Nonreciprocal quantum device using quantum wave collapse, interference and selective absorption

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11569918-B2
Application number	US-201917275865-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2019
Priority date	Sep 14, 2018
Publication date	Jan 31, 2023
Grant date	Jan 31, 2023

Abstract

A quantum device comprising a transmission structure, wherein based on quantum collapse, interference and selective absorption the transmission structure is designed such that quantum waves emitted by at least two bodies, for example, by thermal excitation, are passed preferentially to a subset of these bodies.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A quantum device, comprising:
a transmission structure connected between at least a first port and a second port, wherein
the transmission structure is designed to implement collapse, interference and selective absorption of quantum waves to achieve a nonreciprocal motion of the quantum waves between the first port and the second port,
wherein at least part of phases of the quantum waves travelling between the at least first port and the at least second port are erased and replaced by random phases, using the action of non-phase conserving scattering events.

2. The quantum device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one first port and at least one second port; and
the transmission structure comprising at least two first transmission paths extending between the at least one first port and the at least one second port,
wherein first waves originating from the at least one first port and the at least one second port are split up into first partial waves propagating on both of the at least two first transmission paths, and the first partial waves interfere at least in part such that a resulting superposition depends on whether the first partial waves originated from the at least one first port or the at least one second port.

3. The quantum device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one first port and at least one second port; and
the transmission structure comprising at least two first transmission paths extending between the first port and the second port,
wherein first waves are split up into first partial waves propagating on both of the at least two first transmission paths, and
second waves at least partially originating from the transmission structure are split up by the transmission structure into second partial waves propagating on both of the at least two first transmission paths and the second partial waves interfere at least in part such that the second partial waves reach one of the first port and the second port.

4. The quantum device according to claim 1 , wherein an action of the transmission structure is altered by moving or turning parts, by changing transmission properties of transmission paths, or by changing their properties by mechanical, electrical, magnetic, or optical means.

5. A system, comprising:
one or more quantum devices comprising:
a transmission structure connected between at least a first port and a second port, wherein the transmission structure is designed to implement collapse, interference and selective absorption of quantum waves to achieve a nonreciprocal motion of quantum waves between the at least the first port and the second port; and
a device using the one or more quantum devices, wherein the one or more quantum devices utilize at least partial quantum-physical collapses of wave, wherein the at least partial quantum-physical collapses and an at least partial absorption of a wave function at a body is followed by a statistical reemission of a wave by the body.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the one or more quantum devices comprise at least one first port and at least one second port;
the transmission structure comprises at least two first transmission paths extending between the at least one first port and the at least one second port; and
first waves originating from the at least one first port and the at least one second port are split up into first partial waves propagating on both of the at least two first transmission paths, and the first partial waves interfere at least in part such that a resulting superposition depends on whether the first partial waves originated from the first port or the second port,
wherein the first waves comprise quanta with energies obtained from a thermal source or with energies E of order kT, such that 0<E<100kT, where T is a temperature of an environment and k is Boltzmann's constant.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices utilizes coherent emission and at least partial collapses of wave functions to achieve a deviation from one or more of the zeroth, the second, or the third law of thermodynamics.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices utilizes quantum-mechanical superposition of states and at least partial collapses of wave functions to achieve a deviation from one or more of the zeroth, the second, or the third law of thermodynamics.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices utilizes coherent emission and at least partial quantum-physical collapses of wave functions or quantum-mechanical superposition of states and at least partial collapses of wave functions to generate or to enhance inhomogeneities in a density of an energy distribution of waves or particles in the system.

10. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices utilizes coherent emission and at least partial quantum-physical collapses of wave functions or quantum-mechanical superposition of states and at least partial collapses of wave functions to shift the system out of a state of thermal equilibrium.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices utilizes coherent emission and at least partial quantum-physical collapses of wave functions or quantum-mechanical superposition of states and at least partial collapses of wave functions to generate temperature differences within one body or between several bodies.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices comprises an interferometer.

13. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices performs heating, cooling, matter transport, energy transport, or power generation.

14. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices operate at a temperature in a range of 0 K-5000 K.

15. The system of claim 5 , wherein at least parts of the one or more quantum devices are subject to non-thermal energy input, in particular non-thermal irradiation by electromagnetic waves, electrons, neutral particles, or ions.

16. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices is free from coupling to and entanglement with a bath in a quantum regime.

17. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices utilizes coherent emission and at least partial quantum-physical collapses of wave functions or quantum-mechanical superposition of states and at least partial collapses of wave functions to generate or to enhance in-homogeneities in a density of an energy distribution, a momentum distribution, or an angular momentum distribution of waves or particles in the system.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the energy distribution, the momentum distribution, or the angular momentum distribution is generated at least partially by thermal energy.

19. The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the one or more quantum devices utilizes at least partial quantum-physical collapses of wave functions; and
the at least partial quantum-physical collapses of the wave functions is achieved by use of a macroscopic body, the macroscopic body including at least one of a solid, a liquid, a gas, and a plasma.

20. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices creates useful work by converting a generated radiation density inhomogeneity or a generated temperature difference into electricity, radiation, optical energy, or other forms of energy, or by using an achieved order in some other manner.

21. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more quantum devices transports mas

Assignees

• Max Planck Gesellschaft

Inventors

• Mannhart Jochen
• Braak Daniel

Classifications

• H04B10/70 Primary

  Photonic quantum communication · CPC title

• B82Y10/00

  Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic · CPC title