Quantum contextuality for rational vectors

The Kochen-Specker theorem states that noncontextual hidden variable models are inconsistent with the quantum predictions for every yes-no question on a qutrit, corresponding to every projector in three dimensions. It has been suggested [D.A. Meyer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 (1999) 3751] that the inconsistency would disappear when restricting to projectors on unit vectors with rational components; that noncontextual hidden variables could reproduce the quantum predictions for rational vectors. Here we show that a qutrit state with rational components violates an inequality valid for noncontextual hidden-variable models [A.A. Klyachko et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101 (2008) 020403] using rational projectors. This shows that the inconsistency remains even when using only rational vectors.     

Geometric measure of quantum discord over two-sided projective measurements

The original definition of quantum discord of bipartite states was defined over one-sided projective measurements, it describes quantum correlations more extensively than entanglement. Dakic, Vedral, and Brukner [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 (2010) 190502] introduced a geometric measure of quantum discord, Luo and Fu [Phys. Rev. A 82 (2010) 034302] simplified the variation expression of this geometric measure. In this Letter we introduce a geometric measure of quantum discord over two-sided projective measurements. A simplified expression and a lower bound of this two-sided geometric measure are derived and explicit expressions are obtained for some special cases.     

Quantum Correlations in a Family of Two-Qubit Separable States

Quantum correlations in a family of two-qubit separable classical-quantum correlated states are intensively studied with four different approaches, namely, quantum discord [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 017901], measurement- induced disturbance (MID) [Phys. Rev. A 77 (2008) 022301], ameliorated MID [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 44 (2011) 352002] and quantum dissonance [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 (2010) 080501]. Quantum correlations captured with different approaches are compared and discussed so that their three distinct features are exposed.     

Quantum Correlations in a Family of Two-Qubit Separable States

Quantum correlations in a family of two-qubit separable classical-quantum correlated states are intensively studied with four diferent approaches,namely,quantum discord[Phys.Rev.Lett.88(2002)017901],measurementinduced disturbance(MID)[Phys.Rev.A 77(2008)022301],ameliorated MID[J.Phys.A:Math.Theor.44(2011)352002]and quantum dissonance[Phys.Rev.Lett.104(2010)080501].Quantum correlations captured with diferent approaches are compared and discussed so that their three distinct features are exposed.     

No signaling, entanglement breaking, and localizability in bipartite channels

A bipartite quantum channel represents the interaction between systems, generally allowing for the exchange of information. A special class of bipartite channels is the no-signaling ones, which do not allow for communication. Piani et al. [Phys. Rev. A 74, 012305 (2006)] conjectured that all no-signaling channels are mixtures of entanglement breaking and localizable channels, which require only local operations and entanglement. Here we provide the general realization scheme, and give a counterexample to the conjecture, achieving no-signaling superquantum correlations while preserving entanglement.     

Unitarizable Highest Weight Modules of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> = 2 Super Virasoro Algebras: Untwisted Sectors

In this article, we prove the classification theorem of the unitarizable highest weight modules over the N = 2 super Virasoro algebras for the untwisted sector, stated by Boucher et al. (Phys Lett B 172:316–322, 1986).     

Nonadditivity of bipartite distillable entanglement follows from a conjecture on bound entangled Werner states

Assuming the validity of a conjecture given by DiVincenzo et al. [Phys. Rev. A 61, 062312 (2000)] and by Dür et al. [Phys. Rev. A 61, 062313 (2000)], we show that the distillable entanglement for two bipartite states, each of which individually has zero distillable entanglement, can be nonzero. We show that this also implies that the distillable entanglement is not a convex function. Our example consists of the tensor product of a bound entangled state based on an unextendible product basis with an entangled Werner state which lies in the class of conjectured undistillable states.     

基于六粒子纠缠态和Bell态测量的量子信息分离

通过介绍六粒子纠缠态的新应用研究,提出了一个二粒子任意态的信息分离方案.在这个方案中,发送者Alice、控制者Charlie和接受者Bob共享一个六粒子纠缠态,发送者先执行两次Bell基测量|然后控制者执行一次Bell基测量|最后接受者根据发送者和控制者的测量结果,对自己拥有的粒子做适当的幺正变换,从而能够重建要发送的二粒子任意态.这个信息分离方案是决定性的,即成功概率为100%.与使用相同的量子信道进行二粒子任意态的信息分离方案相比,本文提出的方案只需要进行Bell基测量而不需要执行多粒子的联合测量,从而使得这个方案更简单、更容易,并且在目前的实验室技术条件下是能够实现的.     

Experimental study of the validity of quantitative conditions in the quantum adiabatic theorem

The quantum adiabatic theorem plays an important role in quantum mechanics. However, counter-examples were produced recently, indicating that their transition probabilities do not converge as predicted by the adiabatic theorem [K. P. Marzlin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160408 (2004); D. M. Tong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 110407 (2005)]. For a special class of Hamiltonians, we examine the standard criterion for adiabatic evolution experimentally and theoretically, as well as three newly suggested adiabatic conditions. We show that the standard criterion is neither sufficient nor necessary.     

Gaussian transformations and distillation of entangled Gaussian states

We prove that it is impossible to distill more entanglement from a single copy of a two-mode bipartite entangled Gaussian state via local Gaussian operations and classical communication. More generally, we show that any hypothetical distillation protocol for Gaussian states involving only Gaussian operations would be a deterministic protocol. Finally, we argue that the protocol considered by Eisert et al. [preceding Letter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 137903 ()]] is the optimum Gaussian distillation protocol for two copies of entangled Gaussian states.     

One-Way Information Deficit and Geometry for a Class of Two-Qubit States

The work deficit, as introduced by Jonathan Oppenheim et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 (2002) 180402] is a good measure of the quantum correlations in a state and provides a new standpoint for understanding quantum non-locality. In this paper, we analytically evaluate the one-way information deficit (OWID) for the Bell-diagonal states and a class of two-qubit states and further give the geometry picture for OWID. The dynamic behavior of the OWID under decoherence channel is investigated and it is shown that the OWID of some classes of X states is more robust against the decoherence than the entanglement.     

Hawking radiation and near horizon universality of chiral Virasoro algebra

We show that the diffeomorphism anomaly together with the trace anomaly reveal a chiral Virasoro algebra near the event horizon of a black hole. This algebra is the same irrespective of whether the anomaly is covariant or consistent, thereby manifesting its universal character and the fact that only the outgoing modes are relevant near the horizon. Our analysis therefore clarifies the role of the trace anomaly in the diffeomorphism anomaly approach [Robinson and Wilczek in Phys. Rev. Lett. 95:011303, 2005; Iso et al. in Phys. Rev. Lett. 96:151302, 2006; Banerjee and Kulkarni in Phys. Rev. D 77:024018, 2008; Gangopadhyay and Kulkarni in Phys. Rev. D 77:024038, 2008] to the Hawking radiation.     

Quantum key distribution protocol using dense coding of three-qubit W state

The three-qubit W state, with an important feature that each pair of it’s qubits has the same and maximum amount of bipartite entanglement, can be reduced to an entangled 2-qubit system if one of its qubits is lost. Recently, Xue et al. proposed a three-party quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocol based on the three-qubit W state [Chinese Phys. 15, 7 (2006)]. Also, Joo et al. proposed a pair-wise quantum key distribution protocol among three users based on a special measurement on the three-qubit W state [eprint arXiv:quant-ph/0204003v2 (2002)]. This study aims to propose a novel quantum key distribution protocol (QKDP) for arbitrary two communications based on the dense coding and the special measurement of three-qubit W state with the X basis and the Z basis.     

A simple formula for the average gate fidelity of a quantum dynamical operation

This Letter presents a simple formula for the average fidelity between a unitary quantum gate and a general quantum operation on a qudit, generalizing the formula for qubits found by Bowdrey et al. [Phys. Lett. A 294 (2002) 258]. This formula may be useful for experimental determination of average gate fidelity. We also give a simplified proof of a formula due to Horodecki et al. [Phys. Rev. A 60 (1999) 1888], connecting average gate fidelity to entanglement fidelity.     

No-local-broadcasting theorem for multipartite quantum correlations

We prove that the correlations present in a multipartite quantum state have an operational quantum character even if the state is unentangled, as long as it does not simply encode a multipartite classical probability distribution. Said quantumness is revealed by the new task of local broadcasting, i.e., of locally sharing preestablished correlations, which is feasible if and only if correlations are stricly classical. Our operational approach leads to natural definitions of measures for quantumness of correlations. It also reproduces the standard no-broadcasting theorem as a special case.     

Quantum discord and the power of one qubit

We use quantum discord to characterize the correlations present in the model called deterministic quantum computation with one quantum bit (DQC1), introduced by Knill and Laflamme [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5672 (1998)10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.5672]. The model involves a collection of qubits in the completely mixed state coupled to a single control qubit that has nonzero purity. The initial state, operations, and measurements in the model all point to a natural bipartite split between the control qubit and the mixed ones. Although there is no entanglement between these two parts, we show that the quantum discord across this split is nonzero for typical instances of the DQC1 ciruit. Nonzero values of discord indicate the presence of nonclassical correlations. We propose quantum discord as figure of merit for characterizing the resources present in this computational model.     

Activation of nonlocal quantum resources

We find two two-qubit bipartite states ρ1, ρ2 such that arbitrarily many copies of one or the other cannot exhibit nonlocal correlations in a two-setting-two-outcome Bell scenario. However, the bipartite state ρ1 ? ρ2 violates the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality [J. F. Clauser, M. A. Horne, A. Shimony, and R. A. Holt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 880 (1969).] by an amount of 2.023. We also identify a CHSH-local state ρ such that ρ?2 is CHSH inequality-violating. The tools employed can be easily adapted to find instances of nonlocality activation in arbitrary Bell scenarios.     

The smallest absorption refrigerator: the thermodynamics of a system with quantum local detailed balance

We study the thermodynamics of a quantum system interacting with different baths in the repeated interaction framework. In an appropriate limit, the evolution takes the Lindblad form and the corresponding thermodynamic quantities are determined by the state of the full system plus baths. We identify conditions under which the thermodynamics of the open system can be described only by system properties and find a quantum local detailed balance condition with respect to an equilibrium state that may not be a Gibbs state. The three-qubit refrigerator introduced in Linden et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 130401 (2010)] and Skrzypczyk et al. [J. Phys. A: Math. Theory 44, 492002 (2011)] is an example of such a system. From a repeated interaction microscopic model we derive the Lindblad equation that describes its dynamics and discuss its thermodynamic properties for arbitrary values of the internal coupling between the qubits. We find that external power (proportional to the internal coupling strength) is required to bring the system to its steady state, but once there, it works autonomously as discussed in Linden et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 130401 (2010)] and Skrzypczyk et al. [J. Phys. A: Math. Theory 44, 492002 (2011)].     

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.     

Quantum entanglement formation by repeated spin blockade measurements in a spin field-effect transistor structure embedded with quantum dots

We propose a method of operating a quantum state machine made of stacked quantum dots buried in adjacent to the channel of a spin field-effect transistor (FET) [S. Datta, B. Das, Appl. Phys. Lett. 56 (1990) 665; K. Yoh, et al., Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Physics of Semiconductors (ICPS) 2004; H. Ohno, K. Yoh et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 42 (2003) L87; K. Yoh, J. Konda, S. Shiina, N. Nishiguchi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 36 (1997) 4134]. In this method, a spin blockade measurement extracts the quantum state of a nearest quantum dot through Coulomb blockade [K. Yoh, J. Konda, S. Shiina, N. Nishiguchi, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 36 (1997) 4134; K. Yoh, H. Kazama, Physica E 7 (2000) 440] of the adjacent channel conductance. Repeated quantum Zeno-like (QZ) measurements [H. Nakazato, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (2003) 060401] of the spin blockade is shown to purify the quantum dot states within several repetitions. The growth constraints of the stacked InAs quantum dots are shown to provide an exchange interaction energy in the range of 0.01–1 meV [S. Itoh, et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 38 (1999) L917; A. Tackeuchi, et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 42 (2003) 4278]. We have verified that one can reach the fidelity of 90% by repeating the measurement twice, and that of 99.9% by repeating only eleven QZ measurements. Entangled states with two and three vertically stacked dots are achieved with the sampling frequency of the order of 100 MHz.