Spectral mapping of polarization-correlated photon-pair sources using quantum-classical correspondence
Hung-Pin Chung, Pawan Kumar, Kai Wang, Olivier Bernard, Chinmay Shirpurkar, Wen-Chiuan Su, Thomas Pertsch, Andrey A. Sukhorukov, Yen-Hung Chen, Frank Setzpfandt
Direct spectral characterization of a quantum photon-pair source usually involves cumbersome, costly, and time-consuming detection issues. In this study, we experimentally characterize the spectral properties of a type-II phase-matched spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) source based on a titanium-diffused periodically poled lithium niobate (Ti:PPLN) waveguide. The characterization of the spectral information of the generated cross-polarized photon pairs is of importance for the use of such sources in applications including quantum information and communication. We demonstrate that the joint spectral intensity of the cross-polarized photon-pair source can be fully reconstructed using the quantum-classical correspondence through classical sum-frequency generation (SFG) measurements. This technique, which uses a much less complex detection system for visible light, opens the possibility of fast monitoring and control of the quantum state of (polarization-correlated) photon-pair sources to facilitate the realization of a stable and high-usability quantum source.
We propose a novel scheme to generate polarization entanglement from spatially-correlated photon pairs. We experimentally realized a scheme by means of a spatial correlation effect in a spontaneous parametric down-conversion and a modified Michelson interferometer. The scheme we propose in this paper can be interpreted as a conversion process from spatial correlation to polarization entanglement.
In the fluorescence light of a single atom, the probability for emission of a photon with certain polarization depends on the polarization of the photon emitted immediately before it. Here correlations of such kind are investigated with a single trapped calcium ion by means of second order correlation functions. A theoretical model is developed and fitted to the experimental data, which show 91% probability for the emission of polarization-correlated photon pairs within 24 ns.
Quantum measurements that use the entangled photons' polarization to encode quantum information require calibration and alignment of the measurement bases between spatially separate observers. Because of the changing birefringence in optical fibers arising from temperature fluctuations or external mechanical vibrations, the polarization state at the end of a fiber channel is unpredictable and time-varying. Polarization tracking and stabilization methods originally developed for classical optical communications cannot be applied to polarization-entangled photons, where the separately detected p…
The production of correlated Stokes (S) and anti-Stokes (aS) photons (SaS process) mediated by real or virtual phonon exchange has been reported in many transparent materials. In this work, we investigate the polarization and time correlations of SaS photon pairs produced in a diamond sample. We demonstrate that both S and aS photons have mainly the same polarization of the excitation laser. We also perform a pump-and-probe experiment to measure the decay rate of the SaS pair production, evidencing the fundamental diference between the real and virtual (phonon exchange) processes. In real proc…
In this paper, following the recent paper on Walk/Zeta Correspondence by the first author and his coworkers, we compute the zeta function for the three- and four-state quantum walk and correlated random walk, and the multi-state random walk on the one-dimensional torus by using the Fourier analysis. We deal with also the four-state quantum walk and correlated random walk on the two-dimensional torus. In addition, we introduce a new class of models determined by the generalized Grover matrix bridging the gap between the Grover matrix and the positive-support of the Grover matrix. Finally, we gi…
We propose a new scheme for measuring the quantum efficiency of photon counting detectors by using correlated pho-tons. The measurement technique is based on a 90 rotation of the polarization of one photon member of a correlated pair produced by parametric down-conversion, conditioned on the detection of the other correlated photon after polarization selection. We present experimental results obtained with this scheme.
Polarization correlation in a linear basis, but not entanglement, is observed between the biexciton and single-exciton photons emitted by a single InAs quantum dot in a two-photon cascade. The results are well described quantitatively by a probabilistic model that includes two decay paths for a biexciton through a non-degenerate pair of one-exciton states, with the polarization of the emitted photons depending on the decay path. The results show that spin non-degeneracy due to quantum-dot asymmetry is a significant obstacle to the realization of an entangled-photon generation device.
Polarized cross-correlation spectroscopy on a quantum dot charged with a single hole shows the sequential emission of photons with common circular polarization. This effect is visible without magnetic field, but becomes more pronounced as the field along the quantization axis is increased. We interpret the data in terms of electron dephasing in the X+ state caused by the Overhauser field of nuclei in the dot. We predict the correlation timescale can be increased by accelerating the emission rate with cavity-QED.
Higher (2nd)-order Wigner distribution function in quantum phase space for entangled bi-modal coherent states, a representative of higher (2nd)-order optical-polarization, is introduced by generalizing kernel (transiting) operator in Cahill-Glauber C(s)-correspondence rule. The nature is analyzed which reveals the occurrence of oscillating three peaks: 'two' for individual bi-modes and third for interference between modes. Also, the graphics of 2nd-order polarization-Wigner distribution function, incisively, demonstrates that it is of non-Gaussian nature attaining non-negative values in quantu…
Cahill-Glauber C(s)-correspondence is employed to construct Quasi-Probability Distribution Functions (QPDFs) for optical-polarization in phase space following equivalent description of polarization in Classical Optics. The proposed scheme provides pragmatic insights as compared to obscure SU (2) quasi-distributions on Poincare sphere. QPDF (Wigner function) of bi-modal quadrature coherent states is evaluated and numerically investigated to demonstrate the application.
Spectrally correlated photon pairs can be used to improve performance of long range fiber based quantum communication protocols. We present a source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion producing polarization entangled photons without spectral filtering. In addition, the spectral correlation within the photon pair can be controlled by changing the pump pulse duration or coupled spatial modes characteristics. The spectral and polarization correlations were characterized. The generated photon pairs feature both positive spectral correlations, no correlations, or negative correlations …
A nonclassical feature of the fourth-order interference at a beam splitter, that genuine photon spin singlets are emitted in predetermined directions even when incident photons are unpolarized, has been used in a proposal for an experiment that imposes quantum spin correlation on truly independent photons. In the experiment, two photons from two such singlets interfere at a beam splitter, and as a result the other two photons - which nowhere interacted and whose paths nowhere crossed - exhibit a 100% correlation in polarization, even when no polarization has been measured in the first two phot…
Classical definition of degree of polarization is expressed in quantum domain by replacing intensities through quantum mechanical average values of relevant number operators and is viewed as first generalization of Intensity. This definition assigns inaccurately the unpolarized status to some typical optical fields such as amplitude coherent phase randomized and hidden polarized, which are not truly unpolarized light. The apparent paradoxical trait is circumvented by proposing a new definition of degree of polarization in Quantum Optics through second generalization of Intensity. The correspon…
The electron-photon interaction in 2D materials obeys the rule of electron valley-photon polarization correspondence. At the quantum level, such correspondence can be utilized to entangle valleys and polarizations and attain the transfer of quantum states (or information) between valley and photon qubits. Our work presents a theoretical study of the interaction between the two types of qubits and the resultant quantum state transfer. A generic setup is introduced, which involves optical cavities enhancing the electron-photon interaction as well as facilitating both the entanglement and un-enta…
A scheme to distinguish entangled two-photon-polarization states (ETP) from two independent entangled one-photon-polarization states (EOP) is proposed. Using this scheme, the experimental generation of ETP by parametric down-conversion is confirmed through the anti-correlations between three orthogonal two-photon-polarization states. The estimated fraction of ETP among the correlated photon pairs is 37% in the present experimental setup.
We devise and experimentally realize a procedure capable of detecting and distinguishing quantum discord and classical correlations as well the presence of factorized states in a joint system-environment setting. Our scheme builds on recent theoretical results showing how the distinguishability between two reduced states of a quantum system in a bipartite setting can convey important information about the correlations present in the bipartite state and the interaction between the subsystems. The two addressed subsystems are the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of the signal beam gen…
Our previous works presented zeta functions by the Konno-Sato theorem or the Fourier analysis for one-particle models including random walks, correlated random walks, quantum walks, and open quantum random walks. This paper introduces a new zeta function for multi-particle models with probabilistic or quantum interactions, called the interacting particle system (IPS). We compute the zeta function for some tensor-type IPSs.
Preparation, manipulation, and detection of strongly correlated states of quantum many body systems are among the most important goals and challenges of modern physics. Ultracold atoms offer an unprecedented playground for realization of these goals. Here we show how strongly correlated states of ultracold atoms can be detected in a quantum non-demolition scheme, that is, in the fundamentally least destructive way permitted by quantum mechanics. In our method, spatially resolved components of atomic spins couple to quantum polarization degrees of freedom of light. In this way quantum correlati…
We introduce a quantum channel describing photon losses depending on the degree of polarization mixedness. This can be regarded as a model of quantum channel with correlated errors between discrete and continuous degrees of freedom. We consider classical information over a continuous alphabet encoded on weak coherent states as well as classical information over a discrete alphabet encoded on single photons using dual rail representation. In both cases we study the one-shot capacity of the channel and its behaviour in terms of correlation between losses and polarization mixedness.
Our previous work presented explicit formulas for the generalized zeta function and the generalized Ihara zeta function corresponding to the Grover walk and the positive-support version of the Grover walk on the regular graph via the Konno-Sato theorem, respectively. This paper extends these walks to a class of walks including random walks, correlated random walks, quantum walks, and open quantum random walks on the torus by the Fourier analysis.
We describe a new method of coherent optical control of internal dynamics of atomic collisions by means of two correlated light beams having entangled polarizations. We show that if excitation of a colliding pair of atoms is by two photons having entangled polarizations, it is possible to redirect the output fragments of the collision into certain channels with a selected type of internal transition symmetry. The transition symmetry is defined in the body-fixed coordinate frame which has random and originally unknown orientation in space.
We unravel the dynamical stability of a fully polarized one-dimensional ultracold few-fermion spin-1/2 gas subjected to inhomogeneous driving of the itinerant spins. Despite the unstable character of the total spin-polarization the existence of an interaction regime is demonstrated where the spin-correlations lead to almost maximally aligned spins throughout the dynamics. The resulting ferromagnetic order emerges from the build up of superpositions of states of maximal total spin. They comprise a decaying spin-polarization and a dynamical evolution towards an almost completely unpolarized NOON…
We re-consider the old problem of Brownian motion in homogeneous high-temperature thermal environment. The semiclassical theory implies that the diffusion coefficient does not depend on whether the thermal fluctuations are correlated in space or disordered. We show that the corresponding quantum analysis exhibits a remarkable breakdown of quantum-to-classical correspondence. Explicit results are found for a tight binding model, within the framework of an Ohmic master equation, where we distinguish between on-site and on-bond dissipators. The breakdown is second-order in the inverse temperature…
To improve the performance of multi-qubit algorithms on quantum devices it is critical to have methods for characterizing non-local quantum errors such as crosstalk. To address this issue, we propose and test an extension to the analysis of simultaneous randomized benchmarking data -- correlated randomized benchmarking. We fit the decay of correlated polarizations to a composition of fixed-weight depolarizing maps to characterize the locality and weight of crosstalk errors. From these errors we introduce a crosstalk metric which indicates the distance to the closest map with only local errors.…
Spin interferometry of the 4th order for independent polarized as well as unpolarized photons arriving simultaneously at a beam splitter and exhibiting spin correlation while leaving it, is formulated and discussed in the quantum approach. Beam splitter is recognized as a source of genuine singlet photon states. Also, typical nonclassical beating between photons taking part in the interference of the 4th order is given a polarization dependent explanation.
Imaging, detection and ranging of objects in the presence of significant background noise is a fundamental challenge in optical sensing. Overcoming the limitations imposed in conventional methods, quantum light sources show higher resistance against noise in a time-correlation-based quantum illumination. Here, we introduce the advantage of using not only time correlations but also polarization correlations in photon pairs in the detection of an object that is embedded in a noisy background. In this direction, a time- and polarization-correlated photon pair source using the spontaneous parametr…
The three-photon Compton effect is studied. An incoming photon undergoes triple scattering off a free electron, which leads to the emission of three entangled photons. We investigate the properties of both the total cross section, assuming a low-energy cutoff for the detected photons, and the differential cross section. Particular emphasis is laid on evaluating polarization-resolved cross sections. The entanglement of the final three-photon state is analyzed.
We present two-photon interference experiments with polarization-entangled photon pairs in a polarization-based Franson-type interferometer. Although the two photons do not meet at a common beamsplitter, a phase-insensitive Hong-Ou-Mandel type two-photon interference peak and dip fringes are observed, resulting from the two-photon interference effect between two indistinguishable two-photon probability amplitudes leading to a coincidence detection. A spatial quantum beating fringe is also measured for nondegenerate photon pairs in the same interferometer, although the two-photon states have no…
We propose a method for the detection of ground state quantum phases of spinor gases through a series of two quantum nondemolition measurements performed by sending off-resonant, polarized light pulses through the gas. Signatures of various mean-field as well as strongly-correlated phases of F=1 and F=2 spinor gases obtained by detecting quantum fluctuations and mean values of polarization of transmitted light are identified.
We experimentally demonstrate an ultrafast method for preparing spin states of donor-bound electrons in GaAs with single laser pulses. Each polarization state of a preparation pulse has a direct mapping onto a spin state, with bijective correspondence between the Poincaré-sphere (for photon polarization) and Bloch-sphere (for spin) state representations. The preparation is governed by a stimulated Raman process and occurs orders of magnitude faster than the spontaneous emission and spin dephasing. Similar dynamics governs our ultrafast optical Kerr detection of the spin coherence, thus getting…
