We propose a covariant protocol for transmitting reference frames encoded on $N$ spins, achieving sensitivity $N^{-2}$ without the need of a pre-established reference frame and without using entanglement between sender and receiver. The protocol exploits the use of equivalent representations, which were overlooked in the previous literature.
We propose an alignment-free two-party polarization-entanglement transmission scheme for entangled photons by using only linear-optical elements, requiring neither ancillary photons nor calibrated reference frames. The scheme is robust against both the random channel noise and the instability of reference frames, and it is subsequently extended to multi-party Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state transmission. Furthermore, the success probabilities for two- and multi-party entanglement transmission are, in principle, improved to unity when active polarization controllers are used. The distinct cha…
We prove the unconditional security of a quantum key distribution protocol in which bit values are encoded in the phase of a weak coherent-state pulse relative to a strong reference pulse. In contrast to implementations in which a weak pulse is used as a substitute for a single-photon source, the achievable key rate is found to decrease only linearly with the transmission of the channel.
We analyze the problem of sending, in a single transmission, the information required to specify an orthogonal trihedron or reference frame through a quantum channel made out of N elementary spins. We analytically obtain the optimal strategy, i.e., the best encoding state and the best measurement. For large N, we show that the average error goes to zero linearly in 1/N. Finally, we discus the construction of finite optimal measurements.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) is proved to be able to eliminate all potential detector side channel attacks. Combining with the reference frame independent (RFI) scheme, the complexity of practical system can be reduced because of the unnecessary alignment for reference frame. Here, based on polarization multiplexing, we propose a time-bin encoding structure, and experimentally demonstrate the RFI-MDI-QKD protocol. Thanks to this, two of the four Bell states can be distinguished, whereas only one is used to generate the secure key in previous RFI-MDI-QKD exp…
We analyze the application of bright reference pulses to prevent the photon-number-splitting attack in weak-pulse quantum key distribution. Under the optimal eavesdropping strategy as far as we know, the optimal parameters of bright reference and signal pulses can ensure a secure transmission distance up to 146 km. To realize the quantum key distribution scenario with up-present techniques, we present an experimentally feasible scheme to create a large splitting ratio between bright reference and signal pulses, and to switch the bright reference pulses away from signal pulses to avoid the afte…
We present a new implementation of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol that employs a $d$-dimensional Hilbert space spanned by spatial modes of the propagating beam that have a definite value of orbital angular momentum. Each photon carries $\log d$ bits of information, increasing the key generation rate of the protocol. The states used in the transmission part of the protocol are invariant under rotations about the propagation direction, making this implementation independent of the alignment between the reference frames of the sender and receiver. The protocol still works when these r…
We present a procedure inspired by dense coding, which enables a highly efficient transmission of information of a continuous nature. The procedure requires the sender and the recipient to share a maximally entangled state. We deal with the concrete problem of aligning reference frames or trihedra by means of a quantum system. We find the optimal covariant measurement and compute the corresponding average error, which has a remarkably simple close form. The connection of this procedure with that of estimating unitary transformations on qubits is briefly discussed.
We prove the unconditional security of the original Bennett 1992 protocol with strong reference pulse. We show that we may place a projection onto suitably defined qubit spaces before the receiver, which makes the analysis as simple as qubit-based protocols. Unlike the single-photon-based qubits, the qubits identified in this scheme are almost surely detected by the receiver even after a lossy channel. This leads to the key generation rate that is proportional to the channel transmission rate for proper choices of experimental parameters.
Without actively aligning the reference frames, the reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) can generate secure keys even when the reference frames drift slowly. Here, we propose a new scheme on the decoy-state RFI-QKD, where the basis assignments of two legitimate parties are biased, reducing the fraction of mismatched-basis data. When accounting for statistical fluctuations under different misalignments of reference frames, we investigate the performance of biased decoy-state RFI-QKD with full parameter optimization. We also make a clear comparison between the new sche…
A simple protocol is described for transferring spatial direction from Alice to Bob (two spatially separated observers) up to inversion. The two observers are assumed to share quantum singlet states and classical communication. The protocol assumes that Alice and Bob have complete free will (measurement independence) and is based on maximizing the Shannon mutual information between Alice and Bob's measurement outcomes. Repeated use of this protocol for each spatial axis of Alice allows transfer of a complete 3-dimensional reference frame, up to inversion of each of the axes. The technological …
We introduce a new continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) protocol, self-referenced CV-QKD, that eliminates the need for transmission of a high-power local oscillator between the communicating parties. In this protocol, each signal pulse is accompanied by a reference pulse (or a pair of twin reference pulses), used to align Alice's and Bob's measurement bases. The method of phase estimation and compensation based on the reference pulse measurement can be viewed as a quantum analog of intradyne detection used in classical coherent communication, which extracts the phase informati…
A phase reference has been a standard requirement in continuous-variable quantum sensing and communication protocols. However, maintaining a phase reference is challenging due to environmental fluctuations, preventing quantum phenomena such as entanglement and coherence from being utilized in many scenarios. We show that quantum communication and entanglement-assisted communication without a phase reference are possible, when a short-time memory effect is present. The degradation in the communication rate of classical or quantum information transmission decreases inversely with the correlation…
Reference-Frame-Independent quantum key distribution (RFI-QKD) is known to be robust against slowly varying reference frames. However, other QKD protocols such as BB84 can also provide secrete keys if the speed of the relative motion of the reference frames is slow enough. While there has been a few studies to quantify the speed of the relative motion of the reference frames in RFI- QKD, it is not yet clear if RFI-QKD provides better performance than other QKD protocols under this condition. Here, we analyze and compare the security of RFI-QKD and BB84 protocol in the presence of the relative …
We investigate the transformation rule of a single particle wave-function under a change of reference frame. A postulate is raised, and some fundamental aspects regarding the reference-frame independence of quantum probabilities are explored.
Any quantum communication task requires a common reference frame (i.e. phase, coordinate system). In particular, Quantum Key Distribution requires different bases for preparation and measurements of states which are obviously based on the existence of a common frame of reference. Here we show how QKD can be achieved in the absence of any common frame of reference. We study the coordinate reference frame, where the two parties do not even share a single direction, but the method can be generalized to other general frames of reference, pertaining to other groups of transformations.
We show that partially trusting the phase noise associated with estimation uncertainty in a LLO CVQKD system allows one to exchange higher secure key rates than in the case of untrusted phase noise. However, this opens a security loophole through the manipulation of the reference pulse amplitude. We label this as "reference pulse attack" which is applicable to all LLO-CVQKD systems if the phase noise is trusted. We show that, at the optimal reference pulse intensity level, Eve achieves unity attack efficiency at 23.8km and 32.0km while using lossless and 0.14dB/km loss channels, respectively, …
Quantum metrology studies quantum strategies which enable us to outperform their classical counterparts. In this framework, the existence of perfect classical reference frames is usually assumed. However, such ideal reference frames might not always be available. The reference frames required in metrology strategies can either degrade or become misaligned during the estimation process. We investigate how the imperfectness of reference frames leads to noise which in general affects the ultimate precision limits in measurement of physical parameters. Moreover, since quantum parameter estimation …
We present two new schemes for quantum teleportation between parties whose local reference frames are misaligned by the action of a compact Lie group G. These schemes require no prior alignment of reference frames and are unaffected by arbitrary changes in reference frame alignment during execution, suiting them to situations of rapid reference frame drift. Our tight scheme yields improved purity compared to standard teleportation, in some cases substantially --- this includes the case of qubit teleportation under arbitrary SU(2) reference frame uncertainty--- while communicating no informatio…
We show that communication without a shared reference frame is possible using entangled states. Both classical and quantum information can be communicated with perfect fidelity without a shared reference frame at a rate that asymptotically approaches one classical bit or one encoded qubit per transmitted qubit. We present an optical scheme to communicate classical bits without a shared reference frame using entangled photon pairs and linear optical Bell state measurements.
We define a new quantity called refbit, which allows one to quantify the resource of sharing a reference frame in quantum communication protocols. By considering both asymptotic and nonasymptotic protocols we find relations between refbits and other communication resources. We also consider the same resources in encoded, reference-frame independent, form. This allows one to rephrase and unify previous work on phase references, reference frames, and superselection rules.
A fully relational quantum theory necessarily requires an account of changes of quantum reference frames, where quantum reference frames are quantum systems relative to which other systems are described. By introducing a relational formalism which identifies coordinate systems with elements of a symmetry group $G$, we define a general operator for reversibly changing between quantum reference frames associated to a group $G$. This generalises the known operator for translations and boosts to arbitrary finite and locally compact groups, including non-Abelian groups. We show under which conditio…
A simple procedure to derive the transformation of a wavefunction under a change of reference frame is applied to some examples and its relation with the transformation of the Hamilton principal function is studied.
In order to communicate information in a quantum network effectively, all network nodes should share a common reference frame. Here, we propose to study how well m nodes in a quantum network can establish a common reference frame from scratch, even though t of them may be arbitrarily faulty. We present a protocol that allows all correctly functioning nodes to agree on a common reference frame as long as not more than t < m/3 nodes are faulty. Our protocol furthermore has the appealing property that it allows any existing two-party protocol for reference frame agreement to be lifted to a protoc…
Quantum experiments usually assume the existence of perfect, classical, reference frames, which allow for the specification of measurement settings (e.g. orientation of the Stern Gerlach magnet in spin measurements) with arbitrary precision. If the reference frames are "bounded" (i.e. quantum systems themselves, having a finite number of degrees of freedom), only limited precision can be attained. Using spin coherent states as bounded reference frames we have found their minimal size needed to violate local realism for entangled spin systems. For composite systems of spin-1/2 particles referen…
A single quantum system, such as a hydrogen atom, can transmit a Cartesian coordinate frame (three axes). For this it has to be prepared in a superposition of states belonging to different irreducible representations of the rotation group. The algorithm for decoding such a state is presented, and the fidelity of transmission is evaluated.
We propose that observables in quantum theory are properly understood as representatives of symmetry-invariant quantities relating one system to another, the latter to be called a reference system. We provide a rigorous mathematical language to introduce and study quantum reference systems, showing that the orthodox "absolute" quantities are good representatives of observable relative quantities if the reference state is suitably localised. We use this relational formalism to critique the literature on the relationship between reference frames and superselection rules, settling a long-standing…
In a recent Letter [G. Chiribella et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 120501 (2007)], four protocols were proposed to secretly transmit a reference frame. Here We point out that in these protocols an eavesdropper can change the transmitted reference frame without being detected, which means the consistency of the shared reference frames should be reexamined. The way to check the above consistency is discussed. It is shown that this problem is quite different from that in previous protocols of quantum cryptography.
We investigate the degradation of reference frames, treated as dynamical quantum systems, and quantify their longevity as a resource for performing tasks in quantum information processing. We adopt an operational measure of a reference frame's longevity, namely, the number of measurements that can be made against it with a certain error tolerance. We investigate two distinct types of reference frame: a reference direction, realized by a spin-j system, and a phase reference, realized by an oscillator mode with bounded energy. For both cases, we show that our measure of longevity increases quadr…
Quantum communication without a shared reference frame or the construction of a relational quantum theory requires the notion of a quantum reference frame. We analyze aspects of quantum reference frames associated with non-compact groups, specifically the group of spatial translations and Galilean boosts. We begin by demonstrating how the usually employed group average, used to dispense of the notion of an external reference frame, leads to unphysical states when applied to reference frames associated with non-compact groups. However, we show that this average does lead naturally to a reduced …
We generalize a quantum communication protocol introduced by Bartlett et al. [New. J. Phys. 11, 063013 (2009)] in which two parties communicating do not share a classical reference frame, to the case where changes of their reference frames form a one-dimensional noncompact Lie group. Alice sends to Bob the state $ρ_R \otimes ρ_S$, where $ρ_S$ is the state of the system Alice wishes to communicate and $ρ_R$ is the state of an ancillary system serving as a token of her reference frame. Because Bob is ignorant of the relationship between his reference frame and Alice's, he will describe the state…
A transition of focus from state space to frames of reference and their transformations is argued as being the appropriate setup for ensuring the covariance of physical laws. Such an approach can not only simplify and clarify aspects of General Relativity, but can possibly help in the development of a Grand Unified Theory as well.
Quantum Darwinism describes objectivity of quantum systems via their correlations with their environment--information that hypothetical observers can recover by measuring the environments. However, observations are done with respect to a frame of reference. Here, we take the formalism of [Giacomini, Castro-Ruiz, & Brukner. Nat Commun 10, 494 (2019)], and consider the repercussions on objectivity when changing quantum reference frames. We find that objectivity depends on non-degenerative relative separations, conditional state localisation, and environment macro-fractions. There is different ob…
The optimal N qubit states featuring highest sensitivity to small misalignment of cartesian reference frames are found using the Quantum Cramer-Rao bound. It is shown that the optimal states are supported on the symmetric subspace and hence are mathematically equivalent to a single spin J=N/2. Majorana representation of spin states is used to reveal a beautiful connection between the states optimal for aligning reference frames and the platonic solids.
We consider quantum communication in the case that the communicating parties not only do not share a reference frame but use imperfect quantum communication channels, in that each channel applies some fixed but unknown unitary rotation to each qubit. We discuss similarities and differences between reference frames within that quantum communication model and gauge fields in gauge theory. We generalize the concept of refbits and analyze various quantum communication protocols within the communication model.
In quantum communication protocols the existence of a shared reference frame between two spatially separated parties is normally presumed. However, in many practical situations we are faced with the problem of misaligned reference frames. In this paper, we study communication between two inertial observers who have partial knowledge about the Lorentz transformation that relates their frames of reference. Since every Lorentz transformation can be decomposed into a pure boost followed by a rotation, we begin by analysing the effects on communication when the parties have partial knowledge about …
We consider the dynamics of a quantum directional reference frame undergoing repeated interactions. We first describe how a precise sequence of measurement outcomes affects the reference frame, looking at both the case that the measurement record is averaged over and the case wherein it is retained. We find, in particular, that there is interesting dynamics in the latter situation which cannot be revealed by considering the averaged case. We then consider in detail how a sequence of rotationally invariant unitary interactions affects the reference frame, a situation which leads to quite differ…
In this paper, we study how a displacement of a quantum system appears under a change of relativistic reference frame. We introduce a generic method in which a displacement operator in one reference frame can be transformed into another reference frame. It is found that, when moving between non-inertial reference frames there can be distortions of phase information, modal structure and amplitude. We analyse how these effects affect traditional homodyne detection techniques. We then develop an in principle homodyne detection scheme which is robust to these effect, called the ideal homodyne dete…
In free-space quantum key distribution (QKD) between moving parties, e.g., free-space QKD via satellite, the reference frame rotation and fluctuation degrades the performance of QKD. Reference-frame-independent QKD (RFI-QKD) provides a simple but efficient way to overcome this problem. While there has been a number of theoretical and experimental studies on RFI-QKD, the experimental verification of the robustness of RFI-QKD over other QKD protocols under the reference frame rotation and fluctuation is still missing. Here, we have constructed a free-space QKD system which can implement BB84, si…
The imposition of symmetry upon the nature and structure of quantum observables has recently been extensively studied, with quantum reference frames playing a crucial role. In this paper, we extend this work to quantum transformations, giving quantitative results showing, in direct analogy to the case of observables, that a "large" reference frame is required for non-covariant channels to be well approximated by covariant ones. We apply our findings to the concrete setting of SU(2) symmetry.
Suppose that Alice and Bob define their coordinate axes differently, and the change of reference frame between them is given by a probability distribution mu over SO(3). We show that this uncertainty of reference frame is of no use for bit commitment when mu is uniformly distributed over a (sub)group of SO(3), but other choices of mu can give rise to a partially or even asymptotically secure bit commitment.
We consider the process of changing reference frames in the case where the reference frames are quantum systems. We find that, as part of this process, decoherence is necessarily induced on any quantum system described relative to these frames. We explore this process with examples involving reference frames for phase and orientation. Quantifying the effect of changing quantum reference frames serves as a first step in developing a relativity principle for theories in which all objects including reference frames are necessarily quantum.
In physics, every observation is made with respect to a frame of reference. Although reference frames are usually not considered as degrees of freedom, in all practical situations it is a physical system which constitutes a reference frame. Can a quantum system be considered as a reference frame and, if so, which description would it give of the world? Here, we introduce a general method to quantise reference frame transformations, which generalises the usual reference frame transformation to a "superposition of coordinate transformations". We describe states, measurement, and dynamical evolut…
Quantum reference frames are expected to differ from classical reference frames because they have to implement typical quantum features such as fluctuations and correlations. Here, we show that fluctuations and correlations of reference variables, in particular of time, are restricted by their very nature of being used for reference. Mathematically, this property is implemented by imposing constraints on the system to make sure that reference variables are not physical degrees of freedom. These constraints not only relate physical degrees of freedom to reference variables in order to describe …
In physical experiments, reference frames are standardly modelled through a specific choice of coordinates used to describe the physical systems, but they themselves are not considered as such. However, any reference frame is a physical system that ultimately behaves according to quantum mechanics. We develop a framework for rotational (i.e. spin) quantum reference frames, with respect to which quantum systems with spin degrees of freedom are described. We give an explicit model for such frames as systems composed of three spin coherent states of angular momentum $j$ and introduce the transfor…
Geometric (Schrodinger) quantization of nonrelativistic mechanics with respect to different reference frames is considered. In classical nonrelativistic mechanics, a reference frame is represented by a connection on a configuration space fibered over a time axis. Under quantization, it yields a connection on the quantum algebra of Schrodinger operators. The operators of energy with respect to different reference frames are examined.
We present an operationally motivated treatment of quantum reference frames in the setting that the frame is a covariant positive operator valued measure (POVM) on a finite homogeneous space, generalising the principal homogeneous spaces studied in previous work. We focus on the case that the reference observable is the canonical covariant projection valued measure on the given space, and show that this gives rise to a rank-one covariant POVM on the group, which can be seen as a system of coherent states, thereby making contact with recent work in the perspective-neutral approach to quantum re…
Subsystem entanglement and separability in quantum reference frames
KTH Royal Institute of Technology(皇家理工学院);Stockholm University(斯德哥尔摩大学);Slovak Academy of Sciences(斯洛伐克科学院);Basic Research Community for Physics e.V.(基础物理研究社区协会)
Recently, it was shown that when reference frames are associated to quantum systems, the transformation laws between such quantum reference frames need to be modified to take into account the quantum and dynamical features of the reference frames. This led to a relational description of the phase space variables of the quantum system of which the quantum reference frames are part of. While such transformations were shown to be symmetries of the system's Hamiltonian, the question remained unanswered as to whether they enjoy a group structure, similar to that of the Galilei group relating classi…