Experimental free-space distribution of entangled photon pairs over 13 km: towards satellite-based global quantum communication

We report free-space distribution of entangled photon pairs over a noisy ground atmosphere of 13 km. It is shown that the desired entanglement can still survive after both entangled photons have passed through the noisy ground atmosphere with a distance beyond the effective thickness of the aerosphere. This is confirmed by observing a spacelike separated violation of Bell inequality of 2.45+/-0.09. On this basis, we exploit the distributed entangled photon source to demonstrate the Bennett-Brassard 1984 quantum cryptography scheme. The distribution distance of entangled photon pairs achieved in the experiment is for the first time well beyond the effective thickness of the aerosphere, hence presenting a significant step towards satellite-based global quantum communication.     

Pion distribution amplitudes within the instanton model of QCD vacuum

The pion transition form factor for the process γ*γ* → π⁰ at spacelike values of photon momenta is calculated within the effective quark-meson model with the interaction induced by instanton exchange. The leading and next-to-leading order power asymptotics of the form factor and the relation between the light-cone pion distribution amplitudes of twists 2 and 4 and the dynamically generated quark mass are found.     

Optimal bell tests do not require maximally entangled states

Any Bell test consists of a sequence of measurements on a quantum state in spacelike separated regions. Thus, a state is better than others for a Bell test when, for the optimal measurements and the same number of trials, the probability of existence of a local model for the observed outcomes is smaller. The maximization over states and measurements defines the optimal nonlocality proof. Numerical results show that the required optimal state does not have to be maximally entangled.     

γγ→π0 transition and asymptotics of γγ and γγ transitions of unflavored pseudoscalar mesons

For the spacelike momenta k of the virtual photon γ, the π⁰(p)γ(k)γ(k^′) transition form factor is considered in the coupled Schwinger–Dyson and Bethe-Salpeter approach in conjunction with the generalized impulse approximation using the dressed quark–photon–quark vertices of the Ball–Chiu and Curtis-Pennington type. These form factors are compared with the ones predicted by the vector meson dominance, operator product expansion, QCD sum rules, and the perturbative QCD for the large spacelike transferred momenta k. The most important qualitative feature of the asymptotic behavior, namely the 1/k² dependence, is in our approach obtained in the model-independent way. Again model-independently, our approach reproduces also the Adler–Bell–Jackiw anomaly result for the limit of both photons being real. For the case of one highly virtual photon, we find in the closed form the asymptotic expression which is then easily generalized both to the case of other unflavored pseudoscalar mesons P⁰=π⁰,η₈,η₀,η_c,η_b, and to the case of arbitrary virtuality of the other photon.     

High-Capacity Quantum Secret Sharing with Hyperdense Coding Assisted by Hyperentangled Photon Pairs

We presents a high-capacity three-party quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocol with a sequence of photon pairs in hyperentangled Bell states in both the polarization and the spatial-mode degrees of freedom. In our scheme, the boss Alice prepares a sequence of photon pairs in hyperentangled Bell states and divides them into two photon sequences which are sent the two agents, respectively. Alice exploits four subsets of decoy photons to assure the security of the photon transmission between her and her agents. The present QSS scheme has the advantage of having a high channel capacity as each photon pair can carry 4 bits of secret message in principle, two times of that by Deng et al. (Phys. Lett. A 372: 1957, 2008). We give out the setups for the preparation of the photon pairs in hyperentangled Bell states with a beta barium borate crystal and the manipulation of the photons with linear optical elements. It will be shown that our QSS protocol is feasible with current experimental technology.     

克尔介质中双模纠缠相干光与贝尔态原子相互作用系统的光子统计特性

运用全量子理论并结合数值计算方法,研究了克尔介质腔中处于贝尔态的两个全同二能级纠缠原子与双模纠缠相干光场相互作用系统的光子统计特性。讨论了双原子体系的初态、初始光场的平均光子数、双模纠缠相干光场的纠缠程度以及克尔介质与双模光场的耦合强度对光子统计特性的影响。结果表明:忽略克尔介质的作用时,只有当双原子体系的初态为0β1〉或1β1〉时,在一定的条件下才可出现光子的反聚束效应,而当双原子体系的初态为β00〉、1β0〉时,光场在其演化过程中不出现光子的反聚束效应。而当考虑克尔介质的作用时,四种初态下光场演化过程中均有可能出现光子的反聚束效应。光子的反聚束效应出现的次数、时间和深度极其敏感地依赖于初始光场的平均光子数和克尔介质与双模光场的耦合强度,同时也受到双模纠缠光场的纠缠程度的影响。     

On the implication of Bell’s probability distribution and proposed experiments of quantum measurement

In derivating of Bell’s inequalities, the probability distribution is supposed to be a function only of a hidden variable. We point out that the true implication of the probability distribution of Bell’s correlation function is the distribution of joint measurement outcomes on the two sides. It is therefore a function of both the hidden variable and the settings. In this case, Bell’s inequalities fail. Our further analysis shows that Bell’s locality holds neither for dependent events nor for independent events. We think that the measurements of EPR pairs are dependent events, and hence violation of Bell’s inequalities cannot rule out the existence of local hidden variable. To explain the results of EPR-type experiments, we suppose that a polarization-entangled photon pair can be composed of two circularly or linearly polarized photons with correlated hidden variables, and a couple of experiments of quantum measurement are proposed. The first uses delayed measurement on one photon of the EPR pair to demonstrate directly whether measurement on the other could have any nonlocal influence on it. Then several experiments are suggested to reveal the components of the polarization-entangled photon pair. The last one uses successive polarization measurements on a pair of EPR photons to show that two photons with the same quantum state behave the same under the same measuring conditions.     

双模纠缠相干光与Bell态原子系统的光子统计

运用全量子理论并结合数值计算方法,研究了处于Bell态的两个全同二能级纠缠原子与双模纠缠相干光场相互作用系统的光子统计性质.分析了双原子体系的初态、光场的平均光子数、双模纠缠相干光场的纠缠程度以及双原子体系的原子间耦合强度对双模光场的光子统计性质的影响.结果表明：双原子体系的初态为｜β00〉、｜β10〉时,光场在其演化过程中不出现光子的反聚束效应;而当原子初态为｜β01〉或｜β11〉时,在一定的条件下可出现光子的反聚束效应.并且在光场的演化过程中,光子的反聚束效应出现的次数、时间和深度极其敏感地依赖于初始光场的平均光子数,而受到双模纠缠光场的纠缠程度以及双原子间偶极作用强度的影响很微弱.     

Higher-Order Kinetic Term for Controlling Photon Mass in Off-Shell Electrodynamics

In relativistic classical and quantum mechanics with Poincaré-invariant parameter, particle worldlines are traced out by the evolution of spacetime events. The formulation of a covariant canonical framework for the evolving events leads to a dynamical theory in which mass conservation is demoted from a priori constraint to the status of conserved Noether current for a certain class of interactions. In pre-Maxwell electrodynamics—the local gauge theory associated with this framework —events induce five local off-shell fields, which mediate interactions between instantaneous events, not between the worldlines which represent entire particle histories. The fifth field, required to compensate for dependence of gauge transformations on the evolution parameter, enables the exchange of mass between particles and fields. In the equilibrium limit, these pre-Maxwell fields are pushed onto the zero-mass shell, but during interactions there is no mechanism regulating the mass that photons may acquire, even when event trajectories evolve far into the spacelike region. This feature of the off-shell formalism requires the application of some ad hoc mechanism for controlling the photon mass in two opposite physical domains: the low energy motion of a charged event in classical Coulomb scattering, and the renormalization of off-shell quantum electrodynamics. In this paper, we discuss a nonlocal, higher derivative correction to the photon kinetic term, which provides regulation of the photon mass in a manner which preserves the gauge invariance and Poincaré covariance of the original theory. We demonstrate that the inclusion of this term is equivalent to an earlier solution to the classical Coulomb problem, and that the resulting quantum field theory is renormalized.     

Covariant spin density matrix formalism for inelastic scattering of polarized leptons

Starting from a generalization of helicity to the case of spacelike momenta we give the spin density operator for the virtual photon in inelastic scattering of polarized, massive leptons.     

好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度

考虑原子间偶极相互作用,求出好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度。结果表明,对于理想腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度始终等于1;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一,腔场初态的平均光子数很小,系统保真度在0～1之间作周期性振荡,随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小。对于好腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度呈指数单调衰减;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一,系统保真度呈指数振荡衰减,且随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小。     

好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度

考虑原子间偶极相互作用,求出好腔中的Bell态原子与纠缠相干态光场相互作用系统的保真度.结果表明,对于理想腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度始终等于1;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一.腔场初态的平均光子数很小,系统保真度在0～1之间作周期性振荡,随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小.对于好腔,若原子初始时刻处于相干保持态,系统保真度呈指数单调衰减;若原子初始时刻处于其余Bell态之一,系统保真度呈指数振荡衰减,且随着腔场初态的平均光子数的增加,系统保真度的振荡频率增大,振幅减小.     

A Relativistic Version of the Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber Model

Carrying out a research program outlined by John S. Bell in 1987, we arrive at a relativistic version of the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber (GRW) model of spontaneous wavefunction collapse. The GRW model was proposed as a solution of the measurement problem of quantum mechanics and involves a stochastic and nonlinear modification of the Schrödinger equation. It deviates very little from the Schrödinger equation for microscopic systems but efficiently suppresses, for macroscopic systems, superpositions of macroscopically different states. As suggested by Bell, we take the primitive ontology, or local beables, of our model to be a discrete set of space-time points, at which the collapses are centered. This set is random with distribution determined by the initial wavefunction. Our model is nonlocal and violates Bell’s inequality though it does not make use of a preferred slicing of space-time or any other sort of synchronization of spacelike separated points. Like the GRW model, it reproduces the quantum probabilities in all cases presently testable, though it entails deviations from the quantum formalism that are in principle testable. Our model works in Minkowski space-time as well as in (well-behaved) curved background space-times.     

基于Bell态粒子和单光子混合的量子安全直接通信方案的信息泄露问题

最近,一种基于Bell态粒子和单光子混合的量子安全直接通信方案[物理学报65 230301(2016)]被提出.文章宣称一个量子态可以编码3比特经典信息,从而使得协议具有很高的信息传输效率.不幸的是,该协议存在信息泄露问题:编码在单光子上的3比特经典信息有2比特被泄露,而编码在Bell态上的3比特经典信息有1比特被泄露,所以它不是一个安全的直接量子通信方案.在保留原协议思想且尽可能少地更改原协议的基础上,我们提出一种改进的消息编码规则,从而解决信息泄露问题,使之成为一个高效、安全的量子通信协议.衷心希望研究者能对量子安全通信协议中信息泄露问题引起足够重视,设计真正安全的量子通信协议.     

Limit on nonlocality in any world in which communication complexity is not trivial

Bell proved that quantum entanglement enables two spacelike separated parties to exhibit classically impossible correlations. Even though these correlations are stronger than anything classically achievable, they cannot be harnessed to make instantaneous (faster than light) communication possible. Yet, Popescu and Rohrlich have shown that even stronger correlations can be defined, under which instantaneous communication remains impossible. This raises the question: Why are the correlations achievable by quantum mechanics not maximal among those that preserve causality? We give a partial answer to this question by showing that slightly stronger correlations would result in a world in which communication complexity becomes trivial.     

Deterministic nondestructive state analysis for polarization-spatial-time-bin hyperentanglement with cross-Kerr nonlinearity

We present a deterministic nondestructive hyperentangled Bell state analysis protocol for photons entangled in three degrees of freedom(DOFs),including polarization,spatial-mode,and time-bin DOFs.The polarization Bell state analyzer and spatial-mode Bell state analyzer are constructed by polarization parity-check quantum nondemolition detector(P-QND)and spatial-mode parity-check quantum nondemolition detector(S-QND)using cross-Kerr nonlinearity,respectively.The time-bin Bell state analyzer is constructed by the swap gate for polarization state and time-bin state of a photon(P-T swap gate)and P-QND.The Bell states analyzer for one DOF will not destruct the Bell states of other two DOFs,so the polarization-spatial-time-bin hyperentangled Bell states can be determinately distinguished without destruction.This deterministic nondestructive state analysis method has useful applications in quantum information protocols.     

Biphoton light generation in polarization-frequency bell states

Four polarization-frequency Bell states are obtained experimentally for photon pairs (biphotons) emitted during spontaneous parametric scattering from continuous pumping in the collinear frequency-nondegenerate regime. The polarization properties of such states are investigated. It is shown that biphoton light in the singlet Bell state is not polarized in the second or fourth order in the field.     

Complete deterministic linear optics Bell state analysis

We show how hyperentanglement allows us to deterministically distinguish between all four polarization Bell states of two photons. In this proof-of-principle experiment, we employ the intrinsic time-energy correlation of photon pairs generated with high temporal definition in addition to the polarization entanglement obtained from parametric down-conversion. For the identification, no nonlinear optical elements or auxiliary photons are needed. The new possibilities this complete Bell measurement offers are demonstrated by realizing an optimal dense coding protocol.     

Bell态原子与双模纠缠相干光场相互作用的纠缠特性

运用Negativity熵研究了Bell态原子与双模纠缠相干光场相互作用系统中两个全同二能级原子之间的纠缠演化特性.分析了光场强度、光场纠缠度及原子间相互作用强度对纠缠的影响.结果表明:原子处于|β11〉时,两原子始终处于最大纠缠态;原子处于|β00〉时,初始纠缠的两原子始终较长时间处于退纠缠状态;原子处在|β10〉时,增大双模光场的平均光子数可以明显增大两原子之间的纠缠度并保持较大的纠缠状态;原子初态处在|β01〉时,原子间的相互作用强度对双原子间纠缠度有较显著的非线性调制作用.     

Towards Loophole-Free Optical Bell Test of CHSH Inequality

Bell test had been suggested to end the long-standing debate on the EPR paradox, while the imperfections of experimental devices induce some loopholes in Bell test experiments and hence the assumption of local reality by EPR cannot be excluded with current experimental results. In optical Bell test experiments, the locality loophole can be closed easily, while the attempt of closing detection loophole requires very high efficiency of single photon detectors. Previous studies showed that the violation of Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality with maximally entangled states requires the detection efficiency to be higher than 82.8 %. In this paper, we raise a modified CHSH inequality that covers all measurement events including the efficient and inefficient detections in the Bell test and prove that all local hidden models can be excluded when the inequality is violated. We find that, when non-maximally entangled states are applied to the Bell test, the lowest detection efficiency for violation of the present inequality is 66.7 %. This makes it feasible to close the detection loophole and the locality loophole simultaneously in optical Bell test of CHSH inequality.