Generating quantum states through spin chain dynamics

The spin chain is a theoretical work-horse of the physicist, providing a convenient, tractable model that yields insight into a host of physical phenomena including conduction, frustration, superconductivity, topological phases, localisation, phase transitions, quantum chaos and even string theory. Our ultimate aim, however, is not just to understand the properties of a physical system, but to harness it for our own ends. We therefore study the possibilities for engineering a special class of spin chain, envisaging the potential for this to feedback into the original physical systems. We pay particular attention to the generation of multipartite entangled states such as the W (Dicke) state, superposed over multiple sites of the chain. (paper)