We introduce an approach to quantum cloning based on spin networks and we demonstrate that phase covariant cloning can be realized using no external control but only with a proper design of the Hamiltonian of the system. In the 1 -> 2 cloning we find that the XY model saturates the value for the fidelity of the optimal cloner and gives values comparable to it in the genera N -> M case. We finally discuss the effect of external noise. Our protocol is much more robust to decoherence than a conventional procedure based on quantum gates.
In this paper we present an approach to quantum cloning via free dynamical evolution of spin networks. By properly designing the network and the couplings between spins, we show that optimal 1->M phase covariant cloning can be achieved without any external control. Especially, when M is an odd number, the optimal phase-covariant cloning can be achieved without ancillas. Moreover, we demonstrate that the same framework is capable for optimal 1->2 universal cloning.
A joint measurement of two observables is a {\it simultaneous} measurement of both quantities upon the {\it same} quantum system. When two quantum-mechanical observables do not commute, then a joint measurement of these observables cannot be accomplished by projective measurements alone. In this paper we shall discuss the use of quantum cloning to perform a joint measurement of two components of spin associated with a qubit system. We introduce a cloning scheme which is optimal with respect to this task. This cloning scheme may be thought to work by cloning two components of spin onto its outp…
In this paper we present an approach to quantum cloning with unmodulated spin networks. The cloner is realized by a proper design of the network and a choice of the coupling between the qubits. We show that in the case of phase covariant cloner the XY coupling gives the best results. In the 1->2 cloning we find that the value for the fidelity of the optimal cloner is achieved, and values comparable to the optimal ones in the general N->M case can be attained. If a suitable set of network symmetries are satisfied, the output fidelity of the clones does not depend on the specific choice of the g…
We consider optimal cloning of the spin coherent states in Hilbert spaces of different dimensionality d. We give explicit form of optimal cloning transformation for spin coherent states in the three-dimensional space, analytical results for the fidelity of the optimal cloning in d=3 and d=4 as well as numerical results for higher dimensions. In the low-dimensional case we construct the corresponding completely positive maps and exhibit their structure with the help of Jamiolkowski isomorphism. This allows us to formulate some conjectures about the form of optimal coherent cloning CP maps in ar…
We discuss the "partial" quantum cloning of the pure two-partite states, when the "part" of initial state related to the one qubit is copied only. The same approach gives the possibility to design the quantum copying machine for the mixed qubit states.
We analyze the problem of approximate quantum cloning when the quantum state is between two latitudes on the Bloch's sphere. We present an analytical formula for the optimized 1-to-2 cloning. The formula unifies the universal quantum cloning (UQCM) and the phase covariant quantum cloning.
Quantum cloning machine for arbitrary mixed states in symmetric subspace is proposed. This quantum cloning machine can be used to copy part of the output state of another quantum cloning machine and is useful in quantum computation and quantum information. The shrinking factor of this quantum cloning achieves the well-known upper bound. When the input is identical pure states, two different fidelities of this cloning machine are optimal.
We construct efficient quantum logic network for probabilistic cloning the quantum states used in implemented tasks for which cloning provides some enhancement in performance.
In this work, we introduce a special kind of quantum cloning machine called Hybrid quantum cloning machine. The introduced Hybrid quantum cloning machine or transformation is nothing but a combination of pre-existing quantum cloning transformations. In this sense it creates its own identity in the field of quantum cloners. Hybrid quantum cloning machine can be of two types: (i) State dependent and (ii) State independent or Universal. We study here the above two types of Hybrid quantum cloning machines. Later we will show that the state dependent hybrid quantum-cloning machine can be applied on…
The impossibility of perfectly copying (or cloning) an arbitrary quantum state is one of the basic rules governing the physics of quantum systems. The processes that perform the optimal approximate cloning have been found in many cases. These "quantum cloning machines" are important tools for studying a wide variety of tasks, e.g. state estimation and eavesdropping on quantum cryptography. This paper provides a comprehensive review of quantum cloning machines (both for discrete-dimensional and for continuous-variable quantum systems); in addition, it presents the role of cloning in quantum cry…
In this paper, we study the entanglement and quantum discord of the output modes in the unified $1\rightarrow 2$ state-dependent cloning and probabilistic quantum cloning. The tripartite entanglement among the output modes and the quantum cloning machine is also considered. We find that the roles of the quantum correlations including the bipartite and tripartite entanglement and quantum discord strongly depend on the quantum cloning machines as well as the cloned state. In particular, it is found that this quantum cloning scheme can be realizable even without any quantum correlation.
Quantum cloning machines for equatorial qubits are studied. For the case of 1 to 2 phase-covariant quantum cloning machine, we present the networks consisting of quantum gates to realize the quantum cloning transformations. The copied equatorial qubits are shown to be separable by using Peres-Horodecki criterion. The optimal 1 to M phase-covariant quantum cloning transformations are given.
Recently Galvão and Hardy have shown that quantum cloning can improve the performance of some quantum computation tasks. However such performance enhancement is possible only if quantum correlations survive the cloning process. We investigate preservation of the quantum correlations in the process of non--local cloning of entangled pairs of two--level systems. We consider different kinds of quantum cloning machines and compare their effectiveness in the cloning of non--maximally entangled pure states. A mean entanglement is introduced in order to obtain a quantitative evaluation of an average …
Quantum cloning is an essential operation in quantum information and quantum computing. Similar to the `copy' operation in classical computing, the cloning of flying bits for further processing from the solid-state quantum bits in storage is an operation frequently used in quantum information processing. Here we propose a high-fidelity and controllable quantum cloning scheme between solid bits and flying bits. In order to overcome the obstacles from the no-cloning theorem and the weak phonon-photon interaction, we introduce a hybrid optomechanical system that performs both the probabilistic cl…
We present a scheme that transform 1 qubit to M identical copies with optimal fidedelity via free dynamical evolution of spin star networks. We show that the Heisenberg XXZ coupling can fulfill the challenge. The initial state of the copying machine and the parameters of the spin Hamiltonian are discussed in detail. Furthermore we have proposed a feasible method to prepare the initial state of the copying machine.
After a brief introduction to the quantum no-cloning theorem and its link with the linearity and causality of quantum mechanics, the concept of quantum cloning machines is sketched, following, whenever possible, the chronology of the main results. The important classes of quantum cloning machines are reviewed, in particular state-independent and state-dependent cloning machines. The 1-to-2 cloning problem is then studied from a formal point of view, using the isomorphism between completely positive maps and operators, which leads to the so-called double-Bell ansatz. This also yields an efficie…
No-cloning theorem is fundamental for quantum mechanics and for quantum information science that states an unknown quantum state cannot be cloned perfectly. However, we can try to clone a quantum state approximately with the optimal fidelity, or instead, we can try to clone it perfectly with the largest probability. Thus various quantum cloning machines have been designed for different quantum information protocols. Specifically, quantum cloning machines can be designed to analyze the security of quantum key distribution protocols such as BB84 protocol, six-state protocol, B92 protocol and the…
The optimal N to M ($M>N$) quantum cloning machines for the d-level system are presented. The unitary cloning transformations achieve the bound of the fidelity.
We study the phase-covariant quantum cloning machine for qudits, i.e. the input states in d-level quantum system have complex coefficients with arbitrary phase but constant module. A cloning unitary transformation is proposed. After optimizing the fidelity between input state and single qudit reduced density opertor of output state, we obtain the optimal fidelity for 1 to 2 phase-covariant quantum cloning of qudits and the corresponding cloning transformation.
The impossibility to clone an unknown quantum state is a powerful principle to understand the nature of quantum mechanics, especially within the context of quantum computing and quantum information. This principle has been generalized to quantitative statements as to what extent imperfect cloning is possible. We delineate an aspect of the border between the possible and the impossible concerning quantum cloning, by putting forward an entanglement-assisted scheme for simulating perfect cloning in the context of weak measurements. This phenomenon we call weak cloning of an unknown quantum state.
Attempts at cloning a quantum system result in the introduction of imperfections in the state of the copies. This is a consequence of the no-cloning theorem, which is a fundamental law of quantum physics and the backbone of security for quantum communications. Although such perfect copies are prohibited, a quantum state may be copied with maximal accuracy via various optimal cloning schemes. Optimal quantum cloning, which lies at the border of the physical limit imposed by the no-signalling theorem and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, has been experimentally realized for low dimensional p…
We discuss the usefulness of quantum cloning and present examples of quantum computation tasks for which cloning offers an advantage which cannot be matched by any approach that does not resort to it. In these quantum computations, we need to distribute quantum information contained in states about which we have some partial information. To perform quantum computations, we use state-dependent probabilistic quantum cloning procedure to distribute quantum information in the middle of a quantum computation.
Possibility of state cloning is analyzed in two types of generalizations of quantum mechanics with nonlinear evolution. It is first shown that nonlinear Hamiltonian quantum mechanics does not admit cloning without the cloning machine. It is then demonstrated that the addition of the cloning machine, treated as a quantum or as a classical system, makes the cloning possible by nonlinear Hamiltonian evolution. However, a special type of quantum-classical theory, known as the mean-field Hamiltonian hybrid mechanics, does not admit cloning by natural evolution. The latter represents an example of a…
We introduce a quantum cellular automaton that achieves approximate phase-covariant cloning of qubits. The automaton is optimized for 1-to-2N economical cloning. The use of the automaton for cloning allows us to exploit different foliations for improving the performance with given resources.
After the appearance of the no-cloning theorem, approximate quantum cloning machines (QCMs) have become one of the most well-studied subject in quantum information theory. Among several measures to quantify the performance of a QCM, single-qudit fidelity and global fidelity have been most widely used. In this paper we compute the optimal global fidelity for phase-covariant cloning machines via semi-definite programming optimization, thereby completing a remaining gap in the previous results on QCMs. We also consider optimal simulations of the cloning and transpose cloning map, both by a direct…
While exact cloning of an unknown quantum state is prohibited by the linearity of quantum mechanics, approximate cloning is possible and has been used, e.g., to derive limits on the security of quantum communication protocols. In the case of asymmetric cloning, the information from the input state is distributed asymmetrically between the different output states. Here, we consider asymmetric phase-covariant cloning, where the goal is to optimally transfer the phase information from a single input qubit to different output qubits. We construct an optimal quantum cloning machine for two qubits t…
We propose an optical implementation of the Gaussian continuous-variable quantum cloning machines. We construct a symmetric N -> M cloner which optimally clones coherent states and we also provide an explicit design of an asymmetric 1 -> 2 cloning machine. All proposed cloning devices can be built from just a single non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier and several beam splitters.
We discuss how quantum information distribution can improve the performance of some quantum computation tasks. This distribution can be naturally implemented with different types of quantum cloning procedures. We give two examples of tasks for which cloning provides some enhancement in performance, and briefly discuss possible extensions of the idea.
Quantum no-cloning, the impossibility of perfectly cloning an arbitrary unknown quantum state, is one of the most fundamental limitations due to the laws of quantum mechanics, which underpin the physical security of quantum key distribution. Quantum physics does allow, however, approximate cloning with either imperfect state fidelity and/or probabilistic success. Whereas approximate quantum cloning of single-particle states has been tested previously, experimental cloning of quantum entanglement -- a highly non-classical correlation -- remained unexplored. Based on a multiphoton linear optics …
The method of quantum cloning is divided into two main categories: approximate and probabilistic quantum cloning. The former method is used to approximate an unknown quantum state deterministically, and the latter can be used to faithfully copy the state probabilistically. So far, many approximate cloning machines have been experimentally demonstrated, but probabilistic cloning remains an experimental challenge, as it requires more complicated networks and a higher level of precision control. In this work, we designed an efficient quantum network with a limited amount of resources, and perform…
Probabilistic quantum cloning and identifying machines can be constructed via unitary-reduction processes [Duan and Guo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4999 (1998)]. Given the cloning (identifying) probabilities, we derive an explicit representation of the unitary evolution and corresponding Hamiltonian to realize probabilistic cloning (identification). The logic networks are obtained by decomposing the unitary representation into universal quantum logic operations. The robustness of the networks is also discussed. Our method is suitable for a $k$-partite system, such as quantum computer, and may be gen…
We present an example of quantum computational tasks whose performance is enhanced if we distribute quantum information using quantum cloning. Furthermore we give achievable efficiencies for probabilistic cloning the quantum states used in implemented tasks for which cloning provides some enhancement in performance.
The impossibility of perfect cloning and state estimation are two fundamental results in Quantum Mechanics. It has been conjectured that quantum cloning becomes equivalent to state estimation in the asymptotic regime where the number of clones tends to infinity. We prove this conjecture using two known results of Quantum Information Theory: the monogamy of quantum correlations and the properties of entanglement breaking channels.
The cloning of quantum variables with continuous spectra is analyzed. A universal - or Gaussian - quantum cloning machine is exhibited that copies equally well the states of two conjugate variables such as position and momentum. It also duplicates all coherent states with a fidelity of 2/3. More generally, the copies are shown to obey a no-cloning Heisenberg-like uncertainty relation.
When prior partial information about a state to be cloned is available, it can be cloned with a fidelity higher than that of universal quantum cloning. We experimentally verify this intriguing relationship between the cloning fidelity and the prior information by reporting the first experimental optimal quantum state-dependent cloning, using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. Our experiments may further have important implications into many quantum information processing protocols.
It has been shown theoretically that a light amplifier working on the physical principle of stimulated emission should achieve optimal quantum cloning of the polarization state of light. We demonstrate close-to-optimal universal quantum cloning of polarization in a standard fiber amplifier for telecom wavelengths. For cloning 1 --> 2 we find a fidelity of 0.82, the optimal value being 5/6 = 0.83.
Perfect Quantum Cloning Machines (QCM) would allow to use quantum nonlocality for arbitrary fast signaling. However perfect QCM cannot exist. We derive a bound on the fidelity of QCM compatible with the no-signaling constraint. This bound equals the fidelity of the Bužek-Hillery QCM.
We investigate the connection between quantum no-cloning theorem and Bell's theorem. Designing some Bell's inequalities, we show that quantum no-cloning theorem can always be certified by Bell's theorem, and this fact in turn reflects that our physical world is essentially nonlocal.
In probabilistic cloning with two auxiliary systems, we consider and compare three different protocols for the success probabilities of cloning. We show that, in certain circumstances, it may increase the success probability to add an auxiliary system to the probabilistic cloning machine having one auxiliary system, but we always can find another cloning machine with one auxiliary system having the same success probability as that with two auxiliary systems.
We demonstrate the possibility of controlling the success probability of a secret sharing protocol using a quantum cloning circuit. The cloning circuit is used to clone the qubits containing the encoded information and {\em en route} to the intended receipients. The success probability of the protocol depends on the cloning parameters used to clone the qubits. We also establish a relation between the concurrence of initially prepared state, entanglement of the mixed state received by the receivers after cloning scheme and the cloning parameters of cloning machine.
It is known that the stronger no-cloning theorem and the no-deleting theorem taken together provide the permanence property of quantum information. Also, it is known that the violation of the no-deletion theorem would imply signalling. Here, we show that the violation of the stronger no-cloning theorem could lead to signalling. Furthermore, we prove the stronger no-cloning theorem from the conservation of quantum information. These observations imply that the permanence property of quantum information is connected to the no-signalling and the conservation of quantum information.
We show that an unknown quantum state in phase space can be teleported via three-mode entanglement generated by continuous variable quantum cloning machine (transformation). Further, proceeding with our teleportation protocol we are able to improve the fidelity of teleportation obtained by Loock et.al. [Phys.Rev.Lett. 84, 3482(2000)]. Also we study here the entanglement between the two output copies from cloning machine.
This paper revisits the universal asymmetric $1 \to 2$ quantum cloning problem. We identify the symmetry properties of this optimisation problem, giving us access to the optimal quantum cloning map. Furthermore, we use the bipolar theorem, a famous method from convex analysis, to completely characterise the set of achievable single quantum clone qualities using the fidelity as our figure of merit; from this it is easier to give the optimal cloning map and to quantify the quality tradeoff in universal asymmetric quantum cloning. Additionally, it allows us to analytically specify the set of achi…
The cloning of continuous quantum variables is analyzed based on the concept of Gaussian cloning machines, i.e., transformations that yield copies that are Gaussian mixtures centered on the state to be copied. The optimality of Gaussian cloning machines that transform N identical input states into M output states is investigated, and bounds on the fidelity of the process are derived via a connection with quantum estimation theory. In particular, the optimal N-to-M cloning fidelity for coherent states is found to be equal to MN/(MN+M-N).
Since the initial discovery of the Wootters-Zurek no-cloning theorem, a wide variety of quantum cloning machines have been proposed aiming at imperfect but optimal cloning of quantum states within its own context. Remarkably, most previous studies have employed the Bures fidelity or the Hilbert-Schmidt norm as the figure of merit to characterize the quality of the corresponding cloning scenarios. However, in many situations, what we truly care about is the relevant information about certain parameters encoded in quantum states. In this work, we investigate the multiple phase estimation problem…
We show that the quantum states generated by universal optimal quantum cloning of a single photon represent an universal set of quantum superpositions resilient to decoherence. We adopt Bures distance as a tool to investigate the persistence ofquantum coherence of these quantum states. According to this analysis, the process of universal cloning realizes a class of quantum superpositions that exhibits a covariance property in lossy configuration over the complete set of polarization states in the Bloch sphere.
No-cloning theorem says that there is no unitary operation that makes perfect clones of non-orthogonal quantum states. The objective of the present paper is to examine whether an imperfect cloning operation exists or not in a C*-algebraic framework. We define a universal $ε$-imperfect cloning operation which tolerates a finite loss $ε$ of fidelity in the cloned state, and show that an individual system's algebra of observables is Abelian if and only if there is a universal $ε$-imperfect cloning operation in the case where the loss of fidelity is less than 1/4. Therefore, in this case no univer…
Some multipartite quantum states can be generated in a sequential manner which may be implemented by various physical setups like microwave and optical cavity QED, trapped ions, and quantum dots etc. We analyze the general N to M qubits Universal Quantum Cloning Machine (UQCM) within a sequential generation scheme. We show that the N to M sequential UQCM is available. The case of d-level quantum states sequential cloning is also presented.
It is shown that any quantum operation that perfectly clones the entanglement of all maximally-entangled qubit pairs cannot preserve separability. This ``entanglement no-cloning'' principle naturally suggests that some approximate cloning of entanglement is nevertheless allowed by quantum mechanics. We investigate a separability-preserving optimal cloning machine that duplicates all maximally-entangled states of two qubits, resulting in 0.285 bits of entanglement per clone, while a local cloning machine only yields 0.060 bits of entanglement per clone.
In this paper we investigate the efficiency of quantum cloning of $N$ identical mixed qubits. We employ a recently introduced measure of distinguishability of quantum states called quantum Chernoff bound. We evaluate the quantum Chernoff bound between the output clones generated by the cloning machine and the initial mixed qubit state. Our analysis is illustrated by performing numerical calculation of the quantum Chernoff bound for different scenarios that involves the number of initial qubits $N$ and the number of output imperfect copies $M$.
The universal quantum cloning machine and the universal NOT gate acting on a single qubit can be implemented very generally by slightly modifying the protocol of quantum state teleportation. The experimental demonstration of the 1 to 2 cloning process according to the above scheme has been realized for a qubit encoded in photon polarization.
We study the role of interference in the process of quantum cloning. We show that in order to achieve better than classical cloning of a qubit no interference is needed. In particular, a large class of symmetric universal 1$\to$ 2 qubit cloners exists which achieve the optimal average fidelity 5/6 for such machines, without using any interference. We also obtain optimal average fidelities for interference--free cloning in asymmetric situations, and discuss the relation of the quantum cloners found to the Bužek--Hillery quantum cloner.
An unknown quantum state cannot be copied on demand and broadcast freely due to the famous no-cloning theorem. Approximate cloning schemes have been proposed to achieve the optimal cloning characterized by the maximal fidelity between the original and its copies. Here, from the perspective of quantum Fisher information (QFI), we investigate the distribution of QFI in asymmetric cloning machines which produce two nonidentical copies. As one might expect, improving the QFI of one copy results in decreasing the QFI of the other copy, roughly the same as that of fidelity. It is perhaps also unsurp…
Ground-state quantum computers mimic quantum mechanical time evolution within the amplitudes of a time-independent quantum state. We explore the principles that constrain this mimicking. A no-cloning argument is found to impose strong restrictions. It is shown, however, that there is flexibility that can be exploited using quantum teleportation methods to improve ground-state quantum computer design.
Coherence, being at the heart of interference phenomena, is found to be an useful resource in quantum information theory. Here we want to understand quantum coherence under the combination of two fundamentally dual processes, viz., cloning and deleting. We found the role of quantum cloning and deletion machines with the consumption and generation of quantum coherence. We establish cloning as a cohering process and deletion as a decohering process. Fidelity of the process will be shown to have connection with coherence generation and consumption of the processes.
We propose an implementation of an universal quantum cloning machine [UQCM, Hillery and Buzek, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 56}, 3446 (1997)] in a Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (CQED) experiment. This UQCM acts on the electronic states of atoms that interact with the electromagnetic field of a high $Q$ cavity. We discuss here the specific case of the $1 \to 2$ cloning process using either a one- or a two-cavity configuration.
We analyze quantum algorithms for cloning of a quantum measurement. Our aim is to mimic two uses of a device performing an unknown von Neumann measurement with a single use of the device. When the unknown device has to be used before the bipartite state to be measured is available we talk about 1 -> 2 learning of the measurement, otherwise the task is called 1 -> 2 cloning of a measurement. We perform the optimization for both learning and cloning for arbitrary dimension of the Hilbert space. For 1 -> 2 cloning we also propose a simple quantum network that realizes the optimal strategy.
