75 research outputs found
Properties of entangled photon pairs generated by a CW laser with small coherence time: theory and experiment
The generation of entangled photon pairs by parametric down--conversion from
solid state CW lasers with small coherence time is theoretically and
experimentally analyzed. We consider a compact and low-cost setup based on a
two-crystal scheme with Type-I phase matching. We study the effect of the pump
coherence time over the entangled state visibility and over the violation of
Bell's inequality, as a function of the crystals length. The full density
matrix is reconstructed by quantum tomography. The proposed theoretical model
is verified using a purification protocol based on a compensation crystal.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Optical interferometry in the presence of large phase diffusion
Phase diffusion represents a crucial obstacle toward the implementation of high-precision interferometric measurements and phase-shift-based communication channels. Here we present a nearly optimal interferometric scheme based on homodyne detection and coherent signals for the detection of a phase shift in the presence of large phase diffusion. In our scheme the ultimate bound to interferometric sensitivity is achieved already for a small number of measurements, of the order of hundreds, without using nonclassical light
Continuous-time quantum walks on spatially correlated noisy lattices
We address memory effects and diffusive properties of a continuous-time quantum walk on a one-dimensional percolation lattice affected by spatially correlated random telegraph noise. In particular, by introducing spatially correlated time-dependent fluctuations in nearest-neighbor hopping amplitudes, we describe random domains characterized by global noise. The resulting open dynamics of the walker is then unraveled by an ensemble average over all the noise realizations. Our results show that time-dependent noise assisted by spatial correlations leads to strong memory effects in the walker dynamics and to robust diffusive behavior against the detrimental action of uncorrelated noise. We also show that spatially correlated classical noise enhances localization breaking, thus making a quantum particle spread on longer distances across the lattice
On the moment limit of quantum observables, with an application to the balanced homodyne detection
We consider the moment operators of the observable (i.e. a semispectral
measure or POM) associated with the balanced homodyne detection statistics,
with paying attention to the correct domains of these unbounded operators. We
show that the high amplitude limit, when performed on the moment operators,
actually determines uniquely the entire statistics of a rotated quadrature
amplitude of the signal field, thereby verifying the usual assumption that the
homodyne detection achieves a measurement of that observable. We also consider,
in a general setting, the possibility of constructing a measurement of a single
quantum observable from a sequence of observables by taking the limit on the
level of moment operators of these observables. In this context, we show that
under some natural conditions (each of which is satisfied by the homodyne
detector example), the existence of the moment limits ensures that the
underlying probability measures converge weakly to the probability measure of
the limiting observable. The moment approach naturally requires that the
observables be determined by their moment operator sequences (which does not
automatically happen), and it turns out, in particular, that this is the case
for the balanced homodyne detector.Comment: 22 pages, no figure
Noisy quantum walks of two indistinguishable interacting particles
We investigate the dynamics of continuous-time two-particle quantum walks on a one-dimensional noisy lattice. Depending on the initial condition, we show how the interplay between particle indistinguishability and interaction determines distinct propagation regimes. A realistic model for the environment is considered by introducing non-Gaussian noise as time-dependent fluctuations of the tunneling amplitudes between adjacent sites. We observe that the combined effect of particle interaction and fast noise (weak coupling with the environment) provides a faster propagation compared to the noiseless case. This effect can be understood in terms of the band structure of the Hubbard model, and a detailed analysis as a function of both noise and system parameters is presented
Realistic loophole-free Bell test with atom-photon entanglement
The establishment of nonlocal correlations, obtained through the violation of
a Bell inequality, is not only important from a fundamental point of view, but
constitutes the basis for device-independent quantum information technologies.
Although several nonlocality tests have been performed so far, all of them
suffered from either the locality or the detection loopholes. Recent studies
have suggested that the use of atom-photon entanglement can lead to Bell
inequality violations with moderate transmission and detection efficiencies. In
this paper we propose an experimental setup realizing a simple atom-photon
entangled state that, under realistic experimental parameters available to
date, achieves a significant violation of the Clauser-Horn-Shimony-Holt
inequality. Most importantly, the violation remains when considering typical
detection efficiencies and losses due to required propagation distances.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, 3 table, to appear in Nature Com
Quantum interferometry with three-dimensional geometry
Quantum interferometry uses quantum resources to improve phase estimation
with respect to classical methods. Here we propose and theoretically
investigate a new quantum interferometric scheme based on three-dimensional
waveguide devices. These can be implemented by femtosecond laser waveguide
writing, recently adopted for quantum applications. In particular, multiarm
interferometers include "tritter" and "quarter" as basic elements,
corresponding to the generalization of a beam splitter to a 3- and 4-port
splitter, respectively. By injecting Fock states in the input ports of such
interferometers, fringe patterns characterized by nonclassical visibilities are
expected. This enables outperforming the quantum Fisher information obtained
with classical fields in phase estimation. We also discuss the possibility of
achieving the simultaneous estimation of more than one optical phase. This
approach is expected to open new perspectives to quantum enhanced sensing and
metrology performed in integrated photonic.Comment: 7 pages (+4 Supplementary Information), 5 figure
Determining the Quantum Expectation Value by Measuring a Single Photon
Quantum mechanics, one of the keystones of modern physics, exhibits several
peculiar properties, differentiating it from classical mechanics. One of the
most intriguing is that variables might not have definite values. A complete
quantum description provides only probabilities for obtaining various
eigenvalues of a quantum variable. These and corresponding probabilities
specify the expectation value of a physical observable, which is known to be a
statistical property of an ensemble of quantum systems. In contrast to this
paradigm, we demonstrate a unique method allowing to measure the expectation
value of a physical variable on a single particle, namely, the polarisation of
a single protected photon. This is the first realisation of quantum protective
measurements.Comment: Nature Physics, in press (this version corresponds to the one
initially submitted to Nature Physics
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