Abstract
We demonstrate that entanglement can persistently recur in an oscillating two-spin molecule that is coupled to a hot and noisy environment, in which no static entanglement can survive. The system represents a nonequilibrium quantum system which, driven through the oscillatory motion, is prevented from reaching its (separable) thermal equilibrium state. Environmental noise, together with the driven motion, plays a constructive role by periodically resetting the system, even though it will destroy entanglement as usual. As a building block, the present simple mechanism supports the perspective that entanglement can exist also in systems which are exposed to a hot environment and to high levels of decoherence, which we expect, e.g., for biological systems. Our results also suggest that entanglement plays a role in the heat exchange between molecular machines and environment. Experimental simulation of our model with trapped ions is within reach of the current state-of-the-art quantum technologies.
Translated title of the contribution | Dynamic entanglement in oscillating molecules and potential biological implications |
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Original language | English |
Article number | 021921 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Physical Review E: Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2010 |