38 research outputs found
Synthesis and tomographic characterization of the displaced Fock state of light
Displaced Fock states of the electromagnetic field have been synthesized by
overlapping the pulsed optical single-photon Fock state |1> with coherent
states on a high-reflection beamsplitter and completely characterized by means
of quantum homodyne tomography. The reconstruction reveals highly non-classical
properties of displaced Fock states, such as negativity of the Wigner function
and photon number oscillations. This is the first time complete tomographic
reconstruction has been performed on a highly non-classical optical state
Versatile Wideband Balanced Detector for Quantum Optical Homodyne Tomography
We present a comprehensive theory and an easy to follow method for the design
and construction of a wideband homodyne detector for time-domain quantum
measurements. We show how one can evaluate the performance of a detector in a
specific time-domain experiment based on electronic spectral characteristic of
that detector. We then present and characterize a high-performance detector
constructed using inexpensive, commercially available components such as
low-noise high-speed operational amplifiers and high-bandwidth photodiodes. Our
detector shows linear behavior up to a level of over 13 dB clearance between
shot noise and electronic noise, in the range from DC to 100 MHz. The detector
can be used for measuring quantum optical field quadratures both in the
continuous-wave and pulsed regimes with pulse repetition rates up to about 250
MHz.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl
The curious nonexistence of Gaussian 2-designs
2-designs -- ensembles of quantum pure states whose 2nd moments equal those
of the uniform Haar ensemble -- are optimal solutions for several tasks in
quantum information science, especially state and process tomography. We show
that Gaussian states cannot form a 2-design for the continuous-variable
(quantum optical) Hilbert space L2(R). This is surprising because the affine
symplectic group HWSp (the natural symmetry group of Gaussian states) is
irreducible on the symmetric subspace of two copies. In finite dimensional
Hilbert spaces, irreducibility guarantees that HWSp-covariant ensembles (such
as mutually unbiased bases in prime dimensions) are always 2-designs. This
property is violated by continuous variables, for a subtle reason: the
(well-defined) HWSp-invariant ensemble of Gaussian states does not have an
average state because the averaging integral does not converge. In fact, no
Gaussian ensemble is even close (in a precise sense) to being a 2-design. This
surprising difference between discrete and continuous quantum mechanics has
important implications for optical state and process tomography.Comment: 9 pages, no pretty figures (sorry!
Storing and releasing light in a gas of moving atoms
We propose a scheme of storing and releasing pulses or cw beams of light in a
moving atomic medium illuminated by two stationary and spatially separated
control lasers. The method is based on electromagnetically induced transparency
(EIT) but in contrast to previous schemes, storage and retrieval of the probe
pulse can be achieved at different locations and without switching off the
control laser.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, revised versio
Spectroscopy by frequency entangled photon pairs
Quantum spectroscopy was performed using the frequency-entangled broadband
photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. An absorptive
sample was placed in front of the idler photon detector, and the frequency of
signal photons was resolved by a diffraction grating. The absorption spectrum
of the sample was measured by counting the coincidences, and the result is in
agreement with the one measured by a conventional spectrophotometer with a
classical light source.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.
Quantum inference of states and processes
The maximum-likelihood principle unifies inference of quantum states and
processes from experimental noisy data. Particularly, a generic quantum process
may be estimated simultaneously with unknown quantum probe states provided that
measurements on probe and transformed probe states are available. Drawbacks of
various approximate treatments are considered.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Conditional generation of sub-Poissonian light from two-mode squeezed vacuum via balanced homodyne detection on idler mode
A simple scheme for conditional generation of nonclassical light with
sub-Poissonian photon-number statistics is proposed. The method utilizes
entanglement of signal and idler modes in two-mode squeezed vacuum state
generated in optical parametric amplifier. A quadrature component of the idler
mode is measured in balanced homodyne detector and only those experimental runs
where the absolute value of the measured quadrature is higher than certain
threshold are accepted. If the threshold is large enough then the conditional
output state of signal mode exhibits reduction of photon-number fluctuations
below the coherent-state level.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, REVTe
Maximal Violation of Bell Inequalities using Continuous Variables Measurements
We propose a whole family of physical states that yield a violation of the
Bell CHSH inequality arbitrarily close to its maximum value, when using
quadrature phase homodyne detection. This result is based on a new binning
process called root binning, that is used to transform the continuous variables
measurements into binary results needed for the tests of quantum mechanics
versus local realistic theories. A physical process in order to produce such
states is also suggested. The use of high-efficiency spacelike separated
homodyne detections with these states and this binning process would result in
a conclusive loophole-free test of quantum mechanics.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in PRA in a slightly different versio
A measurable entanglement criterion for two qubits
We propose a directly measurable criterion for the entanglement of two
qubits. We compare the criterion with other criteria, and we find that for pure
states, and some mixed states, it coincides with the state's concurrency. The
measure can be obtained with a Bell state analyser and the ability to make
general local unitary transformations. However, the procedure fails to measure
the entanglement of a general mixed two-qubit state.Comment: 5 page
Measuring the elements of the optical density matrix
Most methods for experimentally reconstructing the quantum state of light
involve determining a quasiprobability distribution such as the Wigner
function. In this paper we present a scheme for measuring individual density
matrix elements in the photon number state representation. Remarkably, the
scheme is simple, involving two beam splitters and a reference field in a
coherent state.Comment: 6 pages and 1 figur