11 research outputs found
Quantifying non-Gaussianity for quantum information
We address the quantification of non-Gaussianity of states and operations in
continuous-variable systems and its use in quantum information. We start by
illustrating in details the properties and the relationships of two recently
proposed measures of non-Gaussianity based on the Hilbert-Schmidt (HS) distance
and the quantum relative entropy (QRE) between the state under examination and
a reference Gaussian state. We then evaluate the non-Gaussianities of several
families of non-Gaussian quantum states and show that the two measures have the
same basic properties and also share the same qualitative behaviour on most of
the examples taken into account. However, we also show that they introduce a
different relation of order, i.e. they are not strictly monotone each other. We
exploit the non-Gaussianity measures for states in order to introduce a measure
of non-Gaussianity for quantum operations, to assess Gaussification and
de-Gaussification protocols, and to investigate in details the role played by
non-Gaussianity in entanglement distillation protocols. Besides, we exploit the
QRE-based non-Gaussianity measure to provide new insight on the extremality of
Gaussian states for some entropic quantities such as conditional entropy,
mutual information and the Holevo bound. We also deal with parameter estimation
and present a theorem connecting the QRE nonG to the quantum Fisher
information. Finally, since evaluation of the QRE nonG measure requires the
knowledge of the full density matrix, we derive some {\em experimentally
friendly} lower bounds to nonG for some class of states and by considering the
possibility to perform on the states only certain efficient or inefficient
measurements.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, comments welcome. v2: typos corrected and
references added. v3: minor corrections (more similar to published version
Full characterization of Gaussian bipartite entangled states by a single homodyne detector
We present the full experimental reconstruction of Gaussian entangled states
generated by a type--II optical parametric oscillator (OPO) below threshold.
Our scheme provides the entire covariance matrix using a single homodyne
detector and allows for the complete characterization of bipartite Gaussian
states, including the evaluation of purity, entanglement and nonclassical
photon correlations, without a priori assumptions on the state under
investigation. Our results show that single homodyne schemes are convenient and
robust setups for the full characterization of OPO signals and represent a tool
for quantum technology based on continuous variable entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, slightly longer version of published PR
Optimal estimation of entanglement
Entanglement does not correspond to any observable and its evaluation always
corresponds to an estimation procedure where the amount of entanglement is
inferred from the measurements of one or more proper observables. Here we
address optimal estimation of entanglement in the framework of local quantum
estimation theory and derive the optimal observable in terms of the symmetric
logarithmic derivative. We evaluate the quantum Fisher information and, in
turn, the ultimate bound to precision for several families of bipartite states,
either for qubits or continuous variable systems, and for different measures of
entanglement. We found that for discrete variables, entanglement may be
efficiently estimated when it is large, whereas the estimation of weakly
entangled states is an inherently inefficient procedure. For continuous
variable Gaussian systems the effectiveness of entanglement estimation strongly
depends on the chosen entanglement measure. Our analysis makes an important
point of principle and may be relevant in the design of quantum information
protocols based on the entanglement content of quantum states.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, v2: minor correction
Characterization of bipartite states using a single homodyne detector
We suggest a scheme to reconstruct the covariance matrix of a two-mode state
using a single homodyne detector plus a polarizing beam splitter and a
polarization rotator. It can be used to fully characterize bipartite Gaussian
states and to extract relevant informations on generic states.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
Parametric coupling between macroscopic quantum resonators
Time-dependent linear coupling between macroscopic quantum resonator modes
generates both a parametric amplification also known as a {}"squeezing
operation" and a beam splitter operation, analogous to quantum optical systems.
These operations, when applied properly, can robustly generate entanglement and
squeezing for the quantum resonator modes. Here, we present such coupling
schemes between a nanomechanical resonator and a superconducting electrical
resonator using applied microwave voltages as well as between two
superconducting lumped-element electrical resonators using a r.f.
SQUID-mediated tunable coupler. By calculating the logarithmic negativity of
the partially transposed density matrix, we quantitatively study the
entanglement generated at finite temperatures. We also show that
characterization of the nanomechanical resonator state after the quantum
operations can be achieved by detecting the electrical resonator only. Thus,
one of the electrical resonator modes can act as a probe to measure the
entanglement of the coupled systems and the degree of squeezing for the other
resonator mode.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, submitte