arXiv subjects

Tomasz Paterek

Publications and source records attributed to Tomasz Paterek.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Probing the Strong Equivalence Principle through the External Field Effect. How Do Two Masses Fall?

Despite compelling evidence, the absence of a confirmed dark matter particle has sustained interest in modified gravity as an alternative explanation for the observed phenomenology. One prominent example is Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), which predicts that the internal dynamics of a system depends on the external gravitational field in which it is embedded. This so-called External Field Effect violates the strong equivalence principle (SEP) and is absent in canonical mechanics, making it a promising avenue for experimental tests of modified gravity. Motivated by this, we investigate the dynamics of two spherical masses arranged such that their symmetry axis is either parallel or orthogonal to the local gravitational field. We derive solutions describing the internal dynamics of such systems in both strong uniform and radial external fields. In particular, for a radial external field, if the non-relativistic gravitational field is free to have non-vanishing curl, we find that the mutual attraction of the masses in the perpendicular configuration is not strictly aligned with their symmetry axis. It acquires a small transverse component, even when the external gravitational field is everywhere balanced by non-gravitational forces. Using these solutions, we determine the spatial and temporal sensitivities required to distinguish the two configurations and systematically assess experimentally relevant effects, including air drag, object size, and surface interactions. As an example, detecting the prediction of the simple MOND interpolating function requires a spatial sensitivity of order 0.1 fm for sub-millimeter masses evolving over approximately 30 minutes. Such times may be achievable with levitated particles or in space-based environments. Experiments operating at lower resolutions are also interesting as independent tests of SEP and place constraints on modified-gravity theories.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Gravitational Entanglement in Optomechanics: Distinguishing Classical and Quantum Models

Observation of gravitationally induced quantum entanglement is often interpreted as a direct evidence of non-classical gravity. While the form and the degree of non-classicality have been rigorously studied from a foundational perspective, classical models reproducing experimental signatures of such entanglement remain underexplored. Motivated by the experimental simplicity, nearly all existing optomechanical approaches assume Gaussian initial states, and due to the weakness of gravity the quantum Newtonian potential is truncated at the second order. However, this regime admits a classical description in terms of the Wigner-Weyl representation, including features typically associated with quantum entanglement. A clear distinction between classical and quantum predictions emerges only beyond this setting. We comprehensively analyze the possibilities and provide operational witnesses for detection of non-classicality via Wigner negativity, and detection of non-quantumness via negativity of the Weyl operator. Our results demonstrate that the experimental requirements on certifying gravitational entanglement are more stringent than previously anticipated.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

General quantum backflow in realistic wave packets

Quantum backflow is a counterintuitive phenomenon in which the probability density of a quantum particle propagates opposite to its momentum. Experimental observation of backflow has remained elusive due to two main challenges: (i) the effect is intrinsically small, with less than 4% of the probability able to flow backward, and (ii) it requires wave packets with a well-defined momentum direction, which are difficult both to prepare and to verify under realistic, noisy conditions. Here, we overcome these challenges by introducing a general formulation of quantum backflow applicable to arbitrary momentum distributions. The framework recovers the standard backflow limit for unidirectional states and identifies general backflow as probability flow exceeding that predicted by the particle's momentum distribution alone. We show that this excess can reach nearly 13%, surpassing the standard backflow bound by more than a factor of three. Furthermore, we extend the framework to the closely related phenomenon of quantum reentry, provide explicit examples of quantum states exhibiting large general backflow and reentry, and discuss the foundational implications of these nonclassical effects. Our results open a pathway toward the experimental observation of quantum backflow in realistic settings.

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arXiv2025

Experimental demonstration of enhanced quantum tomography via quantum reservoir processing

Quantum machine learning is a rapidly advancing discipline that leverages the features of quantum mechanics to enhance the performance of computational tasks. Quantum reservoir processing, which allows efficient optimization of a single output layer without precise control over the quantum system, stands out as one of the most versatile and practical quantum machine learning techniques. Here we experimentally demonstrate a quantum reservoir processing approach for continuous-variable state reconstruction on a bosonic circuit quantum electrodynamics platform. The scheme learns the true dynamical process through a minimum set of measurement outcomes of a known set of initial states. We show that the map learnt this way achieves high reconstruction fidelity for several test states, offering significantly enhanced performance over using a map calculated based on an idealised model of the system. This is due to a key feature of reservoir processing which accurately accounts for physical non-idealities such as decoherence, spurious dynamics, and systematic errors. Our results present a valuable tool for robust bosonic state and process reconstruction, concretely demonstrating the power of quantum reservoir processing in enhancing real-world applications.

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arXiv2024

Unmasking the Polygamous Nature of Quantum Nonlocality

Quantum mechanics imposes limits on the statistics of certain observables. Perhaps the most famous example is the uncertainty principle. Similar trade-offs also exist for the simultaneous violation of multiple Bell inequalities. In the simplest case of three observers, it has been shown that if two observers violate a Bell inequality then none of them can violate any Bell inequality with the third observer, a property called monogamy of Bell violations. Forms of Bell monogamy have been linked to the no-signalling principle and the inability of simultaneous violations of all inequalities is regarded as their fundamental property. Here we show that the Bell monogamy does not hold universally and that in fact the only monogamous situation exists for only three observers. Consequently, the nature of quantum nonlocality is truly polygamous. We present a systematic methodology for identifying quantum states, measurements and tight Bell inequalities that do not obey the monogamy principle for any number of more than three observers. The identified polygamous inequalities enable any subset of $(N-1)$ observers to reveal nonlocality, which is also shown experimentally by measuring Bell-type correlations of six-photon Dicke states. Our findings may be exploited for multiparty quantum key distribution as well as simultaneous self-testing of multiple nodes in quantum networks.

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arXiv2024

Correlations and signaling in the Schrödinger-Newton model

The Schrödinger--Newton model is a semi-classical theory in which, in addition to mutual attraction, massive quantum particles interact with their own gravitational fields. While there are many studies on the phenomenology of single particles, correlation dynamics in multipartite systems is largely unexplored. Here, we show that the Schrödinger--Newton interactions preserve the product form of the initial state of a many-body system, yet on average agreeing with classical mechanics of continuous mass distributions. This leads to a simple test of the model, based on verifying bipartite gravitational evolution towards non-product states. We show using standard quantum mechanics that, with currently accessible single-particle parameters, two masses released from harmonic traps get correlated well before any observable entanglement is accumulated. Therefore, the Schrödinger--Newton model can be tested with setups aimed at observation of gravitational entanglement with significantly relaxed requirements on coherence time. We also present a mixed-state extension of the model that avoids superluminal signaling.

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arXiv2024

Analysing quantum systems with randomised measurements

Measurements with randomly chosen settings determine many important properties of quantum states without the need for a shared reference frame or calibration. They naturally emerge in the context of quantum communication and quantum computing when dealing with noisy environments, and allow the estimation of properties of complex quantum systems in an easy and efficient manner. In this review, we present the advancements made in utilising randomised measurements in various scenarios of quantum information science. We describe how to detect and characterise different forms of entanglement, including genuine multipartite entanglement and bound entanglement. Bell inequalities are discussed to be typically violated even with randomised measurements, especially for a growing number of particles and settings. Furthermore, we also present an overview on the estimation of non-linear functions of quantum states and shadow tomography from randomised measurements. Throughout the review, we complement the description of theoretical ideas by explaining key experiments.

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arXiv2024

Probing Modified Gravity with Entanglement of Microspheres

While a wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological phenomena suggest the presence of Dark Matter, all evidence remains via its gravitational effect on the known matter. As such, it is conceivable that this evidence could be explained by a modification to gravitation and/or concepts of inertia. Various formulations of modified gravity exist, each giving rise to several non-canonical outcomes. This motivates us to propose an experiment searching for departures from (quantum) Newtonian predictions in a bipartite setting with gravitational accelerations $\lesssim 10^{-10}$ m/s$^2$, i.e., where the effective force needs to be stronger than Newtonian to account for the Dark Matter effects. Since quantum particles naturally source weak gravitation, their non-relativistic dynamics offers opportunities to test this small acceleration regime. We show that two nearby mesoscopic quantum masses accumulate significantly larger entanglement in modified gravity models, such as the Modified Newtonian Dynamics. Our calculations include Casimir-Polder forces as well as tidal effects next to the surface of the earth, and confirm that entanglement is observable within the limits imposed by environmental decoherence. We demonstrate how the temperature can be fine-tuned such that modified gravity is certified simply by witnessing the entanglement generated from uncorrelated thermal states, eliminating the need for precise noise characterization. Overall, the required parameters could be realized in a tabletop experiment.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Quantitative non-classicality of mediated interactions

In plethora of physical situations one can distinguish a mediator -- a system that couples other, non-interacting systems. Often the mediator itself is not directly accessible to experimentation, yet it is interesting and sometimes crucial to understand if it admits non-classical properties. An example of this sort that recently enjoys considerable attention are two quantum masses coupled via gravitational field. It has been argued that the gain of quantum entanglement between the masses indicates non-classicality of the states of the whole tripartite system. Here, we focus on non-classical properties of the involved interactions rather than the states. We derive inequalities whose violation indicates non-commutativity and non-decomposability (open system generalisation of non-commuting unitaries) of interactions through the mediators. The derivations are based on properties of general quantum formalism and make minimalistic assumptions about the studied systems, in particular the interactions can remain uncharacterised throughout the assessment. Furthermore, we also present conditions that solely use correlations between the coupled systems, excluding the need to measure the mediator. Next, we show that the amount of violation places a lower bound on suitably defined degree of non-decomposability. This makes the methods quantitative and at the same time experiment ready. We give applications of these techniques in two different fields: for detecting non-classicality of gravitational interaction and in bounding the Trotter error in quantum simulations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Valid and efficient entanglement verification with finite copies of a quantum state

Detecting entanglement in multipartite quantum states is an inherently probabilistic process, typically with a few measured samples. The level of confidence in entanglement detection quantifies the scheme's validity via the probability that the signal comes from a separable state, offering a meaningful figure of merit for big datasets. Yet, with limited samples, avoiding experimental data misinterpretations requires considering not only the probabilities concerning separable states but also the probability that the signal came from an entangled state, i.e. the detection scheme's efficiency. We demonstrate this explicitly and apply a general method to optimize both the validity and the efficiency in small data sets providing examples using at most 20 state copies. The method is based on an analytical model of finite statistics effects on correlation functions which takes into account both a Frequentist as well as a Bayesian approach and is applicable to arbitrary entanglement witnesses.

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arXiv2023

The fastest generation of multipartite entanglement with natural interactions

Natural interactions among multiple quantum objects are fundamentally composed of two-body terms only. In contradistinction, single global unitaries that generate highly entangled states typically arise from Hamiltonians that couple multiple individual subsystems simultaneously. Here, we study the time to produce strongly nonclassical multipartite correlations with a single unitary generated by the natural interactions. We restrict the symmetry of two-body interactions to match the symmetry of the target states and focus on the fastest generation of multipartite entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ), W, Dicke and absolutely maximally entangled (AME) states for up to seven qubits. These results are obtained by constraining the energy in the system and accordingly can be seen as state-dependent quantum speed limits for symmetry-adjusted natural interactions. They give rise to a counter-intuitive effect where the creation of particular entangled states with an increasing number of particles does not require more time. The methods used rely on extensive numerical simulations and analytical estimations.

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arXiv2023

Sufficient conditions for quantum advantage in random access code protocols with two-qubit states

Random access code (RAC) is an important communication protocol to obtain information about a randomly specified substring of an n-bit string, while only having limited information about the n-bit string. Quantum RACs usually utilise either communication of quantum bits or a shared-in-advance quantum state used in conjunction with classical communication. Here we consider the latter version of the quantum protocols under the constraint of single-bit communication and with shared arbitrary state of two qubits. Taking the worst-case success probability as the figure of merit, we demonstrate that any state with invertible correlation matrix can be used to outperform the best classical RAC for n=3. We derive an additional condition sufficient to beat the best classical performance in the case of n=2. In particular, separable states turn out to be a useful resource behind the quantum advantage for n=2,3. For $n \geq 4$ RACs assisted with a single copy of a quantum state do not outperform the classical RACs.

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arXiv2023

Continuous-Variable Entanglement through Central Forces: Application to Gravity between Quantum Masses

We describe a complete method for a precise study of gravitational interaction between two nearby quantum masses. Since the displacements of these masses are much smaller than the initial separation between their centers, the displacement-to-separation ratio is a natural parameter in which the gravitational potential can be expanded. We show that entanglement in such experiments is sensitive to initial relative momentum only when the system evolves into non-Gaussian states, i.e., when the potential is expanded at least up to the cubic term. A pivotal role of force gradient as the dominant contributor to position-momentum correlations is demonstrated. We establish a closed-form expression for the entanglement gain, which shows that the contribution from the cubic term is proportional to momentum and from the quartic term is proportional to momentum squared. From a quantum information perspective, the results find applications as a momentum witness of non-Gaussian entanglement. Our methods are versatile and apply to any number of central interactions expanded to any order.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Generalised Uncertainty Relations from Finite-Accuracy Measurements

In this short note we show how the Generalised Uncertainty Principle (GUP) and the Extended Uncertainty Principle (EUP), two of the most common generalised uncertainty relations proposed in the quantum gravity literature, can be derived within the context of canonical quantum theory, without the need for modified commutation relations. A GUP-type relation naturally emerges when the standard position operator is replaced by an appropriate Positive Operator Valued Measure (POVM), representing a finite-accuracy measurement that localises the quantum wave packet to within a spatial region $σ_g > 0$. This length scale is the standard deviation of the envelope function, $g$, that defines the POVM elements. Similarly, an EUP-type relation emerges when the standard momentum operator is replaced by a POVM that localises the wave packet to within a region $\tildeσ_g > 0$ in momentum space. The usual GUP and EUP are recovered by setting $σ_g \simeq \sqrt{\hbar G/c^3}$, the Planck length, and $\tildeσ_g \simeq \hbar\sqrt{Λ/3}$, where $Λ$ is the cosmological constant. Crucially, the canonical Hamiltonian and commutation relations, and, hence, the canonical Schr{\" o}dinger and Heisenberg equations, remain unchanged. This demonstrates that GUP and EUP phenomenology can be obtained without modified commutators, which are known to lead to various pathologies, including violation of the equivalence principle, violation of Lorentz invariance in the relativistic limit, the reference frame-dependence of the `minimum' length, and the so-called soccer ball problem for multi-particle states.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Uncertainty of Feed Forward Neural Networks Recognizing Quantum Contextuality

The usual figure of merit characterizing the performance of neural networks applied to problems in the quantum domain is their accuracy, being the probability of a correct answer on a previously unseen input. Here we append this parameter with the uncertainty of the prediction, characterizing the degree of confidence in the answer. A powerful technique for estimating both the accuracy and the uncertainty is provided by Bayesian neural networks (BNNs). We first give simple illustrative examples of advantages brought forward by BNNs, out of which we wish to highlight their ability of reliable uncertainty estimation even after training with biased data sets. Then we apply BNNs to the problem of recognition of quantum contextuality which shows that the uncertainty itself is an independent parameter identifying the chance of misclassification of contextuality.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantum neuromorphic approach to efficient sensing of gravity-induced entanglement

The detection of entanglement provides a definitive proof of quantumness. Its ascertainment might be challenging for hot or macroscopic objects, where entanglement is typically weak, but nevertheless present. Here we propose a platform for measuring entanglement by connecting the objects of interest to an uncontrolled quantum network, whose emission (readout) is trained to learn and sense the entanglement of the former. First, we demonstrate the platform and its features with generic quantum systems. As the network effectively learns to recognise quantum states, it is possible to sense the amount of entanglement after training with only non-entangled states. Furthermore, by taking into account measurement errors, we demonstrate entanglement sensing with precision that scales beyond the standard quantum limit and outperforms measurements performed directly on the objects. Finally, we utilise our platform for sensing gravity-induced entanglement between two masses and predict an improvement of two orders of magnitude in the precision of entanglement estimation compared to existing techniques.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Correlations and energy in mediated dynamics

The minimum time required for a quantum system to evolve to a distinguishable state is set by the quantum speed limit, and consequently influences the change of quantum correlations and other physical properties. Here we study the time required to maximally entangle two principal systems interacting either directly or via a mediating ancillary system, under the same energy constraints. The direct interactions are proved to provide the fastest way to entangle the principal systems, but it turns out that there exist mediated dynamics that are just as fast. We show that this can only happen if the mediator is initially correlated with the principal systems. These correlations can be fully classical and can remain classical during the entangling process. The final message is that correlations save energy: one has to supply extra energy if maximal entanglement across the principal systems is to be obtained as fast as with an initially correlated mediator.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Hierarchy of correlation quantifiers comparable to negativity

Quantum systems generally exhibit different kinds of correlations. In order to compare them on equal footing, one uses the so-called distance-based approach where different types of correlations are captured by the distance to different sets of states. However, these quantifiers are usually hard to compute as their definition involves optimization aiming to find the closest states within the set. On the other hand, negativity is one of the few computable entanglement monotones, but its comparison with other correlations required further justification. Here we place negativity as part of a family of correlation measures that has a distance-based construction. We introduce a suitable distance, discuss the emerging measures and their applications, and compare them to relative entropy-based correlation quantifiers. This work is a step towards correlation measures that are simultaneously comparable and computable.

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