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Marek Zukowski

Publications and source records attributed to Marek Zukowski.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Multi-photon entanglement and interferometry

Multi-photon interference reveals strictly non-classical phenomena. Its applications range from fundamental tests of quantum mechanics to photonic quantum information processing, where a significant fraction of key experiments achieved so far comes from multi-photon state manipulation. We review the progress, both theoretical and experimental, of this rapidly advancing research. The emphasis is given to the creation of photonic entanglement of various forms, tests of the completeness of quantum mechanics (in particular, violations of local realism), quantum information protocols for quantum communication (e.g., quantum teleportation, entanglement purification and quantum repeater), and quantum computation with linear optics. We shall limit the scope of our review to "few photon" phenomena involving measurements of discrete observables.

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Non-existence of invariant EPR correlation for two qudits, d>2

The two qubit (spin 1/2) singlet state has invariant perfect EPR correlations: if two observers measure {\em any} identical observables the results are always perfectly (anti-)correlated. We show that no such correlations exists in $d\otimes d$ pure or mixed bipartite quantum states if $d\geq3$. This points that two qubit singlets are high-quality quantum information carriers in long distance transmission: their correlations are unaffected by identical random unitary transformations of both qubits. Pairs of entangled qu$d$its, $d>2$, do not have this property. Thus, qu$d$it properties should be rather exploited only in protocols in which transmission is not a long distance one.

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Temporal Leggett-Garg-Bell inequalities for sequential multi-time actions in quantum information processing, and a re-definition of Macroscopic Realism

The usual formulation of Macrorealism is recast to make this notion fully concurrent with the basic ideas behind classical physics. The assumption of non-invasiveness of measurements is dropped. Instead, it is assumed that the current state of the system defines full initial conditions for its subsequent evolution. An example of a new family of temporal Bell inequalities is derived which can be applied to processes in which the state of the system undergoes arbitrarily many transformations (which was not the case in the original approach). An exponential (in terms of number of operations) violation of this inequality is demonstrated theoretically. Finally it is shown that such inequalities were indirectly tested in a 2005 experiment by the Weinfurter group.

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Non-classicality thresholds for multiqubit states - numerical analysis

States that strongly violate Bell's inequalities are required in many quantum informational protocols as, for example, in cryptography, secret sharing and the reduction of communication complexity. We investigate families of such states with a numerical method which allows to reveal non-classicality even without direct knowledge of Bell's inequalities for the given problem. An extensive set of numerical results is presented and discussed.

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Entanglement assisted random access codes

An (n,m,p) Random Access Code (RAC) allows to encode n bits in an m bit message, in such a way that a receiver of the message can guess any of the original $n$ bits with probability p, greater than 1/2. In Quantum RAC's (QRACs) one transmits n qubits. The full set of primitive Entanglement Assisted Random Access Codes (EARACs) is introduced, in which parties are allowed to share a two-qubit singlet. It is shown that via a concatenation of these, one can build for any n an (n,1,p) EARAC. QRAC's for n>3 exist only if parties additionally share classical randomness (SR). We show that EARACs outperform the best of known QRACs not only in the success probabilities but also in the amount of communication needed in the preparatory stage of the protocol. Upper bounds on the performance of EARACs are given, and shown to limit also QRACs.

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Entanglement and communication-reducing properties of noisy N-qubit states

We consider properties of states of many qubits, which arise after sending certain entangled states via various noisy channels (white noise, coloured noise, local depolarization, dephasing and amplitude damping). Entanglement of these states is studied and their ability to violate certain classes of Bell inequalities. States which violate them allow for higher than classical efficiency of solving related distributed computational tasks with constrained communication. This is a direct property of such states -- not requiring their further modification via stochastic local operations and classical communication such as entanglement purification or distillation procedures. We identify novel families of multi-particle states which are entangled but nevertheless allow local realistic description of specific Bell experiments. For some of them, the "gap" between the critical values for entanglement and violation of Bell inequality remains finite even in the limit of infinitely many qubits.

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Quantum Byzantine Agreement with a Single Qutrit

Quantum mechanics provides several methods to generate and securely distribute private lists of numbers suitably correlated to solve the Three Byzantine Generals Problem. So far, these methods are based on three-qutrit singlet states, four-qubit entangled states, and three or two pairwise quantum key distribution channels. Here we show that the problem can be solved using a single qutrit. This scheme presents some advantages over previous schemes, and emphasizes the specific role of qutrits in basic quantum information processing.

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Experimental high fidelity six-photon entangled state for telecloning protocols

We experimentally generate and characterize a six-photon polarization entangled state, which is usually called "Psi 6 +". This is realized with a filtering procedure of triple emissions of entangled photon pairs from a single source, which does not use any interferometric overlaps. The setup is very stable and we observe the six-photon state with high fidelity. The observed state can be used for demonstrations of telecloning and secret sharing protocols.

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Bell's Inequalities: Foundations and Quantum Communication

Efforts to construct deeper, realistic, level of physical description, in which individual systems have, like in classical physics, preexisting properties revealed by measurements are known as hidden-variable programs. Demonstrations that a hidden-variable program necessarily requires outcomes of certain experiments to disagree with the predictions of quantum theory are called "no-go theorems". The Bell theorem excludes local hidden variable theories. The Kochen-Specker theorem excludes noncontextual hidden variable theories. In local hidden-variable theories faster-that-light-influences are forbidden, thus the results for a given measurement (actual, or just potentially possible) are independent of the settings of other measurement devices which are at space-like separation. In noncontextual hidden-variable theories the predetermined results of a (degenerate) observable are independent of any other observables that are measured jointly with it. It is a fundamental doctrine of quantum information science that quantum communication and quantum computation outperforms their classical counterparts. If this is to be true, some fundamental quantum characteristics must be behind better-than-classical performance of information processing tasks. This chapter aims at establishing connections between certain quantum information protocols and foundational issues in quantum theory. After a brief discusion of the most common misinterpretations of Bell's theorem and a discussion of what its real meaning is, it will be demonstrated how quantum contextuality and violations of local realism can be used as useful resources in quantum information applications.

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Towards a loophole-free test of Bell's inequality with entangled pairs of neutral atoms

Experimental tests of Bell's inequality allow to distinguish quantum mechanics from local hidden variable theories. Such tests are performed by measuring correlations of two entangled particles (e.g. polarization of photons or spins of atoms). In order to constitute conclusive evidence, two conditions have to be satisfied. First, strict separation of the measurement events in the sense of special relativity is required ("locality loophole"). Second, almost all entangled pairs have to be detected (for particles in a maximally entangled state the required detector efficiency is 82.8%), which is hard to achieve experimentally ("detection loophole"). By using the recently demonstrated entanglement between single trapped atoms and single photons it becomes possible to entangle two atoms at a large distance via entanglement swapping. Combining the high detection efficiency achieved with atoms with the space-like separation of the atomic state detection events, both loopholes can be closed within the same experiment. In this paper we present estimations based on current experimental achievements which show that such an experiment is feasible in future.

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Interference contrast in multi-source few photon optics

Many recent experiments employ several parametric down conversion (PDC) sources to get multiphoton interference. Such interference has applications in quantum information. We study here how effects due to photon statistics, misalignment, and partial distinguishability of the PDC pairs originating from different sources may lower the interference contrast in the multiphoton experiments.

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Experimental test of rotational invariance and entanglement of photonic six-qubit singlet state

We experimentally test invariance properties of the six-photonic-qubits generalization of a singlet state. Our results clearly corroborate with theory. The invariance properties are useful to beat some types of decoherence. We also experimentally detect entanglement in the state using an appropriate witness observable, composed of local observables. Our results clearly indicate that the tested setup, which is very stable, is a good candidate for realization of various multi-party quantum communication protocols. The estimated fidelity of the produced state is very high: it reveals very strong EPR six-photon correlations of error rate below 6%.

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Experimental filtering of two-, four-, and six-photon singlets from single PDC source

Invariant entangled states remain unchanged under simultaneous identical unitary transformations of all their subsystems. We experimentally generate and characterize such invariant two-, four-, and six-photon polarization entangled states. This is done only with a suitable filtering procedure of multiple emissions of entangled photon pairs from a single source, without any interferometric overlaps. We get the desired states utilizing bosonic emission enhancement due to indistinguishability. The setup is very stable, and gives high interference contrasts. Thus, the process is a very likely candidate for various photonic demonstrations of quantum information protocols.

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On Bell's theorem, quantum communication, and entanglement detection

(A) Bell's theorem rests on a conjunction of three assumptions: realism, locality and ``free will''. A discussion of these assumptions will be presented. It will be also shown that, if one adds to the assumptions the principle or rotational symmetry of physical laws, a stronger version of the theorem emerges. (B) A link between Bell's theorem and communication complexity problems will be presented. This also includes experimental realizations, which surprisingly do not involve entanglement. (C) A new sufficient and necessary criterion for entanglement of general (mixed) states is be presented. It is derived using the same geometric starting point as the inclusion of the symmetry in (A). The set of entanglement identifiers (EI's) emerging via this method contains entanglement witnesses (EW's), but they form only a subset of all EI's. Thus the method is more powerful than the one based on EW's.

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Unexpected reemergence of von Neumann theorem

Is is shown here that the "simple test of quantumness for a single system" of arXiv:0704.1962 (for a recent experimental realization see arXiv:0804.1646) has exactly the same relation to the discussion of to the problem of describing the quantum system via a classical probabilistic scheme (that is in terms of hidden variables, or within a realistic theory) as the von Neumann theorem (1932). The latter one was shown by Bell (1966) to stem from an assumption that the hidden variable values for a sum of two non-commuting observables (which is an observable too) have to be, for each individual system, equal to sums of eigenvalues of the two operators. One cannot find a physical justification for such an assumption to hold for non-commeasurable variables. On the positive side. the criterion may be useful in rejecting models which are based on stochastic classical fields. Nevertheless the example used by the Authors has a classical optical realization.

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A Bell Theorem Without Inequalities for Two Particles, Using Inefficient Detectors

We again consider (as in a companion paper) an entangled two-particle state that is produced from two independent down-conversion sources by the process of "entanglement-swapping", so that the particles have never met. We show that there is a natural extension of the Einstein-Pololsky-Rosen discussion of "elements of reality" to include inefficient detectors. We consider inefficient deterministic, local, realistic models of quantum theory that are "robust", which we consider to be the minimum requirement for them to be taken seriously. By robust, we mean they satisfy the following three criteria: (a) they reproduce the quantum results for perfect correlations, if all particles are detected; (b) they produce some counts for every setting of the angles (so they don't describe some experiments that can easily be performed as "impossible"); (c) all their hidden variables are relevant (they must each produce a detectable result in some experiment). For such models we prove a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type theorem for arbitrary detection efficiencies, showing that any such theory is inconsistent with the quantum mechanical perfect correlations. This theorem holds for individual events with no inequalities. As a result, the theorem is also independent of any random sampling hypothesis.

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Space-QUEST: Experiments with quantum entanglement in space

The European Space Agency (ESA) has supported a range of studies in the field of quantum physics and quantum information science in space for several years, and consequently we have submitted the mission proposal Space-QUEST (Quantum Entanglement for Space Experiments) to the European Life and Physical Sciences in Space Program. We propose to perform space-to-ground quantum communication tests from the International Space Station (ISS). We present the proposed experiments in space as well as the design of a space based quantum communication payload.

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