arXiv subjects

Joseph Fitzsimons

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph Fitzsimons.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Probabilistic one-time programs using quantum entanglement

It is well known that quantum technology allows for an unprecedented level of data and software protection for quantum computers as well as for quantum-assisted classical computers. To exploit these properties, probabilistic one-time programs have been developed, where the encoding of classical software in small quantum states enables computer programs that can be used only once. Such self-destructing one-time programs facilitate a variety of new applications reaching from software distribution to one-time delegation of signature authority. Whereas first proof-of-principle experiments demonstrated the feasibility of such schemes, the practical applications were limited due to the requirement of using the software on-the-fly combined with technological challenges due to the need for active optical switching and a large amount of classical communication. Here we present an improved protocol for one-time programs that resolves major drawbacks of previous schemes, by employing entangled qubit pairs. This results in four orders of magnitude higher count rates as well the ability to execute a program long after the quantum information exchange has taken place. We demonstrate our protocol over an underground fiber link between university buildings in downtown Vienna. Finally, together with our implementation of a one-time delegation of signature authority this emphasizes the compatibility of our scheme with prepare-and-measure quantum internet networks.

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arXiv2019

Homomorphic encryption of linear optics quantum computation on almost arbitrary states of light with asymptotically perfect security

Future quantum computers are likely to be expensive and affordable outright by few, motivating client/server models for outsourced computation. However, the applications for quantum computing will often involve sensitive data, and the client would like to keep her data secret, both from eavesdroppers and the server itself. Homomorphic encryption is an approach for encrypted, outsourced quantum computation, where the client's data remains secret, even during execution of the computation. We present a scheme for the homomorphic encryption of arbitrary quantum states of light with no more than a fixed number of photons, under the evolution of both passive and adaptive linear optics, the latter of which is universal for quantum computation. The scheme uses random coherent displacements in phase-space to obfuscate client data. In the limit of large coherent displacements, the protocol exhibits asymptotically perfect information-theoretic secrecy. The experimental requirements are modest, and easily implementable using present-day technology.

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arXiv2019

Compiling basic linear algebra subroutines for quantum computers

Efficiently processing basic linear algebra subroutines is of great importance for a wide range of computational problems. In this paper, we consider techniques to implement matrix functions on a quantum computer, which are composed of basic matrix operations on a set of matrices. These matrix operations include addition, multiplication, Kronecker sum, tensor product, Hadamard product, and single-matrix functions. We discuss the composed matrix functions in terms of the estimation of scalar quantities such as inner products, trace, determinant and Schatten p-norms. We thus provide a framework for compiling instructions for linear algebraic computations into gate sequences on actual quantum computers.

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arXiv2018

Composable secure multi-client delegated quantum computation

The engineering challenges involved in building large scale quantum computers, and the associated infrastructure requirements, mean that when such devices become available it is likely that this will be in limited numbers and in limited geographic locations. It is likely that many users will need to rely on remote access to delegate their computation to the available hardware. In such a scenario, the privacy and reliability of the delegated computations are important concerns. On the other hand, the distributed nature of modern computations has led to a widespread class of applications in which a group of parties attempt to perform a joint task over their inputs, e.g., in cloud computing. In this paper, we study the multi-client delegated quantum computation problem where we consider the global computation be made up of local computations that are individually decided by the clients. Each client part is kept secret from the server and the other clients. We construct a composable secure multi-client delegated quantum computation scheme from any composable secure single-client delegated quantum computation protocol and quantum authentication codes.

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arXiv2018

Quantum proof systems for iterated exponential time, and beyond

We show that any language in nondeterministic time $\exp(\exp(\cdots \exp(n)))$, where the number of iterated exponentials is an arbitrary function $R(n)$, can be decided by a multiprover interactive proof system with a classical polynomial-time verifier and a constant number of quantum entangled provers, with completeness $1$ and soundness $1 - \exp(-C\exp(\cdots\exp(n)))$, where the number of iterated exponentials is $R(n)-1$ and $C>0$ is a universal constant. The result was previously known for $R=1$ and $R=2$; we obtain it for any time-constructible function $R$. The result is based on a compression technique for interactive proof systems with entangled provers that significantly simplifies and strengthens a protocol compression result of Ji (STOC'17). As a separate consequence of this technique we obtain a different proof of Slofstra's recent result (unpublished) on the uncomputability of the entangled value of multiprover games. Finally, we show that even minor improvements to our compression result would yield remarkable consequences in computational complexity theory and the foundations of quantum mechanics: first, it would imply that the class MIP* contains all computable languages; second, it would provide a negative resolution to a multipartite version of Tsirelson's problem on the relation between the commuting operator and tensor product models for quantum correlations.

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arXiv2015

Permutation-invariant codes encoding more than one qubit

A permutation-invariant code on m qubits is a subspace of the symmetric subspace of the m qubits. We derive permutation-invariant codes that can encode an increasing amount of quantum information while suppressing leading order spontaneous decay errors. To prove the result, we use elementary number theory with prior theory on permutation invariant codes and quantum error correction.

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arXiv2015

Quantum homomorphic encryption from quantum codes

The recent discovery of fully-homomorphic classical encryption schemes has had a dramatic effect on the direction of modern cryptography. Such schemes, however, implicitly rely on the assumptions that solving certain computation problems are intractable. Here we present a quantum encryption scheme which is homomorphic for arbitrary classical and quantum circuits which have at most some constant number of non-Clifford gates. Unlike classical schemes, the security of the scheme we present is information theoretic and hence independent of the computational power of an adversary.

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arXiv2014

The space "just above" BQP

We explore the space "just above" BQP by defining a complexity class PDQP (Product Dynamical Quantum Polynomial time) which is larger than BQP but does not contain NP relative to an oracle. The class is defined by imagining that quantum computers can perform measurements that do not collapse the wavefunction. This (non-physical) model of computation can efficiently solve problems such as Graph Isomorphism and Approximate Shortest Vector which are believed to be intractable for quantum computers. Furthermore, it can search an unstructured N-element list in $\tilde O$(N^{1/3}) time, but no faster than {\Omega}(N^{1/4}), and hence cannot solve NP-hard problems in a black box manner. In short, this model of computation is more powerful than standard quantum computation, but only slightly so. Our work is inspired by previous work of Aaronson on the power of sampling the histories of hidden variables. However Aaronson's work contains an error in its proof of the lower bound for search, and hence it is unclear whether or not his model allows for search in logarithmic time. Our work can be viewed as a conceptual simplification of Aaronson's approach, with a provable polynomial lower bound for search.

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arXiv2014

A multiprover interactive proof system for the local Hamiltonian problem

We give a quantum interactive proof system for the local Hamiltonian problem on n qubits in which (i) the verifier has a single round of interaction with five entangled provers, (ii) the verifier sends a classical message on O(log n) bits to each prover, who reply with a constant number of qubits, and (iii) completeness and soundness are separated by an inverse polynomial in n. As the same class of proof systems, without entanglement between the provers, is included in QCMA, our result provides the first indication that quantum multiprover interactive proof systems with entangled provers may be strictly more powerful than unentangled-prover interactive proof systems. A distinguishing feature of our protocol is that the completeness property requires honest provers to share a large entangled state, obtained as the encoding of the ground state of the local Hamiltonian via an error-correcting code. Our result can be interpreted as a first step towards a multiprover variant of the quantum PCP conjecture.

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arXiv2013

Sampling generalized cat states with linear optics is probably hard

Boson-sampling has been presented as a simplified model for linear optical quantum computing. In the boson-sampling model, Fock states are passed through a linear optics network and sampled via number-resolved photodetection. It has been shown that this sampling problem likely cannot be efficiently classically simulated. This raises the question as to whether there are other quantum states of light for which the equivalent sampling problem is also computationally hard. We present evidence, without using a full complexity proof, that a very broad class of quantum states of light --- arbitrary superpositions of two or more coherent states --- when evolved via passive linear optics and sampled with number-resolved photodetection, likely implements a classically hard sampling problem.

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arXiv2013

Quantum correlations which imply causation

In ordinary, non-relativistic, quantum physics, time enters only as a parameter and not as an observable: a state of a physical system is specified at a given time and then evolved according to the prescribed dynamics. While the state can, and usually does, extend across all space, it is only defined at one instant of time, in conflict with special relativity where space and time are treated on an equal footing. Here we ask what would happen if we defined the notion of the quantum density matrix for multiple spatial and temporal measurements. We introduce the concept of a pseudo-density matrix which treats space and time indiscriminately. This matrix in general fails to be positive for timelike separated measurements, motivating us to define a measure of causality that discriminates between spacelike and timelike correlations. Important properties of this measure, such as monotonicity under local operations, are proved. Two qubit NMR experiments are presented that illustrate how a temporal pseudo-density matrix approaches a genuinely allowed density matrix as the amount of decoherence is increased between two consecutive measurements.

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arXiv2011

Magnet field sensing beyond the standard quantum limit under the effect of decoherence

Entangled states can potentially be used to outperform the standard quantum limit which every classical sensor is bounded by. However, entangled states are very susceptible to decoherence, and so it is not clear whether one can really create a superior sensor to classical technology via a quantum strategy which is subject to the effect of realistic noise. This paper presents an investigation of how a quantum sensor composed of many spins is affected by independent dephasing. We adopt general noise models including non-Markovian effects, and in these noise models the performance of the sensor depends crucially on the exposure time of the sensor to the field. We have found that, by choosing an appropriate exposure time within non-Markovian time region, an entangled sensor does actually beat the standard quantum limit. Since independent dephasing is one of the most typical sources of noise in many systems, our results suggest a practical and scalable approach to beating the standard quantum limit.

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arXiv2010

Rapid and robust spin state amplification

Electron and nuclear spins have been employed in many of the early demonstrations of quantum technology (QT). However applications in real world QT are limited by the difficulty of measuring single spins. Here we show that it is possible to rapidly and robustly amplify a spin state using a lattice of ancillary spins. The model we employ corresponds to an extremely simple experimental system: a homogenous Ising-coupled spin lattice in one, two or three dimensions, driven by a continuous microwave field. We establish that the process can operate at finite temperature (imperfect initial polarisation) and under the effects of various forms of decoherence.

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arXiv2010

Entangling unstable optically active matter qubits

In distributed quantum computation, small devices composed of a single or a few qubits are networker together to achieve a scalable machine. Typically there is an optically active matter qubit at each node, so that photons are exploited to achieve remote entanglement. However, in many systems the optically active states are unstable or poorly defined. We report a scheme to perform a high-fidelity entanglement operation even given severe instability. The protocol exploits the existence of optically excited states for phase acquisition without actually exciting those states; it functions with or without cavities and does not require number resolving detectors.

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arXiv2010

Ensemble based quantum metrology

The field of quantum metrology promises measurement devices that are fundamentally superior to conventional technologies. Specifically, when quantum entanglement is harnessed the precision achieved is supposed to scale more favourably with the resources employed, such as system size and the time required. Here we consider measurement of magnetic field strength using an ensemble of spins, and we identify a third essential resource: the initial system polarisation, i.e. the low entropy of the original state. We find that performance depends crucially on the form of decoherence present; for a plausible dephasing model, we describe a quantum strategy which can indeed beat the standard quantum limit.

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arXiv2010

QMIP = MIP*

The way entanglement influences the power of quantum and classical multi-prover interactive proof systems is a long-standing open question. We show that the class of languages recognized by quantum multi-prover interactive proof systems, QMIP, is equal to MIP*, the class of languages recognized by classical multi-prover interactive proof systems where the provers share entanglement. After the recent result by Jain, Ji, Upadhyay and Watrous showing that QIP=IP, our work completes the picture from the verifier's perspective by showing that also in the setting of multiple provers with shared entanglement, a quantum verifier is no more powerful than a classical one: QMIP=MIP*. Our techniques are based on the adaptation of universal blind quantum computation (a protocol recently introduced by us) to the context of interactive proof systems. We show that in the multi-prover scenario, shared entanglement has a positive effect in removing the need for a quantum verifier. As a consequence, our results show that the entire power of quantum information in multi-prover interactive proof systems is captured by the shared entanglement and not by the quantum communication.

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arXiv2010

Distributed quantum computation with arbitrarily poor photon detection

In a distributed quantum computer scalability is accomplished by networking together many elementary nodes. Typically the network is optical and inter-node entanglement involves photon detection. In complex networks the entanglement fidelity may be degraded by the twin problems of photon loss and dark counts. Here we describe an entanglement protocol which can achieve high fidelity even when these issues are arbitrarily severe; indeed the method succeeds with finite probability even if the detectors are entirely removed from the network. An experimental demonstration should be possible with existing technologies.

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arXiv2009

Probabilistic growth of large entangled states with low error accumulation

The creation of complex entangled states, resources that enable quantum computation, can be achieved via simple 'probabilistic' operations which are individually likely to fail. However, typical proposals exploiting this idea carry a severe overhead in terms of the accumulation of errors. Here we describe an method that can rapidly generate large entangled states with an error accumulation that depends only logarithmically on the failure probability. We find that the approach may be practical for success rates in the sub-10% range, while ultimately becoming unfeasible at lower rates. The assumptions that we make, including parallelism and high connectivity, are appropriate for real systems including measurement-induced entanglement. This result therefore shows the feasibility for real devices based on such an approach.

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