Remotely detecting the signal of a local decohering process in spin chains

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a one dimensional quantum spin chain evolving from unentangled or entangled initial state. At a given instant of time a quantum dynamical process (ex. measurement) is performed on a single spin at one end of the chain, decohering the system. Through the further unitary evolution, a signal propagates in the spin chain, which can be detected from a measurement on a different spin at later times. From the dynamical unitary evolution of the decohered state from the epoch time, it is possible to detect the occurrence of the dynamical process. The propagation of the signal for the dynamical process, and the speed of the signal are investigated for various spin models, viz. using the Ising, Heisenberg, and the transverse-XY dynamics.