Device independent state estimation based on Bell's inequalities

The only information available about an alleged source of entangled quantum states is the amount $S$ by which the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality is violated: nothing is known about the nature of the system or the measurements that are performed. We discuss how the quality of the source can be assessed in this black-box scenario, as compared to an ideal source that would produce maximally entangled states (more precisely, any state for which $S=2\sqrt{2}$). To this end, we introduce several inequivalent notions of fidelity, each one related to the use one can make of the source after having assessed it; and we derive quantitative bounds for each of them in terms of the violation $S$. We also derive a lower bound on the entanglement of the source as a function of $S$ only.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Added appendices containing proof

Oxygen in Red Blood Cell Concentrates: Influence of Donors' Characteristics and Blood Processing.

Objective: Unexpectedly wide distribution (<10 to >90%) of hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO <sub>2</sub> ) within red cell concentrates (RCCs) has recently been observed. Causes of such variability are not yet completely explained whereas the roles of oxygen and oxidative lesions during the storage of RCCs are known. The objectives of the present study are to characterize sO <sub>2</sub> distribution in RCCs produced in a Swiss blood center and to investigate the influence of processing and donors' characteristics. Methods: The level of sO <sub>2</sub> was measured in 1701 leukocyte-depleted RCCs derived from whole blood donations in both top-bottom (TB; component filtered, SAGM) and top-top (TT; whole blood filtration, PAGGSM) RCCs. The sO <sub>2</sub> value was measured non-invasively through the PVC bag prior to storage by resonance Raman spectroscopy. Gender, age, blood type, hemoglobin level, and living altitude of donors, as well as process method and time-to-process were recorded. Results: Overall, the sO <sub>2</sub> exhibited a wide non-Gaussian distribution with a mean of 51.2 ± 18.5%. Use of top-top kits resulted in a 16% higher sO <sub>2</sub> (P < 0.0001) than with top-bottom ones. Waiting time before processing only had a modest impact, but the blood processing itself reduced the sO <sub>2</sub> by almost 12% (P < 0.0001). sO <sub>2</sub> was also significantly affected by some donors' characteristics. RCCs from men exhibited 25% higher sO <sub>2</sub> (P < 0.0001) than those donated by women. Multivariate analysis revealed that the apparent correlation observed with hemoglobin level and age was actually due to multicollinearity with the sex variable. Finally, we noticed no significant differences across blood type but found that altitude of residence was associated with the sO <sub>2</sub> (i.e., higher in higher living place). Conclusion: These data confirm wide sO <sub>2</sub> distribution in RCCs reported recently. The sO <sub>2</sub> was impacted by the processing and also by donors' characteristics such as the gender and the living altitude, but not by the hemoglobin level, blood group and donor age. This study provides new hints on the factors influencing red blood cells storage lesions, since they are known to be related to O <sub>2</sub> content within the bags, giving clues to better process and to better store RCCs and therefore potentially improve the efficacy of transfusion

Quantum networks reveal quantum nonlocality

The results of local measurements on some composite quantum systems cannot be reproduced classically. This impossibility, known as quantum nonlocality, represents a milestone in the foundations of quantum theory. Quantum nonlocality is also a valuable resource for information processing tasks, e.g. quantum communication, quantum key distribution, quantum state estimation, or randomness extraction. Still, deciding if a quantum state is nonlocal remains a challenging problem. Here we introduce a novel approach to this question: we study the nonlocal properties of quantum states when distributed and measured in networks. Using our framework, we show how any one-way entanglement distillable state leads to nonlocal correlations. Then, we prove that nonlocality is a non-additive resource, which can be activated. There exist states, local at the single-copy level, that become nonlocal when taking several copies of it. Our results imply that the nonlocality of quantum states strongly depends on the measurement context.Comment: 4 + 3 pages, 4 figure

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

Out-of-equilibrium physics in driven dissipative coupled resonator arrays

Coupled resonator arrays have been shown to exhibit interesting many- body physics including Mott and Fractional Hall states of photons. One of the main differences between these photonic quantum simulators and their cold atoms coun- terparts is in the dissipative nature of their photonic excitations. The natural equi- librium state is where there are no photons left in the cavity. Pumping the system with external drives is therefore necessary to compensate for the losses and realise non-trivial states. The external driving here can easily be tuned to be incoherent, coherent or fully quantum, opening the road for exploration of many body regimes beyond the reach of other approaches. In this chapter, we review some of the physics arising in driven dissipative coupled resonator arrays including photon fermionisa- tion, crystallisation, as well as photonic quantum Hall physics out of equilibrium. We start by briefly describing possible experimental candidates to realise coupled resonator arrays along with the two theoretical models that capture their physics, the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard and Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonians. A brief review of the analytical and sophisticated numerical methods required to tackle these systems is included.Comment: Chapter that appeared in "Quantum Simulations with Photons and Polaritons: Merging Quantum Optics with Condensed Matter Physics" edited by D.G.Angelakis, Quantum Science and Technology Series, Springer 201

Experimental estimation of the dimension of classical and quantum systems

An overwhelming majority of experiments in classical and quantum physics make a priori assumptions about the dimension of the system under consideration. However, would it be possible to assess the dimension of a completely unknown system only from the results of measurements performed on it, without any extra assumption? The concept of a dimension witness answers this question, as it allows one to bound the dimension of an unknown classical or quantum system in a device-independent manner, that is, only from the statistics of measurements performed on it. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of dimension witnesses in a prepare and measure scenario. We use pairs of photons entangled in both polarization and orbital angular momentum to generate ensembles of classical and quantum states of dimensions up to 4. We then use a dimension witness to certify their dimensionality as well as their quantum nature. Our results open new avenues for the device-independent estimation of unknown quantum systems and for applications in quantum information science.Comment: See also similar, independent and jointly submitted work of J. Ahrens et al., quant-ph/1111.127

Лісовідновлення та лісорозведення

У методичних рекомендаціях приведено основні інформаційно-довідкові та нормативні матеріали для проведення розрахунків і прийняття необхідних інженерних рішень під час виконання лабораторних робіт, а також методичні поради стосовно опрацювання і оформлення окремих завдань розрахункової роботи.Методичні рекомендації виконані у співавторстві з колективом кафедри лісовідновлення та лісорозведення Національного університету біоресурсів і природокористування України (В. М. Маурер, Ф. М. Бровко, А. П. Пінчук, І. В. Іванюк, О. Ю. Кайдик, І. М. Бобошко-Бардин)

Subwavelength vacuum lattices and atom–atom interactions in two-dimensional photonic crystals

Quantum simulation with cold atoms in optical lattices is an attractive avenue for explorations of quantum many-body physics. A principal challenge in the field is to increase the energy and length scales in current set-ups, thereby reducing temperature and coherence-time requirements. Here, we present a new paradigm for high-density, two-dimensional optical lattices in photonic crystal waveguides. Specially engineered two-dimensional photonic crystals provide a practical platform to trap atoms and engineer their interactions in ways that surpass the limitations of current technologies and enable investigations of novel quantum many-body matter. Our schemes remove the constraint on the lattice constant set by the free-space optical wavelength in favour of deeply sub-wavelength atomic arrays. We further describe possibilities for atom–atom interactions mediated by photons in two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides with energy scales several orders of magnitude larger than for exchange interactions in free-space lattices and with the capability to engineer strongly long-range interactions

Nonlinearity and Topology

The interplay of nonlinearity and topology results in many novel and emergent properties across a number of physical systems such as chiral magnets, nematic liquid crystals, Bose-Einstein condensates, photonics, high energy physics, etc. It also results in a wide variety of topological defects such as solitons, vortices, skyrmions, merons, hopfions, monopoles to name just a few. Interaction among and collision of these nontrivial defects itself is a topic of great interest. Curvature and underlying geometry also affect the shape, interaction and behavior of these defects. Such properties can be studied using techniques such as, e.g. the Bogomolnyi decomposition. Some applications of this interplay, e.g. in nonreciprocal photonics as well as topological materials such as Dirac and Weyl semimetals, are also elucidated

On the origin and evolution of the material in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

International audiencePrimitive objects like comets hold important information on the material that formed our solar system. Several comets have been visited by spacecraft and many more have been observed through Earth- and space-based telescopes. Still our understanding remains limited. Molecular abundances in comets have been shown to be similar to interstellar ices and thus indicate that common processes and conditions were involved in their formation. The samples returned by the Stardust mission to comet Wild 2 showed that the bulk refractory material was processed by high temperatures in the vicinity of the early sun. The recent Rosetta mission acquired a wealth of new data on the composition of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P/C-G) and complemented earlier observations of other comets. The isotopic, elemental, and molecular abundances of the volatile, semi-volatile, and refractory phases brought many new insights into the origin and processing of the incorporated material. The emerging picture after Rosetta is that at least part of the volatile material was formed before the solar system and that cometary nuclei agglomerated over a wide range of heliocentric distances, different from where they are found today. Deviations from bulk solar system abundances indicate that the material was not fully homogenized at the location of comet formation, despite the radial mixing implied by the Stardust results. Post-formation evolution of the material might play an important role, which further complicates the picture. This paper discusses these major findings of the Rosetta mission with respect to the origin of the material and puts them in the context of what we know from other comets and solar system objects