979 research outputs found
'Designer atoms' for quantum metrology
Entanglement is recognized as a key resource for quantum computation and
quantum cryptography. For quantum metrology, the use of entangled states has
been discussed and demonstrated as a means of improving the signal-to-noise
ratio. In addition, entangled states have been used in experiments for
efficient quantum state detection and for the measurement of scattering
lengths. In quantum information processing, manipulation of individual quantum
bits allows for the tailored design of specific states that are insensitive to
the detrimental influences of an environment. Such 'decoherence-free subspaces'
protect quantum information and yield significantly enhanced coherence times.
Here we use a decoherence-free subspace with specifically designed entangled
states to demonstrate precision spectroscopy of a pair of trapped Ca+ ions; we
obtain the electric quadrupole moment, which is of use for frequency standard
applications. We find that entangled states are not only useful for enhancing
the signal-to-noise ratio in frequency measurements - a suitably designed pair
of atoms also allows clock measurements in the presence of strong technical
noise. Our technique makes explicit use of non-locality as an entanglement
property and provides an approach for 'designed' quantum metrology
Towards fault-tolerant quantum computing with trapped ions
Today ion traps are among the most promising physical systems for
constructing a quantum device harnessing the computing power inherent in the
laws of quantum physics. The standard circuit model of quantum computing
requires a universal set of quantum logic gates for the implementation of
arbitrary quantum operations. As in classical models of computation, quantum
error correction techniques enable rectification of small imperfections in gate
operations, thus allowing for perfect computation in the presence of noise. For
fault-tolerant computation, it is commonly believed that error thresholds
ranging between 10^-4 and 10^-2 will be required depending on the noise model
and the computational overhead for realizing the quantum gates. Up to now, all
experimental implementations have fallen short of these requirements. Here, we
report on a Molmer-Sorensen type gate operation entangling ions with a fidelity
of 99.3(1)% which together with single-qubit operations forms a universal set
of quantum gates. The gate operation is performed on a pair of qubits encoded
in two trapped calcium ions using a single amplitude-modulated laser beam
interacting with both ions at the same time. A robust gate operation, mapping
separable states onto maximally entangled states is achieved by adiabatically
switching the laser-ion coupling on and off. We analyse the performance of a
single gate and concatenations of up to 21 gate operations. The gate mechanism
holds great promise not only for two-qubit but also for multi-qubit operations.Comment: submitted to Nature Physic
A Factorization Law for Entanglement Decay
We present a simple and general factorization law for quantum systems shared
by two parties, which describes the time evolution of entanglement upon passage
of either component through an arbitrary noisy channel. The robustness of
entanglement-based quantum information processing protocols is thus easily and
fully characterized by a single quantity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Single atom quantum walk with 1D optical superlattices
A proposal for the implementation of quantum walks using cold atom technology
is presented. It consists of one atom trapped in time varying optical
superlattices. The required elements are presented in detail including the
preparation procedure, the manipulation required for the quantum walk evolution
and the final measurement. These procedures can be, in principle, implemented
with present technology.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Nonlinear atom interferometer surpasses classical precision limit
Interference is fundamental to wave dynamics and quantum mechanics. The
quantum wave properties of particles are exploited in metrology using atom
interferometers, allowing for high-precision inertia measurements [1, 2].
Furthermore, the state-of-the-art time standard is based on an interferometric
technique known as Ramsey spectroscopy. However, the precision of an
interferometer is limited by classical statistics owing to the finite number of
atoms used to deduce the quantity of interest [3]. Here we show experimentally
that the classical precision limit can be surpassed using nonlinear atom
interferometry with a Bose-Einstein condensate. Controlled interactions between
the atoms lead to non-classical entangled states within the interferometer;
this represents an alternative approach to the use of non-classical input
states [4-8]. Extending quantum interferometry [9] to the regime of large atom
number, we find that phase sensitivity is enhanced by 15 per cent relative to
that in an ideal classical measurement. Our nonlinear atomic beam splitter
follows the "one-axis-twisting" scheme [10] and implements interaction control
using a narrow Feshbach resonance. We perform noise tomography of the quantum
state within the interferometer and detect coherent spin squeezing with a
squeezing factor of -8.2dB [11-15]. The results provide information on the
many-particle quantum state, and imply the entanglement of 170 atoms [16]
An Open-System Quantum Simulator with Trapped Ions
The control of quantum systems is of fundamental scientific interest and
promises powerful applications and technologies. Impressive progress has been
achieved in isolating the systems from the environment and coherently
controlling their dynamics, as demonstrated by the creation and manipulation of
entanglement in various physical systems. However, for open quantum systems,
engineering the dynamics of many particles by a controlled coupling to an
environment remains largely unexplored. Here we report the first realization of
a toolbox for simulating an open quantum system with up to five qubits. Using a
quantum computing architecture with trapped ions, we combine multi-qubit gates
with optical pumping to implement coherent operations and dissipative
processes. We illustrate this engineering by the dissipative preparation of
entangled states, the simulation of coherent many-body spin interactions and
the quantum non-demolition measurement of multi-qubit observables. By adding
controlled dissipation to coherent operations, this work offers novel prospects
for open-system quantum simulation and computation.Comment: Pre-review submission to Nature. For an updated and final version see
publication. Manuscript + Supplementary Informatio
Scalable multi-particle entanglement of trapped ions
Among the various kinds of entangled states, the 'W state' plays an important
role as its entanglement is maximally persistent and robust even under particle
loss. Such states are central as a resource in quantum information processing
and multiparty quantum communication. Here we report the scalable and
deterministic generation of four-, five-, six-, seven- and eight-particle
entangled states of the W type with trapped ions. We obtain the maximum
possible information on these states by performing full characterization via
state tomography, using individual control and detection of the ions. A
detailed analysis proves that the entanglement is genuine. The availability of
such multiparticle entangled states, together with full information in the form
of their density matrices, creates a test-bed for theoretical studies of
multiparticle entanglement. Independently, -Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-
entangled states with up to six ions have been created and analysed in Boulder
Entangled Mechanical Oscillators
Hallmarks of quantum mechanics include superposition and entanglement. In the
context of large complex systems, these features should lead to situations like
Schrodinger's cat, which exists in a superposition of alive and dead states
entangled with a radioactive nucleus. Such situations are not observed in
nature. This may simply be due to our inability to sufficiently isolate the
system of interest from the surrounding environment -- a technical limitation.
Another possibility is some as-of-yet undiscovered mechanism that prevents the
formation of macroscopic entangled states. Such a limitation might depend on
the number of elementary constituents in the system or on the types of degrees
of freedom that are entangled. One system ubiquitous to nature where
entanglement has not been previously demonstrated is distinct mechanical
oscillators. Here we demonstrate deterministic entanglement of separated
mechanical oscillators, consisting of the vibrational states of two pairs of
atomic ions held in different locations. We also demonstrate entanglement of
the internal states of an atomic ion with a distant mechanical oscillator.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Realisation of a programmable two-qubit quantum processor
The universal quantum computer is a device capable of simulating any physical
system and represents a major goal for the field of quantum information
science. Algorithms performed on such a device are predicted to offer
significant gains for some important computational tasks. In the context of
quantum information, "universal" refers to the ability to perform arbitrary
unitary transformations in the system's computational space. The combination of
arbitrary single-quantum-bit (qubit) gates with an entangling two-qubit gate is
a gate set capable of achieving universal control of any number of qubits,
provided that these gates can be performed repeatedly and between arbitrary
pairs of qubits. Although gate sets have been demonstrated in several
technologies, they have as yet been tailored toward specific tasks, forming a
small subset of all unitary operators. Here we demonstrate a programmable
quantum processor that realises arbitrary unitary transformations on two
qubits, which are stored in trapped atomic ions. Using quantum state and
process tomography, we characterise the fidelity of our implementation for 160
randomly chosen operations. This universal control is equivalent to simulating
any pairwise interaction between spin-1/2 systems. A programmable multi-qubit
register could form a core component of a large-scale quantum processor, and
the methods used here are suitable for such a device.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Single-atom imaging of fermions in a quantum-gas microscope
Single-atom-resolved detection in optical lattices using quantum-gas
microscopes has enabled a new generation of experiments in the field of quantum
simulation. Fluorescence imaging of individual atoms has so far been achieved
for bosonic species with optical molasses cooling, whereas detection of
fermionic alkaline atoms in optical lattices by this method has proven more
challenging. Here we demonstrate single-site- and single-atom-resolved
fluorescence imaging of fermionic potassium-40 atoms in a quantum-gas
microscope setup using electromagnetically-induced-transparency cooling. We
detected on average 1000 fluorescence photons from a single atom within 1.5s,
while keeping it close to the vibrational ground state of the optical lattice.
Our results will enable the study of strongly correlated fermionic quantum
systems in optical lattices with resolution at the single-atom level, and give
access to observables such as the local entropy distribution and individual
defects in fermionic Mott insulators or anti-ferromagnetically ordered phases.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; Nature Physics, published online 13 July 201
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