Transferring entangled states of photonic cat-state qubits in circuit QED

We propose a method for transferring quantum entangled states of two photonic cat-state qubits(cqubits)from two microwave cavities to the other two microwave cavities.This proposal is realized by using four microwave cavities coupled to a superconducting flux qutrit.Because of using four cavities with different frequencies,the inter-cavity crosstalk is significantly reduced.Since only one coupler qutrit is used,the circuit resource is minimized.The entanglement transfer is completed with a singlestep operation only,thus this proposal is quite simple.The third energy level of the coupler qutrit is not populated during the state transfer,therefore decoherence from the higher energy level is greatly suppressed.Our numerical simulations show that high-fidelity transfer of two-cqubit entangled states from two transmission line resonators to the other two transmission line resonators is feasible with current circuit QED technology.This proposal is universal and can be applied to accomplish the same task in a wide range of physical systems,such as four microwave or optical cavities,which are coupled to a natural or artificial three-level atom.     

Flying qubits and entangled photons

Efficient generation of polarized single photons or entangled photon pairs is crucial for the implementation of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. Self organized semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are capable of emitting on demand one polarized photon or an entangled photon pair upon current injection. Highly efficient single‐photon sources consist of a pin structure inserted into a microcavity where single electrons and holes are funneled into an InAs QD via a submicron AlOx aperture, leading to emission of single polarized photons with record purity of the spectrum and non‐classicality of the photons. A new QD site‐control technique is based on using the surface strain field of an AlO_x current aperture below the QD. GaN/AlN QD based devices are promising to operate at room temperature and reveal a fine‐structure splitting (FSS) depending inversely on the QD size. Large GaN/AlN QDs show disappearance of the FSS. Theory also suggests QDs grown on (111)‐oriented GaAs substrates as source of entangled photon pairs.     

Synthesis of maximally entangled mixed states and disentanglement in coupled Josephson charge qubits

We analyze a controllable generation of maximally entangled mixed states of a circuit containing two-coupled superconducting charge qubits. Each qubit is based on a Cooper pair box connected to a reservoir electrode through a Josephson junction. Illustrative variational calculations were performed to demonstrate the effect on the two-qubits entanglement. At sufficiently deviation between the Josephson energies of the qubits and/or strong coupling regime, maximally entangled mixed states at certain instances of time is synthesized. We show that entanglement has an interesting subsequent time evolution, including the sudden death effect. This enables us to completely characterize the phenomenon of entanglement sharing in the coupling of two superconducting charge qubits, a system of both theoretical and experimental interest.     

Experimental violation of Bell's inequality in spatial-parity space

We report the first experimental violation of Bell's inequality in the spatial domain using the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state. Two-photon states generated via optical spontaneous parametric down-conversion are shown to be entangled in the parity of their one-dimensional transverse spatial profile. Superpositions of Bell states are prepared by manipulation of the optical pump's transverse spatial parity-a classical parameter. The Bell-operator measurements are made possible by devising simple optical arrangements that perform rotations in the one-dimensional spatial-parity space of each photon of an entangled pair and projective measurements onto a basis of even-odd functions. A Bell-operator value of 2.389+/-0.016 is recorded, a violation of the inequality by more than 24 standard deviations.     

Transfer of quantum entangled states between superconducting qubits and microwave field qubits

Transferring entangled states between matter qubits and microwave-field (or optical-field) qubits is of fundamental interest in quantum mechanics and necessary in hybrid quantum information processing and quantum communication. We here propose a way for transferring entangled states between superconducting qubits (matter qubits) and microwave-field qubits. This proposal is realized by a system consisting of multiple superconducting qutrits and microwave cavities. Here, „qutrit” refers to a three-level quantum system with the two lowest levels encoding a qubit while the third level acting as an auxiliary state. In contrast, the microwave-field qubits are encoded with coherent states of microwave cavities. Because the third energy level of each qutrit is not populated during the operation, decoherence from the higher energy levels is greatly suppressed. The entangled states can be deterministically transferred because measurement on the states is not needed. The operation time is independent of the number of superconducting qubits or microwave-field qubits. In addition, the architecture of the circuit system is quite simple because only a coupler qutrit and an auxiliary cavity are required. As an example, our numerical simulations show that high-fidelity transfer of entangled states from two superconducting qubits to two microwave-field qubits is feasible with present circuit QED technology. This proposal is quite general and can be extended to transfer entangled states between other matter qubits (e.g., atoms, quantum dots, and NV centers) and microwave- or optical-field qubits encoded with coherent states.     

Transferring quantum entangled states between multiple single-photon-state qubits and coherent-state qubits in circuit QED

We present a way to transfer maximally- or partially-entangled states of n single-photon-state (SPS) qubits onto ncoherent-state (CS) qubits, by employing 2nmicrowave cavities coupled to a superconducting flux qutrit. The two logic states of a SPS qubit here are represented by the vacuum state and the single-photon state of a cavity, while the two logic states of a CS qubit are encoded with two coherent states of a cavity. Because of using only one superconducting qutrit as the coupler, the circuit architecture is significantly simplified. The operation time for the state transfer does not increase with the increasing of the number of qubits. When the dissipation of the system is negligible, the quantum state can be transferred in a deterministic way since no measurement is required. Furthermore, the higher-energy intermediate level of the coupler qutrit is not excited during the entire operation and thus decoherence from the qutrit is greatly suppressed. As a specific example, we numerically demonstrate that the high-fidelity transfer of a Bell state of two SPS qubits onto two CS qubits is achievable within the present-day circuit QED technology. Finally, it is worthy to note that when the dissipation is negligible, entangled states of n CS qubits can be transferred back onto n SPS qubits by performing reverse operations. This proposal is quite general and can be extended to accomplish the same task, by employing a natural or artificial atom to couple 2nmicrowave or optical cavities.     

Multipartite entangled states with two bosonic modes and qubits

We theoretically investigate the role of different phases of coupling constants in the dynamics of atoms and two cavity modes, observing deterministic generation of prototype or hybrid Bell, W, GHZ, and cluster states. Commonly induced dipole-dipole interactions (far-off resonance) are inhibited between particular pairs of qubits under suitable choice of those phases. We evaluate the generation fidelities when imperfections such as dissipative environments and time precision errors are considered. We show violation of local realism for the generated cluster state under such imperfections, even when approaching the weak coupling regime.     

Spin geometry of entangled qubits under bilocal decoherence modes

The Lindblad generators of the master equation define which kind of decoherence happens in an open quantum system. We are working with a two qubit system and choose the generators to be projection operators on the eigenstates of the system and unitary bilocal rotations of them. The resulting decoherence modes are studied in detail. Besides the general solutions we investigate the special case of maximally entangled states—the Bell singlet states. The results are depicted in the so-called spin geometry picture which allows to illustrate the evolution of the (nonlocal) correlations stored in a certain state. The question for which conditions the path traced out in the geometric picture depends only on the relative angle between the bilocal rotations is addressed.     

Bound entangled states of four qubits in the tomographic-probability representation

We discuss the entanglement phenomenon on the example of the Smolin state of four qubits. This state is known as the bound entangled state and its spin tomogram is found in an explicit form. We apply the qubit-portrait method for investigating the violation of the Bell inequalities, since this approach provides another tool to prove the entanglement properties of the four-qubit state under consideration.     

Evidence for entangled states of two coupled flux qubits

We have studied the low-frequency magnetic susceptibility of two inductively coupled flux qubits using the impedance measurement technique (IMT), through their influence on the resonant properties of a weakly coupled high-quality tank circuit. In a single qubit, an IMT dip in the tank's current-voltage phase angle at the level anticrossing yields the amplitude of coherent flux tunneling. For two qubits, the difference (IMT deficit) between the sum of single-qubit dips and the dip amplitude when both qubits are at degeneracy shows that the system is in a mixture of entangled states (a necessary condition for entanglement). The dependence on temperature and relative bias between the qubits allows one to determine all the parameters of the effective Hamiltonian and equilibrium density matrix, and confirms the formation of entangled eigenstates.     

Preparation of entangled states of atomic qubits via atom-cavity-laser interaction

<正>We propose a scheme to prepare the Bell states for atomic qubits trapped in separate optical cavities via atom-cavity-laser interaction.The quantum information of each qubit is encoded on the degenerate ground states of the atom,so the entanglement between them is relatively stable against spontaneous emission.The proposed scheme consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer(MZI) with two arms,and each arm contains a cavity with an N-type atom in it.It requires two classical fields and a single-photon source. By controlling the sequence and time of atom-cavity-laser interaction,the deterministic production of the atomic Bell states is shown.We also introduce the generalization of the present scheme to generate the 2N-atom Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state.     

Bell-Klyshko inequalities to characterize maximally entangled states of n qubits

This Letter presents the first rigorous proof of the conjecture raised by Gisin and Bechmann-Pasquinucci [Phys. Lett. A 246, 1 (1998)]], that the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states of n qubits and the states obtained from them by local unitary transformations are the unique states that maximally violate the Bell-Klyshko inequalities. The proof is obtained by using the certain algebraic properties that Pauli's matrices satisfy and some subtle mathematical techniques. Since all states obtained by local unitary transformations of a maximally entangled state are equally valid entangled states, we thus give a characterization of maximally entangled states of n qubits in terms of the Bell-type inequality.     

Implementation of non-local multiple qubits controlled-not operation via partially entangled channels

We propose two different schemes for probabilistic implementing a non-local multiple qubits controlled-not operation via partially entangled quantum channels. The overall physical resources required for accomplishing these schemes are different, and the successful implementation probabilities are also different.     

Quantum information transfer between photonic and quantum-dot spin qubits

We propose schemes for the efficient information transfer between a propagating photon and a quantum-dot(QD) spin qubit in an optical microcavity that have no auxiliary particles required. With these methods, the information transfer between two photons or two QD spins can also be achieved. All of our proposals can work with high fidelity, even with a high leakage rate. What is more, each information transfer process above can also be seen as a controlled-NOT(CNOT) operation. It is found that the information transfer can be equivalent to a CNOT gate. These proposals will promote more efficient quantum information networks and quantum computation.     

Distribution of time-bin entangled qubits over 50 km of optical fiber

We report experimental distribution of time-bin entangled qubits over 50 km of optical fibers. Using actively stabilized preparation and measurement devices we demonstrate violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality by more than 15 standard deviations without removing the detector noise. In addition we report a proof-of principle experiment of quantum key distribution over 50 km of optical fibers using entangled photon.     

Reduction of entropic uncertainty in entangled qubits system by local PT-symmetric operation

We investigate the quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty for an entangled two-qubit system in a local quantum noise channel with PT-symmetric operation performing on one of the two particles. Our results show that the quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty in the qubits system can be reduced effectively by the local PT-symmetric operation. Physical explanations for the behavior of the quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty are given based on the property of entanglement of the qubits system and the non-locality induced by the re-normalization procedure for the non-Hermitian PT-symmetric operation.     

The problem of preparing entangled pairs of polarization qubits in the frequency-nondegenerate regime

The problems associated with the practical implementation of the scheme proposed for preparation of arbitrary states of polarization ququarts based on biphotons have been discussed. The influence of effects of frequency dispersion are considered, and the necessity of compensating the dispersion of group velocities in the frequency-nondegenerate case even for continuous pumping is demonstrated. A method for this compensation is proposed and implemented experimentally. Physical restrictions on the quality of the prepared two-photon states are revealed.     

Quantum filter for nonlocal polarization properties of photonic qubits

We present an optical filter that transmits photon pairs only if they share the same horizontal or vertical polarization, without decreasing the quantum coherence between these two possibilities. Various applications for entanglement manipulations and multiphoton qubits are discussed.     

Efficient atomic quantum memory for photonic qubits in cavity QED

We investigate a scheme of atomic quantum memory to store photonic qubits of polarization in cavity QED. It is observed that the quantum state swapping between a single-photon pulse and a Λ-type atom can be made via scattering in an optical cavity [T. W. Chen, C. K. Law, P. T. Leung, Phys. Rev. A 69 (2004) 063810]. This swapping operates limitedly in the strong coupling regime for Λ-type atoms with equal dipole couplings. We extend this scheme in cavity QED to present a more feasible and efficient method for quantum memory combined with projective measurement. This method works without requiring such a condition on the dipole couplings. The fidelity is significantly higher than that of the swapping, and even in the moderate coupling regime it reaches almost unity by narrowing sufficiently the photon-pulse spectrum. This high performance is rather unaffected by the atomic loss, cavity leakage or detunings, while a trade-off is paid in the success probability for projective measurement.     

Nonlinear photonic crystals as a source of entangled photons

Nonlinear photonic crystals can be used to provide phase matching for frequency conversion in optically isotropic materials. The phase-matching mechanism proposed here is a combination of form birefringence and phase velocity dispersion in a periodic structure. Since the phase matching relies on the geometry of the photonic crystal, it becomes possible to use highly nonlinear materials. This is illustrated considering a one-dimensional periodic Al0.4Ga0.6As/air structure for the generation of 1.5 microm light. We show that phase-matching conditions used in schemes to create entangled photon pairs can be achieved in photonic crystals.