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Sonia Mazzucchi

Publications and source records attributed to Sonia Mazzucchi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Universal linear manipulation via routing and projective measurements

Multiport interferometers with $N$ ports are basic devices in both classical and quantum photonics. Ideally, they implement a linear unitary transformation between the input and output electric field vectors with $N$ components, each associated with a spatial mode of classical coherent light or a single photon. Standard designs for a fully reconfigurable universal multiport interferometer are given by the Reck or the Clements schemes. In this work, we introduce routing schemes to implement a generic unitary transformation on classical coherent light or single photons using linear or tree geometries via multiple projective measurements on a single detector with the minimum number of components. Then, we generalize this result to the case of any multi-photon state for scattershot boson sampling experiments with multi-routing schemes. Finally, we test the robustness of routing schemes compared to universal schemes with respect to losses and phase noise.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2025

A resource-efficient and noise-robust entanglement witness based on the swap test

Quantum entanglement is an essential resource for quantum technologies, and the controlled swap test provides a versatile tool for its detection and quantification. Here, we propose a SWAP-based entanglement witness that applies to arbitrary two-qubit states - both pure and mixed - and provides a lower bound on the concurrence. The method is resource-efficient, robust to noise, and platform-independent. As an example, we validate the approach on a room-temperature photonic chip, where the swap test is carried out using only linear and well-established integrated optical components. The robustness of the method against photonic-hardware noise is also analysed. Our results establish a simple and reliable tool for entanglement witnessing.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2025

Feynman path integrals on compact Lie groups with bi-invariant Riemannian metrics

In this work we consider a suitable generalization of the Feynman path integral on a specific class of Riemannian manifolds consisting of compact Lie groups with bi-invariant Riemannian metrics. The main tools we use are the Cartan development map, the notion of oscillatory integral, and the Chernoff approximation theorem. We prove that, for a class of functions of a dense subspace of the relevant Hilbert space, the Feynman map produces the solution of the Schrödinger equation, where the Laplace-Beltrami operator coincides with the second order Casimir operator of the group.

math-ph↗
arXiv2025

Chernoff solutions of the heat and the Schrödinger equation in the Heisenberg group

This paper investigates the application of the classical Chernoff's theorem to construct explicit solutions for the heat and Schrödinger equations on the Heisenberg group $\mathbb{H}^d$. Using semigroup approximation techniques, we obtain analytically tractable and numerically implementable representations of fundamental solutions. In particular, we establish a new connection between the heat equation and Brownian motion on $\mathbb{H}^d$ and provide a rigorous realization of the Feynman path integral for the Schrödinger equation. The study highlights the challenges posed by the noncommutative structure of the Heisenberg group and opens new directions for PDEs on sub-Riemannian manifolds.

math.AP↗
arXiv2025

Phase space analysis of finite and infinite dimensional Fresnel integrals

The full characterization of the class of Fresnel integrable functions is an open problem in functional analysis, with significant applications to mathematical physics (Feynman path integrals) and the analysis of the Schrödinger equation. In finite dimension, we prove the Fresnel integrability of functions in the Sjöstrand class $M^{\infty,1}$ - a family of continuous and bounded functions, locally enjoying the mild regularity of the Fourier transform of an integrable function. This result broadly extends the current knowledge on the Fresnel integrability of Fourier transforms of finite complex measures, and relies upon ideas and techniques of Gabor wave packet analysis. We also discuss the problem of designing infinite-dimensional extensions of this result, obtaining the first, non-trivial concrete realization of a general framework of projective functional extensions introduced by Albeverio and Mazzucchi. As an interesting byproduct, we obtain the exact $M^{\infty,1} \to L^\infty$ operator norm of the free Schrödinger evolution operator.

math.FA↗
arXiv2024

Phase space analysis of higher-order dispersive equations with point interactions

We investigate nonlinear, higher-order dispersive equations with measure (or even less regular) potentials and initial data with low regularity. Our approach is of distributional nature and relies on the phase space analysis (via Gabor wave packets) of the corresponding fundamental solution - in fact, locating the modulation/amalgam space regularity of such generalized Fresnel-type oscillatory functions is a problem of independent interest in harmonic analysis.

math.AP↗
arXiv2023

Histogram-less LiDAR through SPAD response linearization

We present a new method to acquire the 3D information from a SPAD-based direct-Time-of-Flight (d-ToF) imaging system which does not require the construction of a histogram of timestamps and can withstand high flux operation regime. The proposed acquisition scheme emulates the behavior of a SPAD detector with no distortion due to dead time, and extracts the Tof information by a simple average operation on the photon timestamps ensuring ease of integration in a dedicated sensor and scalability to large arrays. The method is validated through a comprehensive mathematical analysis, whose predictions are in agreement with a numerical Monte Carlo model of the problem. Finally, we show the validity of the predictions in a real d-ToF measurement setup under challenging background conditions well beyond the typical pile-up limit of 5% detection rate up to a distance of 3.8 m.

eess.SP↗
arXiv2023

Generation of quantum-certified random numbers using on-chip path-entangled single photons from an LED

Single-photon entanglement is a peculiar type of entanglement in which two or more degrees of freedom of a single photon are correlated quantum-mechanically. Here, we demonstrate a photonic integrated chip (PIC) able to generate and manipulate single-photon path-entangled states, using a commercial red LED as light source. A Bell test, in the Clauser, Horne, Shimony and Holt (CHSH) form, is performed to confirm the presence of entanglement, resulting in a maximum value of the CHSH correlation parameter equal to $2.605 \pm 0.004$. This allows us to use it as an integrated semi-device independent quantum random number generator able to produce certified random numbers. The certification scheme is based on a Bell's inequality violation and on a partial characterization of the experimental setup, without the need of introducing any further assumptions either on the input state or on the particular form of the measurement observables. In the end a min-entropy of $33\%$ is demonstrated.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2021

Chernoff approximations of Feller semigroups in Riemannian manifolds

Chernoff approximations of Feller semigroups and the associated diffusion processes in Riemannian manifolds are studied. The manifolds are assumed to be of bounded geometry, thus including all compact manifolds and also a wide range of non-compact manifolds. Sufficient conditions are established for a class of second order elliptic operators to generate a Feller semigroup on a (generally non-compact) manifold of bounded geometry. A construction of Chernoff approximations is presented for these Feller semigroups in terms of shift operators. This provides approximations of solutions to initial value problems for parabolic equations with variable coefficients on the manifold. It also yields weak convergence of a sequence of random walks on the manifolds to the diffusion processes associated with the elliptic generator. For parallelizable manifolds this result is applied in particular to the representation of Brownian motion on the manifolds as limits of the corresponding random walks.

math.FA↗
arXiv2021

Certified quantum random number generator based on single-photon entanglement

Quantum entanglement represents an ideal resource to guarantee the security of random numbers employed in many scientific and cryptographic applications. However, entanglement-based certified random number generators are particularly challenging to implement. Here, we demonstrate a new certified quantum random number generator based on momentum-polarization entangled single photon states. The use of single photon entanglement allows employing an attenuated laser source and a simple setup where only linear optical components are utilized. For the latter, a semi-device-independent modeling of the photonic quantum random number generator is developed, which certifies a minimum entropy of $(2.5\pm 0.5)\%$, corresponding to a generation rate of 4.4 kHz. At the expenses of a higher level of trust in the system, the certified minimum entropy can be increased to $(30.1 \pm0.5 )\%$, implying a generation rate of 52.7 kHz. Our results show that a simple optical implementation combined with an accurate modeling provide an entanglement-based high-security quantum random number generator using imperfect devices.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2021

Entropy certification of a realistic QRNG based on single-particle entanglement

In single-particle entanglement (SPE) two degrees of freedom of a single particle are entangled. SPE is a resource that can be exploited both in quantum communication protocols and in experimental tests of noncontextuality based on the Kochen-Specker theorem. SPE can be certified via a test of quantum contextuality based on Bell inequalities. Experiments of Bell-like inequality violation by single particle entangled systems may be affected by an analogue of the locality loophole in this context, due to the presence of unavoidable non-idealities in the experimental devices which actually produce unwanted correlations between the two observables that are simultaneously measured. This issue is tackled here by quantitatively analyzing the behaviour of realistic devices in SPE experiments with photons. In particular, we show how it is possible to provide a semi-device independent randomness certification of realistic quantum random number generators based on Bell inequality violation by SPE states of photons. The analysis is further enlarged to encompass, with a Markovian model, memory effects due to dead time, dark counts and afterpulsing affecting single photon detectors, in particular when not dealing with coincidence measurements. An unbiased estimator is also proposed for quantum transition probabilities out of the collection of experimental data.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2020

An operational construction of the sum of two non-commuting observables in quantum theory and related constructions

The existence of a real linear-space structure on the set of observables of a quantum system -- i.e., the requirement that the linear combination of two generally non-commuting observables $A,B$ is an observable as well -- is a fundamental postulate of the quantum theory yet before introducing any structure of algebra. However, it is by no means clear how to choose the measuring instrument of the composed observable $aA+bB$ ($a,b\in \mathbb{R}$) if such measuring instruments are given for the addends observables $A$ and $B$ when they are incompatible observables. A mathematical version of this dilemma is how to construct the spectral measure of $f(aA+bB)$ out of the spectral measures of $A$ and $B$. We present such a construction with a formula which is valid for generally unbounded selfadjoint operators $A$ and $B$, whose spectral measures may not commute, and a wide class of functions $f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{C}$. We prove that, in the bounded case the Jordan product of $A$ and $B$ can be constructed with the same procedure out of the spectral measures of $A$ and $B$. The formula turns out to have an interesting operational interpretation and, in particular cases, a nice interplay with the theory of Feynman path integration and the Feynman-Kac formula.

math-ph↗
arXiv2019

A rigorous mathematical construction of Feynman path integrals for the Schrödinger equation with magnetic field

A Feynman path integral formula for the Schrödinger equation with magnetic field is rigorously mathematically realized in terms of infinite dimensional oscillatory integrals. We show (by the example of a linear vector potential) that the requirement of the independence of the integral on the approximation procedure forces the introduction of a counterterm to be added to the classical action functional. This provides a natural explanation for the appearance of a Stratonovich integral in the path integral formula for both the Schrödinger and heat equation with magnetic field.

math-ph↗
arXiv2017

Probabilistic representation formula for the solution of fractional high order heat-type equations

We propose a probabilistic construction for the solution of a general class of fractional high order heat-type equations in the one-dimensional case, by using a sequence of random walks in the complex plane with a suitable scaling. A time change governed by a class of subordinated processes allows to handle the fractional part of the derivative in space. We first consider evolution equations with space fractional derivatives of any order, and later we show the extension to equations with time fractional derivative (in the sense of Caputo derivative) of order $α\in (0,1)$.

math.PR↗
arXiv2014

Peano on definition of surface area

In this paper we investigate the evolution of the concept of area in Peano's works, taking into account the main role played by Grassmann's geometric-vector calculus and Peano's theory on derivative of measures. Geometric (1887) and bi-vectorial (1888) Peano's approaches to surface area mark the development of this topic during the first half of the last century. In the sequel we will present some significative contributions on surface area that are inspired and/or closely related to Peano's definition.

math.HO↗