arXiv subjects

Anton Zeilinger

Publications and source records attributed to Anton Zeilinger.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Experimental Quantum Cryptography with Qutrits

We produce two identical keys using, for the first time, entangled trinary quantum systems (qutrits) for quantum key distribution. The advantage of qutrits over the normally used binary quantum systems is an increased coding density and a higher security margin. The qutrits are encoded into the orbital angular momentum of photons, namely Laguerre-Gaussian modes with azimuthal index l +1, 0 and -1, respectively. The orbital angular momentum is controlled with phase holograms. In an Ekert-type protocol the violation of a three-dimensional Bell inequality verifies the security of the generated keys. A key is obtained with a qutrit error rate of approximately 10 %.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Experimental interference of independent photons

Interference of photons emerging from independent sources is essential for modern quantum information processing schemes, above all quantum repeaters and linear-optics quantum computers. We report an observation of non-classical interference of two single photons originating from two independent, separated sources, which were actively synchronized with an r.m.s. timing jitter of 260 fs. The resulting (two-photon) interference visibility was 83(+/-)4 %.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Experimental Realization of a Photonic Bell-State Analyzer

Efficient teleportation is a crucial step for quantum computation and quantum networking. In the case of qubits, four different entangled Bell states have to be distinguished. We have realized a probabilistic, but in principle deterministic, Bell-state analyzer for two photonic quantum bits by the use of a nondestructive controlled-NOT gate based on entirely linear optical elements. This gate was capable of distinguishing between all of the Bell states with higher than 75% fidelity without any noise substraction due to utilizing quantum interference effects.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Experimental violation of a cluster state Bell inequality

Cluster states are a new type of multiqubit entangled states with entanglement properties exceptionally well suited for quantum computation. In the present work, we experimentally demonstrate that correlations in a four-qubit linear cluster state cannot be described by local realism. This exploration is based on a recently derived Bell-type inequality [V. Scarani et al., Phys. Rev A 71, 042325 (2005)] which is tailored, by using a combination of three- and four-particle correlations, to be maximally violated by cluster states but not violated at all by GHZ states. We observe a cluster state Bell parameter of $2.59\pm 0.08$, which is more than 7 standard deviations larger than the threshold of 2 imposed by local realism.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Full characterization of a three-photon GHZ state using quantum state tomography

We have performed the first experimental tomographic reconstruction of a three-photon polarization state. Quantum state tomography is a powerful tool for fully describing the density matrix of a quantum system. We measured 64 three-photon polarization correlations and used a "maximum-likelihood" reconstruction method to reconstruct the GHZ state. The entanglement class has been characterized using an entanglement witness operator and the maximum predicted values for the Mermin inequality was extracted.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Crucial Role of Quantum Entanglement in Bulk Properties of Solids

We demonstrate that the magnetic susceptibility of strongly alternating antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chains is an entanglement witness. Specifically, magnetic susceptibility of copper nitrate (CN) measured in 1963 (Berger et al., Phys. Rev. 132, 1057 (1963)) cannot be described without presence of entanglement. A detailed analysis of the spin correlations in CN as obtained from neutron scattering experiments (Xu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4465 (2000)) provides microscopic support for this interpretation. We present a quantitative analysis resulting in the critical temperature of 5K in both, completely independent, experiments below which entanglement exists.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Experimental teleportation of quantum entanglement with an optimal linear optics Bell-state analyzer

We demonstrate an experiment on entanglement swapping using an optimal Bell-state measurement capable of identifying two of the four Bell-states for polarization entangled photons, which is the optimum with linear optical elements. The two final photons belong to separately created paris. They are entangled after their original partner photons have been subjected to the Bell state measurement, whose outcome determines the type of entanglement of the final photon pair. The resulting violation of Bell's inequality in both cases confirms the success of the teleportation protocol.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Exploiting the randomness of the measurement basis in quantum cryptography: Secure Quantum Key Growing without Privacy Amplification

We suggest that the randomness of the choices of measurement basis by Alice and Bob provides an additional important resource for quantum cryptography. As a specific application, we present a novel protocol for quantum key distribution (QKD) which enhances the BB84 scheme by encrypting the information sent over the classical channel during key sifting. We show that, in the limit of long keys, this process prevents an eavesdropper from reproducing the sifting process carried out by the legitimate users. The inability of the eavesdropper to sift the information gathered by tapping the quantum channel reduces the amount of information that an eavesdropper can gain on the sifted key. We further show that the protocol proposed is self sustaining, and thus allows the growing of a secret key.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Complementarity and Information in "Delayed-choice for entanglement swapping"

Building on Peres's idea of "Delayed-choice for extanglement swapping" we show that even the degree to which quantum systems were entangled can be defined after they have been registered and may even not exist any more. This does not arise as a paradox if the quantum state is viewed as just a representative of information. Moreover such a view gives a natural quantification of the complementarity between the measure of information about the input state for teleportation and the amount of entanglement of the resulting swapped entangled state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Realization of a photonic CNOT gate sufficient for quantum computation

We report the first experimental demonstration of a quantum controlled-NOT gate for different photons, which is classically feed-forwardable. In the experiment, we achieved this goal with the use only of linear optics, an entangled ancillary pair of photons and post-selection. The techniques developed in our experiment will be of significant importance for quantum information processing with linear optics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Decoherence of matter waves by thermal emission of radiation

Emergent quantum technologies have led to increasing interest in decoherence - the processes that limit the appearance of quantum effects and turn them into classical phenomena. One important cause of decoherence is the interaction of a quantum system with its environment, which 'entangles' the two and distributes the quantum coherence over so many degrees of freedom as to render it unobservable. Decoherence theory has been complemented by experiments using matter waves coupled to external photons or molecules, and by investigations using coherent photon states, trapped ions and electron interferometers. Large molecules are particularly suitable for the investigation of the quantum-classical transition because they can store much energy in numerous internal degrees of freedom; the internal energy can be converted into thermal radiation and thus induce decoherence. Here we report matter wave interferometer experiments in which C70 molecules lose their quantum behaviour by thermal emission of radiation. We find good quantitative agreement between our experimental observations and microscopic decoherence theory. Decoherence by emission of thermal radiation is a general mechanism that should be relevant to all macroscopic bodies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Experimental nonlinear sign shift for linear optics quantum computation

We have realized the nonlinear sign shift (NS) operation for photonic qubits.This operation shifts the phase of two photons reflected by a beam splitter using an extra single photon and measurement. We show that the conditional phase shift is $(1.05\pm 0.06) π$ in clear agreement with theory. Our results show that by using an ancilla photon and conditional detection, nonlinear optical effects can be implemented using only linear optical elements. This experiment represents an essential step for linear optical implementations of scalable quantum computation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

De Broglie Wavelength of a Nonlocal Four-Photon

Superposition is one of the most distinct features of quantum theory and has been demonstrated in numerous realizations of Young's classical double-slit interference experiment and its analogues. However, quantum entanglement - a significant coherent superposition in multiparticle systems - yields phenomena that are much richer and more interesting than anything that can be seen in a one-particle system. Among them, one important type of multi-particle experiments uses path-entangled number-states, which exhibit pure higher-order interference and allow novel applications in metrology and imaging such as quantum interferometry and spectroscopy with phase sensitivity at the Heisenberg limit or quantum lithography beyond the classical diffraction limit. Up to now, in optical implementations of such schemes lower-order interference effects would always decrease the overall performance at higher particle numbers. They have thus been limited to two photons. We overcome this limitation and demonstrate a linear-optics-based four-photon interferometer. Observation of a four-particle mode-entangled state is confirmed by interference fringes with a periodicity of one quarter of the single-photon wavelength. This scheme can readily be extended to arbitrary photon numbers and thus represents an important step towards realizable applications with entanglement-enhanced performance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

The wave nature of biomolecules and fluorofullerenes

We demonstrate quantum interference for tetraphenylporphyrin, the first biomolecule exhibiting wave nature, and for the fluorofullerene C60F48 using a near-field Talbot-Lau interferometer. For the porphyrins, which are distinguished by their low symmetry and their abundant occurence in organic systems, we find the theoretically expected maximal interference contrast and its expected dependence on the de Broglie wavelength. For C60F48 the observed fringe visibility is below the expected value, but the high contrast still provides good evidence for the quantum character of the observed fringe pattern. The fluorofullerenes therefore set the new mark in complexity and mass (1632 amu) for de Broglie wave experiments, exceeding the previous mass record by a factor of two.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Proof-of-Concept Experiments for Quantum Physics in Space

Quantum physics experiments in space using entangled photons and satellites are within reach of current technology. We propose a series of fundamental quantum physics experiments that make advantageous use of the space infrastructure with specific emphasis on the satellite-based distribution of entangled photon pairs. The experiments are feasible already today and will eventually lead to a Bell-experiment over thousands of kilometers, thus demonstrating quantum correlations over distances which cannot be achieved by purely earth-bound experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Decoherence in a Talbot Lau interferometer: the influence of molecular scattering

We study the interference of C70 fullerenes in a Talbot-Lau interferometer with a large separation between the diffraction gratings. This permits the observation of recurrences of the interference contrast both as a function of the de Broglie wavelength and in dependence of the interaction with background gases. We observe an exponential decrease of the fringe visibility with increasing background pressure and find good quantitative agreement with the predictions of decoherence theory. From this we extrapolate the limits of matter wave interferometry and conclude that the influence of collisional decoherence may be well under control in future experiments with proteins and even larger objects.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Long-Distance Quantum Communication with Entangled Photons using Satellites

The use of satellites to distribute entangled photon pairs (and single photons) provides a unique solution for long-distance quantum communication networks. This overcomes the principle limitations of Earth-bound technology, i.e. the narrow range of some 100 km provided by optical fiber and terrestrial free-space links.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

All-Versus-Nothing Violation of Local Realism for Two Entangled Photons

It is shown that the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger theorem can be generalized to the case with only two entangled particles. The reasoning makes use of two photons which are maximally entangled both in polarization and in spatial degrees of freedom. In contrast to Cabello's argument of "all versus nothing" nonlocality with four photons [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 010403 (2001)], our proposal to test the theorem can be implemented with linear optics and thus is well within the reach of current experimental technology.

quant-ph↗