Quantum revivals and generation of non-classical states in an N spin system

The generation of non-classical states of large quantum systems is an important topic of study. It is of fundamental interest because the generation of larger and larger non-classical states extends quantum theory further and further into the classical domain, and it is also of practical interest because such states are an important resource for quantum technologies. The focus of this thesis is the “spin star model” for the interaction of a single spin-1/2 particle with N other spin-1/2 particles. Although this is a simple model, we show that its dynamics include many interesting quantum phenomena, including fractional revival, and Jaynes- Cummings-like collapse and revival. Starting with a spin coherent state of the N spin system – an easily prepared state, in principle – we show that these dynamics can be used to generate a wide variety of non-classical states of the N spin system, including Schrodinger cat states, GHZ states, multiple-Schrodinger cat states and spin squeezed states.