arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M. G. A. Paris.
Experimental reconstructions of photon number distributions of both continuous-wave and pulsed light beams are reported. Our scheme is based on on/off avalanche photodetection assisted by maximum-likelihood estimation and does not involve photon counting. Reconstructions of the distribution for both semiclassical and quantum states of light are reported for single-mode as well as for multimode beams.
We address generation, propagation and application of multipartite continuous variable entanglement in a noisy environment. In particular, we focus our attention on the multimode entangled states achievable by second order nonlinear crystals, {\em i.e.} coherent states of ${\rm SU}(m,1)$ group. The full inseparability in the ideal case is shown, whereas thresholds for separability are given for the tripartite case in the presence of noise. We then consider coherent states of ${\rm SU}(m,1)$ as support for a telecloning protocol, providing the first example of a completely asymmetric $1 \to m$ telecloning. We derive explicitly the optimal relation among the different fidelities of the clones. The effect of noise in the various stages of the protocol is taken into account, thus permitting its adaptive modifications to the noisy environment. In the optimized scheme the clones' fidelity remains maximal even in the presence of losses (in the absence of thermal noise), for propagation times that diverge as the number of modes increases, indicating that telecloning is a more effective way to distribute quantum information then direct transmission followed by local cloning.
We address nonlocality of a class of fully inseparable three-mode Gaussian states generated either by bilinear three-mode Hamiltonians or by a sequence of bilinear two-mode Hamiltonians. Two different tests revealing strong nonlocality are considered, in which the dichotomic Bell operator is represented by displaced parity and by pseudospin operator respectively. Three-mode states are also considered as a conditional source of two-mode non Gaussian states, whose nonlocal properties are analyzed. We found that the non Gaussian character of the conditional states allows violation of Bell's inequalities (by parity and pseudospin tests) stronger than with a conventional twin-beam state. However, the non Gaussian character is not sufficient to reveal nonlocality thorough a dichotomized quadrature measurement strategy.
We address the distribution of quantum information among many parties in the presence of noise. In particular, we consider how to optimally send to m receivers the information encoded into an unknown coherent state. On one hand, a local strategy is considered, consisting in a local cloning process followed by direct transmission. On the other hand, a telecloning protocol based on nonlocal quantum correlations is analyzed. Both the strategies are optimized to minimize the detrimental effects due to losses and thermal noise along the propagation. The comparison between the local and the nonlocal protocol shows that telecloning is more effective than local cloning for a wide range of noise parameters. Our results indicate that nonlocal strategies can be more robust against noise than local ones, thus being suitable candidates to play a major role in quantum information networks.
We present a detailed report on the decoherence of quantum states of continuous variable systems under the action of a quantum optical master equation resulting from the interaction with general Gaussian uncorrelated environments. The rate of decoherence is quantified by relating it to the decay rates of various, complementary measures of the quantum nature of a state, such as the purity, some nonclassicality indicators in phase space and, for two-mode states, entanglement measures and total correlations between the modes. Different sets of physically relevant initial configurations are considered, including one- and two-mode Gaussian states, number states, and coherent superpositions. Our analysis shows that, generally, the use of initially squeezed configurations does not help to preserve the coherence of Gaussian states, whereas it can be effective in protecting coherent superpositions of both number states and Gaussian wave packets.
We address the generation of fully inseparable three-mode entangled states of radiation by interlinked nonlinear interactions in $χ^{(2)}$ media. We show how three-mode entanglement can be used to realize symmetric and asymmetric telecloning machines, which achieve optimal fidelity for coherent states. An experimental implementation involving a single nonlinear crystal where the two interactions take place simultaneously is suggested. Preliminary experimental results showing the feasibility and the effectiveness of the interaction scheme with seeded crystal are also presented.
We address the evolution of cat-like states in general Gaussian noisy channels, by considering superpositions of coherent and squeezed-coherent states coupled to an arbitrarily squeezed bath. The phase space dynamics is solved and decoherence is studied keeping track of the purity of the evolving state. The influence of the choice of the state and channel parameters on purity is discussed and optimal working regimes that minimize the decoherence rate are determined. In particular, we show that squeezing the bath to protect a non squeezed cat state against decoherence is equivalent to orthogonally squeezing the initial cat state while letting the bath be phase insensitive.
We present a systematic study of the purity for Gaussian states of single-mode continuous variable systems. We prove the connection of purity to observable quantities for these states, and show that the joint measurement of two conjugate quadratures is necessary and sufficient to determine the purity at any time. The statistical reliability and the range of applicability of the proposed measurement scheme is tested by means of Monte Carlo simulated experiments. We then consider the dynamics of purity in noisy channels. We derive an evolution equation for the purity of general Gaussian states both in thermal and squeezed thermal baths. We show that purity is maximized at any given time for an initial coherent state evolving in a thermal bath, or for an initial squeezed state evolving in a squeezed thermal bath whose asymptotic squeezing is orthogonal to that of the input state.
We review some applications of entanglement to improve quantum measurements and communication, with the main focus on the optical implementation of quantum information processing. The evolution of continuos variable entangled states in active optical fibers is also analyzed.
The maximum-likelihood method for quantum estimation is reviewed and applied to the reconstruction of density matrix of spin and radiation as well as to the determination of several parameters of interest in quantum optics.
An effective maximum likelihood method is suggested to characterize the absorption/amplification properties of active optical media through homodyne detection.
Quantum estimation of the operators of a system is investigated by analyzing its Liouville space of operators. In this way it is possible to easily derive some general characterization for the sets of observables (i.e. the possible quorums) that are measured for the quantum estimation. In particular we analyze the reconstruction of operators of spin systems.
We suggest a tunable optical device to synthesize Fock states and their superpositions starting from a coherent source. The scheme involves an avalanche triggering photodetector and a ring cavity coupled to a traveling wave through a cross-Kerr medium. Low quantum efficiency at the photodetector improves the synthesizing quality at the expense of reducing the synthesizing rate.
We present a universal technique for quantum state estimation based on the maximum-likelihood method. This approach provides a positive definite estimate for the density matrix from a sequence of measurements performed on identically prepared copies of the system. The method is versatile and can be applied to multimode radiation fields as well as to spin systems. The incorporation of physical constraints, which is natural in the maximum-likelihood strategy, leads to a substantial reduction of statistical errors. Numerical implementation of the method is based on a particular form of the Gauss decomposition for positive definite Hermitian matrices.
We propose a setup capable of generating Fock states of a single mode radiation field. The scheme is based on coupling the signal field to a ring cavity through cross-Kerr phase modulation, and on conditional ON-OFF photodetection at the output cavity mode. The same setup allows to prepare selected superpositions of Fock states and entangled two-mode states. Remarkably, the detector's quantum efficiency does not affect the reliability of the state synthesis.
We study a novel optical setup which is able to select a specific Fock component from a generic input state. The device allows to synthesize number states and superpositions of few number states, and to measure the photon distribution and the density matrix of a generic input signal.
We perform the exact numerical diagonalization of the Hamiltonians that describe both degenerate and nondegenerate parametric amplifiers, by exploiting the conservation laws pertaining each device. We clarify the conditions under which the parametric approximation holds, showing that the most relevant requirement is the coherence of the pump after the interaction, rather than its undepletion.
A two-step detection strategy is suggested for the precise measurement of the optical phase-shift. In the first step an unsharp, however, unbiased joint measurement of the phase and photon number is performed by heterodyning the signal field. Information coming from this step is then used for suitable squeezing of the probe mode to obtain a sharp phase distribution. Application to squeezed states leads to a phase sensitivity scaling as $Δϕ\simeq N^{-1}$ relative to the total number of photons impinged into the apparatus. Numerical simulations of the whole detection strategy are also also presented.