Direct sampling of negative quasiprobabilities of a squeezed state

Although squeezed states are nonclassical states, so far, their nonclassicality could not be demonstrated by negative quasiprobabilities. In this work we derive pattern functions for the direct experimental determination of so-called nonclassicality quasiprobabilities. The negativities of these quantities turn out to be necessary and sufficient for the nonclassicality of an arbitrary quantum state and are therefore suitable for a direct and general test of nonclassicality. We apply the method to a squeezed vacuum state of light that was generated by parametric down-conversion in a second-order nonlinear crystal.     

Manipulating Nonclassicality via Quantum State Engineering Processes: Vacuum Filtration and Single Photon Addition

The effect of two quantum state engineering processes that can be used to burn a hole at vacuum in the photon number distribution of quantum states of radiation field is compared using various witnesses of lower- and higher-order nonclassicality as well as a measure of nonclassicality. Specifically, the modification in nonclassical properties due to vacuum state filtration and a single photon addition on an even coherent state, binomial state, and Kerr state are investigated using the criteria of lower- and higher-order antibunching, squeezing, and sub-Poissonian photon statistics. Further, the amount of nonclassicality present in these engineered quantum states having enormous applications in continuous variable quantum communication is quantified and analyzed by using an linear entropy-based entanglement potential. It is observed that all the quantum states studied here are highly nonclassical, and the hole-burning processes can introduce/enhance nonclassical features. However, it is not true in general. A hole at vacuum implies a maximally nonclassical state (as far as Lee's nonclassical depth is concerned), but a particular process of hole burning at vacuum does not ensure the existence of any particular nonclassical feature. Specifically, lower- and higher-order squeezing are not observed for photon-added and vacuum filtered even coherent states.     

Wigner distribution,nonclassicality and decoherence of generalized and reciprocal binomial states

There are quantum states of light that can be expressed as finite superpositions of Fock states (FSFS). We demonstrate the nonclassicality of an arbitrary FSFS by means of its phase space distributions such as the Wigner function and the Q-function. The decoherence of the FSFS is studied by considering the time evolution of its Wigner function in amplitude decay and phase damping channels. As examples, we determine the nonclassicality and decoherence of generalized and reciprocal binomial states.     

Computable measure of nonclassicality for light

We propose the entanglement potential (EP) as a measure of nonclassicality for quantum states of a single-mode electromagnetic field. It is the amount of two-mode entanglement that can be generated from the field using linear optics, auxiliary classical states, and ideal photodetectors. The EP detects nonclassicality, has a direct physical interpretation, and can be computed efficiently. These three properties together make it stand out from previously proposed nonclassicality measures. We derive closed expressions for the EP of important classes of states and analyze as an example of the degradation of nonclassicality in lossy channels.     

Generalized Photon Added and Subtracted f-Deformed Displaced Fock States

In this paper, by making use of the nonlinear coherent states approach, the generalized photon added and subtracted f-deformed displaced Fock states are introduced. In other words, a natural link between photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states and nonlinear coherent states associated with nonlinear oscillator algebra is obtained. It is found that various kinds of nonclassical states can be generated by adopting appropriately controlling parameters in both linear and nonlinear regimes. Moreover, examining some of the most nonclassical properties such as Mandel's Q parameter, different types of squeezing, namely, quadrature, amplitude–squared and phase entropic squeezing, and Vogel's characteristic function, the nonclassicality features of the considered quantum states of interest are studied. Furthermore, to obtain the degree of quantum coherence, the relative entropy of coherence is investigated. Indeed, the nonclassicality aspects of the states obtained have been numerically studied to understand the roles of deformation functions, photons added and subtracted, and photon number occupied in the Fock state on physical properties. It is demonstrated that the depth and the domain of the nonclassicality features of the system can properly be controlled by selecting the suitable parameters.     

Quantifying Process Nonclassicality in Bosonic Fields

Nonclassicality of optical states,as a key characteristic of bosonic fields,is a valuable resource for quantum information processing.We investigate the generation of nonclassicality in quantum processes from a quantitative perspective,introduce three information-theoretic measures of nonclassicality for quantum-optical processes based on the Wigner-Yanase skew information and coherent states,and illustrate their physical significance through several well-known single-mode quantum processes.     

The effect of atomic spontaneous decay on the dynamics of the negativity of the Wigner function of radiation

The exact solution of the master equation for the case of a high-Q cavity with atomic decay is found. We use the negativity of the Wigner function (WF) as an indicator of nonclassicality. It is found that the negative values of the field WF are very sensitive to any change in the damping parameter. The atomic spontaneous decay leads to the simultaneous disappearance of both entanglement and nonclassicality of quantum states. Moreover, the purity of the field states is completely lost.     

Quantifying nonclassicality of one-mode Gaussian states of the radiation field

We define the degree of nonclassicality of a one-mode Gaussian state of the quantum electromagnetic field in terms of the Bures distance between the state and the set of all classical one-mode Gaussian states. We find the closest classical Gaussian state and the degree of nonclassicality using a recently established expression for the Uhlmann fidelity of two single-mode Gaussian states. The decrease of nonclassicality under thermal mapping is carefully analyzed. Along the same lines, we finally present the evolution of nonclassicality during linear amplification.     

Output nonlocality and nonclassicality in a two-mode entanglement laser

Output nonlocality and nonclassicality for the two modes are investigated in an entanglement laser sys-tem. Within the framework of a quantum theory of multiwave mixing,nonlocality and nonclassicality are discussed according to the violations of Bell inequality and Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. It is found that both nonlocality and nonclassicality can be fulfilled in the outside cavity fields under certain conditions. It is also shown that there are some nonclassical states that do not show nonlocality.     

Long-time death of nonclassicality of a cavity field interacting with a charge qubit and its own reservoir

A measure of nonclassicality of quantum states based on the negative values of the Wigner function (WF) of a charge qubit-field system is proposed. It is found that, the negative values of the field WF are very sensitive to any change in dissipation parameter. The dissipation leads to a long-time death for both entanglement and nonclassicality, and also the coherence of the cavity state is lost completely.     

Statistical Properties of Photon-Added Two-Mode Squeezed Coherent States

The nonclassical and non-Gaussian quantum states—photon-added two-mode squeezed coherent states have been theoretically introduced by adding multiple photons to each mode of the two-mode squeezed coherent states. Starting from the new expression of two-mode squeezing operator in entangled states representation, the normalization factor is obtained, which is directly related to bivariate Hermite polynomials. The sub-Poissonian photon statistics, cross-correlation between two modes, partial negative Wigner function are observed, which fully reflect the nonclassicality of the target states. The negative Wigner function often display non-Gaussian distribution meanwhile. The investigations may provide experimentalists with some better references in quantum engineering.     

Characterizing quantum properties of a measurement apparatus: insights from the retrodictive approach

Using the retrodictive approach of quantum physics, we show that the state retrodicted from the response of a measurement apparatus is a convenient tool to fully characterize its quantum properties. We translate in terms of this state some interesting aspects of the quantum behavior of a detector, such as the nonclassicality or the non-gaussian character of its measurements. We also introduce estimators--the projectivity, the ideality, the fidelity, or the detectivity of measurements performed by the apparatus--which directly follow from the retrodictive approach. Beyond their fundamental significance for describing general quantum measurements, these properties are crucial in several protocols, in particular, in the conditional preparation of nonclassical states of light or in measurement-driven quantum information processing.     

Atomic nonclassicality in the Jaynes-Cummings model

The Jaynes-Cummings model, a fundamental and ideal paradigm for the study of atom-field interaction with remarkable beauty and complexity, plays an instrumental role in cavity quantum electrodynamics and related experiments. The dynamics of both the atom and the field in this ubiquitous model, which exhibit a number of intriguing nonclassical effects, have been widely studied and engineered from various perspectives. In particular, the collapses and revivals for several physical quantities have been revealed, with important implications for quantum foundations and technologies. In this work, we study the atomic nonclassicality in the Jaynes-Cummings model in terms of an information-theoretic quantifier, reveal its basic features, and compare them with various well known observations of atomic dynamics. The sensitivity of the dynamics on both the initial atomic states and field states indicates rich patterns of atom-field interaction, and may be exploited to estimate, prepare, and engineer atomic states via fields, or vice versa.     

Hilbert's 17th problem and the quantumness of states

A state of a quantum system can be regarded as classical (quantum) with respect to measurements of a set of canonical observables if and only if there exists (does not exist) a well defined, positive phase-space distribution, the so called Glauber-Sudarshan P representation. We derive a family of classicality criteria that requires that the averages of positive functions calculated using P representation must be positive. For polynomial functions, these criteria are related to Hilbert's 17th problem, and have physical meaning of generalized squeezing conditions; alternatively, they may be interpreted as nonclassicality witnesses. We show that every generic nonclassical state can be detected by a polynomial that is a sum-of-squares of other polynomials. We introduce a very natural hierarchy of states regarding their degree of quantumness, which we relate to the minimal degree of a sum-of-squares polynomial that detects them.     

Reduction of quantum phase fluctuations in intermediate states

Recently we have shown that the reduction of the Carruthers-Nieto symmetric quantum phase fluctuation parameter (U) with respect to its coherent state value corresponds to an antibunched state, but the converse is not true. Consequently reduction of U is a stronger criterion of nonclassicality than the lowest order antibunching. Here we have studied the possibilities of reduction of U in intermediate states by using the Barnett-Pegg formalism. We have shown that the reduction of phase fluctuation parameter U can be seen in different intermediate states, such as binomial state, generalized binomial state, hypergeometric state, negative binomial state, and photon added coherent state. It is also shown that the depth of nonclassicality can be controlled by various parameters related to intermediate states. Further, we have provided specific examples of antibunched states, for which U is greater than its Poissonian state value.     

Lower‐ and Higher‐Order Nonclassical Properties of Photon Added and Subtracted Displaced Fock States

Nonclassical properties of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states are studied using various witnesses of lower‐ and higher‐order nonclassicality. Compact analytic expressions are obtained for the nonclassicality witnesses. Using those expressions, it is established that these states and the states that can be obtained as their limiting cases (except coherent states) are highly nonclassical as they show the existence of lower‐ and higher‐order antibunching and sub‐Poissonian photon statistics, in addition to the nonclassical features revealed through the Mandel $Q_M$ parameter, zeros of Q function, Klyshko's criterion, and Agarwal–Tara criterion. Further, some comparison between the nonclassicality of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states have been performed using witnesses of nonclassicality. This has established that between the two types of non‐Gaussianity inducing operations (i.e., photon addition and subtraction) used here, photon addition influences the nonclassical properties more strongly. Further, optical designs for the generation of photon added and subtracted displaced Fock states from squeezed vacuum state have also been proposed.     

Discord and nonclassicality in probabilistic theories

Quantum discord quantifies nonclassical correlations in quantum states. We introduce discord for states in causal probabilistic theories, inspired by the original definition proposed by H. Ollivier and W.?H. Zurek [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 017901 (2001)]. We show that the only probabilistic theory in which all states have null discord is classical probability theory. Non-null discord is then not just a quantum feature, but a generic signature of nonclassicality.     

Generalized coherent states for solvable quantum systems with degenerate discrete spectra and their nonclassical properties

In this paper, the generalized coherent state for quantum systems with degenerate spectra is introduced. Then, the nonclassicality features and number-phase entropic uncertainty relation of two particular degenerate quantum systems are studied. Finally, using the Gazeau-Klauder coherent states approach, the time evolution of some of the nonclassical properties of the coherent states corresponding to the considered physical systems are discussed.     

Negativity and contextuality are equivalent notions of nonclassicality

Two notions of nonclassicality that have been investigated intensively are: (i) negativity, that is, the need to posit negative values when representing quantum states by quasiprobability distributions such as the Wigner representation, and (ii) contextuality, that is, the impossibility of a noncontextual hidden variable model of quantum theory. Although both of these notions were meant to characterize the conditions under which a classical explanation cannot be provided, we demonstrate that they prove inadequate to the task and we argue for a particular way of generalizing and revising them. With the refined version of each in hand, it becomes apparent that they are in fact one and the same. We also demonstrate the impossibility of noncontextuality or non-negativity in quantum theory with a novel proof that is symmetric in its treatment of measurements and preparations.     

Decoherence and Fidelity in Teleportation of Coherent Photon-Added Two-Mode Squeezed Thermal States

We theoretically introduce a kind of non-Gaussian entangled resources, i.e., coherent photon-added two-mode squeezed thermal states (CPA-TMSTS), by successively performing coherent photon addition operation to the two-mode squeezed thermal states. The normalization factor related to bivariate Hermite polynomials is obtained. Based upon it, the nonclassicality and decoherence process are analyzed by virtue of the Wigner function. It is shown that the coherent photon addition operation is an effective way in generating partial negative values of Wigner function, which clearly manifests the nonclassicality and non-Gaussianity of the target states. Additionally, the fidelity in teleporting coherent states using CPA-TMSTS as entangled resource is quantified both analytically and numerically. It is found that the CPA-TMSTS is an entangled resource of high-efficiency and high-fidelity in quantum teleportation.