It is well-known that a quantum measurement can enhance the transition probability between two quantum states. Such a measurement operates after preparation of the initial state and before postselecting for the final state. Here we analyze this kind of scenario in detail and determine which probability distributions on a finite number of outcomes can occur for an intermediate measurement with postselection, for given values of the following two quantities: (i) the transition probability without measurement, (ii) the transition probability with measurement. This is done for both the cases of projective measurements and of generalized measurements. Among other constraints, this quantifies a trade-off between high randomness in a projective measurement and high measurement-modified transition probability. An intermediate projective measurement can enhance a transition probability such that the failure probability decreases by a factor of up to 2, but not by more.
To describe the pre- and post-selected quantum ensembles, a complex quantity called the weak value of an operator is used. The weak value is highly controversial due to the fact that it is not bounded by the possible eigenvalues of the corresponding operator. Nevertheless, the obtaining of the anomalous weak value is regarded as a powerful technique in the quantum interferometry nowadays. Here it is shown that the postselection on a quantum system recovers a completely hidden interference effect in the measurement apparatus. Studying the interference pattern shows the optimal settings for the …
The effects of von Neumann postselected measurement on nonclassicality of single-photon-added coherent state (SPACS) are studied. Explicit expressions and analytical results for various field properties of SPACS such as the photon number distribution, the Mandel Q_{m} factor and the squeezing parameter of field quadrature after postselected von Neumann measurement are investigated. The results showed that the nonclassicality of SPACS after measurement changed dramatically than initial state. The measurement let SPACS possess more strong sub-Poissonian photon statistics in some definite couplin…
Postselected von Neumann measurement characterized by postselection and weak value has been found potential applications in quantum metrology and, solved plenty of fundamental problems in quantum theory. As an application of this new measurement technique in quantum optics, its effects on the features of single-mode radiation fields such as coherent state, squeezed vacuum state and Schrodinger cat sate are investigated by considering full-order effects of unitary evolution. The results show that the conditional probabilities of finding photons, second-order correlation functions, Q-factors and…
Interactions of pre- and postselected quantum particles
Tel-Aviv University（特拉维夫大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik（马克斯·普朗克量子光学研究所）；Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität（路德维希-马克西米利安大学）；Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität（慕尼黑数学哲学中心，路德维希-马克西米利安大学）；Korea Institute for Advanced Study（韩国高等研究院）；Chapman University（查普曼大学）
The fundamental gates of linear optics quantum computation are realized by using single photons sources, linear optics and photon counters. Success of these gates is conditioned on the pattern of photons detected without using feedback. Here it is shown that the maximum probability of success of these gates is typically strictly less than 1. For the one-mode non-linear sign shift, the probability of success is bounded by 1/2. For the conditional sign shift of two modes, this probability is bounded by 3/4. These bounds are still substantially larger than the highest probabilities shown to be ac…
In conventional measurement, to reach the greatest accuracy of parameter estimation, all samples must be measured since each independent sample contains the same quantum Fisher information. In postselected metrology, postselection can concentrate the quantum Fisher information of the initial samples into a tiny post-selected sub-ensemble. It has been proven that this quantum advantage can not be realized in any classically commuting theory. In this work, we present that the advantage of postselection in weak value amplification (WVA) can not be achieved without quantum coherence. The quantum c…
Postselection following weak measurements has long been investigated for its peculiar manifestation of quantum signatures. In particular, the postselected events can give rise to anomalous values lying outside the spectrum of the measured quantity, and may provide enhanced Fisher information. Furthermore, the Pusey inequality highlights that, for extremely weak measurements, non-contextual models can account for the outcome probabilities. It is then interesting to investigate whether these are linked in a unified framework. Here we discuss on the existence of a possible connection in the case …
The purpose of this paper is to show the unusual behavior of a number of simple circuits under the effects of post-selection. A useful duality exists between post-selected ensembles and a consistent picture of acausal physics embodying the application of Novikov's consistency postulate to the wave-function of a time machine. A competing view applies this postulate to density matrices instead, but that lies outside the scope of this paper. To find out the result of a measurement on a particular circuit, we consider a weighted distribution of histories between some initial and final time, such t…
We present an analysis of a double Mach-Zehnder interferometer in which an ensemble of identical pre- and postselected particles leave a weak trace. A knowledge of the weak value partially destroys the quantum interference. The results, contrary to some recent claims, are in accordance with the usual quantum mechanical expectations.
Vaidman, in a recent article adopts the method of 'quantum weak measurements in pre- and postselected ensembles' to ascertain whether or not the chained-Zeno counterfactual computation scheme proposed by Hosten et al. is counterfactual; which has been the topic of a debate on the definition of counterfactuality. We disagree with his conclusion, which brings up some interesting aspects of quantum weak measurements and some concerns about the way they are interpreted.
The question of the generation of random mixed states is discussed, aiming for the computation of probabilistic characteristics of composite finite dimensional quantum systems. Particularly, we consider the generation of the random Hilbert-Schmidt and Bures ensembles of qubit and qutrit pairs and compute the corresponding probabilities to find a separable state among the states of a fixed rank.
We experimentally demonstrate that when three single photons transmit through two polarization channels, in a well-defined pre- and postselected ensemble, there are no two photons in the same polarization channel by weak-strength measurement, a counter-intuitive quantum counting effect called quantum pigeonhole paradox. We further show that this effect breaks down in second-order measurement. These results indicate the existence of quantum pigeonhole paradox and its operating regime.
Constructing a quantum memory for a photonic entanglement is vital for realizing quantum communication and network. Besides enabling the realization of high channel capacity communication, entangled photons of high-dimensional space are of great interest because of many extended applications in quantum information and fundamental physics fields. Photons entangled in a two-dimensional space had been stored in different system, but there have been no any report on the storage of a photon pair entangled in a high-dimensional space. Here, we report the first experimental realization of storing an …
The quantum probabilistic convergence in measurement, distinct from mathematical convergence, is derived for indeterminate probabilities from the weak quantum law of large numbers. This is presented in three theorems. The first establishes the necessary bridge between ensemble theory and experiment. The second analyzes the most important theoretical ensemble entity: the eigen-projector of the relative frequency operator. Its physical meaning is the experimental relative frequency. The third theorem formulates the quantum probabilistic convergence, which is the final result of this investigatio…
An expression is proposed for the quantum mechanical state of a pre- and post-selected ensemble, which is an ensemble determined by the final as well as the initial state of the quantum systems involved. It is shown that the probabilities calculated from the proposed state agree with previous expressions, for cases where they both apply. The same probabilities are found when they are calculated in the forward- or reverse-time directions. This work was prompted by several problems raised by Shimony recently in relation to the state, and time symmetry, of pre- and post-selected ensembles.
A measurement consists in coupling a system to a probe and reading the output of the probe to gather information about the system. The weaker the coupling, the smaller the back-action on the system, but also the less information conveyed. If the system undergoes a second measurement, the statistics of the first output can be conditioned on the value of the second one. This procedure is known as postselection. A postselected weak measurement of an observable can give a large average output of the probe when the postselected state is nearly orthogonal to the initial state of the system. This lar…
Weak values as introduced by Aharonov, Albert and Vaidman (AAV) are ensemble average values for the results of weak measurements. They are interesting when the ensemble is preselected on a particular initial state and postselected on a particular final measurement result. I show that weak values arise naturally in quantum optics, as weak measurements occur whenever an open system is monitored (as by a photodetector). I use quantum trajectory theory to derive a generalization of AAV's formula to include (a) mixed initial conditions, (b) nonunitary evolution, (c) a generalized (non-projective) f…
It is well known that the pointer state |Φ> resulting from the von Neumann measurement of a projection operator A performed upon an ensemble of quantum systems in the preselected state |ψ> depends upon A|ψ>. Here it is shown that the pointer state |Ψ> obtained from such a measurement performed upon an ensemble that is also postselected depends upon the weak value of A - regardless of the measurement interaction strength. It is also found that, while the spatial distribution of |Ψ> exhibits interference, the idempotency of A prohibits interference in that of |Φ>. This is explained in terms of w…
A density operator, $ρ= {P}_{α} |α> <α| + {P}_{β} |β> <β|$, with ${P}_{α}$ and ${P}_{β}$ linearly independent normalized wave functions, must be traced normalized, so ${P}_{β} = 1 - {P}_{α}$. However, unless $<α|β> = 0$, ${P}_{α}$ and ${P}_{β}$ cannot be interpreted as probabilities of finding $|α>$ and $|β>$ respectively. We show that a density matrix comprised of two (${P}_{α}$ and ${P}_{β}$ nonzero) non-orthogonal projectors have unique spectral decomposition into diagonal form with orthogonal projectors. Only then, according to axioms of Von Neumann and Fock, can we have probability interp…
It is shown that different distinguishability measures impose different orderings on ensembles of $N$ pure quantum states. This is demonstrated using ensembles of equally-probable, linearly independent, symmetrical pure states, with the maximum probabilities of correct hypothesis testing and unambiguous state discrimination being the distinguishability measures. This finding implies that there is no absolute scale for comparing the distinguishability of any two ensembles of $N$ quantum states, and that distinguishability comparison is necessarily relative to a particular discrimination strateg…
We present experimental NMR demonstration of a scheme of reversible projective measurement, which allows extracting information on outcomes and probabilities of a projective measurement in a non-destructive way, with a minimal net effect on the quantum state of an ensemble. The scheme uses reversible dynamics and weak measurement of the intermediate state. The experimental system is an ensemble of 133Cs (S = 7/2) nuclei in a liquid-crystalline matrix.
We investigate the optimal measurement strategy for state discrimination of the trine ensemble of qubit states prepared with arbitrary prior probabilities. Our approach generates the minimum achievable probability of error and also the maximum confidence strategy. Although various cases with symmetry have been considered and solution techniques put forward in the literature, to our knowledge this is only the second such closed form, analytical, arbitrary prior, example available for the minimum-error figure of merit, after the simplest and well-known two-state example.
Consider an ensemble of pure quantum states |ψ_j>, j=1,...,n taken with prior probabilities p_j respectively. We show that it is possible to increase all of the pairwise overlaps |<ψ_i|ψ_j>| i.e. make each constituent pair of the states more parallel (while keeping the prior probabilities the same), in such a way that the von Neumann entropy S is increased, and dually, make all pairs more orthogonal while decreasing S. We show that this phenomenon cannot occur for ensembles in two dimensions but that it is a feature of almost all ensembles of three states in three dimensions. It is known that …
We consider a finite-dimensional quantum system, making a transition between known initial and final states. The outcomes of several accurate measurements, which {\it could be} made in the interim, define virtual paths, each endowed with a probability amplitude. If the measurements are {\it actually made}, the paths, which may now be called "real", acquire also the probabilities, related to the frequencies, with which a path is seen to be travelled in a series of identical trials. Different sets of measurements, made on the same system, can produce different, or incompatible, statistical ensem…
Using the convex optimization method and Helstrom family of ensembles introduced in Ref. [1], we have discussed optimal ambiguous discrimination in qubit systems. We have analyzed the problem of the optimal discrimination of N known quantum states and have obtained maximum success probability and optimal measurement for N known quantum states with equiprobable prior probabilities and equidistant from center of the Bloch ball, not all of which are on the one half of the Bloch ball and all of the conjugate states are pure. An exact solution has also been given for arbitrary three known quantum s…
We compare the failure probabilities of ensemble implementations of quantum algorithms which use pseudo-pure initial states, quantified by their polarization, to those of competing classical probabilistic algorithms. Specifically we consider a class algorithms which require only one bit to output the solution to problems. For large ensemble sizes, we present a general scheme to determine a critical polarization beneath which the quantum algorithm fails with greater probability than its classical competitor. We apply this to the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm and show that the critical polarization is…
For a given ensemble of $N$ independent and identically prepared particles, we calculate the binary decision costs of different strategies for measurement of polarised spin 1/2 particles. The result proves that, for any given values of the prior probabilities and any number of constituent particles, the cost for a combined measurement is always less than or equal to that for any combination of separate measurements upon sub-ensembles. The Bayes cost, which is that associated with the optimal strategy (i.e., a combined measurement) is obtained in a simple closed form.
Physicists have, hitherto, mostly adopted a frequentist conception of probability, according to which probability statements apply only to ensembles. It is argued that we should, instead, adopt an epistemic, or Bayesian conception, in which probabilities are conceived as logical constructs rather than physical realities, and in which probability statements do apply directly to individual events. The question is closely related to the disagreement between the orthodox school of statistical thought and the Bayesian school. It has important technical implications (it makes a difference, what stat…
Non-commutative quantum physics at the atom scale can arise from coarse graining of a classical statistical ensemble at the Planck scale. Position and momentum of an isolated particle are classical observables which remain computable in terms of the coarse grained information. However, the commuting classical product of position and momentum observables is no longer defined in the coarse grained system, which is therefore described by incomplete statistics. The microphysical classical statistical ensemble at the Planck scale admits an alternative non-commuting product structure for position an…
Operator noncommutation, a hallmark of quantum theory, limits measurement precision, according to uncertainty principles. Wielded correctly, though, noncommutation can boost precision. A recent foundational result relates a metrological advantage with negative quasiprobabilities -- quantum extensions of probabilities -- engendered by noncommuting operators. We crystallize the relationship in an equation that we prove theoretically and observe experimentally. Our proof-of-principle optical experiment features a filtering technique that we term partially postselected amplification (PPA). Using P…
A new ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics is proposed according to which the ensemble associated to a quantum state really exists: it is the ensemble of all the systems in the same quantum state in the universe. Individual systems within the ensemble have microscopic states, described by beables. The probabilities of quantum theory turn out to be just ordinary relative frequencies probabilities in these ensembles. Laws for the evolution of the beables of individual systems are given such that their ensemble relative frequencies evolve in a way that reproduces the predictions of quantu…
We discuss the following variant of the standard minimum error state discrimination problem: Alice picks the state she sends to Bob among one of several disjoint state ensembles, and she communicates him the chosen ensemble only at a later time. Two different scenarios then arise: either Bob is allowed to arrange his measurement set-up after Alice has announced him the chosen ensemble, or he is forced to perform the measurement before of Alice's announcement. In the latter case, he can only post-process his measurement outcome when Alice's extra information becomes available. We compare the op…
We present a protocol for increasing the entanglement between two atomic ensembles based on applying an approximate atom-light beamsplitter transformation to both ensembles. The effective asymmetric atom-light beamsplitter is created via a double-pass quantum non-demolition interaction between polarized light and a spin polarized atomic ensemble, derived from the linearised dipole interaction. The entanglement concentration protocol itself uses the procrustean method, similar to that first devised for light by Browne et al [2003 Phys Rev A 67 062320] and includes photon counting after the inte…
The predictions of quantum mechanics are probabilistic. Quantum probabilities are extracted using a postulate of the theory called the Born rule, the status of which is central to the "measurement problem" of quantum mechanics. Efforts to justify the Born rule from other physical principles, and thus elucidate the measurement process, have involved lengthy statistical or information-theoretic arguments. Here we show that Bohm's deterministic formulation of quantum mechanics allows the Born rule for measurements on a single system to be derived, without any statistical assumptions. We solve a s…
We present a classical model for bulk-ensemble NMR quantum computation: the quantum state of the NMR sample is described by a probability distribution over the orientations of classical tops, and quantum gates are described by classical transition probabilities. All NMR quantum computing experiments performed so far with three quantum bits can be accounted for in this classical model. After a few entangling gates, the classical model suffers an exponential decrease of the measured signal, whereas there is no corresponding decrease in the quantum description. We suggest that for small numbers o…
We reexamine a recent analysis in which, using the volume of the associated quantum steering ellipsoid (QES) as a measure, we sought to estimate the probability that a two-qubit state is separable. In the estimation process, we, in effect, sought to attach to states random with respect to Hilbert-Schmidt (HS) measure, the corresponding QES volumes. However, a study of the relations between HS and Bures ensembles and their well-supported separability probabilities of $\frac{8}{33}$ and $\frac{25}{341}$, respectively, now lead us to explore as a possible alternative measure, the QES volume divid…
Here we present the time-bidirectional state formalism (TBSF) unifying in a general manner the standard quantum mechanical formalism with no postselection and the time-symmetrized two-state (density) vector formalism, which deals with postselected states. In the proposed approach, a quantum particle's state, called a time-bidirectional state, is equivalent to a joined state of two particles propagating in opposite time directions. For a general time-bidirectional state, we derive outcome probabilities of generalized measurements, as well as mean and weak values of Hermitian observables. We als…
Given an ensemble of qubits, which we are told consists of a mixture of two pure states, one with probability $η_{0}$ and one with probability $η_{1}$, we want to find a POVM that will discriminate between the two states by measuring the qubits. We do not know the states, and for any given qubit, we do not know which of the two states it is in. This can be viewed as learning a POVM from quantum data. Once found, the POVM can be used to separate the remaining qubits in the ensemble into two groups, corresponding to the two states present in the ensemble. In order to find the POVM, we need more …
Any attempt to introduce probabilities into quantum mechanics faces difficulties due to the mathematical structure of Hilbert space, as reflected in Birkhoff and von Neumann's proposal for a quantum logic. The (consistent or decoherent) histories solution is provided by its single framework rule, an approach that includes conventional (Copenhagen) quantum theory as a special case. Mermin's Ithaca interpretation addresses the same problem by defining probabilities which make no reference to a sample space or event algebra (``correlations without correlata''). But this leads to severe conceptual…
We compare different strategies aimed to prepare an ensemble with a given density matrix $ρ$. Preparing the ensemble of eigenstates of $ρ$ with appropriate probabilities can be treated as `generous' strategy: it provides maximal accessible information about the state. Another extremity is the so-called `Scrooge' ensemble, which is mostly stingy to share the information. We introduce `lazy' ensembles which require minimal efforts to prepare the density matrix by selecting pure states with respect to completely random choice. We consider two parties, Alice and Bob, playing a kind of game. Bob wi…
We consider quantum ensembles which are determined by pre- and post-selection. Unlike the case of only pre-selected ensembles, we show that in this case the probabilities for measurement outcomes at intermediate times satisfy causality only rarely; such ensembles can in general be used to signal between causally disconnected regions. We show that under restrictive conditions, there are certain non-trivial bi-partite ensembles which do satisfy causality. These ensembles give rise to a violation of the CHSH inequality, which exceeds the maximal quantum violation given by Tsirelson's bound, $B_{\…
We consider the problem of discriminating qubit states that are sent over a quantum channel and derive a necessary and sufficient condition for an optimal measurement to be preserved by the channel. We apply the result to the characterization of optimal measurement preserving (OMP) channels for a given qubit ensemble, e.g., a set of two states or a set of multiple qubit states with equal a priori probabilities. Conversely, we also characterize qubit ensembles for which a given channel is OMP, such as unitary and depolarization channels. Finally, we show how the sets of OMP channels for a given…
Center for Quantum Information and Control, University of New Mexico（新墨西哥大学量子信息与控制中心）；Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico（新墨西哥大学电气与计算机工程系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico（新墨西哥大学物理与天文学系）
We address the problem of distinguishing among a finite collection of quantum states, when the states are not entirely known. For completely specified states, necessary and sufficient conditions on a quantum measurement minimizing the probability of a detection error have been derived. In this work, we assume that each of the states in our collection is a mixture of a known state and an unknown state. We investigate two criteria for optimality. The first is minimization of the worst-case probability of a detection error. For the second we assume a probability distribution on the unknown states…
On today's noisy imperfect quantum devices, execution fidelity tends to collapse dramatically for most applications beyond a handful of qubits. It is therefore imperative to employ novel techniques that can boost quantum fidelity in new ways. This paper aims to boost quantum fidelity with Clifford canary circuits by proposing Quancorde: Quantum Canary Ordered Diverse Ensembles, a fundamentally new approach to identifying the correct outcomes of extremely low-fidelity quantum applications. It is based on the key idea of diversity in quantum devices - variations in noise sources, make each (port…
We study resonant optical excitations of strongly-interacting Rydberg states of atoms in the presence of relaxations. We employ the quantum stochastic (Monte Carlo) wavefunctions to simulate the dissipative dynamics of tens of atoms in two-dimensional lattices. We show that under typical experimental conditions involving slow Rydberg state decay and sizable relaxation of atomic coherences, on the time scale of several microseconds the atomic ensemble approaches a stationary state in which much of the quantum correlations between the atoms have decayed away. The steady state, however, exhibits …
We describe fermions in terms of a classical statistical ensemble. The states $τ$ of this ensemble are characterized by a sequence of values one or zero or a corresponding set of two-level observables. Every classical probability distribution can be associated to a quantum state for fermions. If the time evolution of the classical probabilities $p_τ$ amounts to a rotation of the wave function $q_τ(t)=\pm \sqrt{p_τ(t)}$, we infer the unitary time evolution of a quantum system of fermions according to a Schrödinger equation. We establish how such classical statistical ensembles can be mapped to …
Decoherent histories quantum theory is reformulated with the assumption that there is one "real" fine-grained history, specified in a preferred complete set of sum-over-histories variables. This real history is described by embedding it in an ensemble of comparable imagined fine-grained histories, not unlike the familiar ensemble of statistical mechanics. These histories are assigned extended probabilities, which can sometimes be negative or greater than one. As we will show, this construction implies that the real history is not completely accessible to experimental or other observational dis…
In quantum mechanics, the wavefunction predicts probabilities of possible measurement outcomes, but not which individual outcome is realised in each run of an experiment. This suggests that it describes an ensemble of states with different values of a hidden variable. Here, we analyse this idea with reference to currently known theorems and experiments. We argue that the $ψ$-ontic/epistemic distinction fails to properly identify ensemble interpretations and propose a more useful definition. We then show that all local $ψ$-ensemble interpretations which reproduce quantum mechanics violate Stati…
We study the origin of the Born probability rule rho = |psi|^2 in the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave formulation of quantum theory. It is argued that quantum probabilities arise dynamically, and have a status similar to thermal probabilities in ordinary statistical mechanics. This is illustrated by numerical simulations for a two-dimensional system. We show that a simple initial ensemble with a non-standard distribution rho not= |psi|^2 of particle positions evolves towards the quantum distribution to high accuracy. The relaxation process rho --> |psi|^2 is quantified in terms of a coarse-grained …
We construct a map between the quantum field theory of free Weyl or Majorana fermions and the probability distribution of a classical statistical ensemble for Ising spins or discrete bits. More precisely, a Grassmann functional integral based on a real Grassmann algebra specifies the time evolution of the real wave function $q_τ(t)$ for the Ising states $τ$. The time dependent probability distribution of a generalized Ising model obtains as $p_τ(t)=q^2_τ(t)$. The functional integral employs a lattice regularization for single Weyl or Majorana spinors. We further introduce the complex structure…
