Effects of intrinsic decoherence on quantum

coherence and correlations between spins

within a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice
graphene layer system

Zakaria Bouafia and Mostafa Mansour

Laboratory of High Energy Physics and Condensed Matter, Department of Physics,

Faculty of Sciences of Aı̈n Chock, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco.

September 20, 2023

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Outline

1 Introduction

2 Honeycomb lattice model

3 Quantum coherence measures

Relative entropy of coherence
ℓ1 -norm of coherence

4 Quantum correlations measure

Local quantum uncertainty

5 Results and discussion

6 Conclusion

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Introduction

Graphene’s unique physical characteristics and two-dimensional

(2D) honeycomb structure provide it with special electronic
properties.

Spin qubits can be created in graphene systems by using the spin

of the electrons as a qubit.

Study the temporal evolution of quantum coherence and quantum

correlations within the graphene layer system.

Analyze the impact of intrinsic decoherence on quantum

resources in the system.

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Honeycomb lattice model

Figure 1: (a) An illustration of the honeycomb lattice structure of a graphene

layer consisting of carbon atoms. (b) The locations of Dirac points K and K ′
on a single cell.

The unit cell of a graphene layer’s honeycomb lattice is composed

of two distinct sublattices known as A and B sites.
The Fermi surface of a half-filled honeycomb lattice consists of
two points within the first Brillouin zone known as K and K’.
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Honeycomb lattice model

These sublattices function as a pseudo-spin system, where each

site can be either an up or down spin.

We use the valley index to introduce a pseudo-spin associated

with the electron valley to study the spatial distribution of electrons
near the Fermi energy.

Hamiltonian of the system

Ĥ = β[τ (σ̂x ⊗ Î)k̂x + (σ̂y ⊗ τ̂z )k̂y ], (1)

• β = ℏvF is the band parameter with vF is the Fermi velocity.

• τ = ±1 is the valley index.
• k̂x (k̂y ) are the wavenumber operators.
• σx , σy , and τz are the Pauli matrices.

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Honeycomb lattice model
Eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Ĥ
 q 
k12 + k22
|u1 ⟩ = η− − |01⟩ + |11⟩ ,
χ−
q  q
E1 = − k12 + k22 ,

k12 + k22
q |u2 ⟩ = η+ − |00⟩ + |10⟩ ,
E2 = − k12 + k22 , χ+
q q  (2)
E3 = k12 + k22 , k12 + k22
|u3 ⟩ = η−  |01⟩ + |11⟩ ,
χ−
q
E4 = k12 + k22 ,
q 
k12 + k22
|u4 ⟩ = η+  |00⟩ + |10⟩ ,
χ+

1
• where k1 = β k̂x , k2 = β k̂y , η± = v
u √2 2 2
and χ± = k1 ± ik2 .
u k +k
t1+ 1 2
χ±

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Honeycomb lattice model

Milburn’s evolution
dρt 1 
= exp(−iγ Ĥ)ρt exp(iγ Ĥ) − ρt , (3)
dt γ

• ρt is the evolving density matrix associated with Ĥ.

• γ represents the intrinsic decoherence rate.

The evolved state of a quantum system that has been affected by

intrinsic decoherence
X  γt 
ρt = exp − (Ej − Ek )2 − i(Ej − Ek )t ⟨uj |ρt=0 |uk ⟩|uj ⟩⟨uk |. (4)
2
j,k

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Honeycomb lattice model
The extended-Werner-like (EWL) state
1−p
ρt=0 = Î4 + p |Ψ⟩ ⟨Ψ| , (5)
4
• p denoting the degree of purity of the initial state with 0 ≤ p ≤ 1.
• Î4 is the identity matrix.
• |Ψ⟩ is the Bell-like state
θ θ
|Ψ⟩ = cos( ) |00⟩ + sin( ) |11⟩ , (6)
2 2
where 0 ≤ θ ≤ π denoting the Bloch angle.
The EWL initial state is given by
 1−p 
2 θ 0 p sin θ2 cos θ2



4 + p cos ( 2 ) 0
1−p
0 0 0
 
t=0 4
ρ = . (7)
 
1−p
 0 0 4 0 
1−p
p sin θ2 cos θ2 sin2 ( θ2 )



0 0 4 + p

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Honeycomb lattice model

By utilizing ρt=0 as the EWL initial state and solving the evolution
equation, we can determine the time-evolved state based on the
spectrum of Ĥ and the Milburn’s evolution.

Finally, the evolved density matrix in the computation base is

given as
 11 12 13 14 
ρt ρt ρt ρt
 ρ21t ρ22
t ρ23
t ρ24
t 

ρt = 
 ρt ρt ρt ρt  .
31 32 33 34 (8)
ρ41
t ρ42
t ρ43
t ρ44
t

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Quantum coherence measures

Relative entropy of coherence

Relative entropy of coherence (Cr (ρ)) can be defined as

follows
Cr (ρ) = S(ρdiag ) − S(ρ), (9)
• where
4
X
S(ρ) = −Tr(ρ log(ρ)) = − µi log2 (µi ), (10)
i=1

is the von Neumann entropy with µi are the eigenvalues of

the system state ρ.
• ρdiag describes the incoherent state obtained by
eliminating the non-diagonal elements of ρ.

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Quantum coherence measures

ℓ1 -norm of coherence

ℓ1 -norm of coherence (Cl1 (ρ)) can be measured by the

non-diagonal components of ρ as
X
Cl1 (ρ) = |ρi,j |, (11)
i̸=j

• where ρi,j are the elements of the matrix ρ.

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Quantum correlations measure

Local quantum uncertainty

For all two-qubit systems, local quantum uncertainty (U(ρ))

is defined as follows

U(ρ) = 1 − max (Ω1 , Ω2 , Ω3 ) , (12)

• where Ωi=1,2,3 are the eigenvalues of a symmetric 3 × 3

matrix W
  n√  √  o
W ≡ Tr ρ σ̂Ai ⊗ ÎB ρ σ̂Aj ⊗ ÎB , (13)
ij

• where σ̂Ai,j (i, j = x, y, z) are the Pauli matrices that operate

on the sub-system A.

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Results and discussion

2.0
(a) (b)
1.0

1.5 0.8

1.0 0.6

0.4
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40

(c)
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 10 20 30 40

Figure 2: Dynamical behavior of Cl1 (ρ) 2(a), Cr (ρ) 2(b), and U(ρ) 2(c) against
t for selected values of γ when k1 = k2 = 1, p = 0.9 and θ = π4 .

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Results and discussion
2.5
(a) 1.5 (b)
2.0

1.5 1.0

1.0
0.5
0.5

0.0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0.7
(c)
0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Figure 3: Dynamical behavior of Cl1 (ρ) 3(a), Cr (ρ) 3(b), and U(ρ) 3(c) against
t for selected values of p when k1 = k2 = 1, γ = 0.01 and θ = π4 .

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Results and discussion
1.5
2.5 (a) (b)
2.0
1.0
1.5

1.0
0.5

0.5

0.0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20

0.6 (c)
0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 5 10 15 20

Figure 4: Dynamical behavior of Cl1 (ρ) 4(a), Cr (ρ) 4(b), and U(ρ) 4(c) against
t for selected values of θ when k1 = k2 = 1, γ = 0.01 and p = 0.9.

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Results and discussion

2.0
(a) (b)
1.0

1.5 0.8

1.0 0.6

0.4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0.5
(c)
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Figure 5: Dynamical behavior of Cl1 (ρ) 5(a), Cr (ρ) 5(b), and U(ρ) 5(c) against
t for selected values of k1 when k2 = 1, p = 0.9, γ = 0.01 and θ = π4 .

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Results and discussion

2.0
(a) (b)
1.0

1.5 0.8

1.0 0.6

0.4
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20

(c)
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 5 10 15 20

Figure 6: Dynamical behavior of Cl1 (ρ) 6(a), Cr (ρ) 6(b), and U(ρ) 6(c) against
t for selected values of k2 when k1 = 1, p = 0.9, γ = 0.01 and θ = π4 .

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Conclusion

The temporal evolution of quantum coherence and correlations

depends on all system parameters and the initial state of the
graphene layer.
Intrinsic decoherence affects the evolution of quantum coherence
and correlations in the system.
The degree of purity enhances quantum coherence and
correlations within the system, even when the intrinsic
decoherence rates are high.
By designing the initial state and system parameters properly, it is
possible to achieve more resilient quantum coherence and
correlations against the effects of intrinsic decoherence.
The honeycomb structure of graphene can be manipulated to
develop new qubit forms to protect them against decoherence.

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 “Thank you for your attention”

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References

Zakaria Bouafia, Samira Elghaayda, and Mostafa Mansour.

Effects of intrinsic decoherence on quantum coherence and
correlations between spins within a two-dimensional honeycomb
lattice graphene layer system.
Modern Physics Letters B, page 2350203, 2023.
Zhan-Ning Hu, Kee-Su Park, and Kyung-Soo Yi.
Quantum entanglement in a graphene sheet.
J. Korean Phys. Soci, 54:921, 2009.
Hidekatsu Suzuura and Tsuneya Ando.
Crossover from symplectic to orthogonal class in a
two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.
Physical review letters, 89(26):266603, 2002.

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