High dimensional measurement device independent quantum key distribution on two dimensional subspaces

Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides ultimate cryptographic security based on the laws of quantum mechanics. For point-to-point QKD protocols, the security of the generated key is compromised by detector side channel attacks. This problem can be solved with measurement device independent QKD (mdi-QKD). However, mdi-QKD has shown limited performances in terms of the secret key generation rate, due to post-selection in the Bell measurements. We show that high dimensional (Hi-D) encoding (qudits) improves the performance of current mdi-QKD implementations. The scheme is proven to be unconditionally secure even for weak coherent pulses with decoy states, while the secret key rate is derived in the single photon case. Our analysis includes phase errors, imperfect sources and dark counts to mimic real systems. Compared to the standard bidimensional case, we show an improvement in the key generation rate.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Multi-partite entanglement detection with non symmetric probing

We show that spin squeezing criteria commonly used for entanglement detection can be erroneous, if the probe is not symmetric. We then derive a lower bound on squeezing for separable states in spin systems probed asymmetrically. Using this we further develop a procedure that allows us to verify the degree of entanglement of a quantum state in the spin system. Finally, we apply our method for entanglement verification to existing experimental data, and use it to prove the existence of tri-partite entanglement in a spin squeezed atomic ensemble.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures (Include Supplemental material

Quantum nondemolition measurement of mechanical motion quanta

The fields of opto- and electromechanics have facilitated numerous advances in the areas of precision measurement and sensing, ultimately driving the studies of mechanical systems into the quantum regime. To date, however, the quantization of the mechanical motion and the associated quantum jumps between phonon states remains elusive. For optomechanical systems, the coupling to the environment was shown to preclude the detection of the mechanical mode occupation, unless strong single photon optomechanical coupling is achieved. Here, we propose and analyse an electromechanical setup, which allows to overcome this limitation and resolve the energy levels of a mechanical oscillator. We find that the heating of the membrane, caused by the interaction with the environment and unwanted couplings, can be suppressed for carefully designed electromechanical systems. The results suggest that phonon number measurement is within reach for modern electromechanical setups.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures plus 24 pages, 11 figures supplemental materia

Quantum manipulation of a two-level mechanical system

We consider a nonlinearly coupled electromechanical system, and develop a quantitative theory for two-phonon cooling. In the presence of two-phonon cooling, the mechanical Hilbert space is effectively reduced to its ground and first excited states, thus forming a mechanical qubit. This allows for performing quantum operations at the level of individual mechanical phonons and preparing nonclassical mechanical states with negative Wigner functions. We propose a scheme for performing arbitrary Bloch sphere rotations, and derive the fidelity in the specific case of a $\pi$-pulse. We characterise detrimental processes that reduce the coherence in the system, and demonstrate that our scheme can be implemented in state-of-the-art electromechanical devices.Comment: 6 pages main text + 7 pages supplemental material, 3 figure

Enhanced osteogenic differentiation in zoledronate-treated osteoporotic patients

Bisphosphonates are well known inhibitors of osteoclast activity and thus may be employed to influence osteoblast activity. The present study was designed to evaluate the in vivo effects of zoledronic acid (ZA) on the proliferation and osteoblastic commitment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in osteoporotic patients. We studied 22 postmenopausal osteoporotic patients. Densitometric, biochemical, cellular and molecular data were collected before as well as after 6 and 12 months of ZA treatment. Peripheral blood MSC-like cells were quantified by colony-forming unit fibroblastic assay; their osteogenic differentiation potential was evaluated after 3 and 7 days of induction, respectively. Circulating MSCs showed significantly increased expression levels of osteoblastic marker genes such as Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), and Osteonectin (SPARC) during the 12 months of monitoring time. Lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) variation and SPARC gene expression correlated positively. Bone turnover marker levels were significantly lowered after ZA treatment; the effect was more pronounced for C terminal telopeptide (CTX) than for Procollagen Type 1 N-Terminal Propeptide (P1NP) and bone alkaline phosphatase (bALP). Our findings suggest a discrete anabolic activity supported by osteogenic commitment of MSCs, consequent to ZA treatment. We confirm its anabolic effects in vivo on osteogenic precursors

Hybrid variational quantum eigensolvers: merging computational models

Variational quantum eigensolvers (VQEs) are a highly successful technique for simulating physical models on quantum computers. Recently, they were extended to the measurement-based approach of quantum computing, bringing the strengths and advantages of this computational model to VQEs. In this work, we push the design and integration frontiers of VQE further by blending measurement-based elements into the gate-based paradigm to form a hybrid VQE. This facilitates the design of a problem-informed variational ansatz and also allows the efficient implementation of many-body Hamiltonians on NISQ devices. We experimentally demonstrate our approach on a superconducting quantum computer by investigating the perturbed planar code, Z2 and SU(3) lattice gauge theories, and the LiH molecule.Comment: 5+18 pages, 2+4 figure

SQEM: Superposed Quantum Error Mitigation

Overcoming the influence of noise and imperfections is one of the main challenges in quantum computing. Here, we present an approach based on applying a desired unitary computation in superposition, either on the system of interest or some auxiliary states. We demonstrate that parallel applications of the same operation lead to significant noise mitigation when arbitrary noise processes are considered. We first design probabilistic implementations of our scheme. These are plug-and-play, are independent of the noise characteristic and require no post-processing. We then show that the success probability can be enhanced (up to deterministic) using adaptive corrections. We provide an analytical study of our protocol performance and demonstrate that unit fidelity can be achieved asymptotically. The approaches introduced are suitable to both standard gate-based (GB) and measurement-based (MB) computational models.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figure

Enhancing Quantum Computation via Superposition of Quantum Gates

Overcoming the influence of noise and imperfections in quantum devices is one of the main challenges for viable quantum applications. In this article, we present different protocols, which we denote as "superposed quantum error mitigation" (SQEM), that enhance the fidelity of single gates or entire computations by performing them in coherent superposition. Our results demonstrate that via our methods, significant noise suppression can be achieved for most kinds of decoherence and standard experimental parameter regimes. Our protocols can be either deterministic, such that the outcome is never post-selected, or probabilistic, in which case the resulting state must be discarded unless a well-specified condition is met. By using sufficiently many resources and working under broad assumptions, our methods can yield the desired output state with unit fidelity. Finally, we analyze our approach for gate-based, measurement-based and interferometric-based models, demonstrating the applicability in all cases and investigating the fundamental mechanisms they rely upon.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figure

A square-root speedup for finding the smallest eigenvalue

We describe a quantum algorithm for finding the smallest eigenvalue of a Hermitian matrix. This algorithm combines Quantum Phase Estimation and Quantum Amplitude Estimation to achieve a quadratic speedup with respect to the best classical algorithm in terms of matrix dimensionality, i.e., $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(\sqrt{N}/\epsilon)$ black-box queries to an oracle encoding the matrix, where $N$ is the matrix dimension and $\epsilon$ is the desired precision. In contrast, the best classical algorithm for the same task requires $\Omega(N)\text{polylog}(1/\epsilon)$ queries. In addition, this algorithm allows the user to select any constant success probability. We also provide a similar algorithm with the same runtime that allows us to prepare a quantum state lying mostly in the matrix's low-energy subspace. We implement simulations of both algorithms and demonstrate their application to problems in quantum chemistry and materials science.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, all comments are welcome, additional references adde