Coupling a single Nitrogen-Vacancy center to a superconducting flux qubit in the far off resonance regime

We present a theoretical proposal to couple a single Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) center to a superconducting flux qubit (FQ) in the regime where both systems are off resonance. The coupling between both quantum devices is achieved through the strong driving of the flux qubit by a classical microwave field that creates dressed states with an experimentally controlled characteristic frequency. We discuss several applications such as controlling the NV center's state by manipulation of the flux qubit, performing the NV center full tomography and using the NV center as a quantum memory. The effect of decoherence and its consequences to the proposed applications are also analyzed. Our results provide a theoretical framework describing a promising hybrid system for quantum information processing, which combines the advantages of fast manipulation and long coherence times.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Phase Dynamics of Two Entangled Qubits

We make a geometric study of the phases acquired by a general pure bipartite two level system after a cyclic unitary evolution. The geometric representation of the two particle Hilbert space makes use of Hopf fibrations. It allows for a simple description of the dynamics of the entangled state's phase during the whole evolution. The global phase after a cyclic evolution is always an entire multiple of $\pi$ for all bipartite states, a result that does not depend on the degree of entanglement. There are three different types of phases combining themselves so as to result in the $n \pi$ global phase. They can be identified as dynamical, geometrical and topological. Each one of them can be easily identified using the presented geometric description. The interplay between them depends on the initial state and on its trajectory and the results obtained are shown to be in connection to those on mixed states phases.Comment: 9 figures, slightly different version from the accepted on

Non-linear coupling between the two oscillation modes of a dc-SQUID

5 pagesInternational audienceWe make a detailed theoretical description of the two-dimensional nature of a dc-SQUID, analyzing the coupling between its two orthogonal phase oscillation modes. While it has been shown that the mode defined as ''longitudinal" can be initialized, manipulated and measured, so as to encode a quantum bit of information, the mode defined as ''transverse" is usually repelled at high frequency and does not interfere in the dynamics. We show that, using typical parameters of existing devices, the transverse mode energy can be made of the order of the longitudinal one. In this regime, we can observe a strong coupling between these modes, described by an Hamiltonian providing a wide range of interesting effects, such as conditional quantum operations and entanglement. This coupling also creates an atomic-like structure for the combined two mode states, with a V-like scheme

Robust preparation and manipulation of protected qubits using time--varying Hamiltonians

We show that it is possible to initialize and manipulate in a deterministic manner protected qubits using time varying Hamiltonians. Taking advantage of the symmetries of the system, we predict the effect of the noise during the initialization and manipulation. These predictions are in good agreement with numerical simulations. Our study shows that the topological protection remains efficient under realistic experimental conditions.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. Let

A quantum delayed-choice experiment enabled by entanglement

International audienceWe demonstrate an entanglement-enabled delayed-choice experiment making possible to observe a continuous morphing for single photon behaviours from wave-like to paticle-like

Connecting measurement invasiveness to optimal metrological scenarios

The connection between the Leggett-Garg inequality and optimal scenarios from the point of view of quantum metrology is investigated for perfect and noisy general dichotomic measurements. In this context, we show that the Fisher information can be expressed in terms of quantum temporal correlations. This connection allows us to associate scenarios with relatively high Fisher information to scenarios in which the Leggett-Garg inequality is violated. We thus demonstrate a qualitative and, to some extent, quantitative link between measurement invasiveness and metrological performance. Finally, we illustrate our results by using a specific model for spin systems

Fundamental limitations of time measurement precision in Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry

In quantum mechanics, the precision achieved in parameter estimation using a quantum state as a probe is determined by the measurement strategy employed. The ultimate quantum limit of precision is bounded by a value set by the state and its dynamics. Theoretical results have revealed that in interference measurements with two possible outcomes, this limit can be reached under ideal conditions of perfect visibility and zero losses. However, in practice, this cannot be achieved, so precision {\it never} reaches the quantum limit. But how do experimental setups approach precision limits under realistic circumstances? In this work we provide a general model for precision limits in two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry for non-perfect visibility. We show that the scaling of precision with visibility depends on the effective area in time-frequency phase space occupied by the state used as a probe, and we find that an optimal scaling exists. We demonstrate our results experimentally for different states in a set-up where the visibility can be controlled and reaches up to $99.5\%$. In the optimal scenario, a ratio of $0.97$ is observed between the experimental precision and the quantum limit, establishing a new benchmark in the field