Channel Capacity Gain in Entanglement-Assisted Communication Protocols Based Exclusevly on Linear Optics and Single Photon Inputs

Entanglement can effectively increase communication channel capacity as evidenced by dense coding that predicts a capacity gain of 1 bit when compared to entanglement-free protocols. However, dense coding relies on Bell states and when implemented using photons the capacity gain is bounded by $0.585$ bits due to one's inability to discriminate between the four optically encoded Bell states. In this paper we study the following question: Are there alternative entanglement-assisted protocols that rely only on linear optics, coincidence photon counting and separable single photon input states and at the same time provide a greater capacity gain than $0.585$ bits. We show that besides the Bell states there is a class of bipartite four-mode two-photon entangled states that facilitate an increase in channel capacity. We also discuss how the proposed scheme can be generalized to the case of two-photon $N$-mode entangled states for $N=6,8$.Comment: resubmitted version, improved presentation, added discussio

General linear-optical quantum state generation scheme: Applications to maximally path-entangled states

We introduce schemes for linear-optical quantum state generation. A quantum state generator is a device that prepares a desired quantum state using product inputs from photon sources, linear-optical networks, and postselection using photon counters. We show that this device can be concisely described in terms of polynomial equations and unitary constraints. We illustrate the power of this language by applying the Grobner-basis technique along with the notion of vacuum extensions to solve the problem of how to construct a quantum state generator analytically for any desired state, and use methods of convex optimization to identify bounds to success probabilities. In particular, we disprove a conjecture concerning the preparation of the maximally path-entangled |n,0)+|0,n) (NOON) state by providing a counterexample using these methods, and we derive a new upper bound on the resources required for NOON-state generation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Generic Two-Qubit Photonic Gates Implemented by Number-Resolving Photodetection

We combine numerical optimization techniques [Uskov et al., Phys. Rev. A 79, 042326 (2009)] with symmetries of the Weyl chamber to obtain optimal implementations of generic linear-optical KLM-type two-qubit entangling gates. We find that while any two-qubit controlled-U gate, including CNOT and CS, can be implemented using only two ancilla resources with success probability S > 0.05, a generic SU(4) operation requires three unentangled ancilla photons, with success S > 0.0063. Specifically, we obtain a maximal success probability close to 0.0072 for the B gate. We show that single-shot implementation of a generic SU(4) gate offers more than an order of magnitude increase in the success probability and two-fold reduction in overhead ancilla resources compared to standard triple-CNOT and double-B gate decompositions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Temperature dependence of polarization relaxation in semiconductor quantum dots

The decay time of the linear polarization degree of the luminescence in strongly confined semiconductor quantum dots with asymmetrical shape is calculated in the frame of second-order quasielastic interaction between quantum dot charge carriers and LO phonons. The phonon bottleneck does not prevent significantly the relaxation processes and the calculated decay times can be of the order of a few tens picoseconds at temperature $T \simeq 100$K, consistent with recent experiments by Paillard et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf86}, 1634 (2001)].Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Carrier-induced refractive index in quantum dot structures due to transitions from discrete quantum dot levels to continuum states

The carrier-induced refractive index in quantum dot (QD) structures due to optical transitions from QD levels to continuum states is considered. It is shown that, for large photon energies, the refractive index change is given asymptotically by the Drude formula. Calculations of the linewidth enhancement factor, alpha, show that alphasimilar to1 due to this contribution to the total refractive index. Furthermore, for highly localized QD states, the absorption coefficient at the photon energies similar to0.8-1.0 eV due to these transitions can be on the order of 10(3) m(-1). (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics. (DOI: 10.1063/1.1639933

Four-level and two-qubit systems, sub-algebras, and unitary integration

Four-level systems in quantum optics, and for representing two qubits in quantum computing, are difficult to solve for general time-dependent Hamiltonians. A systematic procedure is presented which combines analytical handling of the algebraic operator aspects with simple solutions of classical, first-order differential equations. In particular, by exploiting $su(2) \oplus su(2)$ and $su(2) \oplus su(2) \oplus u(1)$ sub-algebras of the full SU(4) dynamical group of the system, the non-trivial part of the final calculation is reduced to a single Riccati (first order, quadratically nonlinear) equation, itself simply solved. Examples are provided of two-qubit problems from the recent literature, including implementation of two-qubit gates with Josephson junctions.Comment: 1 gzip file with 1 tex and 9 eps figure files. Unpack with command: gunzip RSU05.tar.g

Dynamics of light propagation in spatiotemporal dielectric structures

Propagation, transmission and reflection properties of linearly polarized plane waves and arbitrarily short electromagnetic pulses in one-dimensional dispersionless dielectric media possessing an arbitrary space-time dependence of the refractive index are studied by using a two-component, highly symmetric version of Maxwell's equations. The use of any slow varying amplitude approximation is avoided. Transfer matrices of sharp nonstationary interfaces are calculated explicitly, together with the amplitudes of all secondary waves produced in the scattering. Time-varying multilayer structures and spatiotemporal lenses in various configurations are investigated analytically and numerically in a unified approach. Several new effects are reported, such as pulse compression, broadening and spectral manipulation of pulses by a spatiotemporal lens, and the closure of the forbidden frequency gaps with the subsequent opening of wavenumber bandgaps in a generalized Bragg reflector