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Mohamed Bourennane

Publications and source records attributed to Mohamed Bourennane.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Observation of end-to-end pumping in a quasiperiodic Fibonacci-type photonic chain

End-to-end pumps utilizing edge-localized states offer a promising route to operate as connecting buses, supplying efficient and robust connectivity between non-neighboring elements in a network. Here, we investigate a finite quasiperiodic Fibonacci-type photonic chain and demonstrate its ability for end-to-end pumping, with only small and simple changes to the system. First, we use a tight-binding formalism to numerically show that a localized pumping state can be transferred between opposite ends of the system, with only a small structural change to the chain. Then, we experimentally implement this end-to-end pump in an array of coupled optical waveguides, where light propagation is effectively described by the tight-binding model under the paraxial approximation, enabling direct correspondence between theory and experiment. We numerically simulate and experimentally demonstrate pumping by injecting light into a single waveguide at one end of the setup, which activates a localized pumping state. As the light propagates along the wave guide array, it is also pumped to the other end. We further show that pumping remains robust against structural deformation, such as controlled defects in the waveguide array. Our results establish that quasiperiodic Fibonacci-type photonic lattices are a robust and experimentally viable platform for disorder-resilient state transfer.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Deployed trusted-node quantum key distribution over 300 km with a multi-core fiber access link

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is increasingly considered for deployment in realistic communication networks, where long distances, heterogeneous fiber infrastructure, and coexistence with classical traffic present substantial challenges. Here, we demonstrate trusted-node QKD between Linköping University and the Stockholm hub of the Swedish national quantum communication infrastructure over 270 km of deployed single-mode fiber, extended by a 33 km multi-core fiber (MCF) segment emulating a metropolitan access link, for a total distance of 303 km. The two sub-links use commercial QKD systems whose receivers are interfaced with external superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, enabling operation at losses beyond those supported by standard internal gated-mode detectors. We operate the link while actively switching the QKD channel between two MCF cores, with co-propagating Ethernet traffic and injected broadband optical noise in the other cores. The results demonstrate the integration of commercial QKD into demanding, dynamically reconfigurable fiber infrastructure relevant to future hybrid quantum-classical networks. Finally, using the generated secret keys, we illustrate how limited and time-varying QKD throughput affects one-time-pad-protected image transmission: image fidelity depends strongly on the available QKD-generated key budget and the choice of compression algorithm, highlighting application-level challenges for QKD-based encryption in realistic scenarios.

quant-ph↗

Exponentially decreasing critical detection efficiency for any Bell inequality

We address the problem of closing the detection efficiency loophole in Bell experiments, which is crucial for real-world applications. Every Bell inequality has a critical detection efficiency $η$ that must be surpassed to avoid the detection loophole. Here, we propose a general method for reducing the critical detection efficiency of any Bell inequality to arbitrary low values. This is accomplished by entangling two particles in $N$ orthogonal subspaces (e.g., $N$ degrees of freedom) and conducting $N$ Bell tests in parallel. Furthermore, the proposed method is based on the introduction of penalized $N$-product (PNP) Bell inequalities, for which the so-called simultaneous measurement loophole is closed, and the maximum value for local hidden-variable theories is simply the $N$th power of the one of the Bell inequality initially considered. We show that, for the PNP Bell inequalities, the critical detection efficiency decays exponentially with $N$. The strength of our method is illustrated with a detailed study of the PNP Bell inequalities resulting from the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality.

quant-ph↗

When More Light Means Less Quantum: Modeling Bell Inequality Degradation from Accidental Counts

We investigate how accidental counts, the detection events not originating from genuine entangled photon pairs, impact the observed violation of Bell inequalities in photonic experiments. These false coincidences become increasingly significant at higher laser pump powers, limiting the strength of Bell violations and thus the performance of quantum protocols such as device-independent quantum random number generation and quantum key distribution. We propose a simple noise model that quantitatively links the Bell value to the pump strength. Using experimental data from recent SPDC-based Bell tests, we fit the model to a Bell expression, and demonstrate accurate prediction of Bell values across a range of pump settings. Our results provide practical guidance for optimizing source brightness while preserving quantum nonlocality, with direct implications for high-rate, secure quantum technologies.

quant-ph↗

Finite-size security analysis for quantum protocols: A Python framework using the Entropy Accumulation Theorem with graphical interface

We present a comprehensive software framework for the finite-size security analysis of quantum random number generation (QRNG) and quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols, based on the Entropy Accumulation Theorem (EAT). Our framework includes both a Python API and an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), designed to support protocol designers and experimentalists in certifying randomness and key rates under realistic, finite-resource conditions. At its core, the framework automates the construction of min-tradeoff functions via semi-definite programming and integrates them into a full entropy analysis pipeline. Users can specify device configurations, Bell-type inequalities or probability constraints, and select entropy measures such as min-entropy or von Neumann entropy. The package further provides tools for setting test parameters, computing secure randomness rates, and exploring tradeoffs between statistical confidence, protocol duration, and randomness output. We demonstrate the framework showing how users can move from theoretical constraints to practical security bounds with minimal overhead. This work contributes a reproducible, modular, and extensible platform for certifying quantum protocols under finite-size effects, significantly lowering the skill barrier to rigorous quantum cryptographic analysis.

quant-ph↗

How to avoid (apparent) signaling in Bell tests

Bell tests have become a powerful tool for quantifying security, randomness, entanglement, and many other properties, as well as for investigating fundamental physical limits. In all these cases, the specific experimental value of the Bell parameter is important as it leads to a quantitative conclusion. However, experimental implementations can also produce experimental data with (apparent) signaling. This signaling can be attributed to systematic errors occurring due to weaknesses in the experimental designs. Here we point out the importance, for quantitative applications, to identify and address this problem. We present a set of experiments with polarization-entangled photons in which we identify common sources of systematic errors and demonstrate approaches to avoid them. In addition, we establish the highest experimental value for the Bell-CHSH parameter obtained after applying strategies to minimize signaling that we are aware of: $S = 2.812 \pm 0.003$ and negligible systematic errors. The experiments did not randomize the settings and did not close the locality loophole.

quant-ph↗

Experimental implementation of dimension-dependent contextuality inequality

We present a derivation and experimental implementation of a dimension-dependent contextuality inequality to certify both the quantumness and dimensionality of a given system. Existing methods for certification of the dimension of quantum system can be cheated by using larger classical systems, creating a potential loophole in these benchmarks. Our approach uses contextuality inequalities that cannot be violated by classical systems thus closing the previous loophole. We validate this framework experimentally with photons, observing violations of a CHSH-based contextuality inequality and surpassing the qutrit bound of the CGLMP4-based contextuality inequality. These show that contextuality can be used for noise-robust tests of the number of qubits.

quant-ph↗

Optimization of experimental quantum randomness expansion

Quantum technologies provide many applications for information processing tasks that are impossible to realize within classical physics. These capabilities include such fundamental resources as generating secure, i.e. private and unpredictable random values. Yet, the problem of quantifying the amount of generated randomness is still not fully solved. This work presents a comprehensive analysis of the design and performance optimization of a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) based on Bell inequality violations. We investigate key protocol parameters, including the smoothing parameter ($ε_{\text{s}}$), test round probability ($γ$), and switching delays, and their effects on the generation rate and quality of randomness. We identify optimal ranges for $γ$ and $p_Ω$ (the protocol's non-aborting probability) to balance the trade-off between randomness consumption and net randomness generation. Additionally, we explore the impact of switching delays on the system's performance, providing strategies to mitigate these effects. Our results indicate substantial developments in QRNG implementations and offer higher randomness expansion rates. The work provides practical guidelines for the efficient and secure design of QRNG systems and other cryptographic protocols.

quant-ph↗

Generalized measurements on qubits in quantum randomness certification and expansion

Quantum mechanics has greatly impacted our understanding of the microscopic nature. One of the key concepts of this theory is generalized measurements, which have proven useful in various quantum information processing tasks. However, despite their significance, they have not yet been shown empirically to provide an advantage in quantum randomness certification and expansion protocols. This investigation explores scenarios where generalized measurements can yield more than one bit of certified randomness with a single qubit system measurement on untrusted devices and against a quantum adversary. We compare the robustness of several protocols to exhibit the advantage of exploiting generalized measurements. In our analysis of experimental data, we were able to obtain $1.21$ bits of min-entropy from a measurement taken on one qubit of an entangled state. We also obtained $1.07$ bits of min-entropy from an experiment with quantum state preparation and generalized measurement on a single qubit. We also provide finite data analysis for a protocol using generalized measurements and the Entropy Accumulation Theorem. Our exploration demonstrates the potential of generalized measurements to improve the certification of quantum sources of randomness and enhance the security of quantum cryptographic protocols and other areas of quantum information.

quant-ph↗

Weak entanglement improves quantum communication using only product measurements

We show that weakly entangled states can improve communication over a qubit channel using only separate, interference-free, measurements of individual photons. We introduce a communication task corresponding to the cryptographic primitive known as secret sharing and show that all steerable two-qubit isotropic states provide a quantum advantage in the success rate using only product measurements. Furthermore, we show that such measurements can even reveal communication advantages from noisy partially entangled states that admit no quantum steering. We then go further and consider a stochastic variant of secret sharing based on more sophisticated, yet standard, partial Bell state analysers, and show that this reveals advantages also for a range of unsteerable isotropic states. By preparing polarisation qubits in unsteerable states, we experimentally demonstrate improved success rates of both secret sharing tasks beyond the best entanglement-unassisted qubit protocol. Our results reveal the capability of simple and scalable measurements in entanglement-assisted quantum communication to overcome large amounts of noise.

quant-ph↗

Entanglement-assisted quantum communication with simple measurements

Dense coding is the seminal example of how entanglement can boost qubit communication, from sending one bit to sending two bits. This is made possible by projecting separate particles onto a maximally entangled basis. We investigate more general communication tasks, in both theory and experiment, and show that simpler measurements enable strong and sometimes even optimal entanglement-assisted qubit communication protocols. Using only partial Bell state analysers for two qubits, we demonstrate quantum correlations that cannot be simulated with two bits of classical communication. Then, we show that there exists an established and operationally meaningful task for which product measurements are sufficient for the strongest possible quantum predictions based on a maximally entangled two-qubit state. Our results reveal that there are scenarios in which the power of entanglement in enhancing quantum communication can be harvested in simple and scalable optical experiments.

quant-ph↗

Non-Hermitian Boundary State Distillation with Lossy Waveguides

The hallmark of topological phases is their exotic boundary states. In a series of remarkable experiments it has been shown that classical analogues of these states can be engineered in arrays of coupled optical waveguides given delicately fine-tuned input light. Here, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a radically different approach in which a pattern of lossy waveguides distills the boundary states for generic, even defocused, input light, thus fully alleviating the need for fine-tuning. Our "topological distillation" approach is remarkably general: the lossy waveguides amount to an effectively non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, and the corresponding time-evolution (propagation of the light in the waveguides) removes the mundane bulk states of any topological (or trivial) band structure while retaining the intriguing boundary states by virtue of being the unique states with the longest life-time. We experimentally demonstrate the power and versatility of our approach by distilling the edge states in photonic graphene, as well as corner and edge states in non-Hermitian Kagome arrays.

physics.optics↗

Experimental certification of more than one bit of quantum randomness in the two inputs and two outputs scenario

One of the striking properties of quantum mechanics is the occurrence of the Bell-type non-locality. They are a fundamental feature of the theory that allows two parties that share an entangled quantum system to observe correlations stronger than possible in classical physics. In addition to their theoretical significance, non-local correlations have practical applications, such as device-independent randomness generation, providing private unpredictable numbers even when they are obtained using devices derived by an untrusted vendor. Thus, determining the quantity of certifiable randomness that can be produced using a specific set of non-local correlations is of significant interest. In this paper, we present an experimental realization of recent Bell-type operators designed to provide private random numbers that are secure against adversaries with quantum resources. We use semi-definite programming to provide lower bounds on the generated randomness in terms of both min-entropy and von Neumann entropy in a device-independent scenario. We compare experimental setups providing Bell violations close to the Tsirelson's bound with lower rates of events, with setups having slightly worse levels of violation but higher event rates. Our results demonstrate the first experiment that certifies close to two bits of randomness from binary measurements of two parties.

quant-ph↗

Noise-robust preparation contextuality shared between any number of observers via unsharp measurements

Multiple observers who independently harvest nonclassical correlations from a single physical system share the system's ability to enable quantum correlations. We show that any number of independent observers can share the preparation contextual outcome statistics enabled by state ensembles in quantum theory. Furthermore, we show that even in the presence of any amount of white noise, there exists quantum ensembles that enable such shared preparation contextuality. The findings are experimentally realised by applying sequential unsharp measurements to an optical qubit ensemble which reveals three shared demonstrations of preparation contextuality.

quant-ph↗

Practical No-Signalling proof Randomness Amplification using Hardy paradoxes and its experimental implementation

Device-Independent (DI) security is the best form of quantum cryptography, providing information-theoretic security based on the very laws of nature. In its highest form, security is guaranteed against adversaries limited only by the no-superluminal signalling rule of relativity. The task of randomness amplification, to generate secure fully uniform bits starting from weakly random seeds, is of both cryptographic and foundational interest, being important for the generation of cryptographically secure random numbers as well as bringing deep connections to the existence of free-will. DI no-signalling proof protocols for this fundamental task have thus far relied on esoteric proofs of non-locality termed pseudo-telepathy games, complicated multi-party setups or high-dimensional quantum systems, and have remained out of reach of experimental implementation. In this paper, we construct the first practically relevant no-signalling proof DI protocols for randomness amplification based on the simplest proofs of Bell non-locality and illustrate them with an experimental implementation in a quantum optical setup using polarised photons. Technically, we relate the problem to the vast field of Hardy paradoxes, without which it would be impossible to achieve amplification of arbitrarily weak sources in the simplest Bell non-locality scenario consisting of two parties choosing between two binary inputs. Furthermore, we identify a deep connection between proofs of the celebrated Kochen-Specker theorem and Hardy paradoxes that enables us to construct Hardy paradoxes with the non-zero probability taking any value in $(0,1]$. Our methods enable us, under the fair-sampling assumption of the experiment, to realize up to $25$ bits of randomness in $20$ hours of experimental data collection from an initial private source of randomness $0.1$ away from uniform.

quant-ph↗

Experimental characterisation of unsharp qubit observables and sequential measurement incompatibility via quantum random access codes

Unsharp measurements are increasingly important for foundational insights in quantum theory and quantum information applications. Here, we report an experimental implementation of unsharp qubit measurements in a sequential communication protocol, based on a quantum random access code. The protocol involves three parties; the first party prepares a qubit system, the second party performs operations which return both a classical and quantum outcome, and the latter is measured by the third party. We demonstrate a nearly-optimal sequential quantum random access code that outperforms both the best possible classical protocol and any quantum protocol which utilises only projective measurements. Furthermore, while only assuming that the involved devices operate on qubits and that detected events constitute a fair sample, we demonstrate the noise-robust characterisation of unsharp measurements based on the sequential quantum random access code. We apply this characterisation towards quantifying the degree of incompatibility of two sequential pairs of quantum measurements.

quant-ph↗

Experimental certification of an informationally complete quantum measurement in a device-independent protocol

Minimal informationally complete positive operator-valued measures (MIC-POVMs) are special kinds of measurement in quantum theory in which the statistics of their $d^2$-outcomes are enough to reconstruct any $d$-dimensional quantum state. For this reason, MIC-POVMs are referred to as standard measurements for quantum information. Here, we report an experiment with entangled photon pairs that certifies, for what we believe is the first time, a MIC-POVM for qubits following a device-independent protocol (i.e., modeling the state preparation and the measurement devices as black boxes, and using only the statistics of the inputs and outputs). Our certification is achieved under the assumption of freedom of choice, no communication, and fair sampling.

quant-ph↗

Corner states of light in photonic waveguides

The recently established paradigm of higher-order topological states of matter has shown that not only, as previously thought, edge and surface states but also states localised to corners can have robust and exotic properties. Here we report on the experimental realisation of novel corner states made out of classical light in three-dimensional photonic structures inscribed in glass samples using femtosecond (fs) laser technology. By creating and analysing waveguide arrays forming two-dimensional breathing kagome lattices in various sample geometries, we establish this as a platform for corner states exhibiting a remarkable degree of flexibility and control. In each sample geometry we measure eigenmodes that are localised at the corners in a finite frequency range in complete analogy with a theoretical model of the breathing kagome. Here, the measurements reveal that light can be "fractionalised", corresponding to simultaneous localisation to each corner of a triangular sample, even in the presence of defects. The fabrication method applied in this work exposes the advantage of using fs-laser writing for producing compact three-dimensional devices thus paving the way for technological applications by simulating novel higher-order states of matter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗