Quantum key distribution with decoherence-free subspaces has been proposed to overcome the collective noise to the polarization modes of photons flying in quantum channel. Prototype of this scheme have also been achieved with parametric-down conversion source. However, a novel type of photon-number-splitting attack we proposed in this paper will make the practical implementations of this scheme insecure since the parametric-down conversion source may emit multi-photon pairs occasionally. We propose decoy states method to make these implementations immune to this attack. And with this decoy states method, both the security distance and key bit rate will be increased.
The adiabatic theorem and "shortcuts to adiabaticity" for the adiabatic dynamics of time-dependent decoherence-free subspaces are explored in this paper. Starting from the definition of the dynamical stable decoherence-free subspaces, we show that, under a compact adiabatic condition, the quantum state follows time-dependent decoherence-free subspaces (the adiabatic decoherence free subspaces) into the target subspace with extremely high purity, even though the dynamics of the quantum system may be non-adiabatic. The adiabatic condition mentioned in the adiabatic theorem is very similar with t…
We present a detailed analysis of decoherence free subspaces and develop a rigorous theory that provides necessary and sufficient conditions for dynamically stable decoherence free subspaces. This allows us to identify a special class of decoherence free states which rely on incoherent generation of coherences. We provide examples of physical systems that support such states. Our approach employs Markovian master equations and applies primarily to finite-dimensional quantum systems.
Quantum computation that combines the coherence stabilization virtues of decoherence-free subspaces and the fault tolerance of geometric holonomic control is of great practical importance. Some schemes of adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces have been proposed in the past few years. However, non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces, which avoids long run-time requirement but with all the robust advantages, remains an open problem. Here, we demonstrate how to realize non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free…
We propose a new approach to the implementation of quantum gates in which decoherence during the gate operations is strongly reduced. This is achieved by making use of an environment induced quantum Zeno effect that confines the dynamics effectively to a decoherence-free subspace.
We propose and analyse a robust quantum state transfer protocol by the use of a combination of coherent quantum coupling and decoherence-free subspaces in a coupled quantum spin chain. Under decoherence, an arbitrary unknown quantum state embedded in a decoherence-free subspace can be perfectly transferred through a noisy channel being weakly coupled to two end registers. The method protects quantum information from both the channel noise and the environmental decoherence. A special case of utilizing two physical qubits to encode one logical qubit is considered as an example and the robustness…
We study a model of a quantum spin register interacting with an environment of spin particles in quantum-measurement limit. In the limit of collective decoherence we obtain the form of state vectors that constitute high-dimensional decoherence-free subspaces (DFS). In a more general setting we present sufficient and necessary conditions for existence of low-dimensional DFSs that can be used to construct subspaces of higher dimension.
Quantum Fourier transform is of primary importance in many quantum algorithms. In order to eliminate the destructive effects of decoherence induced by couplings between the quantum system and its environment, we propose a robust scheme for quantum Fourier transform over the intrinsic decoherence-free subspaces. The scheme is then applied to the circuit design of quantum Fourier transform over quantum networks under collective decoherence. The encoding efficiency and possible improvements are also discussed.
We study a quantum repeater which is based on decoherence free quantum gates recently proposed by Klein et al. [Phys. Rev. A 73, 012332 (2006)]. A number of operations on the decoherence free subspace in this scheme makes use of an ancilla qubit, which undergoes dephasing and thus introduces decoherence to the system. We examine how this decoherence affects entanglement swapping and purification as well as the performance of a quantum repeater. We compare the decoherence free quantum repeater with a quantum repeater based on qubits that are subject to decoherence and show that it outperforms t…
Two initially correlated coherent states, each interacting with its own independent dissipative environment exhibit a sudden transition from classical to quantum decoherence. This change in the dynamics is a turning point in the decoherence, in the sense that depending on the average number of photons of each cavity, decoherence can even be suppressed. Indeed, the quantum state is time-independent for a time span in the mesoscopic regime, revealing a decoherence-free subspace. Furthermore, the absence of decoherence is manifested in the apparition of a metastable pointer state basis.
We show how to realize, by means of non-abelian quantum holonomies, a set of universal quantum gates acting on decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems. In this manner we bring together the quantum coherence stabilization virtues of decoherence-free subspaces and the fault-tolerance of all-geometric holonomic control. We discuss the implementation of this scheme in the context of quantum information processing using trapped ions and quantum dots.
We show how to use decoherence-free subspaces over collective-noise quantum channels to convey classical information in perfect secrecy. We argue that codes defined over decoherence-free subspaces are codes for quantum wiretap channels in which the gain of information by a non-authorized receiver is zero. We also show that if some symmetry conditions are guaranteed, the maximum rate on which these secret communications take place is equal to the Holevo-Schumacher-Westmoreland capacity of the quantum channel.
We propose a decoherence-free subspaces (DFS) scheme to realize scalable quantum computation with trapped ions. The spin-dependent Coulomb interaction is exploited, and the universal set of unconventional geometric quantum gates is achieved in encoded subspaces that are immune from decoherence by collective dephasing. The scalability of the scheme for the ion array system is demonstrated, either by an adiabatic way of switching on and off the interactions, or by a fast gate scheme with comprehensive DFS encoding and noise decoupling techniques.
Coherence in an open quantum system is degraded through its interaction with a bath. This decoherence can be avoided by restricting the dynamics of the system to special decoherence-free subspaces. These subspaces are usually constructed under the assumption of spatially symmetric system-bath coupling. Here we show that decoherence-free subspaces may appear without spatial symmetry. Instead, we consider a model of system-bath interactions in which to first order only multiple-qubit coupling to the bath is present, with single-qubit system-bath coupling absent. We derive necessary and sufficien…
Non-adiabatic holonomic quantum gate in decoherence-free subspaces is of greatly practical importance due to its built-in fault tolerance, coherence stabilization virtues, and short run-time. Here we propose some compact schemes to implement two- and three-qubit controlled unitary quantum gates and Fredkin gate. For the controlled unitary quantum gates, the unitary operator acting on the target qubit is an arbitrary single-qubit gate operation. The controlled quantum gates can be directly implemented using non-adiabatic holonomy in decoherence-free subspaces and the required resource for the d…
Nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces has attracted increasing attention recently, as it allows for high-speed implementation and combines both the robustness of holonomic gates and the coherence stabilization of decoherence-free subspaces. Since the first protocol of nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces, a number of schemes for its physical implementation have been put forward. However, all previous schemes require two noncommuting gates to realize an arbitrary one-qubit gate, which doubles the exposure time of gates to er…
We consider a universal set of quantum gates encoded within a perturbed decoherence-free subspace of four physical qubits. Using second-order perturbation theory and a measuring device modeled by an infinite set of harmonic oscillators, simply coupled to the system, we show that continuous observation of the coupling agent induces inhibition of the decoherence due to spurious perturbations. We thus advance the idea of protecting or even creating a decoherence-free subspace for processing quantum information.
We develop a method to determine spatial configurations to realize decoherence-free subspaces for spatially extended multi-particle systems. We have assumed normal reservoir behavior including translational invariance of the reservoir and preparation in stationary states or mixture thereof and weak Markovian system-reservoir coupling that requires energy transfer. One important outcome of our method is a proof that there does not exist a multi-particle decoherence-free subspace in such systems except in the limit that the spatial extent of the system becomes infinitesimal.
We investigate how to carry out universal quantum computation deterministically with free electrons in decoherence-free subspace by using polarizing beam splitters, charge detectors, and single-spin rotations. Quantum information in our case is encoded in spin degrees of freedom of the electron-pairs which construct a decoherence-free subspace. We design building blocks for two noncommutable single-logic-qubit gates and a logic controlled phase gate, based on which a universal and scalable quantum information processing robust to dephasing is available in a deterministic way.
With time-dependent Lindblad operators, an open system may have a time-dependent decoherence-free subspace (t-DFS). In this paper, we define the t-DFS and present a necessary and sufficient condition for the t-DFS. Two examples are presented to illustrate the t-DFS, showing that this t-DFS is not trivial, when the dimension of the t-DFS varies.
Decoherence is the phenomenon of non-unitary dynamics that arises as a consequence of coupling between a system and its environment. It has important harmful implications for quantum information processing, and various solutions to the problem have been proposed. Here we provide a detailed a review of the theory of decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems, focusing on their usefulness for preservation of quantum information.
We consider a network of interacting resonators and analyze the physical ingredients that enable the emergence of relaxation-free and decoherence-free subspaces. We investigate two different situations: i) when the whole network interacts with a common reservoir and ii) when each resonator, strongly coupled to each other, interacts with its own reservoir. Our main result is that both subspaces are generated when all the resonators couple with the same group of reservoir modes, thus building up a correlation (among these modes), which has the potential to shield particular network states agains…
We consider interactions that generate a universal set of quantum gates on logical qubits encoded in a collective-dephasing-free subspace, and discuss their implementations with trapped ions. This allows for the removal of the by-far largest source of decoherence in current trapped-ion experiments, collective dephasing. In addition, an explicit parametrization of all two-body Hamiltonians able to generate such gates without the system's state ever exiting the protected subspace is provided.
We propose a geometric phase gate in a decoherence-free subspace with trapped ions. The quantum information is encoded in the Zeeman sublevels of the ground-state and two physical qubits to make up one logical qubit with ultra long coherence time. Single- and two-qubit operations together with the transport and splitting of linear ion crystals allow for a robust and decoherence-free scalable quantum processor. For the ease of the phase gate realization we employ one Raman laser field on four ions simultaneously, i.e. no tight focus for addressing. The decoherence-free subspace is left neither …
We propose a feasible scheme to achieve holonomic quantum computation in a decoherence-free subspace (DFS) with trapped ions. By the application of appropriate bichromatic laser fields on the designated ions, we are able to construct two noncommutable single-qubit gates and one controlled-phase gate using the holonomic scenario in the encoded DFS.
Nonadiabatic geometric quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces has received increasing attention due to the merits of its high-speed implementation and robustness against both control errors and decoherence. However, all the previous schemes in this direction have been based on the conventional geometric phases, of which the dynamical phases need to be removed. In this paper, we put forward a scheme of nonadiabatic geometric quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces based on unconventional geometric phases, of which the dynamical phases do not need to be removed. Specifically…
Quantum state transfer and teleportation, with qubits encoded in internal states of the atoms in cavities, among spatially separated nodes of a quantum network in decoherence-free subspace are proposed, based on a cavity-assisted interaction by single-photon pulses. We show in details the implementation of a logic-qubit Hadamard gate and a two-logic-qubit conditional gate, and discuss the experimental feasibility of our scheme.
We construct a model which describes a recently performed experiment (Phys. Rev. A 64, 050301(R) (2001)) in which an entangled state between two modes of a single cavity is built. Environmental effects are taken into account and the results agree with the experimental findings. Moreover the model predicts, for different conditions of the same experiment, a decoherence-free subspace. These conditions are analyzed and slightly different experiments suggested in order to test its viability.
For a practical quantum computer to operate, it will be essential to properly manage decoherence. One important technique for doing this is the use of "decoherence-free subspaces" (DFSs), which have recently been demonstrated. Here we present the first use of DFSs to improve the performance of a quantum algorithm. An optical implementation of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm can be made insensitive to a particular class of phase noise by encoding information in the appropriate subspaces; we observe a reduction of the error rate from 35% to essentially its pre-noise value of 8%.
Decoherence free subspaces (DFS) is a theoretical tool towards experimental implementation of quantum information storage and processing. However, they represent an experimental challenge, since conditions for their existence are very stringent. This work explores the situation in which a system of $N$ oscillators coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators is close to satisfy the conditions for the existence of DFS. We show, in the Born-Markov limit and for small deviations from separability and degeneracy conditions, that there are {\emph{weak decoherence subspaces}} which resemble the origina…
A scheme to implement a quantum computer subjected to decoherence and governed by an untunable qubit-qubit interaction is presented. By concatenating dynamical decoupling through bang-bang (BB) pulse with decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) encoding, we protect the quantum computer from environment-induced decoherence that results in quantum information dissipating into the environment. For the inherent qubit-qubit interaction that is untunable in the quantum system, BB control plus DFSs encoding will eliminate its undesired effect which spoils quantum information in qubits. We show how this qua…
We propose a scheme to implement geometric entangling gates for two logical qubits in a coupled cavity system in decoherence-free subspaces. Each logical qubit is encoded with two atoms trapped in a single cavity and the geometric entangling gates are achieved by cavity coupling and controlling the external classical laser fields. Based on the coupled cavity system, the scheme allows the scalability for quantum computing and relaxes the requirement for individually addressing atoms.
We introduce a generalized theory of decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems (DFSs), which do not require accurate initialization. We derive a new set of conditions for the existence of DFSs within this generalized framework. By relaxing the initialization requirement we show that a DFS can tolerate arbitrarily large preparation errors. This has potentially significant implications for experiments involving DFSs, in particular for the experimental implementation, over DFSs, of the large class of quantum algorithms which can function with arbitrary input states.
When the environmental disturbace to a quantum system has a wavelength much larger than the system size, all qubits localized within a small area are under action of the same error operators. Noiseless subsystem and decoherence free subspace are known to correct such collective errors. We construct simple quantum circuits, which implement these collective error correction codes, for a small number $n$ of physical qubits. A single logical qubit is encoded with $n=3$ and $n=4$, while two logical qubits are encoded with $n=5$. The recursive relations among the subspaces employed in noiseless subs…
We present a scheme to drive a finite-dimensional quantum system into the decoherence-free subspaces(DFS) by Lyapunov control. Control fields are established by Lyapunov function. This proposal works well for both closed and open quantum systems, with replacing the DFS by desired subspaces for closed systems. An example which consists of a four-level system with three degenerate states driven by three lasers is presented to gain further insight of the scheme, numerical simulations for the dynamics of the system are performed and the results are good.
We discuss the structure of decoherence-free subsystems for a bosonic channel affected by collective depolarization. A single use of the channel is defined as a transmission of a pair of bosonic modes. Collective depolarization consists in a random linear U(2) transformation of the respective mode operators, which is assumed to be identical for $N$ consecutive uses of the channel. We derive a recursion formula that characterizes the dimensionality of available decoherence-free subsystems in such a setting.
We introduce a novel scheme for one-way quantum computing (QC) based on the use of information encoded qubits in an effective cluster state resource. With the correct encoding structure, we show that it is possible to protect the entangled resource from phase damping decoherence, where the effective cluster state can be described as residing in a Decoherence-Free Subspace (DFS) of its supporting quantum system. One-way QC then requires either single or two-qubit adaptive measurements. As an example where this proposal can be realized, we describe an optical lattice setup where the scheme provi…
The dynamic of correlations in a system composed of a two-mode quantum field coupled with the environment is studied. The quantum field corresponds to two entangled coherent states whose amplitude we vary up to the mesoscopic regime. We show that under the onset of decoherence, correlations in the quantum field are not lost but transferred to the environment. We also found that sudden transitions in the decoherence regimes appear along with the dynamics depending on the coherent states' amplitude. Increasing the amplitude of the entangled coherence state results in the apparition of a metastab…
We demonstrate that two recent innovations in the field of practical quantum key distribution (one-way autocompensation and passive detection) are closely related to the methods developed to protect quantum computations from decoherence. We present a new scheme that combines these advantages, and propose a practical implementation of this scheme that is feasible using existing technology.
Decoherence-free subspaces (DFSs) shield quantum information from errors induced by the interaction with an uncontrollable environment. Here we study a model of correlated errors forming an Abelian subgroup (stabilizer) of the Pauli group (the group of tensor products of Pauli matrices). Unlike previous studies of DFSs, this type of errors does not involve any spatial symmetry assumptions on the system-environment interaction. We solve the problem of universal, fault-tolerant quantum computation on the associated class of DFSs.
We experimentally demonstrate room-temperature storage of quantum entanglement using two nuclear spins weakly coupled to the electronic spin carried by a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We realize universal quantum gate control over the three-qubit spin system and produce entangled states encoded within the decoherence-free subspace of the two nuclear spins. By injecting arbitrary collective noise, we demonstrate that the decoherence-free entangled state has coherence time longer than that of other entangled states by an order of magnitude in our experiment.
Holonomic quantum computation (HQC) may not show its full potential in quantum speedup due to the prerequisite of a long coherent runtime imposed by the adiabatic condition. Here we show that the conventional HQC can be dramatically accelerated by using external control fields, of which the effectiveness is exclusively determined by the integral of the control fields in the time domain. Remarkably this control scheme can be realized with net zero energy cost and it is fault-tolerant against fluctuation and noise, significantly relaxing the experimental constraints. We demonstrate how to realiz…
A scheme to drive and manipulate a finite-dimensional quantum system in the decoherence-free subspaces(DFS) by Lyapunov control is proposed. Control fields are established by Lyapunov function. This proposal can drive the open quantum system into the DFS and manipulate it to any desired eigenstate of the free Hamiltonian. An example which consists of a four-level system with three long-lived states driven by two lasers is presented to exemplify the scheme. We have performed numerical simulations for the dynamics of the four-level system, which show that the scheme works good.
A decoherence-free subspace (DFS) isolates quantum information from deleterious environmental interactions. We give explicit sequences of strong and fast (``bang-bang'', BB) pulses that create the conditions allowing for the existence of DFSs that support scalable, universal quantum computation. One such example is the creation of the conditions for collective decoherence, wherein all system particles are coupled in an identical manner to their environment. The BB pulses needed for this are generated using only the Heisenberg exchange interaction. In conjunction with previous results, this sho…
We propose a scheme to implement quantum computation in decoherence-free subspace with superconducting devices inside a cavity by unconventional geometric manipulation. Universal single-qubit gates in encoded qubit can be achieved with cavity assisted interaction. A measurement-based two-qubit Controlled-Not gate is produced with parity measurements assisted by an auxiliary superconducting device and followed by prescribed single-qubit gates. The measurement of currents on two parallel devices can realize a projective measurement, which is equivalent to the parity measurement on the involved d…
In this paper, we propose a way to achieve protected universal computation in a neutral atom quantum computer subject to collective dephasing. Our proposal relies on the existence of a Decoherence Free Subspace (DFS), resulting from symmetry properties of the errors. After briefly describing the physical system and the error model considered, we show how to encode information into the DFS and build a complete set of safe universal gates. Finally, we provide numerical simulations for the fidelity of the different gates in the presence of time-dependent phase errors and discuss their performance…
We propose easy implementable protocols for robust quantum key distribution with the collective dephasing channel or collective rotating channel. In these protocols, Bob only takes passive photon detection to measure the polarization qubits in the random bases. The source for the protocol with collective rotating channel is made by type 2 spontaneous parametric down conversion with random unitary rotation and phase shifter, no quantum disentangler is required. A simple proof for unconditionally security is shown.
A fundamental requirement of quantum information processing is the protection from the adverse effects of decoherence and noise. Decoherence-free subspaces and geometric processing are important steps of quantum information protection. Here, we provide a new experimentally feasible scheme to combine decoherence-free subspaces with nonadiabatic geometric manipulations to attain a universal quantum computation. The proposed scheme is different from previous proposals and is based on the typical XY interaction coupling, which can be set up in various nano-engineered systems and therefore open up …
It was shown recently [D.A. Lidar et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 2594 (1998)] that within the framework of the semigroup Markovian master equation, decoherence-free (DF) subspaces exist which are stable to first order in time to a perturbation. Here this result is extended to the non-Markovian regime and generalized. In particular, it is shown that within both the semigroup and the non-Markovian operator sum representation, DF subspaces are stable to all orders in time to a symmetry-breaking perturbation. DF subspaces are thus ideal for quantum memory applications. For quantum computation, howev…
In this work we find explicitly the decoherence free subspace (DFS) for a two two-level system in a common squeezed vacuum bath. We also find an orthogonal basis for the DFS composed of a symmetrical and an antisymmetrical (under particle permutation) entangled state. For any initial symmetrical state, the master equation has one stationary state which is the symmetrical entangled decoherence free state. In this way, one can generate entanglement via common squeezed bath of the two systems. If the initial state does not have a definite parity, the stationary state depends strongly on the initi…
We study distribution schemes for a polarization entangled photon pair based on a decoherence-free subspace over lossy quantum channels and propose an efficient scheme that is robust against not only collective phase noises but also general collective noises for two qubits. While the proposed scheme employs two photons to build the decoherence-free subspace, the success probability is proportional to the channel transmittance of a single photon with the aid of a counter-propagating weak coherent light pulse. The key ingredient in the scheme is found to be the reciprocity of the channel. The pr…
In this work, inspired by the study of semidefinite programming for block-diagonalizing matrix *-algebras, we propose an algorithm that can find the algebraic structure of decoherence-free subspaces (DFS's) for a given noisy quantum channel. We prove that this algorithm will work for all cases with probability one, and it is more efficient than the algorithm proposed by Holbrook, Kribs, and Laflamme [Quant. Inf. Proc. 80, 381 (2003)]. In fact, our results reveal that this previous algorithm only works for special cases. As an application, we discuss how this method can be applied to increase t…
We propose a many-qubit network with cavity QED by encoding qubits in decoherence-free subspace, based on which we can implement many-logic-qubit conditional gates by means of cavity assisted interaction with single-photon pulses. Our scheme could not only resist collective dephasing errors, but also much reduce the implementational steps compared to conventional methods doing the same job, and we can also complete communications between two arbitrary nodes. We show the details by implementing a three-logic-qubit Toffoli gate, and explore the experimental feasibility and challenge based on cur…
We apply the time-dependent decoherence-free subspace theory to a Markovian open quantum system in order to present a novel proposal for quantum-state engineering program. By quantifying the purity of the quantum state, we verify that the quantum-state engineering process designed via our method is completely unitary within any total engineering time. Even though the controls on the open quantum system are not perfect, the asymptotic purity is still robust. Owing to its ability to completely resist decoherence and the lack of restraint in terms of the total engineering time, our proposal is su…
High-fidelity quantum gates are essential for large-scale quantum computation, which can naturally be realized in a noise-resilient way. Geometric manipulation and decoherence-free subspace encoding are promising ways toward robust quantum computation. Here, by combining the advantages of both strategies, we propose and experimentally realize universal holonomic quantum gates in both a singleloop scheme and a composite scheme, based on nonadiabatic and non-Abelian geometric phases, in a decoherence-free subspace with nuclear magnetic resonance. Our experiment uses only two-body resonant spin-s…
