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Finding a local Hamiltonian H[over ^] that has a given many-body wave function |ψ⟩ as its ground state, i.e., a parent Hamiltonian, is a challenge of fundamental importance in quantum technologies. Here we introduce a numerical method, inspired by quantum annealing, that efficiently performs this task through an artificial inverse dynamics: a slow deformation of the states |ψ(λ(t))⟩, starting from a simple state |ψ_{0}⟩ with a known H[over ^]_{0}, generates an adiabatic evolution of the corresponding Hamiltonian. We name this approach inverse quantum annealing. The method, implemented through a projection onto a set of local operators, only requires the knowledge of local expectation values, and, for long annealing times, leads to an approximate parent Hamiltonian whose degree of locality depends on the correlations built up by the states |ψ(λ)⟩. We illustrate the method on two paradigmatic models: the Kitaev fermionic chain and a quantum Ising chain in longitudinal and transverse fields.

We study the properties of a monitored ensemble of atoms driven by a laser field and in the presence of collective decay. The properties of the quantum trajectories describing the atomic cloud drastically depend on the monitoring protocol and are distinct from those of the average density matrix. By varying the strength of the external drive, a measurement-induced phase transition occurs separating two phases with entanglement entropy scaling subextensively with the system size. Incidentally, the critical point coincides with the superradiance transition of the trajectory-averaged dynamics. Our setup is implementable in current light-matter interaction devices, and most notably, the monitored dynamics is free from the postselection measurement problem, even in the case of imperfect monitoring.

Adiabatic quantum computation (AQC) is a promising counterpart of universal quantum computation, based on the key concept of quantum annealing (QA). QA is claimed to be at the basis of commercial quantum computers and benefits from the fact that the detrimental role of decoherence and dephasing seems to have poor impact on the annealing towards the ground state. While many papers show interesting optimization results with a sizable number of qubits, a clear evidence of a full quantum coherent behavior during the whole annealing procedure is still lacking. In this paper we show that quantum non-demolition (weak) measurements of Leggett Garg inequalities can be used to efficiently assess the quantumness of the QA procedure. Numerical simulations based on a weak coupling Lindblad approach are compared with classical Langevin simulations to support our statements.

The study of superconductor-ferromagnet interfaces has generated great interest in the last decades, leading to the observation of spin-aligned triplet supercurrents and 0-π transitions in Josephson junctions where two superconductors are separated by an itinerant ferromagnet. Recently, spin-filter Josephson junctions with ferromagnetic barriers have shown unique transport properties, when compared to standard metallic ferromagnetic junctions, due to the intrinsically nondissipative nature of the tunneling process. Here we present the first extensive characterization of spin polarized Josephson junctions down to 0.3 K, and the first evidence of an incomplete 0-π transition in highly spin polarized tunnel ferromagnetic junctions. Experimental data are consistent with a progressive enhancement of the magnetic activity with the increase of the barrier thickness, as neatly captured by the simplest theoretical approach including a nonuniform exchange field. For very long junctions, unconventional magnetic activity of the barrier points to the presence of spin-triplet correlations.

It is shown that the electron-phonon interaction at a conducting interface between a topological insulator thin film and a semiconductor substrate can be directly probed by means of high-resolution Brillouin light scattering (BLS). The observation of Kohn anomalies in the surface phonon dispersion curves of a 50 nm thick Bi 2 Te 3 film on GaAs, besides demonstrating important electron-phonon coupling effects in the GHz frequency domain, shows that information on deep interface electrons can be obtained by tuning the penetration depth of optically-generated surface phonons so as to selectively probe the interface region, as in a sort of quantum sonar.

In this review article we describe spin-dependent transport in materials with spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type. We mainly focus on semiconductor heterostructures, however we consider topological insulators, graphene and hybrid structures involving superconductors as well. We start from the Rashba Hamiltonian in a two dimensional electron gas and then describe transport properties of two- and quasi-one-dimensional systems. The problem of spin current generation and interference effects in mesoscopic devices is described in detail. We address also the role of Rashba interaction on localisation effects in lattices with nontrivial topology, as well as on the Ahronov-Casher effect in ring structures. A brief section, in the end, describes also some related topics including the spin-Hall effect, the transition from weak localisation to weak anti localisation and the physics of Majorana fermions in hybrid heterostructures involving Rashba materials in the presence of superconductivity.

A superconductor-semiconducting nanowire-superconductor heterostructure in the presence of spin-orbit coupling and magnetic field can support a supercurrent even in the absence of phase difference between the superconducting electrodes. We investigate this phenomenon—the anomalous Josephson effect—employing a model capable of describing many bands in the normal region. We discuss the geometrical and symmetry conditions required to have a finite anomalous supercurrent, and in particular we show that this phenomenon is enhanced when the Fermi level is located close to a band opening in the normal region.

Self-assembled YBaCuO diffusive grain boundary submicron Josephson junctions offer a realization of a special regime of the proximity effect, where normal state coherence prevails on the superconducting coherence in the barrier region. Resistance oscillations from the current-voltage characteristic encode mesoscopic information on the junction and more specifically on the minigap induced in the barrier. Their persistence at large voltages is evidence of the long lifetime of the antinodal (high energy) quasiparticles.

The electrical conductance of atomic metal contacts represents a powerful tool for detecting nanomagnetism. Conductance reflects magnetism through anomalies at zero bias--generally with Fano line shapes--owing to the Kondo screening of the magnetic impurity bridging the contact. A full atomic-level understanding of this nutshell many-body system is of the greatest importance, especially in view of our increasing need to control nanocurrents by means of magnetism. Disappointingly, at present, zero-bias conductance anomalies are not calculable from atomistic scratch. Here, we demonstrate a working route connecting approximately but quantitatively density functional theory (DFT) and numerical renormalization group (NRG) approaches and leading to a first-principles conductance calculation for a nanocontact, exemplified by a Ni impurity in a Au nanowire. A Fano-like conductance line shape is obtained microscopically, and shown to be controlled by the impurity s-level position. We also find a relationship between conductance anomaly and geometry, and uncover the possibility of opposite antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic Kondo screening--the latter exhibiting a totally different and unexplored zero-bias anomaly. The present matching method between DFT and NRG should permit the quantitative understanding and exploration of this larger variety of Kondo phenomena at more general magnetic nanocontacts.

We calculate the oscillations of the dc conductance across a mesoscopic ring, simultaneously tuned by applied magnetic and electric fields orthogonal to the ring. The oscillations depend on the Aharonov-Bohm flux and of the spin-orbit coupling. They result from mixing of the dynamical phase, including the Zeeman spin splitting, and of geometric phases. By changing the applied fields, the geometric phase contribution to the conductance oscillations can be tuned from the adiabatic (Berry) to the nonadiabatic (Ahronov-Anandan) regime. To model a realistic device, we also include nonzero backscattering at the connection between ring and contacts, and a random phase for electron wave function, accounting for dephasing effects.