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Martin B. Plenio

Publications and source records attributed to Martin B. Plenio.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

Excitation and Entanglement Transfer Versus Spectral Gap

We consider quantum many body systems as quantum channels and study the relation between the transfer quality and the size of the spectral gap between the system's ground and excited states. In our setup two ancillas are weakly coupled to the quantum many body system at different sites, and we study the propagation of an excitation and quantum information from one ancilla to the other. We observe two different scenarios: a slow, but perfect transfer if the gap large and a fast, but un-complete transfer otherwise. We provide a numerical and analytical approach as well as a simplified physical model explaining our findings. Our results relate the potential of spin chains acting as quantum channels to the concept of quantum phase transitions and offer a different approach to the characterisation of these.

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Manipulating quantum information by propagation

We study creation of bi- and multipartite continuous variable entanglement in structures of coupled quantum harmonic oscillators. By adjusting the interaction strengths between nearest neighbors we show how to maximize the entanglement production between the arms in a Y-shaped structure where an initial single mode squeezed state is created in the first oscillator of the input arm. We also consider the action of the same structure as an approximate quantum cloner. For a specific time in the system dynamics the last oscillators in the output arms can be considered as imperfect copies of the initial state. By increasing the number of arms in the structure, multipartite entanglement is obtained, as well as 1 to M cloning. Finally, we are considering configurations that implement the symmetric splitting of an initial entangled state. All calculations are carried out within the framework of the rotating wave approximation in quantum optics, and our predictions could be tested with current available experimental techniques.

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Remote Implementation of Quantum Operations

Shared entanglement allows, under certain conditions, the remote implementation of quantum operations. We revise and extend recent theoretical results on the remote control of quantum systems as well as experimental results on the remote manipulation of photonic qubits via linear optical elements.

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Entanglement on mixed stabiliser states--I: Normal Forms and Reduction Procedures

The stabiliser formalism allows the efficient description of a sizeable class of pure as well as mixed quantum states of N-qubit systems. That same formalism has important applications in the field of quantum error correcting codes, where mixed stabiliser states correspond to projectors on subspaces associated with stabiliser codes. Here, we derive efficient reduction procedures to obtain various useful normal forms for stabiliser states. We explicitly prove that these procedures will always converge to the correct result and that these procedures are efficient in that they only require a polynomial number of operations on the generators of the stabilisers. We obtain two single-party normal forms. The simplest, the row-reduced echelon form, is useful to calculate partial traces of stabiliser states. The second is the fully reduced form and allows for the efficient calculation of the overlap between two stabiliser states, as well as of the Uhlmann fidelity between them, and their Bures distance. We also find a reduction procedure of bipartite stabiliser states, where the operations involved are restricted to be local ones. Using this two-party normal form, we prove that every bipartite mixed stabiliser state is locally equivalent to a direct product of a number of maximally entangled states and a separable state. Using this normal form we can efficiently calculate every reasonable bipartite entanglement measure of mixed stabiliser states.

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Multi-particle entanglement manipulation under positive partial transpose preserving operations

We consider the transformation of multi-partite states in the single copy setting under positive-partial-transpose-preserving operations (PPT-operations) and obtain both qualitative and quantitative results. Firstly, for some pure state transformations that are impossible under local operations and classical communication (LOCC), we demonstrate that they become possible with a surprisingly large success probability under PPT-operations. Furthermore, we clarify the convertibility of arbitrary multipartite pure states under PPT-operations, and show that a drastic simplification in the classification of pure state entanglement occurs when the set of operations is switched from LOCC to PPT-operations. Indeed, the infinitely many types of LOCC-incomparable entanglement are reduced to only one type under the action of PPT-operations. This is a clear manifestation of the increased power afforded by the use of PPT-bound entanglement. In addition, we further enlarge the set of operations to clarify the effect of another type of bound entanglement, multipartite unlockable bound entanglement, and show that a further simplification occurs. As compared to pure states a more complicated situation emerges in the mixed state settings. While single copy distillation becomes possible under PPT-operations for some mixed states it remains impossible for other mixed states.

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Broken Promises and Quantum Algorithms

In the black-box model, problems constrained by a `promise' are the only ones that admit a quantum exponential speedup over the best classical algorithm in terms of query complexity. The most prominent example of this is the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm. More recently, Wim van Dam put forward an algorithm for unstructured problems (i.e., those without a promise). We consider the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm with a less restrictive (or `broken') promise and study the transition to an unstructured problem. We compare this to the success of van Dam's algorithm. These are both compared with a standard classical sampling algorithm. The Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm remains good as the problem initially becomes less structured, but the van Dam algorithm can be adapted so as to become superior to the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm as the promise is weakened.

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Local copying of orthogonal entangled quantum states

In classical information theory one can, in principle, produce a perfect copy of any input state. In quantum information theory, the no cloning theorem prohibits exact copying of nonorthogonal states. Moreover, if we wish to copy multiparticle entangled states and can perform only local operations and classical communication (LOCC), then further restrictions apply. We investigate the problem of copying orthogonal, entangled quantum states with an entangled blank state under the restriction to LOCC. Throughout, the subsystems have finite dimension D. We show that if all of the states to be copied are non-maximally entangled, then novel LOCC copying procedures based on entanglement catalysis are possible. We then study in detail the LOCC copying problem where both the blank state and at least one of the states to be copied are maximally entangled. For this to be possible, we find that all the states to be copied must be maximally entangled. We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for LOCC copying under these conditions. For two orthogonal, maximally entangled states, we provide the general solution to this condition. We use it to show that for D=2,3, any pair of orthogonal, maximally entangled states can be locally copied using a maximally entangled blank state. However, we also show that for any D which is not prime, one can construct pairs of such states for which this is impossible.

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Classical simulatability, entanglement breaking, and quantum computation thresholds

We investigate the amount of noise required to turn a universal quantum gate set into one that can be efficiently modelled classically. This question is useful for providing upper bounds on fault tolerant thresholds, and for understanding the nature of the quantum/classical computational transition. We refine some previously known upper bounds using two different strategies. The first one involves the introduction of bi-entangling operations, a class of classically simulatable machines that can generate at most bipartite entanglement. Using this class we show that it is possible to sharpen previously obtained upper bounds in certain cases. As an example, we show that under depolarizing noise on the controlled-not gate, the previously known upper bound of 74% can be sharpened to around 67%. Another interesting consequence is that measurement based schemes cannot work using only 2-qubit non-degenerate projections. In the second strand of the work we utilize the Gottesman-Knill theorem on the classically efficient simulation of Clifford group operations. The bounds attained for the pi/8 gate using this approach can be as low as 15% for general single gate noise, and 30% for dephasing noise.

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Quantum information and triangular optical lattices

The regular structures obtained by optical lattice technology and their behaviour are analysed from the quantum information perspective. Initially, we demonstrate that a triangular optical lattice of two atomic species, bosonic or fermionic, can be employed to generate a variety of novel spin-1/2 models that include effective three-spin interactions. Such interactions can be employed to simulate specific one or two dimensional physical systems that are of particular interest for their condensed matter and entanglement properties. In particular, connections between the scaling behaviour of entanglement and the entanglement properties of closely spaced spins are drawn. Moreover, three-spin interactions are well suited to support quantum computing without the need to manipulate individual qubits. By employing Raman transitions or the interaction of the atomic electric dipole moment with magnetic field gradients, one can generate Hamiltonians that can be used for the physical implementation of geometrical or topological objects. This work serves as a review article that also includes many new results.

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Three-spin interactions in optical lattices and criticality in cluster Hamiltonians

We demonstrate that in a triangular configuration of an optical lattice of two atomic species a variety of novel spin-1/2 Hamiltonians can be generated. They include effective three-spin interactions resulting from the possibility of atoms tunneling along two different paths. This motivates the study of ground state properties of various three-spin Hamiltonians in terms of their two-point and n-point correlations as well as the localizable entanglement. We present a Hamiltonian with a finite energy gap above its unique ground state for which the localizable entanglement length diverges for a wide interval of applied external fields, while at the same time the classical correlation length remains finite.

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Symmetric qubits from cavity states

Two-mode cavities can be prepared in quantum states which represent symmetric multi-qubit states. However, the qubits are impossible to address individually and as such cannot be independently measured or otherwise manipulated. We propose two related schemes to coherently transfer the qubits which the cavity state represents onto individual atoms, so that the qubits can then be processed individually. In particular, our scheme can be combined with the quantum cloning scheme of Simon and coworkers [C. Simon et al, PRL 84, 2993 (2000)] to allow the optimal clones which their scheme produces to be spatially separated and individually utilized.

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On the quantification of entanglement in infinite-dimensional quantum systems

We investigate entanglement measures in the infinite-dimensional regime. First, we discuss the peculiarities that may occur if the Hilbert space of a bi-partite system is infinite-dimensional, most notably the fact that the set of states with infinite entropy of entanglement is trace-norm dense in state space, implying that in any neighborhood of every product state there lies an arbitrarily strongly entangled state. The starting point for a clarification of this counterintuitive property is the observation that if one imposes the natural and physically reasonable constraint that the mean energy is bounded from above, then the entropy of entanglement becomes a trace-norm continuous functional. The considerations will then be extended to the asymptotic limit, and we will prove some asymptotic continuity properties. We proceed by investigating the entanglement of formation and the relative entropy of entanglement in the infinite-dimensional setting. Finally, we show that the set of entangled states is still trace-norm dense in state space, even under the constraint of a finite mean energy.

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Light-shift-induced quantum gates for ions in thermal motion

An effective interaction between trapped ions in thermal motion can be generated by illuminating them simultaneously with a single laser resonant with the ionic carrier frequency. The ac Stark-shift induces simultaneous `virtual' two-phonon transitions via several motional modes. Within a certain laser intensity range these transitions can interfere constructively, resulting in a relatively fast, heating-resistant two-qubit logic gate.

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Entanglement-assisted local manipulation of pure quantum states

We demonstrate that local transformations on a composite quantum system can be enhanced in the presence of certain entangled states. These extra states act much like catalysts in a chemical reaction: they allow otherwise impossible local transformations to be realised, without being consumed in any way. In particular, we show that this effect can considerably improve the efficiency of entanglement concentration procedures for finite states.

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The Holevo bound and Landauer's principle

Landauer's principle states that the erasure of information generates a corresponding amount of entropy in the environment. We show that Landauer's principle provides an intuitive basis for Holevo bound on the classical capacity of a quantum channel.

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Quantum information distribution via entanglement

We present a generalization of quantum teleportation that distributes quantum information from a sender's $d$-level particle to $N_o$ particles held by remote receivers via an initially shared multiparticle entangled state. This entangled state functions as a multiparty quantum information distribution channel between the sender and the receivers. The structure of the distribution channel determines how quantum information is processed. Our generalized teleportation scheme allows multiple receivers at arbitrary locations, and can be used for applications such as optimal quantum information broadcasting, asymmetric telecloning, and quantum error correction.

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Minimal conditions for local pure-state entanglement manipulation

We find a minimal set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a local procedure that converts a finite pure state into one of a set of possible final states. This result provides a powerful method for obtaining optimal local entanglement manipulation protocols for pure initial states. As an example, we determine analytically the optimal distillable entanglement for arbitrary finite pure states. We also construct an explicit protocol achieving this bound.

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Entanglement in Quantum Information Theory

Quantum mechanics has many counter-intuitive consequences which contradict our intuition which is based on classical physics. Here we discuss a special aspect of quantum mechanics, namely the possibility of entanglement between two or more particles. We will establish the basic properties of entanglement using quantum state teleportation. These principles will then allow us to formulate quantitative measures of entanglement. Finally we will show that the same general principles can also be used to prove seemingly difficult questions regarding entanglement dynamics very easily. This will be used to motivate the hope that we can construct a thermodynamics of entanglement.

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