Generating maximal entanglement between non-interacting atoms by collective decay and symmetry breaking

A simple scheme is presented for achieving effectively maximal pure-state entanglement between non-interacting atoms through purely collective decay and controlled symmetry breaking. The scheme requires no measurements or feedback or even knowledge of the initial states of the atoms. It relies on breaking the symmetry of the system Hamiltonian to ensure the existence of a unique attractive steady state and minimal control to achieve almost perfect overlap of this steady state with the maximally entangled singlet state. We demonstrate how our scheme can be implemented for two qubits encoded in hyperfine levels of atoms such as Rubidium in a lossy microwave cavity using only small magnetic field gradient. Error analysis suggests considerable robustness with regard to many imperfections including atomic decay, asymmetric atom-cavity coupling and frequency offsets.