Entanglement does not correspond to any observable and its evaluation always corresponds to an estimation procedure where the amount of entanglement is inferred from the measurements of one or more proper observables. Here we address optimal estimation of entanglement in the framework of local quantum estimation theory and derive the optimal observable in terms of the symmetric logarithmic derivative. We evaluate the quantum Fisher information and, in turn, the ultimate bound to precision for several families of bipartite states, either for qubits or continuous variable systems, and for different measures of entanglement. We found that for discrete variables, entanglement may be efficiently estimated when it is large, whereas the estimation of weakly entangled states is an inherently inefficient procedure. For continuous variable Gaussian systems the effectiveness of entanglement estimation strongly depends on the chosen entanglement measure. Our analysis makes an important point of principle and may be relevant in the design of quantum information protocols based on the entanglement content of quantum states.
We discuss the estimation of channel parameters for a noisy quantum channel - the so-called Pauli channel - using finite resources. It turns out that prior entanglement considerably enhances the fidelity of the estimation when we compare it to an estimation scheme based on separable quantum states.
We analyze the Pauli-channel estimation with mixed nonseparable states. It turns out that within a specific range entanglement can serve as a nonclassical resource. However, this range is rather small, that is entanglement is not very robust for this application. We further show that Werner states yield the best result of all Bell diagonal states with the same amount of entanglement.
We present optimal measuring strategies for the estimation of the entanglement of unknown two-qubit pure states and of the degree of mixing of unknown single-qubit mixed states, of which N identical copies are available. The most general measuring strategies are considered in both situations, to conclude in the first case that a local, although collective, measurement suffices to estimate entanglement, a non-local property, optimally.
We experimentally demonstrate a general criterion to identify entangled states useful for the estimation of an unknown phase shift with a sensitivity higher than the shot-noise limit. We show how to exploit this entanglement on the examples of a maximum likelihood as well as of a Bayesian phase estimation protocol. Using an entangled four-photon state we achieve a phase sensitivity clearly beyond the shot-noise limit. Our detailed comparison of methods and quantum states for entanglement enhanced metrology reveals the connection between multiparticle entanglement and sub-shot-noise uncertainty…
We show that each entanglement witness detecting given bipartite entangled state provides an estimation of its concurrence. We illustrate our result with several well known examples of entanglement witnesses and compare the corresponding estimation of concurrence with other estimations provided by the trace norm of partial transposition and realignment.
Fidelity estimation is essential for the quality control of entanglement distribution networks. Because measurements collapse quantum states, we consider a setup in which nodes randomly sample a subset of the entangled qubit pairs to measure and then estimate the average fidelity of the unsampled pairs conditioned on the measurement outcome. The proposed estimation protocol achieves the lowest mean squared estimation error in a difficult scenario with arbitrary noise and no prior information. Moreover, this protocol is implementation friendly because it only performs local Pauli operators acco…
A connection between the state estimation problem and the separability problem is noticed and exploited to find efficient numerical algorithms to solve the first one. Based on these ideas, we also derive a systematic method to obtain upper bounds on the maximum local fidelity when the states are distributed among several distant parties.
Quantifying experimentally created entanglement could in principle be accomplished by measuring the entire density matrix and calculating an entanglement measure of choice thereafter. Due to the tensor-structure of the Hilbert space, this approach becomes infeasible even for medium-size systems. In this letter we present methods to quantify the entanglement of arbitrarily large two-colorable graph states from simple measurements. The measurement data considered here is merely given by stabilizer measurements, thus leading to an exponential reduction in the number of measurements required. We p…
We study the role of quantum entanglement (particle entanglement and mode entanglement) in optical phase estimation by employing the first and second quantization formalisms of quantum mechanics. The quantum Fisher information (QFI) is expressed as a function of the first and second order optical coherence functions. The resulting form of the QFI elucidates the deriving metrological resources for quantum phase estimation: field intensity and photon detection correlations. In addition, our analysis confirms that mode entanglement is not required for quantum-enhanced interferometry, whereas part…
Entanglement is the central resource of quantum information processing and the precise characterization of entangled states is a crucial issue for the development of quantum technologies. This leads to the necessity of a precise, experimental feasible measure of entanglement. Nevertheless, such measurements are limited both from experimental uncertainties and intrinsic quantum bounds. Here we present an experiment where the amount of entanglement of a family of two-qubit mixed photon states is estimated with the ultimate precision allowed by quantum mechanics.
We explore the intimate relationship between quantum lithography, Heisenberg-limited parameter estimation and the rate of dynamical evolution of quantum states. We show how both the enhanced accuracy in measurements and the increased resolution in quantum lithography follow from the use of entanglement. Mathematically, the hyperresolution of quantum lithography appears naturally in the derivation of Heisenberg-limited parameter estimation. We also review recent experiments offering a proof of principle of quantum lithography, and we address the question of state preparation and the fabrication…
We present two method for optimal entanglement concentration from pure entangled states by local actions only. However a prior knowledge of the Schmidt coefficients is required. The first method is optimally efficient only when a finite ensemble of pure entangled states are available whereas the second method realizes the single pair optimal concentration probability. We also propose an entanglement assisted method which is again optimally efficient even for a single pair. We also discuss concentrating entanglement from N-partite cat like states.
We address the experimental determination of entanglement for systems made of a pair of polarization qubits. We exploit quantum estimation theory to derive optimal estimators, which are then implemented to achieve ultimate bound to precision. In particular, we present a set of experiments aimed at measuring the amount of entanglement for states belonging to different families of pure and mixed two-qubit two-photon states. Our scheme is based on visibility measurements of quantum correlations and achieves the ultimate precision allowed by quantum mechanics in the limit of Poissonian distributio…
We disprove the conjecture that structural physical approximations to optimal entanglement witnesses are separable states. The conjecture holds true for extremal decomposable entanglement witnesses.
We develop an approach of quantifying entanglement in mixed quantum states by the optimal entanglement witness operator. We identify the convex set of mixed states for which a single witness provides the exact value of an entanglement measure, and show that the convexity, properties, and symmetries of entanglement or of a target state considerably fix the form of the optimal witness. This greatly reduces difficulty in computing and experimentally determining entanglement measures. As an example, we show how to experimentally quantify bound entanglement in four-qubit noisy Smolin states and thr…
We study the optimal entanglement witness with respect to multiqubits W-states. We show such entanglement witnesses can be used to distinguish genuine entangled states, different biseparable states and fully separable states.
Detection of entanglement in quantum networks consisting of many parties is one of the important steps towards building quantum communication and computation networks. We consider a scenario where the measurement devices used for this certification are uncharacterised. In this case, it is well known that by using quantum states as inputs for the measurement devices it is possible to detect any entangled state (a situation known as measurement device-independent entanglement witnessing). Here we go beyond entanglement detection and provide methods to estimate the amount of entanglement in a qua…
We provide several formulas that determine the optimal number of entangled bits (ebits) that a general entanglement-assisted quantum code requires. Our first theorem gives a formula that applies to an arbitrary entanglement-assisted block code. Corollaries of this theorem give formulas that apply to a code imported from two classical binary block codes, to a code imported from a classical quaternary block code, and to a continuous-variable entanglement-assisted quantum block code. Finally, we conjecture two formulas that apply to entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional codes.
Precise parameter estimation plays a central role in science and technology. The statistical error in estimation can be decreased by repeating measurement, leading to that the resultant uncertainty of the estimated parameter is proportional to the square root of the number of repetitions in accordance with the central limit theorem. Quantum parameter estimation, an emerging field of quantum technology, aims to use quantum resources to yield higher statistical precision than classical approaches. Here, we report the first room-temperature implementation of entanglement-enhanced phase estimation…
We present a new method of analytically deriving the entanglement of formation of the bipartite mixed state. The method realizes the optimal decomposition families of states. Our method can lead to many new results concerning entanglement of formation, its additivity and entanglement cost. We illustrate it by investigating the two-qubit state, the separable state, the maximally correlated state, the isotropic state and the Werner state.
Given a finite number $N$ of copies of a qubit state we compute the maximum fidelity that can be attained using joint-measurement protocols for estimating its purity. We prove that in the asymptotic $N\to\infty$ limit, separable-measurement protocols can be as efficient as the optimal joint-measurement one if classical communication is used. This in turn shows that the optimal estimation of the entanglement of a two-qubit state can also be achieved asymptotically with fully separable measurements. The relationship between our global Bayesian approach and the quantum Cramer-Rao bound is also di…
For parameter estimation from an $N$-component composite quantum system, it is known that a separable preparation leads to a mean-squared estimation error scaling as $1/N$ while an entangled preparation can in some conditions afford a smaller error with $1/N^2$ scaling. This quantum superefficiency is however very fragile to noise or decoherence, and typically disappears with any small amount of random noise asymptotically at large $N$. To complement this asymptotic characterization, we characterize how the estimation efficiency evolves as a function of the size $N$ of the entangled system and…
Recently, the fast development of quantum technologies led to the need for tools allowing the characterization of quantum resources. In particular, the ability to estimate non-classical aspects, e.g. entanglement and quantum discord, in two-qubit systems, is relevant to optimise the performance of quantum information processes. Here we present an experiment in which the amount of entanglement and discord are measured exploiting different estimators. Among them, some will prove to be optimal, i.e., able to reach the ultimate precision bound allowed by quantum mechanics. These estimation techniq…
The study of Entanglement of Formation of a mixed state of a bipartite system in high-dimensional Hilbert space is not easy in general. So, we focus on determining the amount of entanglement for a bipartite mixed state based on the concept of decomposable optimal entanglement witness (DOEW), that can be calculated as a minimum distance of an entangled state from the edge of positive partial transpose (PPT) states which has the most negative (positive) expectation value for non-PPT (bound) entangled states. We have constructed DOEWs based on the convex optimization method, then by using of it w…
We investigate creation of optimal entanglement in symmetric networks. The proposed network is one in which the connections are organized by a group table in other words a group association scheme. We show that optimal entanglement can be provided over such networks by adjusting couplings and initial state. We find that the optimal initial state is a simple local excited state. Moreover we obtain an analytic formula for entanglement achievable between vertex pairs located in the same strata and calculate their relevant optimal couplings. For those pairs located in different strata two upper bo…
We introduce a new aspect of nonlocality which arises when the task of quantum states distinguishability is considered under local operations and shared entanglement in the absence of classical communication. We find the optimal amount of entanglement required to accomplish the task perfectly for sets of orthogonal states and argue that it quantifies information nonlocality.
We study the optimal generation of entanglement between two qubits subject to local unitary control. With the only assumptions of linear control and unitary dynamics, by means of a numerical protocol based on the variational approach (Pontryagin's Minimum Principle), we evaluate the optimal control strategy leading to the maximal achievable entanglement in an arbitrary interaction time, taking into account the energy cost associated to the controls. In our model we can arbitrarily choose the relative weight between a large entanglement and a small energy cost.
How can we quantify the entanglement in a quantum state, if only the expectation value of a single observable is given? This question is of great interest for the analysis of entanglement in experiments, since in many multiparticle experiments the state is not completely known. We present several results concerning this problem by considering the estimation of entanglement measures via Legendre transforms. First, we present a simple algorithm for the estimation of the concurrence and extensions thereof. Second, we derive an analytical approach to estimate the geometric measure of entanglement,…
Enhancing quantum entanglement is important for many quantum information processing applications. In this paper, we consider a protocol for entanglement enhancing in a two-mode squeezed vacuum state (TMSVS), attained based on photon subtraction, photon catalysis, and photon addition. Central to such an operation is the task of mixing and detecting number states with each mode of TMSVS. We analyze various settings and find an optimal setup for improving the entanglement of the state.
We investigate nonequilibrium entanglement generation in a chain of harmonic oscillators with time-dependent linear coupling. We use optimal control theory to determine the coupling modulation that leads to maximum logarithmic negativity for a pair of opposite oscillators and show that it corresponds to a synchronization of the eigenmodes of the chain. We further analytically relate the maximum attainable entanglement to the irreversible work done to produce it, thus bridging nonequilibrium entanglement production and nonequilibrium thermodynamics.
We interpret multi-partite genuine entanglement witnesses as simultaneous positivity of various maps arising from them. We apply this result to multi-qubit {\sf X}-shaped Hermitian matrices, and characterize the conditions for them to be genuine entanglement witnesses, in terms of entries. Furthermore, we find all optimal ones among them. They turn out to have the spanning properties, and so they detect non-zero volume set of multi-qubit genuine entanglement. We also characterize decomposability for {\sf X}-shaped entanglement witnesses.
Entanglement of formation quantifies the entanglement of a state in terms of the entropy of entanglement of the least entangled pure state needed to prepare it. An analytical expression for this measure exists only for special cases, and finding a closed formula for an arbitrary state still remains an open problem. In this work we focus on two-mode Gaussian states, and we derive narrow upper and lower bounds for the measure that get tight for several special cases. Further, we show that the problem of calculating the actual value of the entanglement of formation for arbitrary two-mode Gaussian…
Entanglement depth and ancilla efficiency in quantum channel estimation
Palacký University（帕拉茨基大学）；Joint Laboratory of Optics of Palacký University and Institute of Physics of CAS（帕拉茨基大学与捷克科学院物理研究所联合光学实验室）；Institute of Physics of CAS（捷克科学院物理研究所）
We investigate the parameter estimation in a magnon-cavity-magnon coupled system. PT symmetrical two magnons system can be formed in the gain magnetic materials by the adiabatic elimination of the cavity field mode. We show that the optimal estimation will not appear at the exceptional point due to that the quantum fluctuations are the strongest at the exceptional point. Moreover, we demonstrate that the measurements at the exceptional point tend to be optimal with the increase of prepared time. And the direct photon detection is the optimal measurement for the initial state in the vacuum inpu…
We derive the optimal input states and the optimal quantum measurements for estimating the unitary action of a given symmetry group, showing how the optimal performance is obtained with a suitable use of entanglement. Optimality is defined in a Bayesian sense, as minimization of the average value of a given cost function. We introduce a class of cost functions that generalizes the Holevo class for phase estimation, and show that for states of the optimal form all functions in such a class lead to the same optimal measurement. A first application of the main result is the complete proof of the …
We derive an optimal bound for arbitrary entanglement manipulation based on the transmission of a pulse in coherent states over a lossy channel followed by local operations and unlimited classical communication (LOCC). This stands on a theorem to reduce LOCC via a local unital qubit channel to local filtering. We also present an optimal protocol based on beam splitters and a quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement on photons. Even if we replace the QND measurement with photon detectors, the protocol outperforms known entanglement generation schemes.
We consider the actions of protocols involving local quantum operations and classical communication (LQCC) on a single system consisting of two separated qubits. We give a complete description of the orbits of the space of states under LQCC and characterise the representatives with maximal entanglement of formation. We thus obtain a LQCC entanglement concentration protocol for a single given state (pure or mixed) of two qubits which is optimal in the sense that the protocol produces, with non-zero probability, a state of maximal possible entanglement of formation. This defines a new entangleme…
We report on the quantification of entanglement by means of entanglement measures on a four- and a six- qubit cluster state realized by using photons entangled both in polarization and linear momentum. This paper also addresss the question of the scaling of entanglement bounds from incomplete tomographic information on the density matrix under realistic experimental conditions.
We present observable lower and upper bounds for the entanglement of formation (EOF) and quantum discord (QD), which facilitates estimates of EOF and QD for arbitrary experimental unknown states in finite-dimensional bipartite systems. These bounds can be easily obtained by a few experimental measurements on a twofold copy $\varrho\otimes\varrho$ of the mixed states. Based on our results, we use the experimental measurement data of the real experiment given by Schmid \textit{et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{101}, 260505 (2008)] to obtain the lower and upper bounds of EOF and QD for the experi…
Entanglement of purification was introduced by Terhal et al. for characterizing the bound of the generation of correlated states from maximally entangled states with sublinear size of classical communication. On the other hand, M. Horodecki obtained the optimal compression rate with a mixed states ensemble in the visible setting. In this paper, we prove that the optimal visible compression rate for mixed states is equal to the limit of the regularized entanglement of purification of the state corresponding to the given ensemble. This result gives a new interpretation to the entanglement of pur…
In the last years, a relationship has been established between the quantum Fisher information (QFI) and quantum entanglement. In the case of two-qubit systems, all pure entangled states can be made useful for sub-shot-noise interferometry while their QFI meets a necessary and sufficient condition [1]. In M-qubit systems, the QFI provides just a sufficient condition in the task of detecting the degree of entanglement of a generic state [2]. In our work, we show analytically that, for a large class of one-parameter non-optimal two-qubit states, the maximally entangled states are associated with …
Entanglement plays a central role in quantum information processing, indicating the non-local correlation of quantum matters. However, few effective ways are known to detect the amount of entanglement of an unknown quantum state. In this work, we propose a scheme to estimate the entanglement negativity of any bi-partition of a composite system. The proposed scheme is based on the random unitary evolution and local measurements on the single-copy quantum states, which is more practical compared with former methods based on collective measurements on many copies of the identical state. Meanwhile…
We present observable upper bounds of squared concurrence, which are the dual inequalities of the observable lower bounds introduced in [F. Mintert and A. Buchleitner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 140505 (2007)] and [L. Aolita, A. Buchleitner and F. Mintert, Phys. Rev. A 78, 022308 (2008)]. These bounds can be used to estimate entanglement for arbitrary experimental unknown finite-dimensional states by few experimental measurements on a twofold copy $ρ\otimesρ$ of the mixed states. Furthermore, the degree of mixing for a mixed state and some properties of the linear entropy also have certain relations…
We consider the optimal control problem in a two-qubit system with bounded amplitude. Two cases are studied: quantum state preparation and entanglement creation. Cost functions, fidelity and concurrence, are optimized over bang-off controls for different values of the total duration, respectively. For quantum state preparation problem, three critical time points are determined with high precision, and optimal controls are obtained for different durations. A better estimation of the quantum speed limit is obtained, so is the time-optimal control. For entanglement creation problem, two critical …
Numerous work had been done to quantify the entanglement of a two-qubit quantum state, but it can be seen that previous works were based on joint measurements on two copies or more than two copies of a quantum state under consideration. In this work, we show that a single copy and two measurements are enough to estimate the entanglement quantifier like entanglement negativity and concurrence. To achieve our aim, we establish a relationship between the entanglement negativity and the minimum eigenvalue of structural physical approximation of partial transpose of an arbitrary two-qubit state. Th…
We consider a general unitary operator acting on two qubits in a product state. We find the conditions such that the state of the qubits after the action is as entangled as possible. We also consider the possibility of using ancilla qubits to increase the entanglement.
We propose a parameter estimation protocol for generalized Pauli channels acting on $d$-dimensional Hilbert space. The salient features of the proposed method include product probe states and measurements, the number of measurement configurations linear in $d$, minimal post-processing, and the scaling of the mean square error comparable to that of the entanglement-based parameter estimation scheme for generalized Pauli channels. We also show that while measuring generalized Pauli operators the errors caused by the Pauli noise can be modeled as measurement errors. This makes it possible to util…
Whether entanglement in a state can be detected, distilled, and quantified without full state reconstruction is a fundamental open problem. We demonstrate a new scheme encompassing these three tasks for arbitrary two-qubit entanglement, by constructing the optimal entanglement witness for polarization-entangled mixed-state photon pairs without full state reconstruction. With better efficiency than quantum state tomography, the entanglement is maximally distilled by newly developed tunable polarization filters, and quantified by the expectation value of the witness, which equals the concurrence…
