arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Tim Spiller.
A recently published patent (https://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-ipsum/Case/PublicationNumber/GB2590064) has claimed the development of a novel quantum key distribution protocol purporting to achieve long-range quantum security without trusted nodes and without use of quantum repeaters. Here we present a straightforward analysis of this claim, and reach the conclusion that it is largely unfounded.
We report a large area photo-diode based homodyne detector for free-space quantum coherent communication. The detector's performance is studied in terms of detection bandwidth and electronic noise for shot-noise limited quantum signal detection. Using large area photo-diodes increases signal collection efficiency from turbulent atmospheric channels, in comparison with typical fibre based free-space homodyne detectors. Under identical atmospheric turbulence and receiver aperture conditions, our homodyne detector based on 1mm diameter photo-diode experiences 0dB loss due to turbulence while a 10um fibre based detector experiences 13.5dB of signal loss over a 700km free-space link, at 90 degree elevation angle.
Quantum entanglement is essential to the development of quantum computation, communications, and technology. The controlled SWAP test, widely used for state comparison, can be adapted to an efficient and useful test for entanglement of a pure state. Here we show that the test can evidence the presence of entanglement (and further, genuine n-qubit entanglement), can distinguish entanglement classes, and that the concurrence of a two-qubit state is related to the test's output probabilities. We also propose a multipartite measure of entanglement that acts similarly for n-qubit states. The number of copies required to detect entanglement decreases for larger systems, to four on average for many (n>8) qubits for maximally entangled states. For non-maximally entangled states, the average number of copies of the test state required to detect entanglement increases with decreasing entanglement. Furthermore, the results are robust to second order when typical small errors are introduced to the state under investigation.
Advances in highly sensitive detection techniques for classical coherent communication systems have reduced the received signal power requirements to a few photons per bit. At this level one can take advantage of the quantum noise to create secure communication, using continuous variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD). In this work therefore we embed CV-QKD signals within classical signals and transmit classical data and secure keys simultaneously over 25km of optical fibre. This is achieved by using a novel coherent displacement state generator, which has the potential for being used in a wide range of quantum optical experiments. This approach removes the need for separate channels for quantum communication systems and allows reduced system bandwidth for a given communications specification. This demonstration therefore demonstrates a way of implementing direct quantum physical layer security within a conventional classical communications system, offering a major advance in term of practical and low cost implementation.
We propose a protected qubit which is `dual' to a suggestion of a superconducting current mirror qubit [A. Kitaev, arXiv:0609441 (2006)]. Our construction can be regarded as the magnetic analogue of Kitaev's proposal: it inherits the intrinsic fault-tolerance of the current mirror qubit, but may perform better than it in the laboratory, since magnetic noise is generally less of a problem than electric noise. We adapt the scheme for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation proposed by Kitaev to our construction.
We study the effects of continuous measurement of the field mode during the collapse and revival of spin Schr\"{o}dinger cat states in the Tavis-Cummings model of N qubits (two-level quantum systems) coupled to a field mode. We show that a compromise between relatively weak and relatively strong continuous measurement will not completely destroy the collapse and revival dynamics while still providing enough signal-to-noise resolution to identify the signatures of the process in the measurement record. This type of measurement would in principle allow the verification of the occurrence of the collapse and revival of a spin Schr\"{o}dinger cat state.
One of the main proposed tools to transfer information in a quantum computational context are spin chains. While spin chains have shown to be convenient and reliable, it has to be expected that, as with any implementation of a physical system, they will be subject to various errors and perturbative factors. In this work we consider the transfer of entangled as well as unentangled states to investigate the effects of various errors, paying particular attention to unwanted long-range interactions.
We discuss what can be inferred from measurements on one- and two-qubit systems using a single measurement basis at various times. We show that, given reasonable physical assumptions, carrying out such measurements at quarter-period intervals is enough to demonstrate coherent oscillations of one or two qubits between the relevant measurement basis states. One can thus infer from such measurements alone that an approximately equal superposition of two measurement basis states has been created in a coherent oscillation experiment. Similarly, one can infer that a near maximally entangled state of two qubits has been created in an experiment involving a putative SWAP gate. These results apply even if the relevant quantum systems are only approximate qubits. We discuss applications to fundamental quantum physics experiments and quantum information processing investigations.
It has recently been shown that there are efficient algorithms for quantum computers to solve certain problems, such as prime factorization, which are intractable to date on classical computers. The chances for practical implementation, however, are limited by decoherence, in which the effect of an external environment causes random errors in the quantum calculation. To combat this problem, quantum error correction schemes have been proposed, in which a single quantum bit (qubit) is ``encoded'' as a state of some larger number of qubits, chosen to resist particular types of errors. Most such schemes are vulnerable, however, to errors in the encoding and decoding itself. We examine two such schemes, in which a single qubit is encoded in a state of $n$ qubits while subject to dephasing or to arbitrary isotropic noise. Using both analytical and numerical calculations, we argue that error correction remains beneficial in the presence of weak noise, and that there is an optimal time between error correction steps, determined by the strength of the interaction with the environment and the parameters set by the encoding.