaluate the interlayer current. Starting from the uniform solution $`m^0`$, it is straightforward to linearize the Landau-Lifshitz equations, to find their inhomogeneous solutions, using a starting point in our perturbative expansion that is different in low and high $`V`$ limits (due to different nature of solutions).

Large voltages: At high voltages ($`eV\sqrt{8\beta \mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}}`$) the pseudospin rotates around $`z`$-axis with a frequency $`\omega eV/\mathrm{}`$. It is then more convenient to work in a rotating frame which can be introduced by the transformation $`n_{}m_{}\mathrm{exp}(i\omega t)`$, $`n_zm_z`$, and choosing $`n^{(0)}=(1,0,0)`$ which is equivalent to $`m^{(0)}=(\mathrm{cos}\omega t,\mathrm{sin}\omega t,0)`$ in the rest frame. Following this, the Hamiltonian (1) in the rotating frame can be transformed to moon ; yang :

$`={\displaystyle \frac{\rho _E}{2}}\left\{\left({\displaystyle \frac{n_x}{x}}\right)^2+\left({\displaystyle \frac{n_y}{x}}\right)^2\right\}+\beta (n_z)^2`$
$`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}\left\{n_x\mathrm{cos}(\omega t+Qx)+n_y\mathrm{sin}(\omega t+Qx)\right\}.`$ (5)
Replacing $`\widehat{n}^0=(1,0,0)`$ in Eq.(4), the Landau-Lifshitz equations can be derived:

$`\alpha _{}n_y^2\alpha _zn_z^2+{\displaystyle \frac{n_x}{t}}=4\beta n_yn_z2\rho _En_z{\displaystyle \frac{^2n_y}{x^2}}2\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}n_z\mathrm{sin}(\omega t+Qx)`$
$`\alpha _{}n_yn_x+{\displaystyle \frac{n_y}{t}}=4\beta n_xn_z+2\rho _En_z{\displaystyle \frac{^2n_x}{x^2}}+2\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}n_z\mathrm{cos}(\omega t+Qx)`$
$`\alpha _zn_zn_x+{\displaystyle \frac{n_z}{t}}=2\rho _E\left\{n_x{\displaystyle \frac{^2n_y}{x^2}}n_y{\displaystyle \frac{^2n_x}{x^2}}\right\}+2\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}\left\{n_x\mathrm{sin}(\omega t+Qx)n_y\mathrm{cos}(\omega t+Qx)\right\}.`$ (6)
The last equation in Eqs. (6) can be interpreted as the continuity equation for the interlayer current. The external (but self-consistent) chemical potential contributes to the current via the first term in the left side of this equation ($`n_x1`$). The first term in the right hand side gives the current density due to phase slips, $`J=\rho _E\phi (x)/x`$, equivalent to a dissipationless supercurrent density of the excitonic condensation. In the presence of the small in-plane magnetic field (the commensurate state) $`J=\rho _EQ`$. Finally, the last term is analogous to the AC Josephson current. The perturbative solution around $`\widehat{n}^0=(1,0,0)`$ can be achieved by making the harmonic expansion: $`\widehat{n}=\stackrel{}{A}\mathrm{sin}(\omega t+Qx)+\stackrel{}{B}\mathrm{cos}(\omega t+Qx)+\stackrel{}{n}^0+\mathrm{}`$. Substituting this into equations (Theory of the tunneling resonances of the bilayer electron systems in strong magnetic field), $`A`$ and $`B`$ can be determined after linearizing the Landau-Lifshitz equation, and one can derive the non-homogeneous leading terms in $`\widehat{n}(x,t)`$. Plugging this into Eq.(2) (after replacing the coefficients $`A`$ and $`B`$ in $`\widehat{n}(x,t)`$), and making the space-time average, we finally end up with an expression for the steady state tunneling DC current

$`I_t={\displaystyle \frac{8e\beta \mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}^2\omega (\alpha _z+\alpha _{})}{(8\beta \rho _EQ^2\omega ^2+\alpha _z\alpha _{})^2+\omega ^2(\alpha _z+\alpha _{})^2}}.`$ (7)
Solution (7) qualitatively well describes the peaks at $`\omega \sqrt{8\beta \rho _E}Q`$, corresponding to the resonance condition for the gapless acoustic mode. The height and the width of the interlayer current are controlled by the damping. In the absence of the damping $`I_t(\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}^2)`$ has a singular peak at $`\sqrt{8\beta \rho _E}Q`$. Solution (7) is parametrically unstable for $`\omega ^28\beta \rho _EQ^2`$ (“tachionic” regime) as in the case of long Josephson junctions, (see e.g. malomed ), but it is stable for the large voltage limit $`\omega ^28\beta \rho _EQ^2`$ where the I-V characteristic follows the power law $`I_t1/V^3`$. Although it has been speculated by Fogler and Wilczek fogler  that the interlayer current peaks resemble the long AC Josephson effect eck  (where the location of the peaks are shifted by $`\alpha _{}`$, and $`\alpha _z`$), here we argue the observation of these peaks is the manifestation of the spontaneous phase coherence, where the lowest energy state of the electrons is in a symmetric linear combination of two layers which allow the electrons tunnel through the energy barrier between two quantum wells without resistance (if $`\alpha _{}=\alpha _z=0`$). It is also possible to search for the excitonic superfluid modes through out the interlayer tunneling measurement. The staggered supercurrent density of the excitonic pairs in the superfluid state is given by $`J_s=\rho _EQ_s`$ for low tunneling energies. The velocity of the collective modes alters by $`J_s`$: $`\omega _Q\omega _{Q+Q_s}`$. In the interlayer tunneling effect, the incident electrons are scattered by these collective modes. From the conservation of the energy and momentum, we have $`eV=\mathrm{}\omega _{Q+Q_s}`$, i.e., the superfluid current shifts the location of the peaks.

Close to the order-disorder transition point, the experiment suggests the possibility of the coexistence of the incompressible state with the compressible state SternHalperin . In this circumstances, the current from one layer to other layer can transfer through the phase coherent channel, as was described above, and also through the quasiparticle channels which are in the “uncorrelated” state. The contribution from the latter to the interlayer current in low voltages is dominant, which gives rise to a linear I-V characteristic, and therefore the possiblity of the DC Josephson effect is ruled out (see below).

Small Voltages: For low bias voltages, we begin with the Landau-Lifshitz equations, Eqs.(3), and (4) (in the rest frame). Similar to Eqs.(6) we can derive a set of equations in this limit. The perturbative solution about $`\widehat{m}=(1,0,0)`$ can be obtained by a calculation similar to that above. First we consider the simplest case of the zero in-plane magnetic field ($`Q=0`$). The uniform and static solution can be obtained easily. Given these solutions, one can find the interlayer conductance

$$G_t=\frac{2e^2\alpha _z\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}}{4\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}(2\beta +\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS})+\alpha _z\alpha _{}}.$$
(8)
A similar technique can be used to derive the analytical (non-uniform) solution in the presence of in-plane magnetic field if $`\rho _EQ^2\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}`$. The effect of the tunneling term (which is similar to the driving force) is to create only the harmonics with “wave-number” $`Q`$ which itself will nonlinearly generate zero, $`2Q`$ and higher harmonics. Because of the damping, the amplitudes of all other harmonics (but the first harmonic) is expected to be zero in the zero temperature limit. It is therefore natural to start with the following harmonic expansion in the rest frame $`m_x=1m^+m^{}/2`$, where $`m^+=Ae^{iQx}+Be^{iQx}+m_0^++\mathrm{}`$, and $`m^+=m_z+im_y`$. Assuming that the leading perturbative terms should be the first harmonics of the driven wave-number we can determine $`A=B=\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}(4\beta i\alpha _{})/(8\beta \rho _EQ^2+\alpha _z\alpha _{})`$. Substituting these into the Landau-Lifshitz equations, and linearizing them in terms of $`A`$, and $`B`$, we can find the zeroth harmonic term $`m_0^+`$, and then the interlayer DC current $`I_t=\alpha _ze<m_z(x,t)>=\alpha _zem_{z0}`$, and the interlayer conductance can be obtained

$`G_t={\displaystyle \frac{8e^2\beta \mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}^2\alpha _z}{\alpha _z\alpha _{}(8\beta \rho _EQ^2+\alpha _z\alpha _{})+(32\beta ^2+2\alpha _{}^2)\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}^2}}.`$ (9)
The height of this peak falls off like $`1/Q^2`$ (for high in-plane magnetic field), but the location of its center does not vary with in-plane magnetic field, consistent with spielman1  (see also Fig. 1). This perturbative solution is valid for small $`V`$’s and large $`Q`$, and it coincides with the residual zero voltage peak in the presence of in-plane magnetic field.

We note in passing that these solutions are valid in their respective limits, but that at intermediate voltages it may be possible to have more than one solution to a nonlinear differential equation. The basin of attraction of the solutions will depend upon damping and other details of the system.

Numerical results: Our estimate shows the cross over between low and high bias voltages occurs at $`0.01mV`$. To examine the accuracy of our model, the interlayer conductance peaks have been drawn, by using two adjustable parameters. In Figs. 1 and 2 the fit to the experimental data spielman1  is obtained by the following damping coefficients: $`\alpha _{}=0.25\alpha _z`$, $`\alpha _{}\alpha _z(\alpha _{}+\alpha _z)^2=32\beta ^2\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}^2`$ (for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}=90\mu K`$, and $`\sqrt{8\beta \mathrm{\Delta }_{SAS}}=70mK`$, we find $`\alpha _z=75mK`$, and $`\alpha _{}=18mK`$). In Fig. 1, the height of the central residual (solid line) and the split off peaks (dashed line) vs. $`B_{}`$ have been derived by Eq. (7), and (9). In Fig. 2 we present the locations of the split off peaks derived from Eq. (7).

We presented a physical picture based on a driven-damped easy-plane pseudospin ferromagnet model for the experimental observation of the interlayer conductance peak in a bi-layer electron system at $`\nu =1`$ spielman1 . The first theoretical prediction for low bias voltage conductance peak vs. in-plane magnetic field has been made. It has been shown, at high voltages, due to the non-linear behavior of the capacitance energy, the inter-layer current shifts by in-plane magnetic field.

We gratefully acknowledge helpful interactions with Allan MacDonald, Steve Girvin, and Elena Bascones. This work is supported by NSF MRSEC DMR-0080054 (MA), NSF-NATO DGE-0075191 (RK) and NSF EPS-9720651 (KM).


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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

Most of the brightest celestial X-ray sources recorded in a given year are transient outbursts from black hole binaries in the Galaxy. The eruptions are understood as a consequence of a low rate of mass accretion from the companion star . The material gradually fills the outer regions of an accretion disk surrounding the black hole. When the disk surface density reaches a critical value, matter spirals into the inner disk where it reaches X-ray emitting temperatures before falling into the black hole event horizon . Such X-ray novae are the parent population for identifying black holes that are remnants of massive stars. The mass of the compact object (typically 5–15 $`M_{}`$ ) is deduced from radial velocity studies of the companion star. In most cases such measurements are only possible when the system has returned to relative quiescence, and the companion can be seen against the glare of the hot gases in the disk. In establishing the nature of the compact object, the critical argument is whether the mass exceeds the upper limit ($`3.0`$ $`M_{}`$ ) for the mass of a neutron star. There are now 17 “dynamical black hole” binaries in the Milky Way or LMC: 14 were first noticed as bright X-ray novae , while the other 3 cases are persistent X-ray sources with O/B type companions.

Observations with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have pioneered efforts to further study black holes and their occasional relativistic jets via broadband X-ray observations during active states of accretion. The X-ray timing and spectral properties convey information about physical processes that occur near the black hole event horizon, and one of the primary research goals is to obtain constraints on the black hole mass and spin using predictions of general relativity (GR) in the strong-field regime. There is also the need to understand accretion physics for each of the four distinct emission states that are displayed by so many accreting black holes systems. In this paper we describe recent advances in these topics, with particular attention to the diverse forms of quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs)  that have been detected during the extensive monitoring programs for X-ray transients conducted with RXTE.

## 2 High Frequency Oscillations in Accreting Black Hole Systems

The topic of high-frequency QPOs (HFQPOs) in black hole binaries (40-450 Hz) has evolved substantially in the last year. Transient HFQPOs are detected with RXTE in 5 sources (4 dynamical black holes and 1 candidate). These subtle oscillations have rms amplitudes that are typically only $`1`$ % of the mean count rate. The associated power spectra are shown in Fig. 1, and their properties are summarized in Table 1. Three of these sources exhibit pairs of HFQPOs: GRO J1655–40 (300, 450 Hz; ), XTE J1550–564 (184, 276 Hz; ), and GRS 1915+105 (40, 67; ). Furthermore, in Section 3 below we report the detection of additional HFQPOs in GRS 1915+105 at 164 and 328 Hz.

The commensurate frequencies (3:2 ratio) in pairs of HFQPOs from
GRO J1655–40 and XTE J1550–564  may suggest a cause in some type of resonance phenomenon involving oscillations proscribed by general relativity, as originally proposed by Abramowicz & Kluzniak . The observations cannot be interpreted as non-sinusoidal structures in the wave pattern, in the sense of harmonics in a Fourier series, because the individual detections (in a given energy band) appear as a single peak in the power spectrum, and their frequencies are recognized as $`2\nu `$ or $`3\nu `$ only when the ensemble of results is examined.

The resonance hypothesis  has been discussed in terms of accretion blobs following perturbed orbits in the inner accretion disk. Unlike Newtonian gravity, GR predicts independent oscillation frequencies for each spatial coordinate for orbits around a rotating compact object, as seen from the rest frame of a distant observer. GR coordinate frequencies and their differences (i.e. beat frequencies) have been proposed to explain some of the X-ray QPOs from both neutron stars and black holes . At the radii in the accretion disk where X-rays originate, the GR coordinate frequencies are predicted to have varying, non-integral ratios. The commensurate frequencies in pairs of HFQPOs, noted above, can therefore be interpreted as a signature of resonance, e.g. between pairs of coordinate frequencies in the inner disk. Unlike the azimuthal and polar coordinates frequencies, the radial coordinate frequency reaches a maximum value and then falls to zero as the radius decreases toward the location of the innermost stable orbit (see , , and references therein). This ensures the possibility of commensurate coordinate frequencies somewhere in the inner disk. For example, there is a wide range in the dimensionless spin parameter, $`a_{}`$, where one can find a particular radius that corresponds to a 2:1, 3:1, or 3:2 ratio in the orbital and radial coordinate frequencies. A resonance between the polar and radial coordinate frequencies is also possible. In the resonance concept, nonlinear perturbations may grow at these radii, ultimately producing X-ray oscillations that represent some combination of the individual resonance frequencies, their sum, or their difference. However, there remain serious uncertainties as to whether such structures could overcome the severe damping forces and emit X-rays with sufficient amplitude and coherence to produce the observed HFQPOs .

Models for “diskoseismic” oscillations adopt a more global view of the inner disk as a GR resonance cavity . This paradigm has certain attractions for explaining HFQPOs, but integral harmonics are not predicted for the three types of diskoseismic modes derived for adiabatic perturbations in a thin accretion disk. Clearly, there is also a need to investigate the possibility of resonances within the paradigm of diskoseismology.

As initially noted by Strohmayer , the HFQPO measurements may be seen to suggest substantial black hole spin. For the 3 sources with pairs QPOs, optical or IR studies have yielded measurements of the black hole mass. In each case the fastest QPOs exceed the maximum orbital rotation frequency ($`\nu _\varphi `$) at the innermost stable circular orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole  (i.e. dimensionless spin parameter, $`a_{}=0`$). If the maximum Keplerian frequency is the highest frequency at which a QPO can be seen, then the measurements require prograde spin, e.g. $`a_{}>0.15`$ for GRO J1655-40. On the other hand, even higher values of the spin parameter are required if the QPOs represent either a resonance in coordinate frequencies  ($`a_{}>0.25`$), or pairs of diskoseismic modes that exhibit commensurate frequencies by chance  ($`a_{}>0.9`$).

Encouragement for linking HFQPOs and GR oscillations can be found in the fact  that the HFQPOs in XTE J1550–564 and GRO J1655–40 scale $`M^1`$. This result is generally consistent with the known mechanisms related to disk oscillations in the strong-field regime of general relativity, as long as the values of the spin parameter ($`a_{}`$) are similar for these two black holes. These results illustrate both the quantitative value of HFQPO detections as a means of probing the physical properties of black holes, and also the need to continue efforts to independently measure black hole masses via dynamical optical studies. The spin measurements would be of further value towards evaluating the role of black hole rotation in the production of jets .

Finally, the investigation of HFQPOs and the the energy spectra for both XTE J1550–564 and GRO J1655–40 show identical patterns of behavior that demand explanation . There is a systematic increase in the strength of the hard X-ray power-law component (i.e. the type with index $`2.5`$) as the observed HFQPO shifts from $`3\nu `$ to $`2\nu `$. We also note that HFQPOs are generally not detected either when the accretion disk dominates the spectrum (i.e. power-law is absent), nor when there is radio emission and the power-law is flatter (index $`1.7`$). These patterns of spectral behavior were used to select the data that yields a new HFQPO detection for GRS 1915+105, as described in the next section.

## 3 New HFQPOs with Harmonics in GRS 1915+105

GRS 1915+105 is the most extraordinarily variable X-ray binary known . It is also the first member of the “microquasars”, a handful of Galactic X-ray sources that produce relativistic jets , as seen in the “superluminal” separation of bipolar knots in sequences of radio images. The system is a confirmed black hole binary that contains a $`14`$ $`M_{}`$ black hole . A rich variety of correlations have been found between X-ray, radio, and infrared outbursts , contributing substantially to the overall success in linking mass ejections to conditions in the inner accretion disk.

There is an extensive archive of $`800`$ pointed observations of GRS 1915+105 obtained with RXTE during the last six years. About half of these show substantial variability, while the others show roughly steady flux with $`\sigma /\mu <0.18`$, evaluated in 1 s bins. Studies of the energy division between the thermal/disk and hard power-law components suggest that most of the steady states are either hard states with persistent radio emission or soft states in which most of the flux originates in the disk . The transient HFQPO at 67 Hz  tends to appear in the latter condition, especially when the spectrum is soft and very bright . On the other hand, the steady states of GRS 1915+105 offer limited exposures to conditions when both the disk and power-law exhibit high luminosity, which corresponds to the times when harmonic HFQPOs appear in XTE J1550-564 and GRO J1655-40. We are therefore motivated to investigate the variable states of GRS 1915+105, using a scheme to sort the exposures into quadrants of the color-intensity diagram, in order to accumulate significant exposure time when the source is bright and moderately hard.

For the present analysis, we select the 14 RXTE observations during 1997 September 5-29. These data offer long exposures, some rare bright-hard-steady states, and types of wild variations that include frequent excursions into bright-hard states. The latter cases are highlighted by light curves of the $`\theta `$ classification of Belloni et al. . The background-subtracted PCA spectra are analyzed at a time resolutions of 16 s. The output of all operating PCUs is combined for each time interval, after normalizing each PCU to the characteristics of PCU #2. The PCU normalization is defined using six energy intervals and simply scaling the mean count rate per interval to the results for PCU #2, using the mean spectrum derived for the subset of the observations in which both PCUs were operating. Locations on the color-intensity diagram are computed using a hardness ratio ($`HR`$) of normalized source counts at 13-30 keV vs. 2-13 keV. The resulting color-intensity diagram and the data sorting scheme are shown in Fig 2. The hard (“H”) and soft (“S”) regions are separated by the line, $`HR=0.045`$, and there are three intensity levels (1,2,3), as shown in the Figure.

The average power density spectra (PDS) are then computed for the data in each of the six regions of the color-intensity diagram. The search for HFQPOs (see methods in ) produces detections restricted to regions H2 and H3, using data confined to the energy range of 13-30 keV. These PDS are shown in Fig 3. The H2 PDS shows a peak with a significance of 5.7 $`\sigma `$ at $`163\pm 5`$ Hz with an rms amplitude of $`1.56\pm 0.14`$ % of the mean count rate at 13-30 keV. Similarly, the H3 PDS yields a 4.4 $`\sigma `$ HFQPO at $`166\pm 3`$ Hz with amplitude $`1.73\pm 0.20`$ %.

We then combine the H2 and H3 PDS (weighted mean values per bin) and fit the results for an HFQPO with harmonics. The data and best-fit model are shown in Fig 4, and the HFQPO parameters are included in Table 1. With the first harmonic included in the model, the HFQPO at $`165\pm 3`$ Hz has a significance above 9 $`\sigma `$. The second peak at 330 Hz has a significance of 3.7 $`\sigma `$, while there is a hint (not significant) of the next harmonic at 495 Hz.

In conclusion, the spectral characteristics of HFQPOs in XTE J1550-564 and GRO J1655-40 have provided guidance for finding new HFPQOs at 165 and 330 Hz in GRS 1915+105. The 165 Hz QPO in GRS 1915+105 then appears closely related to the QPO systems with $`\nu _0=150`$ Hz and 92 Hz in GRO J1655-40 and XTE J1550-564, respectively. Given the optical mass estimates for all three black holes, the results suggest faster spin in GRS 1915+105, compared to the other two sources, if the QPOs originate from a common inner disk oscillation related to general relativity. On the other hand, the QPOs at 41 and 67 Hz in GRS 1915+105 may arise from a different physical mechanism.

## 4 Low Frequency QPOs and Problems in Accretion Physics

The X-ray PDS of many black hole transients display low frequency QPOs (LFQPOs), roughly in the range of 0.05 to 30 Hz. The oscillations can be particularly strong, with peak to trough ratios as high as 1.5 . LFQPOs have been traced out to energy bands as high as 60-124 keV . The measurement properties of LFQPOs are summarized in Table 2. Some authors pursue separate interpretations for HFQPOs and the more common LFQPOs because they seem to evolve separately and may sometimes coexist . However, others argue that there are unification schemes involving both neutron stars and black holes in which particular mechanisms may operate across a wide range in frequency .

Investigations of LFQPO properties versus spectral parameters of the disk and power law components generally show that the LFQPO frequency is most often correlated with the disk flux . However, the rms amplitude generally increases between 2 and 20 keV, and the amplitude spectrum therefore resembles the power-law component rather than the accretion disk . This dualism in correlations encourages LFQPO investigations motivated to deduce the origin of the power-law spectrum. One major complication here is that broad-band spectral studies tend to emphasize the importance of distinguishing two forms of X-ray power law spectra . At highest luminosity (the “very high” state), the spectrum is dominated by a power law with a photon index, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }2.5`$, which may extend to 500 keV or higher . Alternatively, in the “low/hard” state, the power-law component shows a flatter spectrum ($`\mathrm{\Gamma }1.7`$) that is cut off above $`100`$ keV, and this state is almost always associated with a steady radio jet. On the other hand, the PDS and QPO properties of these two states may appear rather similar .

For the strongest QPOs in GRS 1915+105, efforts were made to track the individual oscillations to determine the origin of the frequency drifts and to measure the average “QPO-folded” oscillation profile . The results show a random walk in QPO phase, with only minor departures from a sinusoidal waveform. The ramifications of this study for QPO models remain uncertain. There are now a large number of proposed LFQPO mechanisms in the literature, and a full review is beyond the scope of this paper. The models include global disk oscillations  as well as oscillations in the radial position of complex accretion structures, such as shock fronts  or a transition layer between the disk and a hotter Comptonizing region . The construction of complex accretion models is driven not only by the need to account for the power-law spectrum, but also by the relatively slow frequencies of LFQPOs. Given the capacity of LFQPOs for high amplitudes and long-term stability (see Table 2), it would be attractive to associate them with Keplerian frequencies in the disk; however, the relevant disk radii are well beyond the expected limits of the X-ray emitting region. An alternative model known as the “accretion-ejection instability” invokes spiral waves in a magnetized disk , with a transfer of energy out to the radius of corotation with the spiral wave. This model uses magnetic field effects to account for QPOs, the power-law spectrum, and perhaps relativistic outflows as well. Further details are given in other papers of this workshop.

Recent efforts to understand LFQPOs have given attention to the phase lags associated with these oscillations and their harmonics. The analysis technique uses Fourier cross spectra to measure both the phase lags and the coherence parameter (versus frequency) between different X-ray energy bands, e.g. 2-6 vs. 13-30 keV. Unexpectedly, both positive and negative phase lags were found , and suggestions were made to classify LFQPOs by phase lag properties . While the expansion of LFQPO subtypes may not be a welcome complication, it has been shown that recognition of the phase lag properties allows us to better understand the relationship between certain types of QPOs and the conditions in the disk . This is illustrated in Fig 5. Furthermore, data selections by LFQPO subtypes provided guidance that helped to establish the harmonic nature of HFQPOs in XTE J1550-564 and the relationship between LFQPOs and HFPQOs in that source .

In closing, it must be noted that the relevance of X-ray timing studies requires discussions of broad power peaks in the PDS , which are features wider than the limit ($`Q2`$) used to define QPOs. Broad power peaks are involved in important studies such as the means to distinguish accreting black holes from neutron stars . The evolution of broad power peaks has also been linked to major behavioral changes in a black hole binary, as shown in disappearance of a broad power feature just at the time when Cyg X-1 recently lost its ability to remain in the low-hard state and maintain a steady jet .


text:
# Quantum Teleportation of Optical Quantum Gates

(17 March 2003)

## Abstract

We show that a universal set of gates for quantum computation with optics can be quantum teleported through the use of EPR entangled states, homodyne detection, and linear optics and squeezing operations conditioned on measurement outcomes. This scheme may be used for fault-tolerant quantum computation in any optical scheme (qubit or continuous variable). The teleportation of nondeterministic nonlinear gates employed in linear optics quantum computation is discussed.

Quantum computation (QC) may allow certain problems to be solved more efficiently than is possible on any classical machine Nie00 , and optical realizations are particularly appealing because of the advanced techniques of quantum optics for state preparation, manipulation and measurement. However, many challenges still remain for fault-tolerant implementations of optical QC. In proposals for QC using optics KLM01 ; Ral01 ; GKP01 , it is necessary to invoke some form of an optical nonlinear transformation, and unlike linear optics these nonlinear transformations either suffer from large losses (decoherence) or employ nondeterministic gates that fail a large fraction of the time.

The remarkable results by Gottesman and Chuang Got99  show that quantum teleportation Ben93  can be used as a universal quantum primitive. In essense, quantum teleportation allows for the fault-tolerant implementation of “difficult” quantum gates that would otherwise corrupt the fragile information of a quantum state. The linear optics quantum computation (LOQC) scheme KLM01  relies on the quantum teleportation of nondeterministic nonlinear gates in the instances that they succeed in order to perform fault-tolerant QC. However, to overcome the difficulty in performing Bell-state measurements in this optical encoding using only linear optics Lut99 , the LOQC scheme employs a near-deterministic quantum teleportation that places severe demands on the photodetectors employed for the measurements. The requirements to perform fault-tolerant quantum teleportation in this scheme greatly exceed current technologies.

Fortunately, there exists an alternative approach for quantum teleportation in optical systems: continuous-variable quantum teleportation (CVQT) Bra98 ; Fur98 . The measurements involved in this scheme are the highly developed and efficient techniques of homodyne detection Pol92 . Also, experimental CVQT can be performed unconditionally Fur98 , and does not suffer from the difficulties associated with the Bell-state measurements of qubit quantum teleportation Bra98d . It is of great interest, then, to determine what optical quantum gates can be teleported using CVQT (even in qubit schemes), and if such gates can be used to implement fault-tolerant optical QC.

In this Letter, we show that CVQT can easily teleport quantum gates that employ linear optics and squeezing operations. Also, by allowing squeezing operations conditioned on the results of measurements, we show that one can teleport optical nonlinear gates generated by some Hamiltonians that are cubic polynomial in the canonical coordinates. We prove that the gates which can be teleported in this fashion form a universal set of gates for QC, and that this scheme allows for the fault-tolerant implementation of QC in *any* optical scheme employing qubits, qudits or CV encodings, provided one can perform fault-tolerant linear optics and squeezing. We analyze “noisy” teleportation employing finitely-squeezed states and imperfect detectors, and the resulting effect on the teleported gates. We conclude by discussing the challenges involved in using CVQT to teleport the nondeterministic gates in LOQC.

The transformations describing linear optics and squeezing possess a natural group structure which will be exploited for their quantum teleportation. Thus, we begin by reviewing the Pauli and Clifford groups for CV quantum computation GKP01 ; Bar02 . The standard Pauli group $`𝒞_1`$ on $`n`$ coupled oscillator systems is the Heisenberg-Weyl group, which consists of phase-space displacement operators for the $`n`$ oscillators. It is the group of “linear optics,” which can be implemented by mixing states with strong coherent fields at a beamsplitter Wal94 . The algebra that generates this group is spanned by the $`2n`$ canonical operators $`\widehat{q}_i`$, $`\widehat{p}_i`$, $`i=1,\mathrm{},n`$, along with the identity operator $`\widehat{I}`$, satisfying the commutation relations $`[\widehat{q}_i,\widehat{p}_j]=\text{i}\mathrm{}\delta _{ij}\widehat{I}`$. (In the following, we set $`\mathrm{}=1`$.) For a single oscillator, the Pauli group consists of operators of the form $`R(q,p)=\mathrm{exp}(\text{i}(q\widehat{p}p\widehat{q}))`$, with $`q,p`$. The Pauli operators for one system can be used to construct a set of Pauli operators $`\{R_i(q_i,p_i);i=1,\mathrm{},n\}`$ for $`n`$ systems (where each operator labeled by $`i`$ acts as the identity on all other systems $`ji`$). This set generates the Pauli group $`𝒞_1`$. The Clifford group $`𝒞_2`$ is the group of transformations acting by conjugation that preserves the Pauli group $`𝒞_1`$; i.e., a gate $`U`$ is in the Clifford group if $`URU^1𝒞_1`$ for every $`R𝒞_1`$. The Clifford group $`𝒞_2`$ for continuous variables is easily shown Bar02  to be the (semidirect) product of the Pauli group and the linear symplectic group of all one-mode and two-mode squeezing transformations.

Transformations in the Clifford group do not form a universal set of gates for optical QC. However, Clifford group transformations together with *any* higher-order nonlinear transformation acting on a single mode form a universal set of gates Llo99 . Because arbitrary nonlinear gates can be constructed with such a set, this result also applies to qubit-based optical realizations for any encoding of qubits KLM01 ; Ral01 ; GKP01 . In the following, we construct a scheme to use CVQT to teleport such a universal set of gates.

Quantum teleportation, although initially proposed for remote parties, can also be used in a quantum circuit. Consider a three mode optical system (interferometer). Let mode $`1`$ be in an arbitrary pure state $`|\psi `$ (although this circuit works equivalently well for mixed states), and modes $`2`$ and $`3`$ be in the maximally entangled Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) state $`|\mathrm{EPR}_{23}=|q_2|q_3dq`$, where $`|q`$ are position eigenstates defined by $`\widehat{q}|q=q|q`$. Modes $`1`$ and $`2`$ are then subjected to joint projective measurements of the form

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_{q,p}=R_1(q,p)|\mathrm{EPR}_{12}\mathrm{EPR}|R_1^{}(q,p),$$
(1)
where $`R_1(q,p)`$ is the Pauli operator on mode $`1`$. The measurement yields two classical numbers, $`q_0`$ and $`p_0`$, which are used to condition a Pauli operation $`R_3(q_0,p_0)`$ on mode $`3`$. The result of this circuit is that mode $`3`$ is left in the state $`|\psi `$, and we say that this state has been quantum teleported to mode $`3`$. A circuit diagram for quantum teleportation is given in the shaded box of Fig. 1. Repeating this circuit on many modes allows for the quantum teleportation of multi-mode states, preserving entanglement between modes.

We now consider how CVQT can be used to teleport a quantum gate. Consider an arbitrary transformation $`S`$ in the single mode ($`n=1`$) Clifford group, and suppose we wish to implement this gate on an arbitrary single mode state $`|\psi `$. In the following, we show that it is possible to implement $`S`$ on one mode of an EPR state, and then employ a modified CVQT circuit to “teleport” this gate onto the desired state $`|\psi `$.

We use the property that, if $`U`$ is in the single mode Clifford group, then

$$UR(q_0,p_0)=(UR(q_0,p_0)U^1)U=R^{}(q_0,p_0)U,$$

and $`R^{}(q_0,p_0)=UR(q_0,p_0)U^1`$ is an element of the Pauli group due to the definition of the Clifford group, determined by the gate $`U`$. Thus, the desired Clifford gate $`U`$ can be quantum teleported onto the state $`|\psi `$ simply by implementing $`U`$ on one mode of the EPR pair and by appropriately altering the conditional displacement of the quantum teleportation. Using $`n`$ single-mode quantum teleportation circuits, it is then possible to teleport any gate in the $`n`$-mode Clifford group. See Fig. 1 for an illustration of how this gate teleportation is performed.

In addition, this technique can be used to teleport more general quantum gates than those in the Clifford group. Consider the set of gates defined by $`𝒞_3=\{U|U𝒞_1U^1𝒞_2\}`$. This set includes all gates that, when conjugating any Pauli group operation, yield a Clifford group operation. Note that $`𝒞_3`$ is not a group (it is not closed under composition) and contains nonlinear transformations. One example of a nonlinear gate in $`𝒞_3`$ is the *cubic phase gate* $`V(\gamma )=\mathrm{exp}(\text{i}\gamma \widehat{q}^3)`$, with $`\gamma `$, which Gottesman *et al* GKP01  have shown how to implement using Clifford group transformations and homodyne and photon counting measurements. (For details, see Bar02b .) An example of a multimode gate in $`𝒞_3`$ is the *controlled phase gate* $`CP_{ij}=\mathrm{exp}(\frac{1}{2}\text{i}\widehat{q}_i\widehat{q}_j^2)`$ acting on two modes $`i`$ and $`j`$. In comparison to the CV phase gate Bar02 , this gate performs a phase gate operation on mode $`j`$, the magnitude of which depends on the state of mode $`i`$. It is a controlled Clifford group transformation; others can be defined similarly.

We now define a quantum teleportation circuit to teleport a gate $`U𝒞_3`$. Commuting this gate through the conditional operations gives

$$UR(q_0,p_0)=(UR(q_0,p_0)U^1)U=R_2^{}(q_0,p_0)U,$$

where, by the definition of $`𝒞_3`$, $`R_2^{}(q_0,p_0)`$ is an element of the Clifford group. Thus, any gate in $`𝒞_3`$ can be quantum teleported using Clifford group transformations conditioned on measurement outcomes; i.e., conditional phase-space displacements and squeezing operations.

Consider, as an example, the CVQT of the cubic phase gate $`V(\gamma )`$. Commuting this gate back through the Pauli operator gives

$`R_2^{}(q_0,p_0;\gamma )`$ $`=V(\gamma )R(q_0,p_0)V(\gamma )^1`$
$`=\mathrm{exp}\left(\text{i}\left(q_0\widehat{p}p_0\widehat{q}+3\gamma q_0\widehat{q}^2\right)\right).`$
This operation, generated by an inhomogeneous quadratic polynomial in $`\widehat{q}`$ and $`\widehat{p}`$, lies in the Clifford group and can be implemented using a combination of conditional phase-space displacements and one-mode squeezing. Thus, to teleport $`V(\gamma )`$, this gate is performed on one mode of an EPR state, followed by a modified teleportation scheme with a conditional operation $`R_2^{}(q_0,p_0;\gamma )`$; the result is that a state $`|\psi `$ is quantum teleported into the transformed state $`V(\gamma )|\psi `$.

The cubic phase gate $`V(\gamma )`$, being a higher-order nonlinear gate on a single mode, can be combined with Clifford group gates of $`n`$ modes to form a universal set of gates for QC on $`n`$ modes Llo99 , and a scheme exists to implement this cubic phase gate GKP01 . Thus, with CVQT it is possible to teleport a universal and realizable set of gates. If Clifford group transformations and CVQT can be implemented fault-tolerantly, then it is possible to use this scheme to implement a fault-tolerant cubic phase gate (or other nonlinear gate in $`𝒞_3`$) using a gate that is not fault-tolerant. Thus, any nonlinear transformations can be moved “off-line” GKP01 ; Got99 ; although these transformations must still be performed in the quantum teleportation circuit, they can be made to act on EPR ancilla states non-deterministically rather than on the fragile encoded states.

Because most optical quantum information schemes employ the Kerr effect (generated by a Hamiltonian of the form $`(\widehat{a}^{})^2\widehat{a}^2`$) as the nonlinear transformation outside of the Clifford group, it is of interest to consider how such a transformation can be implemented using the above universal set of gates. Using the relation $`e^{\text{i}At}e^{\text{i}Bt}e^{\text{i}At}e^{\text{i}Bt}=e^{\text{i}[A,B]t^2}+𝒪(t^3)`$, a combination of cubic phase gates and Clifford gates can be used to simulate the Kerr nonlinearity to any degree of accuracy. We also note that it is possible to iteratively define more higher-order sets of gates $`𝒞_k=\{U|U𝒞_1U^1𝒞_{k1}\}`$ that can be implemented fault-tolerantly if gates in $`𝒞_{k1}`$ can be implemented fault-tolerantly. The Kerr nonlinearity is related to transformations in the set $`𝒞_4`$.

We now consider the effects of realistic noise and errors that may occur in this scheme, and show that quantum error correcting codes (QECCs) may allow for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Clifford group transformations describing linear optics and squeezing will in general contain errors such as imprecise transformations (e.g., imperfect beamsplitter reflectivities) or linear coupling to the environment such as amplitude damping. Due to the linear nature of these couplings, such errors are described by “small” Clifford group transformations; it is unlikely that a large nonlinear error will occur in an optical system. For example, errors in the implementation of a displacement operation may be described by small displacement errors $`R(\delta q,\delta p)`$ with, say, a Gaussian distribution; see below. Thus, we represent such errors in Clifford group transformations by distributions of linear transformations $`R(\delta q,\delta p)`$, where $`\delta q^2+\delta p^2<S^2`$ for some maximum error distance $`S`$ in phase space.

To describe errors in CVQT, we must take into account finite squeezing and imperfect detection. In experiment Fur98 , the EPR states are approximated by two-mode squeezed vacua Enk99

$$|\eta _{23}=\sqrt{1\eta ^2}\underset{n=0}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\eta ^n|n_2|n_3,$$
(2)
with $`|n`$ the $`n`$-boson Fock state and $`0<\eta 1`$. In the limit $`\eta 1`$, this state becomes the maximally entangled EPR state $`|\mathrm{EPR}_{23}`$. The projective measurements of Eq. (1) are implemented via homodyne detection, and the displacement operation $`R_3(q_0,p_0)`$ is performed by mixing the field with a local oscillator at a beamsplitter; see Bra98 ; Fur98  for details. Finite squeezing $`\eta <1`$ and imperfect homodyne efficiency $`\nu <1`$ can characterised by a Gaussian noise term with variance $`\sigma =\mathrm{exp}(2\mathrm{tanh}^1\eta )+(1\nu ^2)/\nu ^2`$, defined such that $`\sigma =1/2`$ is the level of vacuum noise Joh02 . For demonstrated CVQT with fidelity $`F>0.5`$, we require $`\sigma <1`$; for fault-tolerant teleportation of quantum gates, $`\sigma `$ must be significantly smaller unless appropriate quantum error correction can be applied (see below).

Imperfect quantum teleportation can be described by a *transfer superoperator* $`_\sigma `$ defined on a state $`\rho `$ as

$$_\sigma (\rho )=\frac{\mathrm{d}q\mathrm{d}p}{\pi \sigma }\mathrm{exp}(\frac{q^2+p^2}{\sigma })R(q,p)\rho R^{}(q,p).$$

The transfer superoperator has the effect of convoluting the state $`\rho `$ with a Gaussian of standard deviation $`\sigma `$. Let $`_U`$ be the superoperator corresponding to a unitary transformation $`U`$, defined on a density matrix $`\rho `$ to be $`_U(\rho )=U\rho U^1`$. Using noisy quantum teleportation to teleport the gate $`U`$, the resulting transformation is described by the superoperator $`_U_\sigma `$. If $`_U^{}`$ describes a gate implementing the unitary transformation $`U`$ with small linear noise, the superoperator $`_U^{}_\sigma `$ describes a teleported gate with an additional Gaussian noise due to the teleportation.

Thus, noisy quantum teleportation of gates is described by a convolution of the (possibly noisy) gate with a Gaussian noise process; the corresponding errors can be viewed as random displacements $`R(\delta q,\delta p)`$ with $`\delta q^2+\delta p^2\sigma `$. The effect of this Gaussian noise and the existence of QECCs to correct this noise depends critically on the specific encoding used. Single photon encodings KLM01  and superpositions of coherent states Ral01  are extremely fragile to Gaussian noise. The encoding of Gottesman *et al* GKP01 , however, is specifically designed to protect against such Gaussian noise because small displacements in phase space can be detected and corrected. Briefly, this encoding employs superpositions of highly squeezed states, for which small displacement errors $`R(\delta q,\delta p)`$ can be detected and corrected using only Clifford group transformations and homodyne detection. As long as the displacement errors in the Clifford group transformations and the CVQT are sufficiently small compared to the length scale (in phase space) of the encoding, quantum error correction can be applied frequently enough to keep these errors small and contained; see GKP01  for details. In addition, these codes can be concatenated with the QECCs of Bra98b , which protect against large displacement errors on a single mode. Thus, our proposal for the quantum teleportation of nonlinear gates can be made fault-tolerant if encodings are used that are protected against Gaussian noise and the QECCs use fault-tolerant Clifford group operations (i.e., operations with small errors in the above sense). Creating the encoded states of GKP01  is extremely challenging because it requires coherent superpositions of highly squeezed states. These Gaussian noise processes, however, are indicative of optical systems, and the investigation of “Gaussian protected” encodings that require only Clifford group operations is essential for robust quantum information processing using optics.

Because CVQT can teleport *any* state of an optical mode, we can consider the use of CVQT in any optical quantum information process, even qubit-based schemes. One scheme Ral01  encoding qubits as coherent states could employ CVQT to implement the “difficult” Hadamard transformations requiring a Kerr nonlinearity in a fault-tolerant way. In LOQC, nondeterministic gates are used to implement nonlinear transformations on arbitrary states with up to two photons. Qubit-based quantum teleportation is employed to implement these gates fault-tolerantly, but the near-deterministic quantum teleportation of LOQC places strong demands on photodetectors and requires highly entangled multimode states. To instead employ CVQT, the problem arises that any gate to be teleported must be made to act on one mode of an EPR state. The probability of a successful gate operation may be affected by the photon number cutoff used for these states (the nonlinear sign gate being one such example). For high-fidelity quantum teleportation, one must employ highly squeezed states that have a corresponding high photon number cutoff (see Eq. (2)); thus, any effective teleportable gate must be designed to operate on such high-photon states. However, the challenges to design such a non-deterministic gate that can be teleported using this scheme may be less significant than the difficulties involved in the near-deterministic teleportation of LOQC.

In conclusion, we have shown that fault-tolerant implementations of Clifford group transformations and CVQT is sufficient to perform fault-tolerant QC in any optical scheme: qubits, qudits or CV. A nonlinear transformation such as the cubic phase gate (possible using Clifford group transformations, homodyne detection, and photon counting) can be performed “off-line” on EPR states and used as a resource to perform universal QC. Such gates would allow the implementation of difficult but critical nonlinear transformations such as the Kerr effect in a fault-tolerant way. The definition of an infinite series of gates $`𝒞_k`$ highlights which gates can be teleported in a straightforward manner. In particular, the cubic phase gate (rather than a Kerr nonlinearity) is identified as the most direct nonlinear operation that would achieve a universal set of gates. The simplicity and power of this gate clearly motivates its experimental demonstration and its use in future quantum information processing tasks. The use of CVQT in LOQC relies on the design of new nondeterministic nonlinear gates that can be teleported using this scheme. Finally, the Gaussian noise introduced through realistic CVQT can be corrected with suitable “Gaussian protected” encodings and Clifford group transformations, and the results presented here highlight the need for new, realistic quantum error correction schemes of this form.

###### Acknowledgements.

This work was supported in part by the European Union through RAMBOQ and the QUIPROCONE Network, and by Macquarie University. We acknowledge helpful discussions with K. Nemoto, T. Ralph and B. C. Sanders.


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# Untitled Document

Baltic Astronomy, vol.11, \***--\***, 2002.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF ASSUMING $`m`$=0 FOR
GLOBAL MODEL-FITTING

Travis S. Metcalfe1

1   Theoretical Astrophysics Center, Aarhus University, DENMARK

Received August 5, 2002

## Abstract

A recent re-analysis of Whole Earth Telescope observations of GD 358 obtained in 1990 suggests that asteroseismology of additional DBV white dwarfs can lead to independent constraints on the important, but poorly determined, $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma )^{16}\mathrm{O}`$ nuclear reaction rate. Data exist for several other DBV white dwarfs, but relatively few modes are detected and there is often no multiplet structure to aid in the identification of the spherical harmonic indices ($`\mathrm{}`$, $`m`$). I use a new grid of one million DBV models covering a broad range of masses, temperatures, and surface helium layer masses to investigate the consequences of assuming $`m`$=0 for global model-fitting. I find that when the spherical degree is known and the rotation period is of order 1 day, the model-fitting procedure applied to modes with unknown $`m`$-values will still correctly identify the families of possible solutions, and has a high probability of identifying the same globally optimal solution found when the $`m`$-value is known.

Key words:  methods: numerical—stars: individual (GD 358)—stars: oscillations—stars: white dwarfs.

1. INTRODUCTION

More than a decade after the outstanding successes with PG 1159 and GD 358 (Winget et al. 1991, 1994), the Whole Earth Telescope (WET; Nather et al. 1990) continues to look for variable white dwarfs with rich pulsation spectra. Unfortunately we have learned that these stars are truly exceptional—either in the number and variety of their intrinsic variations, or in our ability (and luck) to detect so many modes. A more typical WET run tends to yield a smaller number of modes, not necessarily with consecutive radial overtone numbers ($`k`$), and with few (if any) triplets or quintuplets to simplify the identification of the spherical degree ($`\mathrm{}`$) and azimuthal order ($`m`$) of each mode. This observational difficulty limits our ability to find meaningful theoretical model-fits for other white dwarfs. Consequently, what we have learned from more recent runs has been limited when compared to the shining successes of the past.

2. DBV MODEL GRID

Recent work using the 1990 data for GD 358 has suggested that reliable measurements of the central ratio of carbon to oxygen can be derived from asteroseismological data, which can subsequently yield precise constraints on the rate of the important $`{}_{}{}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma )^{16}\mathrm{O}`$ nuclear reaction (Metcalfe et al. 2000, 2001, 2002). The analysis of additional DBV white dwarfs using the same model-fitting method can, in principle, provide independent constraints on the reaction rate under varying conditions of density and temperature. However, until recently none of the other DBV white dwarfs had a sufficient number of observed periods, and the mode identifications were not secure. This meant that, at best, only the mass, temperature, and surface helium layer mass could be reliably deduced from the limited data.

With a larger number of free parameters a genetic algorithm based approach is preferable, but the prospect of fitting many DBVs with only 3 parameters makes the calculation of a full grid of models more efficient in the long run. Using a 32-processor beowulf system at Aarhus University, the $`\mathrm{}`$=1, $`m`$=0 pulsation periods between 100 and 1000 seconds were calculated for one million carbon-core DBV models with masses between 0.45 and 0.95 $`M_{}`$ (0.005 $`M_{}`$ resolution), temperatures between 20,000 and 30,000 K (100 K resolution), and $`\mathrm{log}\left(M_{\mathrm{He}}/M_{}\right)`$ between $``$2.0 and $``$7.3 (0.05 dex resolution). The grid required nearly 4 GHz-CPU-months to complete, but it was finished on the cluster after only a few days. This model grid now makes it possible to map the entire 3-dimensional parameter-space for a given set of observed periods in about 30 seconds111A web interface to the model-fitting program that uses this grid is available online at http://whitedwarf.org/research/fitwd/. Such a map for GD 358 in 1990 is shown in Figure 1.

3. MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS

Single-site observations of the faint DBV white dwarf CBS 114 revealed a total of 7 independent pulsation modes, and the period spacing implies that they all have spherical degree $`\mathrm{}`$=1 (Handler, Metcalfe, & Wood 2002). None of the modes exhibited multiplet structure, so the identification of the $`m`$-value was not possible. In 1990, triplets were observed in 9 of the 11 identified modes for GD 358, so we can use this data to determine empirically the consequences of making a wrong assumption about the $`m`$-values.

One hundred random data sets were created, drawing the period for each $`k`$ from the observed $`m`$=($``$1,0,+1) triplets at random. Since no triplets were observed for $`k`$=12 and $`k`$=18, these periods were included unaltered into each simulated data set. The model parameters that yielded the closest match to each set of simulated periods were determined by comparison with the entire grid of models described in section 2, and the root-mean-square period residuals were calculated.

4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION

The globally optimal models for each simulated data set are shown in Figure 2, where the darkness of the point indicates the quality of the fit. The families of models from Figure 1 are outlined for reference. In nearly every case, the data sets created from random $`m`$-values lead to optimal models that fall within the same families of models found when all of the modes are $`m`$=0. The basic picture of the model-space that we derive from modes with unknown $`m`$-value is very similar to what we see when they are all known to be $`m`$=0. The particular set of model parameters that turns out to be optimal may shift slightly, or may even fall into a different family of models when the $`m`$-values are unknown. Furthermore, the optimal models fall into the various families in rough proportion to the average quality of the fits in each region. In more than 80 percent of the simulations, the optimal model fell near the two darkest areas in Figure 1. Thus, we can think of the inclusion of modes with non-zero values of $`m`$ as a perturbation on the shape of the model-space: the general terrain is determined by the spacing of the modes regardless of their $`m`$-value, and small local features on that terrain are determined by the correct identification of $`m`$.

The rotation period of GD 358 at the surface is 0.9 days (Winget et al. 1994), so these results are only applicable to white dwarfs with comparably slow rotation. But it is encouraging that without a secure identification of $`m`$, we can still be confident that our overall picture of the model-space is sound. We can map out the possibilities, and to the degree that the optimal model is unique we can maximize the probability of finding an optimal solution very near to what it would be if we were certain that all of the modes were $`m`$=0.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I would like to thank Mike Montgomery for suggesting this empirical test, and Gerald Handler for providing the motivation, in the form of CBS 114. This work was supported by the Danish National Research Foundation through its establishment of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center.

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