arXiv subjects

Xiao-Feng Qian

Publications and source records attributed to Xiao-Feng Qian.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Wave-particle duality ellipse and application in quantum imaging with undetected photons

We present a systematic framework to quantify the interplay between coherence and wave-particle duality in generic two-path interference systems. Our analysis reveals a closed-form duality ellipse (DE) equality, that rigorously unifies visibility (a traditional waveness measure) and predictability (a particleness measure) with degree of coherence, providing a complete mathematical embodiment of Bohr's complementarity principle. Extending this framework to quantum imaging with undetected photons (QIUP), where both path information and photon interference are inherently linked to spatial object reconstruction, we establish an imaging duality ellipse (IDE) that directly connects wave-particle duality to the object's transmittance profile. This relation enables object characterization through duality measurements alone and remains robust against experimental imperfections such as decoherence and misalignment. Our results advance the fundamental understanding of quantum duality while offering a practical toolkit for optimizing coherence-driven quantum technologies, from imaging to sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Photonic Energy-Coherence Theorem and Experimental Validations

Wave-particle duality, intertwining two inherently contradictory properties of quantum systems, remains one of the most conceptually profound aspects of quantum mechanics. By using the concept of energy capacity, the ability of a quantum system to store and extract energy, we derive a device-independent uncertainty relation for wave-particle duality. This relation is shown to be independent of both the representation space and the measurement basis of the quantum system. Furthermore, we experimentally validate this wave-particle duality relation using a photon-based platform.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Breaking the Diffraction Barrier for Passive Sources: Parameter-Decoupled Superresolution Assisted by Physics-Informed Machine Learning

We present a parameter-decoupled superresolution framework for estimating sub-wavelength separations of passive two-point sources without requiring prior knowledge or control of the source. Our theoretical foundation circumvents the need to estimate multiple challenging parameters such as partial coherence, brightness imbalance, random relative phase, and photon statistics. A physics-informed machine learning (ML) model (trained with a standard desktop workstation), synergistically integrating this theory, further addresses practical imperfections including background noise, photon loss, and centroid/orientation misalignment. The integrated parameter-decoupling superresolution method achieves resolution 14 and more times below the diffraction limit (corresponding to ~ 13.5 nm in optical microscopy) on experimentally generated realistic images with >82% fidelity, performance rivaling state-of-the-art techniques for actively controllable sources. Critically, our method's robustness against source parameter variability and source-independent noises enables potential applications in realistic scenarios where source control is infeasible, such as astrophysical imaging, live-cell microscopy, and quantum metrology. This work bridges a critical gap between theoretical superresolution limits and practical implementations for passive systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Optically-mediated remote entanglement generation in magnon-cavity systems

We study the remote entanglement generation between macroscopic microwave magnon modes in a coupled cavity system. The cavities are connected via an optical fiber, which necessitates the use of a frequency conversion inside the cavity. The converter may be implemented via a rare-earth doped crystal acting like an effective three-level system. The entanglement dynamics of the system is analytically studied, and an active optimal control method is also proposed where one may generate maximally entangled Bell states on demand with a given evolution time. The system dynamics and its control have also been studied in a generic non-Markovian open system framework, and the generated entanglement is found to be robust against environmental noises.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Entanglement of a pair of quantum emitters via continuous fluorescence measurements: a tutorial

We discuss recent developments in measurement protocols that generate quantum entanglement between two remote qubits, focusing on the theory of joint continuous detection of their spontaneous emission. We consider a device geometry similar to that used in well-known Bell-state measurements, which we analyze using a conceptually transparent model of stochastic quantum trajectories; we use this to review photodetection, the most straightforward case, and then generalize to the diffusive trajectories from homodyne and heterodyne detection as well. Such quadrature measurement schemes are a realistic two-qubit extension of existing circuit-QED experiments which obtain quantum trajectories by homodyning or heterodyning a superconducting qubit's spontaneous emission, or an adaptation of existing optical measurement schemes to obtain jump trajectories from emitters. We mention key results, presented from within a single theoretical framework, and draw connections to concepts in the wider literature on entanglement generation by measurement (such as path information erasure and entanglement swapping). The photon which-path information acquisition, and therefore the two-qubit entanglement yield, is tunable under the homodyne detection scheme we discuss, at best generating equivalent average entanglement dynamics as in the comparable photodetection case. In addition to deriving this known equivalence, we extend past analyses in our characterization of the measurement dynamics: We include derivations of bounds on the fastest possible evolution towards a Bell state under joint homodyne measurement dynamics, and characterize the maximal entanglement yield possible using inefficient (lossy) measurements.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Nonlocal magnon entanglement generation in coupled hybrid cavity systems

We investigate dynamical generation of macroscopic nonlocal entanglements between two remote massive magnon-superconducting-circuit hybrid systems. Two fiber-coupled microwave cavities are employed to serve as an interaction channel connecting two sets of macroscopic hybrid units each containing a magnon (hosted by a Yttrium-Iron-Garnet sphere) and a superconducting-circuit qubit. Surprisingly, it is found that stronger coupling does not necessarily mean faster entanglement generation. The proposed hybrid system allows the existence of an optimal fiber coupling strength that requests the shortest amount of time to generate a systematic maximal entanglement. Our theoretical results are shown to be within the scope of specific parameters that can be achieved with current technology. The noise effects on the implementation of systems are also treated in a general environment suggesting the robustness of entanglement generation. Our discrete-variable qubit-like entanglement theory of magnons may lead to direct applications in various quantum information tasks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Diffusive entanglement generation by continuous homodyne monitoring of spontaneous emission

We consider protocols to generate quantum entanglement between two remote qubits, through joint time-continuous detection of their spontaneous emission. We demonstrate that schemes based on homodyne detection, leading to diffusive quantum trajectories, lead to identical average entanglement yield as comparable photodetection strategies; this is despite substantial differences in the two-qubit state dynamics between these schemes, which we explore in detail. The ability to use different measurements to achieve the same ends may be of practical significance; the less-well-known diffusive scheme appears far more feasible on superconducting qubit platforms in the near term.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Entanglement Polygon Inequality in Qubit Systems

We prove a set of tight entanglement inequalities for arbitrary $N$-qubit pure states. By focusing on all bi-partite marginal entanglements between each single qubit and its remaining partners, we show that the inequalities provide an upper bound for each marginal entanglement, while the known monogamy relation establishes the lower bound. The restrictions and sharing properties associated with the inequalities are further analyzed with a geometric polytope approach, and examples of three-qubit GHZ-class and W-class entangled states are presented to illustrate the results.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Emerging Connections: Quantum and Classical Optics

Quantum optics and classical optics have coexisted for nearly a century as two distinct, self-consistent descriptions of light. What influences there were between the two domains all tended to go in one direction, as concepts from classical optics were incorporated into quantum theory's early development. But it's becoming increasingly clear that a significant quantum presence exists in classical territory-and, in particular, that the quintessential quantum attribute, entanglement, can be seen, studied and exploited in classical optics. This blurring of the classical-quantum boundary has opened up a potential new direction for frontier work in optics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Center-of-mass interpretation for bipartite purity analysis of $N$-party entanglement

We provide a graphical description of the entanglement of pure-state multiparty systems based on an analogy between a bipartite purity analysis and the centroid of a collection of point masses. This description applies to quantum systems with $N$ parties, each with an arbitrary number of (discrete) states. The case of $N$ qubits is highlighted for simplicity. This geometric description illustrates some of the restrictions in the form of inequalities that apply to entanglement in multiparty systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Coherence Constraints and the Last Hidden Optical Coherence

We have discovered a new domain of optical coherence, and show that it is the third and last member of a previously unreported fundamental triad of coherences. These are unified by our derivation of a parallel triad of coherence constraints that take the form of complementarity relations. We have been able to enter this new coherence domain experimentally and we describe the novel tomographic approach devised for that purpose.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Quantifying Quantum Resource Sharing

Entanglement is a key resource of quantum science for tasks that require it to be shared among participants. Within atomic, condensed matter and photonic many-body systems the distribution and sharing of entanglement is of particular importance for information processing by progressively larger and larger quantum networks. Here we report a singly-bipartitioned qubit entanglement inequality that applies to any N-party qubit pure state and is completely tight. It provides the first prescription for a direct calculation of the amount of entanglement sharing that is possible among N qubit parties. A geometric representation of the measure is easily visualized via polytopes within entanglement hypercubes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Shifting the Quantum-Classical Boundary: Theory and Experiment for Statistically Classical Optical Fields

The growing recognition that entanglement is not exclusively a quantum property, and does not even originate with Schrödinger's famous remark about it [Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 31, 555 (1935)], prompts examination of its role in marking the quantum-classical boundary. We have done this by subjecting correlations of classical optical fields to new Bell-analysis experiments, and report here values of the Bell parameter greater than ${\cal B} = 2.54$. This is many standard deviations outside the limit ${\cal B} = 2$ established by the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality [Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 880 (1969)], in agreement with our theoretical classical prediction, and not far from the Tsirelson limit ${\cal B} = 2.828...$. These results cast a new light on the standard quantum-classical boundary description, and suggest a reinterpretation of it.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Pre-management of Disentanglement

We define threshold disentanglement (TD) as the level above which entanglement must be maintained for later use and calculate the values of quantum system parameters at $t=0$ that will ensure that the threshold is not crossed in a specified time. An important issue is the possibility of non-smooth, typically non-exponential, decay of entanglement into the state of complete disentanglement (CD). Given a specified operation time $τ$, we determine phase diagrams showing entanglement preservation during the evolution of a generic two-qubit mixed state as a function of selected initial parameters such as concurrence and excitation probabilities. In other words, disentanglement can be pre-managed through these parameters. Three common relaxation processes - amplitude, phase and depolarization - are considered.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Initial Conditions and Entanglement Sudden Death

We report results bearing on the behavior of non-local decoherence and its potential for being managed or even controlled. The decoherence process known as entanglement sudden death (ESD) can drive prepared entanglement to zero at the same time that local coherences and fidelity remain non-zero. For a generic ESD-susceptible Bell superposition state, we provide rules restricting the occurrence and timing of ESD, amounting to management tools over a continuous variation of initial conditions. These depend on only three parameters: initial purity, entanglement and excitation. Knowledge or control of initial phases is not needed.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

Experimental investigation of dynamical invariants in bipartite entanglement

The non-conservation of entanglement, when two or more particles interact, sets it apart from other dynamical quantities like energy and momentum. It does not allow the interpretation of the subtle dynamics of entanglement as a flow of this quantity between the constituents of the system. Here we show that adding a third party to a two-particle system may lead to a conservation law that relates the quantities characterizing the bipartite entanglement between each of the parties and the other two. We provide an experimental demonstration of this idea using entangled photons, and generalize it to N-partite GHZ states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Nonlinear Constants of Quantum Information in Reversible and Irreversible Amplitude Flows

We report an approach to quantum open system dynamics that leads to novel nonlinear constant relations governing information flow among the participants. Our treatment is for mixed state systems entangled in a pure state fashion with an unspecified party that was involved in preparing the system for an experimental test, but no longer interacts after $t=0$. Evolution due to subsequent interaction with another party is treated as an amplitude flow channel and uses Schmidt-type bipartite decomposition of the evolving state. We illustrate this with three examples, including both reversible and irreversible information flows, and give formulas for the new nonlinear constraints in each case.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Relation between two measures of entanglement in spin-1/2 and spinless fermion quantum chain systems

The concepts of concurrence and mode concurrence are the measures of entanglement for spin-1/2 and spinless fermion systems respectively. Based on the Jordan-Wigner transformation, any spin-1/2 system is always associated with a fermion system (called counterpart system). The comparison of concurrence and mode concurrence can be made with the aid of the Marshall's sign rule for the ground states of spin-1/2 $XXZ$ and spinless fermion chain systems. We observe that there exists an inequality between concurrence and mode concurrence for the ground states of the two corresponding systems. The spin-1/2 XY chain system and its spinless fermion counterpart as a realistic example is discussed to demonstrate the analytical results.

quant-ph↗