We propose a new measure of the nonclassical distance in the case of Gaussian states. Let us consider two Gaussian states one of which is fixed and the other runs through the set of Gaussian classical states. The maximum value of the fidelity between these two states can be used as a nonclassical distance of the fixed state to the set of classical states, in the same extent as the Hillery measure. This measure increases when on the fixed state acts a Gaussian noise map i.e. the selected state becomes closer to the classical states.
We provide a coherence-based approach to nonclassical behavior by means of distance measures. We develop a quantitative relation between coherence and nonclassicality quantifiers, which establish the nonclassicality as the maximum quantum-coherence achievable. We compute the coherence of several representative examples and discuss whether the theory may be extended to reference observables with continuous spectra.
We revisit the notion of nonclassical distance of states of bosonic quantum systems introduced in [M. Hillery, Phys. Rev. A 35, 725 (1987)] in a general multimode setting. After reviewing its definition, we establish some of its general properties. We obtain new upper and lower bounds on the nonclassical distance in terms of the supremum of the Husimi function of the state. Considering several examples, we elucidate the cases for which our lower bound is tight, which include the multimode number states and a class of multimode N00N states. The latter provide examples of states of definite phot…
The degree of nonclassicality of states of a field mode is analysed considering both phase-space and distance-type measures of nonclassicality. By working out some general examples, it is shown explicitly that the phase-space measure is rather sensitive to superposition of states, with finite superpositions possessing maximum nonclassical depth (the highest degree of nonclassicality) irrespective to the nature of the component states. Mixed states are also discussed and examples with nonclassical depth varying between the minimum and the maximum allowed values are exhibited. For pure Gaussian …
A bosonic state is commonly considered nonclassical (or quantum) if its Glauber-Sudarshan $P$ function is not a classical probability density, which implies that only coherent states and their statistical mixtures are classical. We quantify the nonclassicality of a single qubit, defined by the vacuum and single-photon states, by applying the following four well-known measures of nonclassicality: (1) the nonclassical depth, $τ$, related to the minimal amount of Gaussian noise which changes a nonpositive $P$ function into a positive one; (2) the nonclassical distance $D$, defined as the Bures di…
We introduce a new distance-based measure for the nonclassicality of the states of a bosonic field, which outperforms the existing such measures in several ways. We define for that purpose the operator ordering sensitivity of the state which evaluates the sensitivity to operator ordering of the Renyi entropy of its quasi-probabilities and which measures the oscillations in its Wigner function. Through a sharp control on the operator ordering sensitivity of classical states we obtain a precise geometric image of their location in the density matrix space allowing us to introduce a distance-base…
We evaluate a Gaussian distance-type degree of nonclassicality for a single-mode Gaussian state of the quantum radiation field by use of the recently discovered quantum Chernoff bound. The general properties of the quantum Chernoff overlap and its relation to the Uhlmann fidelity are interestingly illustrated by our approach.
We introduce and compare several measures of nonclassical correlation defined on the basis of a widely-recognized paradigm claiming that a multipartite system represented by a density matrix having no product eigenbasis possesses nonclassical correlation.
We elaborate on a Hilbert-Schmidt distance measure assessing the intrinsic metrological accuracy in the detection of signals imprinted on quantum probe states by signal-dependent transformations. For small signals this leads to a probe-transformation measure $Λ$ fully symmetric on the probe $ρ$ and the generator $G$ of the transformation $Λ(ρ, G) = Λ(G, ρ)$. Although $Λ$ can be regarded as a generalization of variance we show that no uncertainty relation holds for the product of measures corresponding to complementary generators. We show that all states with resolution larger than coherent sta…
Nonclassicality cannot be a single-observable property since the statistics of any quantum observable is compatible with classical physics. We develop a general procedure to reveal nonclassical behavior from the joint measurement of multiple observables. This requires enlarged spaces and couplings with auxiliary degrees of freedom so it must be followed by an inversion procedure to infer system properties from the observed statistics. In particular this discloses nonclassical properties of standard examples of classical-like behavior, such as SU(2) and Glauber coherent states. Moreover, when c…
A framework for categorizing entropic measures of nonclassical correlations in bipartite quantum states is presented. The measures are based on the difference between a quantum entropic quantity and the corresponding classical quantity obtained from measurements on the two systems. Three types of entropic quantities are used, and three different measurement strategies are applied to these quantities. Many of the resulting measures of nonclassical correlations have been proposed previously. Properties of the various measures are explored, and results of evaluating the measures for two-qubit qua…
Experimental realization of various quantum states of interest has become possible in the recent past due to the rapid developments in the field of quantum state engineering. Nonclassical properties of such states have led to various exciting applications, specifically in the area of quantum information processing. The present article aims to study lower- and higher-order nonclassical features of such an engineered quantum state (a generalized binomial state based on Abel's formula). Present study has revealed that the state studied here is highly nonclassical. Specifically, higher-order noncl…
The general problem of performance advantage obtainable by the use of nonclassical transmitted states over classical ones is considered. Attention is focused on the situation where system loss is significant and additive Gaussian noise may be present at the receiver. Under the assumption that the total received state is classical, rigorous output density operator representations and their trace distance bounds are developed for classical and nonclassical transmitted states. For applications with high loss in all modes, a practical No-Go theorem is enunciated that rules out the possibility of s…
We theoretically generate nonclassical states from coherent state heralded by Knill-Laflamme-Milburn (KLM)-type SU(3) interference. Injecting a coherent state in signal mode and two single-photon sources in other two auxiliary modes of SU(3) interferometry, a broad class of useful nonclassical states are obtained in the output signal port after making two single-photon-counting measurements in the two output auxiliary modes. The nonclassical properties, in terms of anti-bunching effect and squeezing effect as well as the negativity of the Wigner function, are studied in detail by adjusting the…
Measurements serve as the intermediate communication layer between the quantum world and our classical perception. So, the question which measurements efficiently extract information from quantum systems is of central interest. Using quantum steering as a nonclassical phenomenon, we show that there are instances, where the results of all two-outcome measurements can be explained in a classical manner, while the results of some three-outcome measurements cannot. This points at the important role of the number of outcomes in revealing the nonclassicality hidden in a quantum system. Moreover, our…
We describe the creation of nonclassical states of microwave radiation via ideal dichotomic single photon detection, i.e., a detector that only indicates presence or absence of photons. Ideally, such a detector has a back action in the form of the subtraction operator. Using the non-linearity of this back action, it is possible to create a large family of nonclassical states of microwave radiation, including squeezed and multi-component cat states, starting from a coherent state. We discuss the applicability of this protocol to current experimental designs of Josephson Photomultipliers (JPMs).
A standard method to obtain information on a quantum state is to measure marginal distributions along many different axes in phase space, which forms a basis of quantum state tomography. We theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a general framework to manifest nonclassicality by observing a single marginal distribution only, which provides a novel insight into nonclassicality and a practical applicability to various quantum systems. Our approach maps the 1-dim marginal distribution into a factorized 2-dim distribution by multiplying the measured distribution or the vacuum-state d…
Quantifying nonclassicality of a bosonic mode is an important but challenge task in quantum optics. Recently, the first nonclassicality measure based on the concept of operational resource theory has been proposed [Phys. Rev. Research 2, 023400 (2020)], which shows several crucial properties as a resource for quantum metrology. Here we apply the measure to evaluate and categorize different classes of nonclassical states. We discover a class of states that can achieve the maximum nonclassicality in the asymptotic limit of large mean number of excitations. These states can provide the same sensi…
Deep insight can be gained into the nature of nonclassical correlations by studying the quantum operations that create them. Motivated by this we propose a measure of nonclassicality of a quantum operation utilizing the relative entropy to quantify its commutativity with the completely dephasing operation. We show that our measure of nonclassicality is a sum of two independent contributions, the generating power -- its ability to produce nonclassical states out of classical ones, and the distinguishing power -- its usefulness to a classical observer for distinguishing between classical and non…
Joint measurements of two observables reveal that every state is nonclassical, with the only trivial exception of the state with density matrix proportional to the identity. This naturally includes states considered universally as classical-like, such as SU(2) and Glauber coherent states. We show that this holds because we can always find a joint measurement whose statistics is not separable.
The behavior of general nonclassical two-mode Gaussian states at a beam splitter is investigated. Single-mode nonclassicality as well as two-mode entanglement of both input and output states are analyzed suggesting their suitable quantifiers. These quantifiers are derived from local and global invariants of linear unitary two-mode transformations such that the sum of input (or output) local nonclassicality measures and entanglement measure gives a global invariant. This invariant quantifies the global nonclassicality resource. Mutual transformations of local nonclassicalities and entanglement …
Singularity or negativity of Glauber P-function is a widespread notion of nonclassicality, with important implications in quantum optics and with the character of an irreducible resource. Here we explore how P-nonclassicality may be generated by conditional Gaussian measurements on bipartite Gaussian states. This nonclassical steering may occur in a weak form, which does not imply entanglement, and in a strong form that implies EPR-steerability and thus entanglement. We show that field quadratures are the best measurements to remotely generate nonclassicality, and exploit this result to derive…
In quantum resource theory (QRT), asymmetry recognized as a valid resource for the advantage of various quantum information processing. In this paper, we establish the resource theory of asymmetry using quantum Fisher information (QFI). By defining the average Fisher information as a measure of asymmetry, it is shown that the discrepancy of bipartite global and local asymmetries naturally induces the nonclassical correlation between the subsystems. This measure satisfies all the necessary axioms of a faithful measure of bipartite quantum correlation. As an illustration, we have studied the pro…
In the context of the Oppenheim-Horodecki paradigm of nonclassical correlation, a bipartite quantum state is (properly) classically correlated if and only if it is represented by a density matrix having a product eigenbasis. On the basis of this paradigm, we propose a measure of nonclassical correlation by using truncations of a density matrix down to individual eigenspaces. It is computable within polynomial time in the dimension of the Hilbert space albeit imperfect in the detection range. This is in contrast to the measures conventionally used for the paradigm. The computational complexity …
Single photons and single-photon pairs, inherently nonclassical in their nature, are fundamental elements of quantum sciences and technologies. Here, we propose to realize the nonclassical correlated deterministic photon pairs at the single-photon level for a single atom trapped in bimodal cavities. It is shown that the photon emissions for bimodal cavities exhibit a high single photon purity and relatively large intracavity photon numbers, which are ascribed to the combination of optical Stark shift enhanced energy-spectrum anharmonicity and quantum interference suppressed two-photon excitati…
There is a commonly recognized paradigm in which a multipartite quantum system described by a density matrix having no product eigenbasis is considered to possess nonclassical correlation. Supporting this paradigm, we define two entropic measures of nonclassical correlation of a multipartite quantum system. One is defined as the minimum uncertainty about a joint system after we collect outcomes of particular local measurements. The other is defined by taking the maximum over all local systems about the minimum distance between a genuine set and a mimic set of eigenvalues of a reduced density m…
We introduce the concept of spatio-temporal steering (STS), which reduces, in special cases, to Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering and the recently-introduced temporal steering. We describe two measures of this effect referred to as the STS weight and robustness. We suggest that these STS measures enable a new way to assess nonclassical correlations in an open quantum network, such as quantum transport through nano-structures or excitation transfer in a complex biological system. As one of our examples, we apply STS to check nonclassical correlations among sites in a photosynthetic pigment-prote…
We study nonclassical correlations beyond entanglement in a family of two-mode non-Gaussian states which represent the continuous-variable counterpart of two-qubit Werner states. We evaluate quantum discord and other quantumness measures obtaining exact analytical results in special instances, and upper and lower bounds in the general case. Non-Gaussian measurements such as photon counting are in general necessary to solve the optimization in the definition of quantum discord, whereas Gaussian measurements are strictly suboptimal for the considered states. The gap between Gaussian and optimal …
A three level atom in $Λ$ configuration is reduced to an effective two level system, under appropriate conditions, and its $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetric properties are investigated. This effective qubit system when subjected to a beam-splitter type of interaction, it provides the scope of directly (indirectly) probing the nonclassical properties of the output (input) state. Here, we study nonclassical properties of the output state by using some well known measures of nonclassical correlations like the measurement induced disturbance, concurrence and negativity. The nonclassical features are found …
We introduce a method for the conditional generation of nonclassical states of light in a cavity. We consider two-level atoms traveling along the transverse direction to the cavity axis and show that by conditioning on one of the output measurements nonclassical field states are generated. The two-level atoms are prepared in the ground state and we conditioned on the events in which they are also detected in the ground state. Nonclassical properties of the cavity mode are identified and characterized. This includes: quadrature squeezing, sub-Poissonian photon-number distributions, and negative…
We discuss a simple search problem which can be pursued with different methods, either on a classical or on a quantum basis. The system is represented by a chain of trapped ions. The ion to be searched is a member of that chain, consists, however, of an isotopic species different to the others. It is shown that the classical imaging may lead as fast to the final result as the quantum imaging. However, for the discussed case the quantum method gives more flexibility and higher precision when the number of ions considered in the chain is increasing. In addition, interferences are observable even…
In the present paper, we attempt to address the question of "can tensorizing states have quantum advantages?". To answer this question, we exploit the notion of measurement-induced nonlocality (MIN) and advocate a fidelity based nonbilocal measure to capture the nonlocal effects of tensorizing states due to locally invariant von Neumann projective measurements. We show that the properties of the fidelity based nonbilocal measure are retrieved from that of MIN. Analytically, we evaluate the nonbilocal measure for any arbitrary pure state. The upper bounds of the nonbilocal measure based on fide…
Measures of quantum properties are essential to understanding the fundamental differences between quantum and classical systems as well as quantifying resources for quantum technologies. Here two broad classes of bosonic phase-space functions, which are filtered versions of the Glauber-Sudarshan $P$ function, are compared with regard to their ability to uncover nonclassical effects of light through their negativities. Gaussian filtering of the $P$ function yields the family of $s$-parametrized quasiprobabilities, while more powerful regularized nonclassicality quasiprobabilities are obtained b…
We consider macroscopic correlations in a bipartite system consisting of 2N particles described by a generalised probabilistic theory. In particular, we discuss a case of N PR-boxes shared between two parties. We characterise macroscopic measurements as collective measurements of the same property on all the boxes in the same region. Such measurements are assumed to reveal only the average value of the measured collective property. We show that for two measurements per observer and N greater or equal 2 there always exist a joint probability distribution explaining all observable data and there…
While quantum mechanics exquisitely describes the behavior of microscopic systems, one ongoing challenge is to explore its applicability to systems of larger size and mass. Unfortunately, quantum states of increasingly macroscopic objects are more easily corrupted by unintentional measurements from the classical environment. Additionally, even the intentional measurements from the observer can further perturb the system. In optomechanics, coherent light fields serve as the intermediary between the fragile mechanical states and our inherently classical world by exerting radiation pressure force…
Quantum walks are counterparts of classical random walks. They spread faster, which can be exploited in information processing tasks, and constitute a versatile simulation platform for many quantum systems. Yet, some of their properties can be emulated with classical light. This rises a question: which aspects of the model are truly nonclassical? We address it by carrying out a photonic experiment based on a pre- and post-selection paradox. The paradox implies that if somebody could choose to ask, either if the particle is at position x = 0 at even time steps, or at position x = d (d > 1) at o…
We experimentally investigate a method of directly characterizing the photon number distribution of nonclassical light beams that is tolerant to losses and makes use only of standard binary detectors. This is achieved in a single measurement by calibrating the detector using some small amount of prior information about the source. We demonstrate the technique on a freely propagating heralded two-photon number state created by conditional detection of a two-mode squeezed state generated by a parametric downconverter.
In this study, we investigate the advantages of non-classical pointer states in the generalized modular value scheme. We consider a typical von Neumann measurement with a discrete quantum pointer, where the pointer is a projection operator onto one of the states of the basis of the pointer Hilbert space. We separately calculate the conditional probabilities, Q_{M} factors, and signal-to-noise ratios of quadrature operators of coherent, coherent squeezed, and Schrödinger cat pointer states and find that the non-classical pointer states can increase the negativity of the field and precision of m…
We analyze nonclassical correlations between outcomes of measurements conducted on two spatial radiation modes. These correlations cannot be simulated with statistical mixtures of coherent states or, more generally, with non-negative phase-space functions of quantum states and measurements. We argue that nonclassical correlations are naturally related to Bell nonlocality, the former being a more general class of quantum correlations. Indeed, it is known that local realistic as well as noncontextual models correspond to non-negative solutions to a system of linear equations for the joint probab…
Reassessing the boundary between classical and nonclassical for individual quantum processes
Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学量子计算研究所）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（理论物理前沿研究所）；Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学物理与天文学系）
Existing measures of bipartite nonclassical correlation that is typically characterized by nonvanishing nonlocalizable information under the zero-way CLOCC protocol are expensive in computational cost. We define and evaluate economical measures on the basis of a new class of maps, eigenvalue-preserving-but-not-completely-eigenvalue-preserving (EnCE) maps. The class is in analogy to the class of positive-but-not-completely-positive (PnCP) maps that have been commonly used in the entanglement theories. Linear and nonlinear EnCE maps are investigated. We also prove subadditivity of the measures i…
The relation between genuine multipartite entanglement in the pure state of a collection of N qubits and the nonclassical correlations in its two-qubit subsystems is studied. Quantum discord is used as the quantifier of nonclassical correlations in the subsystem while the generalised geometric measure (GGM) [Phys. Rev. A. 81, 012308 (2010)] is used to quantify global entanglement in the N-qubit state. While no definite discernible dependence between the two can be found for randomly generated global states, for those with additional structure like weighted graph states we find that local disco…
We define two ways of quantifying the quantum correlations based on quantum Fisher information (QFI) in order to study the quantum correlations as a resource in quantum metrology. By investigating the hierarchy of measurement-induced Fisher information introduced in Lu et al. [X. M. Lu, S. Luo, and C. H. Oh, Phys Rev. A 86, 022342 (2012)], we show that the presence of quantum correlation can be confirmed by the difference of the Fisher information induced by the measurements of two hierarchies. In particular, the quantitative quantum correlations based on QFI coincide with the geometric discor…
Geometric discord, a measure of quantumness of bipartite system, captures minimal nonlocal effects of a quantum state due to locally invariant von Neumann projective measurements. Original version of this measure is suffered by the local ancilla problem. In this article, we propose a new version of geometric discord using affinity. This quantity satisfies all criteria of a good measure of quantum correlation of the bipartite system and resolves local ancilla problem of Hilbert-Schmidt norm based discord. We evaluate analytically the proposed quantity for both pure and mixed states. For an arbi…
One of the most striking quantum phenomena is photon bunching resulting from coincidently impinging two-indistinguishable photons on a beam splitter (BS) from two different input ports. Such a nonclassical feature has also been observed even between two independent light sources through either coherence optics resulting in phase locking or post-selected measurements such as quantum beating-based gating. Recently, BS physics regarding quantum features has been discussed using pure coherence optics based on phase basis superposition of the BS. Here, we experimentally demonstrate coherent photon …
It is well-known that the precision of a phase measurement with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer employing strong (macroscopic) classic light can be greatly enhanced with the addition of a weak (microscopic) light field in a non-classical state. The resulting precision is much greater than that possible with either the macroscopic classical or microscopic quantum states alone. In the context of quantifying non-classicality, the amount by which a non-classical state can enhance precision in this way has been termed its "metrological power". Given the technological difficulty of producing high-ampl…
Mode-entanglement based criteria and measures become insufficient for broadband emission, e.g. from spasers (plasmonic nano-lasers). We introduce criteria and measures for the (i) total entanglement of two wavepackets, (ii) entanglement of a wavepacket with an ensemble and (iii) total nonclassicality of a wavepacket~(WP). We discuss these criteria in the context of (i) entanglement of two WPs emitted from two initially entangled cavities (or two initially entangled atoms) and (ii) entanglement of an emitted WP with the ensemble/atom for the spontaneous emission and the single-photon superradia…
We study the relation between single-mode nonclassicality and two-mode entanglement in a beam-splitter. We show that not all of the nonclassicality (entanglement potential) is transformed into two-mode entanglement for an incident single-mode light. Some of the entanglement potential remains as single-mode nonclassicality in the two entangled output modes. Two-mode entanglement generated in the process can be equivalently quantified as the increase in the minimum uncertainty widths (or decrease in the squeezing) of the output states compared to the input states. We use the nonclassical depth a…
We consider possible detection of nonclassicality of primordial gravitational waves (PGWs) by applying Hanbury Brown - Twiss (HBT) interferometry to cosmology. We characterize the nonclassicality of PGWs in terms of sub-Poissonian statistics that can be measured by the HBT interferometry. We show that the presence of classical sources during inflation makes us possible to detect nonclassical PGWs with the HBT interferometry. We present two examples that realize the classical sources during inflation. It turns out that PGWs with frequencies higher than 10 kHz enable us to detect their nonclassi…
The space of positive operator-valued measures on the Borel sets of a compact (or even locally compact) Hausdorff space with values in the algebra of linear operators acting on a d-dimensional Hilbert space is studied from the perspectives of classical and non-classical convexity through a transform $Γ$ that associates any positive operator-valued measure with a certain completely positive linear map of the homogeneous C*-algebra $C(X)\otimes B(H)$ into $B(H)$. This association is achieved by using an operator-valued integral in which non-classical random variables (that is, operator-valued fu…
