We report the first real world implementation of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system over a 43dB-loss transmission line in the Swisscom fibre optic network. The QKD system is capable of continuous and autonomous operation and uses the coherent one-way (COW) protocol. This system brings together three key concepts for future QKD systems: a simple high-speed protocol; high performance detection; and integration, both at the component level as well for connectivity with standard fibre networks. Here, we show laboratory and field trial results for this system. The full prototype version uses InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and was laboratory tested up to 150km, with a 10-hour exchange averaging around 2kbps of real-time distilled secret bits over 100km. In the field trials, we obtained average distribution rates, during 3 hours, of 2.5bps over a 43dB-loss line of 150km, when using superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs).
We have designed and realized a prototype that implements a continuous-variable quantum key distribution protocol based on coherent states and reverse reconciliation. The system uses time and polarization multiplexing for optimal transmission and detection of the signal and phase reference, and employs sophisticated error-correction codes for reconciliation. The security of the system is guaranteed against general coherent eavesdropping attacks. The performance of the prototype was tested over preinstalled optical fibres as part of a quantum cryptography network combining different quantum key…
We show that [VO(TPP)] (vanadyl tetraphenylporphyrinate) is a promising system suitable to implement quantum computation algorithms based on encoding information in multi-level (qudit) units. Indeed, it embeds an electronic spin 1/2 coupled through hyperfine interaction to a nuclear spin 7/2, both characterized by remarkable coherence. We demonstrate this by an extensive broadband nuclear magnetic resonance study, which allow us to characterize the nuclear spin-Hamiltonian and to measure the spin dephasing time as a function of the magnetic field. In addition, we combine targeted measurements …
Inspired by the works of [F. Caruso, New J. Phys. 16, 055015 (2014)] and [T. Scholak et al, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 44 184012 (2011)], which state that for a large class of complex noisy networks, the optimal efficiency of quantum transport is universally obtained by mixing coherent (Hamiltonian) and incoherent (noisy) parts where the contribution of the coherent part is strictly more than incoherent one, we examine the effect of oscillatory deformations on two simple prototypes in order to study their effects on the efficiency of coherent and incoherent energy transport. The prototype…
The quantum speed limit time for quantum system under squeezed environment is studied. We consider two typical models, the damped Jaynes-Cummings model and the dephasing model. For the damped Jaynes-Cummings model under squeezed environment, we find that the quantum speed limit time becomes larger with the squeezed parameter $r$ increasing and indicates symmetry about the phase parameter value $θ=π$. Meanwhile, the quantum speed limit time can also be influenced by the coupling strength between the system and environment. However, the quantum speed limit time for the dephasing model is determi…
Utilizing the program of expectation values in coherent states and its recently developed algorithmic tools, this letter investigates the dynamical properties of cosmological coherent states for Loop Quantum Gravity. To this end, the Quantum Speed Limit is adapted to Quantum Gravity, yielding necessary consistency checks for any proposal of stable families of states. To showcase the strength of the developed tools, they are applied to a prominent model: the Euclidean part of the quantum scalar constraint. We report the variance of this constraint evaluated on a family of coherent states showin…
It is known that secondary non-stoquastic drivers may offer speed-ups or catalysis in some models of adiabatic quantum computation accompanying the more typical transverse field driver. Their combined intent is to raze potential barriers to zero during adiabatic evolution from a false vacuum to a true minimum; first order phase transitions are softened into second order transitions. We move beyond mean-field analysis to a fully quantum model of a spin ensemble undergoing adiabatic evolution in which the spins are mapped to a variable mass particle in a continuous one-dimensional potential. We …
Experimental realizations of two qubit entangling gates with trapped ions typically rely on addressing spectroscopically resolved motional sidebands, limiting gate speed to the secular frequency. Fast entangling gates using ultrafast pulsed lasers overcome this speed limit. This approach is based on state-dependent photon recoil kicks from a sequence of counter-propagating, resonant, ultrafast pulse pairs, which can allow sub-microsecond gate speeds. Here we demonstrate a key component of the ultrafast gate protocol, the coherent excitation of a 171Yb+ ion across the 2S1/2-2P1/2 transition wit…
The prototype quantum random number (random bit) generators (QRNG) consists of one photon at a time falling on a $50:50$ beam splitter followed by random detection in one or the other other output beams due to the irreducible probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics. Due to the difficulties in producing single photons on demand, in practice, pulses of weak coherent (laser) light are used. In this paper we take a different approach, one that uses moderate coherent light. It is shown that a QRNG can be implemented by performing photon-number parity measurements. For moderate coherent light, the…
Conventional vector-based simulators for quantum computers are quite limited in the size of the quantum circuits they can handle, due to the worst-case exponential growth of even sparse representations of the full quantum state vector as a function of the number of quantum operations applied. However, this exponential-space requirement can be avoided by using general space-time tradeoffs long known to complexity theorists, which can be appropriately optimized for this particular problem in a way that also illustrates some interesting reformulations of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we descr…
I propose to resolve the controversy over the speed of collapse of quantum-mechanical wavefunctions by means of an experimental test with a modified symmetric Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, with non-intersecting, parallel, widely separated final beams. According to the conventional collapse scenario, the coherent twin-peak atomic wavefunction in the beams of the interferometer suffers an instantaneous collapse, at infinite speed, when the atom is captured by one of the two detectors at the ends of the beams, but it remains coherent until that instant. In contrast, according to the Hellwig-K…
Long-distance transfer of quantum states is an indispensable part of large-scale quantum information processing. We propose a novel scheme for the transfer of two-electron entangled states, from one edge of a quantum dot array to the other by coherent adiabatic passage. This protocol is mediated by pulsed tunneling barriers. In a second step, we seek for a speed up by shortcut to adiabaticity techniques. This significantly reduces the operation time and, thus, minimizes the impact of decoherence. For typical parameters of state-of-the-art solid state devices, the accelerated protocol has an op…
A quantum cipher supported by a secret key so called keyed communication in quantum noise (KCQ) is very attractive in implementing high speed key generation and secure data transmission. However, Yuen-2000 as a basic model of KCQ has a difficulty to ensure the quantitative security evaluation because all physical parameter for the cipher system is finite. Recently, an outline of a generalized scheme so called coherent pulse position modulation(CPPM) to show the rigorous security analysis is given, where the parameters are allowed to be asymptotical. This may open a new way for the quantum key …
We introduce a fully coherent way for directed transport of localized atoms in optical lattices by regularly performing phase shifts on the lattice potential during the free evolution of the system. This paves the way for realizing a possible cold atom quantum computer in which entangling gates operate by bringing two individual atoms in the proximity of each other and letting them to interact. The speed of our protocol is determined by the tunneling amplitudes of the atoms and thus is much faster than the speed of the dynamics resulted from superexchange interaction in spin chains. Our scheme…
A new concept of a free-space, high-speed (Gbps) optical communication system based on spectral encoding of radiation from a broadband pulsed laser is developed. It is shown that, in combination with the use of partially coherent laser beams and a relatively slow photosensor, scintillations can be suppressed by orders of magnitude for distances of more than 10 km. We also consider the spectral encoding of radiation from a LED as a gigabit rate solution of the "last mile" problem and rapid-deployment systems for disaster recovery.
We show that when the speed of control is bounded, there is a widely applicable minimal-time control problem for which a coherent feedback protocol is optimal, and is faster than all measurement-based feedback protocols, where the latter are defined in a strict sense. The superiority of the coherent protocol is due to the fact that it can exploit a geodesic path in Hilbert space, a path that measurement-based protocols cannot follow.
We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that secure communication using intermediate-energy (mesoscopic) coherent states is possible. Our scheme is different from previous quantum cryptographic schemes in that a short secret key is explicitly used and in which quantum noise hides both the bit and the key. This encryption scheme can be optically amplified. New avenues are open to secure communications at high speeds in fiber-optic or free-space channels.
The unusual features of quantum mechanics are enabling the development of technologies not possible with classical physics. These devices utilize nonclassical phenomena in the states of atoms, ions, and solid-state media as the basis for many prototypes. Here we investigate molecular states as a distinct alternative. We demonstrate a memory for light based on storing photons in the vibrations of hydrogen molecules. The THz-bandwidth molecular memory is used to store 100-fs pulses for durations up to 1ns, enabling 10,000 operational time bins. The results demonstrate the promise of molecules fo…
There is a significant ongoing effort in realizing quantum annealing with different physical platforms. The challenge is to achieve a fully programmable quantum device featuring coherent adiabatic quantum dynamics. Here we show that combining the well-developed quantum simulation toolbox for Rydberg atoms with the recently proposed Lechner-Hauke-Zoller~(LHZ) architecture allows one to build a prototype for a coherent adiabatic quantum computer with all-to-all Ising interactions and, therefore, a novel platform for quantum annealing. In LHZ a infinite-range spin-glass is mapped onto the low ene…
Recent evidence suggests that quantum effects may have functional importance in biological light-harvesting systems. Along with delocalized electronic excitations, it is now suspected that quantum coherent interactions with certain near-resonant vibrations may contribute to light-harvesting performance. However, the actual quantum advantage offered by such coherent vibrational interactions has not yet been established. We investigate a quantum design principle, whereby coherent exchange of single energy quanta between electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom can enhance a light-harvesting…
The presence of noise or the interaction with an environment can radically change the dynamics of observables of an otherwise isolated quantum system. We derive a bound on the speed with which observables of open quantum systems evolve. This speed limit divides into Mandalestam and Tamm's original time-energy uncertainty relation and a time-information uncertainty relation recently derived for classical systems, generalizing both to open quantum systems. By isolating the coherent and incoherent contributions to the system dynamics, we derive both lower and upper bounds to the speed of evolutio…
A novel effect of a wave packet scattering off an attractive one- dimensional well is found numerically and analytically. For a wave packet narrower than the width of the well, the scattering proceeds through a quasi-bound state of almost zero energy. The wave reflected from the well is a polychotomous (multiple peak) monochromatic and coherent train. The transmitted wave is a spreading smooth wave packet. The effect is strong for low average speeds of the packet, and it disappears for wide packets.
We present explicit evaluations of quantum speed limit times pertinent to the Markovian dynamics of an open continuous-variable system. Specifically, we consider the standard setting of a cavity mode of the quantum radiation field weakly coupled to a thermal bosonic reservoir. The evolution of the field state is ruled by the quantum optical master equation, which is known to have an exact analytic solution. Starting from a pure input state, we employ two indicators of how different the initial and evolved states are, namely, the fidelity of evolution and the Hilbert-Schmidt distance of evoluti…
Quantum mechanics dominates various effects in modern research from miniaturizing electronics, up to potentially ruling solid-state physics, quantum chemistry and biology. To study these effects experimental quantum systems may provide the only effective access. Seminal progress has been achieved in a variety of physical platforms, highlighted by recent applications. Atomic ions are known for their unique controllability and are identical by nature, as evidenced, e.g., by performing among the most precise atomic clocks and providing the basis for one-dimensional simulators. However, controllab…
