arXiv subjects

Jonathan Barrett

Publications and source records attributed to Jonathan Barrett.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Cloning and Broadcasting in Generic Probabilistic Theories

We prove generic versions of the no-cloning and no-broadcasting theorems, applicable to essentially {\em any} non-classical finite-dimensional probabilistic model that satisfies a no-signaling criterion. This includes quantum theory as well as models supporting ``super-quantum'' correlations that violate the Bell inequalities to a larger extent than quantum theory. The proof of our no-broadcasting theorem is significantly more natural and more self-contained than others we have seen: we show that a set of states is broadcastable if, and only if, it is contained in a simplex whose vertices are cloneable, and therefore distinguishable by a single measurement. This necessary and sufficient condition generalizes the quantum requirement that a broadcastable set of states commute.

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arXiv2006

Popescu-Rohrlich correlations as a unit of nonlocality

A set of nonlocal correlations that have come to be known as a PR box suggest themselves as a natural unit of nonlocality, much as a singlet is a natural unit of entanglement. We present two results relevant to this idea. One is that a wide class of multipartite correlations can be simulated using local operations on PR boxes only. We show this with an explicit scheme, which has the interesting feature that the number of PR boxes required is related to the computational resources necessary to represent a function defining the multipartite box. The second result is that there are quantum multipartite correlations, arising from measurements on a cluster state, that cannot be simulated with n PR boxes, for any n.

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arXiv2006

Modeling Pauli measurements on graph states with nearest-neighbor classical communication

We propose a communication-assisted local-hidden-variable model that yields the correct outcome for the measurement of any product of Pauli operators on an arbitrary graph state, i.e., that yields the correct global correlation among the individual measurements in the Pauli product. Within this model, communication is restricted to a single round of message passing between adjacent nodes of the graph. We show that any model sharing some general properties with our own is incapable, for at least some graph states, of reproducing the expected correlations among all subsets of the individual measurements. The ability to reproduce all such correlations is found to depend on both the communication distance and the symmetries of the communication protocol.

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arXiv2006

Maximally Non-Local and Monogamous Quantum Correlations

We introduce a version of the chained Bell inequality for an arbitrary number of measurement outcomes, and use it to give a simple proof that the maximally entangled state of two d dimensional quantum systems has no local component. That is, if we write its quantum correlations as a mixture of local correlations and general (not necessarily quantum) correlations, the coefficient of the local correlations must be zero. This suggests an experimental programme to obtain as good an upper bound as possible on the fraction of local states, and provides a lower bound on the amount of classical communication needed to simulate a maximally entangled state in dxd dimensions. We also prove that the quantum correlations violating the inequality are monogamous among non-signalling correlations, and hence can be used for quantum key distribution secure against post-quantum (but non-signalling) eavesdroppers.

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arXiv2005

Bell's Jump Process in Discrete Time

The jump process introduced by J. S. Bell in 1986, for defining a quantum field theory without observers, presupposes that space is discrete whereas time is continuous. In this letter, our interest is to find an analogous process in discrete time. We argue that a genuine analog does not exist, but provide examples of processes in discrete time that could be used as a replacement.

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arXiv2005

No Signalling and Quantum Key Distribution

Standard quantum key distribution protocols are provably secure against eavesdropping attacks, if quantum theory is correct. It is theoretically interesting to know if we need to assume the validity of quantum theory to prove the security of quantum key distribution, or whether its security can be based on other physical principles. The question would also be of practical interest if quantum mechanics were ever to fail in some regime, because a scientifically and technologically advanced eavesdropper could perhaps use post-quantum physics to extract information from quantum communications without necessarily causing the quantum state disturbances on which existing security proofs rely. Here we describe a key distribution scheme provably secure against general attacks by a post-quantum eavesdropper who is limited only by the impossibility of superluminal signalling. The security of the scheme stems from violation of a Bell inequality.

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arXiv2004

Provably Secure Experimental Quantum Bit-String Generation

Coin tossing is a cryptographic task in which two parties who do not trust each other aim to generate a common random bit. Using classical communication this is impossible, but non trivial coin tossing is possible using quantum communication. Here we consider the case when the parties do not want to toss a single coin, but many. This is called bit string generation. We report the experimental generation of strings of coins which are provably more random than achievable using classical communication. The experiment is based on the ``plug and play'' scheme developed for quantum cryptography, and therefore well suited for long distance quantum communication.

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arXiv2004

Security of Quantum Bit-String Generation

We consider the cryptographic task of bit-string generation. This is a generalisation of coin tossing in which two mistrustful parties wish to generate a string of random bits such that an honest party can be sure that the other cannot have biased the string too much. We consider a quantum protocol for this task, originally introduced in Phys. Rev. A {\bf 69}, 022322 (2004), that is feasible with present day technology. We introduce security conditions based on the average bias of the bits and the Shannon entropy of the string. For each, we prove rigorous security bounds for this protocol in both noiseless and noisy conditions under the most general attacks allowed by quantum mechanics. Roughly speaking, in the absence of noise, a cheater can only bias significantly a vanishing fraction of the bits, whereas in the presence of noise, a cheater can bias a constant fraction, with this fraction depending quantitatively on the level of noise. We also discuss classical protocols for the same task, deriving upper bounds on how well a classical protocol can perform. This enables the determination of how much noise the quantum protocol can tolerate while still outperforming classical protocols. We raise several conjectures concerning both quantum and classical possibilities for large n cryptography. An experiment corresponding to the scheme analysed in this paper has been performed and is reported elsewhere.

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arXiv2004

Non-local correlations as an information theoretic resource

It is well known that measurements performed on spatially separated entangled quantum systems can give rise to correlations that are non-local, in the sense that a Bell inequality is violated. They cannot, however, be used for super-luminal signalling. It is also known that it is possible to write down sets of ``super-quantum'' correlations that are more non-local than is allowed by quantum mechanics, yet are still non-signalling. Viewed as an information theoretic resource, super-quantum correlations are very powerful at reducing the amount of communication needed for distributed computational tasks. An intriguing question is why quantum mechanics does not allow these more powerful correlations. We aim to shed light on the range of quantum possibilities by placing them within a wider context. With this in mind, we investigate the set of correlations that are constrained only by the no-signalling principle. These correlations form a polytope, which contains the quantum correlations as a (proper) subset. We determine the vertices of the no-signalling polytope in the case that two observers each choose from two possible measurements with d outcomes. We then consider how interconversions between different sorts of correlations may be achieved. Finally, we consider some multipartite examples.

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arXiv2004

Quantum coin tossing and bit-string generation in the presence of noise

We discuss the security implications of noise for quantum coin tossing protocols. We find that if quantum error correction can be used, so that noise levels can be made arbitrarily small, then reasonable security conditions for coin tossing can be framed so that results from the noiseless case will continue to hold. If, however, error correction is not available (as is the case with present day technology), and significant noise is present, then tossing a single coin becomes problematic. In this case, we are led to consider random n-bit string generation in the presence of noise, rather than single-shot coin tossing. We introduce precise security criteria for n-bit string generation and describe an explicit protocol that could be implemented with present day technology. In general, a cheater can exploit noise in order to bias coins to their advantage. We derive explicit upper bounds on the average bias achievable by a cheater for given noise levels.

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arXiv2004

Noncontextuality, Finite Precision Measurement and the Kochen-Specker Theorem

Meyer recently queried whether non-contextual hidden variable models can, despite the Kochen-Specker theorem, simulate the predictions of quantum mechanics to within any fixed finite experimental precision. Clifton and Kent have presented constructions of non-contextual hidden variable theories which, they argued, indeed simulate quantum mechanics in this way. These arguments have evoked some controversy. One aim of this paper is to respond to and rebut criticisms of the MCK papers. We thus elaborate in a little more detail how the CK models can reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics to arbitrary precision. We analyse in more detail the relationship between classicality, finite precision measurement and contextuality, and defend the claims that the CK models are both essentially classical and non-contextual. We also examine in more detail the senses in which a theory can be said to be contextual or non-contextual, and in which an experiment can be said to provide evidence on the point. In particular, we criticise the suggestion that a decisive experimental verification of contextuality is possible, arguing that the idea rests on a conceptual confusion.

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arXiv2002

Quantum nonlocality, Bell inequalities and the memory loophole

In the analysis of experiments designed to reveal violation of Bell-type inequalities, it is usually assumed that any hidden variables associated with the nth particle pair would be independent of measurement choices and outcomes for the first $(n-1)$ pairs. Models which violate this assumption exploit what we call the {\it memory loophole}. We focus on the strongest type of violation, which uses the {\it 2-sided} memory loophole, in which the hidden variables for pair $n$ can depend on the previous measurement choices and outcomes in both wings of the experiment. We show that the 2-sided memory loophole allows a systematic violation of the CHSH inequality when the data are analysed in the standard way, but cannot produce a violation if a CHSH expression depending linearly on the data is used. In the first case, the maximal CHSH violation becomes small as the number of particle pairs tested becomes large. Hence, although in principle the memory loophole implies a slight flaw in existing analyses of Bell experiments, the data still strongly confirm quantum mechanics against local hidden variables. We consider also a related loophole, the {\it simultaneous measurement loophole}, which applies if all measurements on each side are carried out simultaneously. We show that this can increase the probability of violating the linearised CHSH inequality as well as other Bell-type inequalities.

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arXiv2002

Nonsequential positive-operator-valued measurements on entangled mixed states do not always violate a Bell inequality

We present a local-hidden-variable model for positive-operator-valued measurements (an LHVPOV model) on a class of entangled generalized Werner states, thus demonstrating that such measurements do not always violate a Bell-type inequality. We also show that, in general, if the state $ρ'$ can be obtained from $ρ$ with certainty by local quantum operations without classical communication then an LHVPOV model for the state $ρ$ implies the existence of such a model for $ρ'$.

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arXiv2002

Implications of Teleportation for Nonlocality

Adopting an approach similar to that of Zukowski [Phys. Rev. A 62, 032101 (2000)], we investigate connections between teleportation and nonlocality. We derive a Bell-type inequality pertaining to the teleportation scenario and show that it is violated in the case of teleportation using a perfect singlet. We also investigate teleportation using `Werner states' of the form x P + (1-x) I/4, where P is the projector corresponding to a singlet state and I is the identity. We find that our inequality is violated, implying nonlocality, if x > 1/sqrt(2). In addition, we extend Werner's local hidden variable model to simulation of teleportation with the x = 1/2 Werner state. Thus teleportation using this state does not involve nonlocality even though the fidelity achieved is 3/4 which is greater than the `classical limit' of 2/3. Finally, we comment on a result of Gisin's and offer some philosophical remarks on teleportation and nonlocality generally.

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arXiv2002

Countering Quantum Noise with Supplementary Classical Information

We consider situations in which i) Alice wishes to send quantum information to Bob via a noisy quantum channel, ii) Alice has a classical description of the states she wishes to send and iii) Alice can make use of a finite amount of noiseless classical information. After setting up the problem in general, we focus attention on one specific scenario in which Alice sends a known qubit down a depolarizing channel along with a noiseless cbit. We describe a protocol which we conjecture is optimal and calculate the average fidelity obtained. A surprising amount of structure is revealed even for this simple case which suggests that relationships between quantum and classical information could in general be very intricate.

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