59 research outputs found
Loophole-free Bell test based on local precertification of photon's presence
A loophole-free violation of Bell inequalities is of fundamental importance
for demonstrating quantum nonlocality and long-distance device-independent
secure communication. However, transmission losses represent a fundamental
limitation for photonic loophole-free Bell tests. A local precertification of
the presence of the photons immediately before the local measurements may solve
this problem. We show that local precertification is feasible by integrating
three current technologies: (i) enhanced single-photon down-conversion to
locally create a flag photon, (ii) nanowire-based superconducting single-photon
detectors for a fast flag detection, and (iii) superconducting transition-edge
sensors to close the detection loophole. We carry out a precise space-time
analysis of the proposed scheme, showing its viability and feasibility.Comment: REVTeX4, 7 Pages, 1 figur
Ancilla-assisted quantum process tomography
Complete and precise characterization of a quantum dynamical process can be
achieved via the method of quantum process tomography. Using a source of
correlated photons, we have implemented several methods investigating a wide
range of processes, e.g., unitary, decohering, and polarizing. One of these
methods, ancilla-assisted process tomography (AAPT), makes use of an additional
``ancilla system,'' and we have theoretically determined the conditions when
AAPT is possible. All prior schemes for AAPT make use of entangled states. Our
results show that, surprisingly, entanglement is not required for AAPT, and we
present process tomography data obtained using an input state that has no
entanglement. However, the use of entanglement yields superior results.Comment: To appear in Physical Review Letter
Photon-Photon Entanglement with a Single Trapped Atom
An experiment is performed where a single rubidium atom trapped within a
high-finesse optical cavity emits two independently triggered entangled
photons. The entanglement is mediated by the atom and is characterized both by
a Bell inequality violation of S=2.5, as well as full quantum-state tomography,
resulting in a fidelity exceeding F=90%. The combination of cavity-QED and
trapped atom techniques makes our protocol inherently deterministic - an
essential step for the generation of scalable entanglement between the nodes of
a distributed quantum network.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Quantum steering ellipsoids, extremal physical states and monogamy
A Corrigendum for this article has been published in 2015 New J. Phys. 17 019501Any two-qubit state can be faithfully represented by a steering ellipsoid inside the Bloch sphere, but not every ellipsoid inside the Bloch sphere corresponds to a two-qubit state. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for when the geometric data describe a physical state and investigate maximal volume ellipsoids lying on the physical-unphysical boundary. We derive monogamy relations for steering that are strictly stronger than the Coffman-Kundu- Wootters (CKW) inequality for monogamy of concurrence. The CKW result is thus found to follow from the simple perspective of steering ellipsoid geometry. Remarkably, we can also use steering ellipsoids to derive non-trivial results in classical Euclidean geometry, extending Eulers inequality for the circumradius and inradius of a triangle.The EPSRC and the ARC Centre of Excellence grant no. CE110001027. DJ is funded by the Royal
Society. TR would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust. SJ acknowledges EPSRC grant EP/
K022512/1
Detection-Loophole-Free Test of Quantum Nonlocality, and Applications
We present a source of entangled photons that violates a Bell inequality free
of the "fair-sampling" assumption, by over 7 standard deviations. This
violation is the first experiment with photons to close the detection loophole,
and we demonstrate enough "efficiency" overhead to eventually perform a fully
loophole-free test of local realism. The entanglement quality is verified by
maximally violating additional Bell tests, testing the upper limit of quantum
correlations. Finally, we use the source to generate secure private quantum
random numbers at rates over 4 orders of magnitude beyond previous experiments.Comment: Main text: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Supplementary Information: 7
pages, 2 figure
Optimal, reliable estimation of quantum states
Accurately inferring the state of a quantum device from the results of
measurements is a crucial task in building quantum information processing
hardware. The predominant state estimation procedure, maximum likelihood
estimation (MLE), generally reports an estimate with zero eigenvalues. These
cannot be justified. Furthermore, the MLE estimate is incompatible with error
bars, so conclusions drawn from it are suspect. I propose an alternative
procedure, Bayesian mean estimation (BME). BME never yields zero eigenvalues,
its eigenvalues provide a bound on their own uncertainties, and it is the most
accurate procedure possible. I show how to implement BME numerically, and how
to obtain natural error bars that are compatible with the estimate. Finally, I
briefly discuss the differences between Bayesian and frequentist estimation
techniques.Comment: RevTeX; 14 pages, 2 embedded figures. Comments enthusiastically
welcomed
Experimental investigation of the dynamics of entanglement: Sudden death, complementarity, and continuous monitoring of the environment
We report on an experimental investigation of the dynamics of entanglement
between a single qubit and its environment, as well as for pairs of qubits
interacting independently with individual environments, using photons obtained
from parametric down-conversion. The qubits are encoded in the polarizations of
single photons, while the interaction with the environment is implemented by
coupling the polarization of each photon with its momentum. A convenient Sagnac
interferometer allows for the implementation of several decoherence channels
and for the continuous monitoring of the environment. For an
initially-entangled photon pair, one observes the vanishing of entanglement
before coherence disappears. For a single qubit interacting with an
environment, the dynamics of complementarity relations connecting single-qubit
properties and its entanglement with the environment is experimentally
determined. The evolution of a single qubit under continuous monitoring of the
environment is investigated, demonstrating that a qubit may decay even when the
environment is found in the unexcited state. This implies that entanglement can
be increased by local continuous monitoring, which is equivalent to
entanglement distillation. We also present a detailed analysis of the transfer
of entanglement from the two-qubit system to the two corresponding
environments, between which entanglement may suddenly appear, and show
instances for which no entanglement is created between dephasing environments,
nor between each of them and the corresponding qubit: the initial two-qubit
entanglement gets transformed into legitimate multiqubit entanglement of the
Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures; only .ps was working, now .pdf is also
availabl
Beating the channel capacity limit for linear photonic superdense coding
Dense coding is arguably the protocol that launched the field of quantum
communication. Today, however, more than a decade after its initial
experimental realization, the channel capacity remains fundamentally limited as
conceived for photons using linear elements. Bob can only send to Alice three
of four potential messages owing to the impossibility of carrying out the
deterministic discrimination of all four Bell states with linear optics,
reducing the attainable channel capacity from 2 to log_2 3 \approx 1.585 bits.
However, entanglement in an extra degree of freedom enables the complete and
deterministic discrimination of all Bell states. Using pairs of photons
simultaneously entangled in spin and orbital angular momentum, we demonstrate
the quantum advantage of the ancillary entanglement. In particular, we describe
a dense-coding experiment with the largest reported channel capacity and, to
our knowledge, the first to break the conventional linear-optics threshold. Our
encoding is suited for quantum communication without alignment and satellite
communication.Comment: Letter: 6 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary Information: 4 pages, 1
figur
Measuring measurement
Measurement connects the world of quantum phenomena to the world of classical
events. It plays both a passive role, observing quantum systems, and an active
one, preparing quantum states and controlling them. Surprisingly - in the light
of the central status of measurement in quantum mechanics - there is no general
recipe for designing a detector that measures a given observable. Compounding
this, the characterization of existing detectors is typically based on partial
calibrations or elaborate models. Thus, experimental specification (i.e.
tomography) of a detector is of fundamental and practical importance. Here, we
present the realization of quantum detector tomography: we identify the optimal
positive-operator-valued measure describing the detector, with no ancillary
assumptions. This result completes the triad, state, process, and detector
tomography, required to fully specify an experiment. We characterize an
avalanche photodiode and a photon number resolving detector capable of
detecting up to eight photons. This creates a new set of tools for accurately
detecting and preparing non-classical light.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures,see video abstract at
http://www.quantiki.org/video_abstracts/0807244
Continuous-variable optical quantum state tomography
This review covers latest developments in continuous-variable quantum-state
tomography of optical fields and photons, placing a special accent on its
practical aspects and applications in quantum information technology. Optical
homodyne tomography is reviewed as a method of reconstructing the state of
light in a given optical mode. A range of relevant practical topics are
discussed, such as state-reconstruction algorithms (with emphasis on the
maximum-likelihood technique), the technology of time-domain homodyne
detection, mode matching issues, and engineering of complex quantum states of
light. The paper also surveys quantum-state tomography for the transverse
spatial state (spatial mode) of the field in the special case of fields
containing precisely one photon.Comment: Finally, a revision! Comments to lvov(at)ucalgary.ca and
raymer(at)uoregon.edu are welcom
- …