These notes are more or less a faithful representation of my talk at the Workshop on ``Quantum Coding and Quantum Computing'' held at the University of Virginia. As such it is an introduction for non-physicists to the topics of the quantum theory of light and entangled states of light. In particular, I discuss the photon concept and what is really entangled in an entangled state of light (it is not the photons). Moreover, I discuss an example that highlights the peculiar behavior of entanglement in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space.
We investigate the general characters of fully entangled fraction for quantum states. The fully entangled fraction of Isotropic states and Werner states are analytically computed.
We systematically study the construction of mutually unbiased bases in $\mathbb{C}^{2}\bigotimes\mathbb{C}^{3}$, such that all the bases are unextendible maximally entangled ones. Necessary conditions of constructing a pair of mutually unbiased unextendible maximally entangled bases in $\mathbb{C}^{2}\bigotimes\mathbb{C}^{3}$ are derived. Explicit examples are presented.
Maximally entangled Eisert-Lewenstein-Wilkens games are analyzed. For a general class of gate operators defined in the previous papers of the first author the general conditions are derived which allow to determine the form of gate operators leading to maximally entangled games. The construction becomes particularly simple provided one does distinguish between games differing by relabelling of strategies. Some examples are presented.
We study the locally unextendible non-maximally entangled basis (LUNMEB) in $H^{d}\bigotimes H^{d}$. We point out that there exists an error in the proof of the main result of LUNMEB [Quant. Inf. Comput. 12, 0271(2012)], which claims that there are at most $d$ orthogonal vectors in a LUNMEB, constructed from a given non-maximally entangled state. We show that both the proof and the main result are not correct in general. We present a counter example for $d=4$, in which five orthogonal vectors from a specific non-maximally entangled state are constructed. Besides, we completely solve the proble…
The absolutely maximally entangled (AME) states play key roles in quantum information processing. We provide an explicit expression of the generalized Bloch representation of AME states for general dimension $d$ of individual subsystems and arbitrary number of partite $n$. Based on this analytic formula, we prove that the trace of the squared support for any given weight is given by the so-called hyper-geometric function and is irrelevant with the choices of the subsystems. The optimal point for the existence of AME states is obtained.
We show that any essential application of an $n$-qubit C-SIGN or related quantum gate $G$ leaves its qubits everywhere entangled, provided they were not everywhere entangled to begin with. By ``essential'' we mean roughly that $G$ is not equivalent to a similar gate of smaller arity (or to the identity) when applied to the same input state. By ``everywhere entangled'' we mean that the state is not separable with respect to any bipartition of the qubits.
We show using a numerical approach that gives necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of local realism, that the bound entangled state presented in Bennett et. al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5385 (1999) admits a local and realistic description. We also find the lowest possible amount of some appropriate entangled state that must be ad-mixed to the bound entangled state so that the resulting density operator has no local and realistic description and as such can be useful in quantum communication and quantum computation.
This short note describes a method to tackle the (bipartite) quantum separability problem. The method can be used for solving the separability problem in an experimental setting as well as in the purely mathematical setting. The idea is to invoke the following characterization of entangled states: A state is entangled if and only if there exists an entanglement witness that detects it. The method is basically a search for an entanglement witness that detects the given state.
It is shown that bipartition of optical solitons can be used to generate entangled light beams. The achievable amount of entanglement can be substantially larger for N-bound solitons N=2,3 than for the fundamental soliton (N=1). An analysis of the mode structure of the entangled beams shows that just N modes are essentially entangled. In particular, partitioning of the fundamental soliton effectively produces 2-mode squeezed light.
We show that a two-mode three-level cascade laser driven by external coherent fields generate intense entangled light. It turns out that external driving fields which are at resonance with the cavity modes substantially improves the intensity of the two-mode light in the cavity in a region where the squeezing and entanglement is significant making the system under consideration a viable source of bright squeezed as well as entangled light.
This note is a reply to M. Navascués' claim that "all entangled states violate Leggett's crypto-nonlocality" [arXiv:1303.5124v2]. I argue that such a conclusion can only be reached if one introduces additional assumptions that further restrict Leggett's notion of "crypto-nonlocality". If a contrario one sticks only to Leggett's original axioms, there exist entangled states whose correlations are always compatible with Leggett's crypto-nonlocality---which is thus a genuinely different concept from quantum separability. I clarify in this note the relation between these two notions, together also…
Entanglement witnesses (EWs) constitute one of the most important entanglement detectors in quantum systems. Nevertheless, their complete characterization, in particular with respect to the notion of optimality, is still missing, even in the decomposable case. Here we show that for any qubit-qunit decomposable EW (DEW) W the three statements are equivalent: (i) the set of product vectors obeying \bra{e,f}W\ket{e,f}=0 spans the corresponding Hilbert space, (ii) W is optimal, (iii) W=Q^Γ with Q denoting a positive operator supported on a completely entangled subspace (CES) and Γstanding for the …
We experimentally investigate the properties of light generated by the sequential processes of spontaneous parametric downconversion followed by upconversion. By interfering the upconverted photons with the original pump light, we show that the processes preserve the coherence of the light. Moreover, we observe interferences with doubled phase sensitivity when changing the phase of the downconverted entangled light, although its coherence length is several orders of magnitude shorter than the one of the pump light. Finally the statistics of the upconverted light is expected to be super-poisson…
An experiment is proposed to show that after initial frequency and polarization selection, classical thermal light from two independent sources can be made path-polarization entangled. Such light will show new intensity-intensity correlations involving both path and polarization phases, formally similar to those for four-particle GHZ states. For fixed polarization phases, the correlations reduce to the Hanbury Brown-Twiss phase correlations. It is also shown that these classical correlations violate noncontextuality.
We propose a scheme for conditional generation of two-mode N-photon path-entangled states of traveling light field. These states may find applications in quantum optical lithography and they may be used to improve the sensitivity of interferometric measurements. Our method requires only single-photon sources, linear optics (beam splitters and phase shifters), and photodetectors with single photon sensitivity.
In this study, we explore the theoretical application of entangled multi-mode squeezed light for label-free optical super-resolution imaging. By generating massively entangled multi-mode squeezed light through an array of balanced beam splitters, using a single-mode squeezed light input, we create a multi-mode quantum light state with exceptional entanglement and noise suppression below the shot noise level. This significantly reduces imaging measurement errors compared to classical coherent state light imaging when the same number of photons are used on the imaging sample. We demonstrate how …
The emission of entangled light from planar semiconductor microcavities is studied and the entanglement properties are analyzed and quantified. Phase-matching of the intra-cavity scattering dynamics for multiple pump beams or pulses, together with the coupling to external radiation, leads to the emission of a manifold of entangled photon pairs. A decomposition of the emitted photons into two parties leads to a strong entanglement of the resulting bipartite system. For the quantification of the entanglement, the Schmidt number of the system is determined by the construction of Schmidt number wi…
Quantum lithography achieves phase super-resolution using fragile, experimentally challenging entangled states of light. We propose a scalable scheme for creating features narrower than classically achievable, with reduced use of quantum resources and consequently enhanced resistance to loss. The scheme is an implementation of interferometric lithography using a mixture of an SPDC entangled state with intense classical coherent light. We measure coincidences of up to four photons mimicking multiphoton absorption. The results show a narrowing of the interference fringes of up to 30% with respec…
We propose a universal scheme for the probabilistic generation of an arbitrary multimode entangled state of light with finite expansion in Fock basis. The suggested setup involves passive linear optics, single photon sources, strong coherent laser beams, and photodetectors with single-photon resolution. The efficiency of this setup may be greatly enhanced if, in addition, a quantum memory is available.
We experimentally demonstrate polarization entanglement for squeezed vacuum pulses containing more than 10^5 photons. We also study photon-number entanglement by calculating the Schmidt number and measuring its operational counterpart. Theoretically, our pulses are the more entangled the brighter they are. This promises important applications in quantum technologies, especially photonic quantum gates and quantum memories.
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 study how photon absorption losses degrade the bipartite entanglement of entangled states of light. We consider two questions: (i) what state contains the smallest average number of photons given a fixed amount of entanglement? and (ii) what state is the most robust against photon absorption? We explain why the two-mode squeezed state is the answer to the first question but not quite to the second question.
We propose periodically-modulated entangled states of light and show that they can be generated in two experimentally feasible schemes of nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator (NOPO): (i) driven by continuously modulated pump field; (ii) under action of a periodic sequence of identical laser pulses. We show that the time-modulation of the pump field amplitude essentially improves the degree of continuous-variable entanglement in NOPO. We develop semiclassical and quantum theories of these devices for both below- and above-threshold regimes. Our analytical results are in well agrement wit…
Entangled photon pairs -- discrete light quanta that exhibit non-classical correlations -- play a crucial role in quantum information science (for example in demonstrations of quantum non-locality and quantum cryptography). At the macroscopic optical field level non-classical correlations can also be important, as in the case of squeezed light, entangled light beams and teleportation of continuous quantum variables. Here we use stimulated parametric down-conversion to study entangled states of light that bridge the gap between discrete and macroscopic optical quantum correlations. We demonstra…
A two-mode single-atom laser is considered, with the aim of generating entanglement in macroscopic light. Two transitions in the four-level gain medium atom independently interact with the two cavity modes, while two other transitions are driven by control laser fields. Atomic relaxation as well as cavity losses are taken into account. We show that this system is a source of macroscopic entangled light over a wide range of control parameters and initial states of the cavity field.
We propose and demonstrate an atomic qubit based on a cold $^{85}$Rb-$^{87}$Rb isotopic mixture, entangled with a frequency-encoded optical qubit. The interface of an atomic qubit with a single spatial light mode, and the ability to independently address the two atomic qubit states, should provide the basic element of an interferometrically robust quantum network.
The coherent interaction between a laser-driven single trapped atom and an optical high-finesse resonator allows to produce entangled multi-photon light pulses on demand. The mechanism is based on the mechanical effect of light. The degree of entanglement can be controlled through the parameters of the laser excitation. Experimental realization of the scheme is within reach of current technology. A variation of the technique allows for controlled generation of entangled subsequent pulses, with the atomic motion serving as intermediate memory of the quantum state.
The generation and the characterization of multipartite entangled light is an important and challenging task in quantum optics. In this paper the entanglement properties of the light emitted from a planar semiconductor microcavity are studied. The intracavity scattering dynamics leads to the emission of light that is described by a fourpartite W state. Its multipartite correlations are identified by using the method of entanglement witnesses. Entanglement conditions are derived, which are based on a general witness constructed from W states. The results can be used to detect entanglement of li…
We study the generation of entangled light in planar semiconductor microcavities. The focus is on a particular pump configuration where the dissipative internal polariton dynamics leads to the emission of entangled light in a W-state. Our study is based on the nonlinear equations of motion for the polariton operators derived within the dynamics-controlled truncation formalism. They include the losses through the cavity mirrors, the interaction with lattice vibrations, and the external laser driving in a Langevin approach. We find that the generated entanglement is robust against decoherence un…
A practical source of high fidelity entangled photons is desirable for quantum information applications and exploring quantum physics. Semiconductor quantum dots have recently been shown to conveniently emit entangled light when driven electrically, however the fidelity was not optimal. Here we show that the fidelity is not limited by decoherence, but by coherent interaction with nuclei. Furthermore we predict that on 100μs timescales, strongly enhanced fidelities could be achieved. This insight could allow tailoring of quantum logic to operate using quantum dots in the fault tolerant regime.
The modification of initially entangled light pulses passing through dispersive and absorbing four-port devices is studied, using recently obtained results on quantum state transformations [Phys. Rev. A 59, 4716 (1999)]. The fidelity and indices of quantum correlations based on the von Neumann entropy are calculated. Their dependence on both the pulse shape and the four-port device parameters is studied. It is shown, that due to dispersion and absorption the quantum correlations are reduced substantially for large initial entanglement.
It has been shown recently (Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 090504 (2011)) that entangled light with Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations retrieves information from digital memory better than any classical light. In identifying this, a model of digital memory with each cell consisting of reflecting medium with two reflectivities (each memory cell encoding the binary numbers 0 or 1) is employed. The readout of binary memory essentially corresponds to discrimination of two Bosonic attenuator channels characterized by different reflectivities. The model requires an entire mathematical paraphernalia o…
The Stokes and anti-Stokes components of the spectrum of resonance fluorescence of a single trapped atom, which originate from the mechanical coupling between the scattered photons and the quantized motion of the atomic center of mass, exhibit quantum correlations which are of two-mode-squeezing type. We study and demonstrate the build-up of such correlations in a specific setup, which is experimentally accessible, and where the atom acts as efficient and continuous source of EPR-entangled, two-mode squeezed light.
If a pure state of a multipartite quantum system is Borromean, that is, its density matrix becomes product after tracing out any its component then the initial state is product itself. This shows the essentially classical nature of Borromean correlations which can not be achieved by entangled pure states.
We investigate the process of entangled state of light generation while propagation along a one dimensional array of single-mode nonlinear waveguides. We consider a situation when entanglement is formed due to spontaneous parametric down-conversion of the pump which is present only in a signal waveguide. In the considered process the generated state of light is multi-mode squeezed. We demonstrate that starting from certain distance of light propagation only pairs of waveguides, located symmetrically with respect to the pumped one, occur to be entangled. Also there is an optimal pump amplitude …
The controlled interaction between a single, trapped, laser-driven atom and the mode of a high-finesse optical cavity allows for the generation of temporally separated, entangled light pulses. Entanglement between the photon-number fluctuations of the pulses is created and mediated via the atomic center-of-mass motion, which is interfaced with light through the mechanical effect of atom-photon interaction. By means of a quantum noise analysis we determine the correlation matrix which characterizes the entanglement, as a function of the system parameters. The scheme is feasible in experimentall…
Squeezed state of light is one of the important subjects in quantum optics which is generated by optical nonlinear interactions. In this paper, we especially focus on qubit like entangled squeezed states (ESS's) generated by beam splitters, phase-shifter and cross Kerr nonlinearity. Moreover the Wigner function of two-mode qubit and qutrit like ESS are investigated. We will show that the distances of peaks of Wigner functions for two-mode ESS are entanglement sensitive and can be a witness for entanglement. Like the qubit cases, monogamy inequality is fulfilled for qutrit like ESS. These trend…
We propose a physical scheme to generate entangled light at high temperatures through the excitation of vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field using periodic modulations of a refractive index of a ring resonator. We consider the processes of dissipation and decoherence resulting from the coupling of the system with an environment at finite temperature and show that the total amount of entanglement generated does not depend on the temperature, which only affects the time necessary for the system to produce such an amount of entanglement.
Based on a circuit QED qubit-cavity array a source of two-mode entangled microwave radiation is designed. Our scheme is rooted in the combination of external driving, collective phenomena and dissipation. On top of that the reflexion symmetry is broken via external driving permitting the appearance of chiral emission. Our findings go beyond the applications and are relevant for fundamental physics, since we show how to implement quantum lattice models exhibiting criticality driven by dissipation.
We demonstrate optical interferometry beyond the limits imposed by the photon wavelength using 'triggered' entangled photon pairs from a semiconductor quantum dot. Interference fringes of the entangled biphoton state reveals a periodicity half of that obtained with the single photon, and much less than that of the pump laser. High fringe visibility indicates that biphoton interference is less sensitive to decoherence than interference of two sequential single photons. The results suggest that quantum interferometry may be possible using a semiconductor LED-like device.
We analyze the diffraction regime of the Kapitza-Dirac effect for particles entangled in momentum. The detection patterns show two-particle interferences. In the single-mode case we identify a discontinuity in the set of joint detection probabilities, associated with the disconnected character of the space of non-separable states. For Gaussian multi-mode states we derive the diffraction patterns, providing an example of the dependence of the light-matter interaction on entanglement. When the particles are identical, we can explore the relation between exchange and entanglement effects. We find…
A novel method of macroscopically entangled light-pair generation is presented for a quantum laser using randomness-based deterministic phase control of coherent light in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). Unlike the particle nature-based quantum correlation in conventional quantum mechanics, the wave nature of photons is applied for collective phase control of coherent fields, resulting in a deterministically controllable nonclassical phenomenon. For the proof of principle, the entanglement between output light fields from an MZI is examined using the Hong-Ou-Mandel-type anticorrelation tec…
We propose a method to generate entangled light with a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a cavity, a system realized in recent experiments. The atoms of the condensate are trapped in a periodic potential generated by a cavity mode. The condensate is continuously pumped by a laser and spontaneously emits a pair of photons of different frequencies in two distinct cavity modes. In this way, the condensate mediates entanglement between two cavity modes which leak out and can be separated and exhibit continuous variable entanglement. The scheme exploits the experimentally demonstrated strong, ste…
This paper addresses the excitation of vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field through periodic modulations of a refractive index and the possibility of using entanglement as a distinctive marker of the quantum nature of the phenomenon. It introduces a lossy environment and analyses its implications on the possibility of generating such an effect and measuring entanglement, concluding that it is not entirely destructive when the produced particles share the same environment.
We show that a single, trapped, laser-driven atom in a high-finesse optical cavity allows for the quantum-coherent generation of entangled light pulses on demand. Schemes for generating simultaneous and temporally separated pulse pairs are proposed. The mechanical effect of the laser excitation on the quantum motion of the cold trapped atom mediates the entangling interaction between two cavity modes and between the two subsequent pulses, respectively. The entanglement is of EPR-type, and its degree can be controlled through external parameters. At the end of the generation process the atom is…
We study the interference structure of the second-order intensity correlation function for polarization-entangled two-photon light obtained from type-II collinear frequency-degenerate spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). The structure is visualised due to the spreading of the two-photon amplitude as two-photon light propagates through optical fibre with group-velocity dispersion (GVD). Because of the spreading, polarization-entangled Bell states can be obtained without any birefringence compensation at the output of the nonlinear crystal; instead, proper time selection of the intensi…
We calculate the entanglement between a pair of polarization-entangled photon beams as a function of the reference frame, in a fully relativistic framework. We find the transformation law for helicity basis states and show that, while it is frequency independent, a Lorentz transformation on a momentum-helicity eigenstate produces a momentum-dependent phase. This phase leads to changes in the reduced polarization density matrix, such that entanglement is either decreased or increased, depending on the boost direction, the rapidity, and the spread of the beam.
We analyse a novel squeezing and entangling mechanism which is due to correlated Stokes and anti-Stokes photon forward scattering in a multi-level atom vapour. Following the proposal we present an experimental demonstration of 3.5 dB pulsed frequency nondegenerate squeezed (quadrature entangled) state of light using room temperature caesium vapour. The source is very robust and requires only a few milliwatts of laser power. The squeezed state is generated in the same spatial mode as the local oscillator and in a single temporal mode. The two entangled modes are separated by twice the Zeeman fr…
We discuss the generation of entangled photons using a nonlinear photonic crystal and beam splitter. In our method, the photonic crystal is assumed to be composed of a material with a large second-order nonlinear optical susceptibility $χ^{(2)}$. Our proposal relies on two facts: (1) A nonlinear photonic crystal changes coherent incident light into squeezed light. (2) A beam splitter transforms the squeezed light into entangled light beams flying in two different directions. We estimate the yield efficiency of pairs of entangled photons per pulse of the very weak coherent light for our method …
We explore in detail the possibility of generation of continuous-variable (CV) entangled states of light fields with well-localized phases. We show that such quantum states, called entangled self-phase locked states, can be generated in nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator (NOPO) based on a type-II phase-matched down-conversion combined with polarization mixer in a cavity. A quantum theory of this device, recently realized in the experiment, is developed for both sub-threshold and above-threshold operational regimes. We show that the system providing relative phase coherence between two…
We propose a scheme for generating entangled states of light fields. This scheme only requires the cross-Kerr nonlinear interaction between coherent light-beams, followed by a homodyne detection. Therefore, this scheme is within the reach of current technology. We study in detail the generation of the entangled states between two modes, and that among three modes. In addition to the Bell states between two modes and the W states among three modes, we find plentiful new kinds of entangled states. Finally, the scheme can be extend to generate the entangled states among more than three modes.
Localized radiation sources are analyzed with respect to the relation of nonclassicality and quantum entanglement of the emitted light. The source field parts of the radiation emitted in different directions are closely related to each other. As a consequence, nonclassicality of the light fields in one direction directly implies entanglement of the field modes in different directions. This implication can be extended to multipartite-entanglement and multi-time quantum correlations. Given that a nonclassical effect is observed, our approach explicitly yields the multipartite entanglement witnes…
We present a theoretical framework to describe the collective emission of light by entangled atomic states. Our theory applies to the low excitation regime, where most of the atoms are initially in the ground state, and relies on a bosonic description of the atomic excitations. In this way, the problem of light emission by an ensemble of atoms can be solved exactly, including dipole-dipole interactions and multiple light scattering. Explicit expressions for the emitted photonic states are obtained in several situations, such as those of atoms in regular lattices and atomic vapors. We determine…
A new device to generate polarization-entangled light in the continuous variable regime is introduced. It consists of an Optical Parametric Oscillator with two type-II phase-matched non-linear crystals orthogonally oriented, associated with birefringent elements for adjustable linear coupling. We give in this paper a theoretical study of its classical and quantum properties. It is shown that two optical beams with adjustable frequencies and well-defined polarization can be emitted. The Stokes parameters of the two beams are entangled. The principal advantage of this setup is the possibility to…
Quantum physics allows for entanglement between microscopic and macroscopic objects, described by discrete and continuous variables, respectively. As in Schrödinger's famous cat gedanken experiment, a box enclosing the objects can keep the entanglement alive. For applications in quantum information processing, however, it is essential to access the objects and manipulate them with suitable quantum tools. Here we reach this goal and deterministically generate entangled light-matter states by reflecting a coherent light pulse with up to four photons on average from an optical cavity containing o…
Optical interferometry is amongst the most sensitive techniques for precision measurement. By increasing the light intensity a more precise measurement can usually be made. However, in some applications the sample is light sensitive. By using entangled states of light the same precision can be achieved with less exposure of the sample. This concept has been demonstrated in measurements of fixed, known optical components. Here we use two-photon entangled states to measure the concentration of the blood protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) in an aqueous buffer solution. We use an opto-fluidic devi…
Many previous works on quantum photolithography are based on maximally-entangled states (MES). In this paper, we generalize the MES quantum photolithography to the case where two light beams share a $N$-photon nonmaximally-entangled state. we investigate the correlations between quantum entanglement and quantum photolithography. It is shown that for nonlocal entanglement between the two light beams the amplitude of the deposition rate can be changed through varying the degree of entanglement described by an entanglement angle while the resolution remains unchanged, and found that for local ent…
We report the entanglement of topological features, namely, isolated, linked optical vortex loops in the light from spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). In three dimensions, optical vortices are lines of phase singularity and vortices of energy flow which percolate through all optical fields. This example of entanglement is between features that extend over macroscopic and finite volumes, furthermore, topological features are robust to perturbation . The entanglement of photons in complex three-dimensional(3D) topological states suggests the possibility of entanglement of similar str…
