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Yiyu Zhou

Publications and source records attributed to Yiyu Zhou.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Polarized fragmenting jet functions in Inclusive and Exclusive Jet Production

In this work, we present a complete theoretical framework for analyzing the distribution of polarized hadrons within jets, with and without measuring the transverse momentum relative to the standard jet axis. Using soft-collinear effective theory (SCET), we derive the factorization and provide the theoretical calculation of both semi-inclusive and exclusive fragmenting jet functions (FJFs) under longitudinal and transverse polarization. With the polarized FJFs, one gains access to a variety of new observables that can be used for extracting both collinear and transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions (PDFs) and fragmentation functions (FFs). As examples, we provide numerical results for the spin asymmetry $A_{TU,T}^{\cos(ϕ_S - \hatϕ_{S_h})}$ from polarized semi-inclusive hadron-in-jet production in polarized $pp$ collisions at RHIC kinematics, where a transversely polarized quark would lead to the transverse spin of the final-state hadron inside the jet and is thus sensitive to the transversity fragmentation functions. Similarly, another spin asymmetry, $A_{TU, L}^{\cos(ϕ_q - ϕ_{S})}$ from polarized exclusive hadron-in-jet production in polarized $ep$ collisions at EIC kinematics would allow us to access the helicity fragmentation functions. These observables demonstrate promising potential in investigating transverse momentum dependent PDFs and FFs and are worthwhile for further measurements.

hep-ph↗

Transverse Energy-Energy Correlators in the Color-Glass Condensate at the Electron-Ion Collider

We investigate the transverse energy-energy correlators (TEEC) in the small-$x$ regime at the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). Focusing on the back-to-back production of electron-hadron pairs in both $ep$ and $eA$ collisions, we establish a factorization theorem given in terms of the hard function, quark distributions, soft functions, and TEEC jet functions, where the gluon saturation effect is incorporated. Numerical results for TEEC in both $ep$ and $eA$ collisions are presented, together with the nuclear modification factor $R_A$. Our analysis reveals that TEEC observables in deep inelastic scattering provide a valuable approach for probing gluon saturation phenomena. Our findings underscore the significance of measuring TEEC at the EIC, emphasizing its efficacy in advancing our understanding of gluon saturation and nuclear modifications in high-energy collisions.

hep-ph↗

Photonic link from single flux quantum circuits to room temperature

Broadband, energy-efficient signal transfer between cryogenic and room-temperature environment has been a major bottleneck for superconducting quantum and classical logic circuits. Photonic links promise to overcome this challenge by offering simultaneous high bandwidth and low thermal load. However, the development of cryogenic electro-optic modulators -- a key component for photonic readout of electrical signals -- has been stifled by the stringent requirements of superconducting circuits. Rapid single flux quantum circuits (RSFQ), for example, operate with a tiny signal amplitude of only a few millivolts (mV), far below the volt-level signal used in conventional circuits. Here, we demonstrate the first direct optical readout of an RSFQ circuit without additional electrical amplification enabled by a novel superconducting electro-optic modulator (SEOM) featuring a record-low half-wave voltage Vπ of 42 mV on a 1 m-long SEOM. Leveraging the low ohmic loss of superconductors, we break the fundamental Vπ-bandwidth trade-off and demonstrate electro-optic bandwidth up to 17 GHz on a 0.2 m-long SEOM at cryogenic temperatures. Our work presents a viable solution toward high-bandwidth signal transfer between future large-scale superconducting circuits and room-temperature electronics.

quant-ph↗

Architectures for Multinode Superconducting Quantum Computers

Many proposals to scale quantum technology rely on modular or distributed designs where individual quantum processors, called nodes, are linked together to form one large multinode quantum computer (MNQC). One scalable method to construct an MNQC is using superconducting quantum systems with optical interconnects. However, a limiting factor of these machines will be internode gates, which may be two to three orders of magnitude noisier and slower than local operations. Surmounting the limitations of internode gates will require a range of techniques, including improvements in entanglement generation, the use of entanglement distillation, and optimized software and compilers, and it remains unclear how improvements to these components interact to affect overall system performance, what performance from each is required, or even how to quantify the performance of each. In this paper, we employ a `co-design' inspired approach to quantify overall MNQC performance in terms of hardware models of internode links, entanglement distillation, and local architecture. In the case of superconducting MNQCs with microwave-to-optical links, we uncover a tradeoff between entanglement generation and distillation that threatens to degrade performance. We show how to navigate this tradeoff, lay out how compilers should optimize between local and internode gates, and discuss when noisy quantum links have an advantage over purely classical links. Using these results, we introduce a roadmap for the realization of early MNQCs which illustrates potential improvements to the hardware and software of MNQCs and outlines criteria for evaluating the landscape, from progress in entanglement generation and quantum memory to dedicated algorithms such as distributed quantum phase estimation. While we focus on superconducting devices with optical interconnects, our approach is general across MNQC implementations.

quant-ph↗

Light-induced dynamic frequency shifting of microwave photons in a superconducting electro-optic converter

Hybrid superconducting-photonic microresonators are a promising platform for realizing microwave-to-optical transduction. However, the absorption of scattered photons by the superconductors leads to unintended microwave resonance frequency variation and linewidth broadening. Here, we experimentally study the dynamics of this effect and its impact on microwave-to-optics conversion in an integrated lithium niobate-superconductor hybrid resonator platform. We unveiled an adiabatic frequency shifting of the intracavity microwave photons induced by the fast photo-responses of the thin-film superconducting resonator. As a result, the temporal and spectral responses of electro-optics transduction are modified and well described by our theoretical model. This work provides important insights on the light-induced conversion dynamics which must be considered in future designs of hybrid superconducting-photonic system.

physics.app-ph↗

Unveiling photon statistics with a 100-pixel photon-number-resolving detector

Single-photon detectors are ubiquitous in quantum information science and quantum sensing. They are key enabling technologies for numerous scientific discoveries and fundamental tests of quantum optics. Photon-number-revolving detectors are the ultimate measurement tool of light. However, few detectors to date can provide high-fidelity photon number resolution at few-photon levels. Here, we demonstrate an on-chip detector that can resolve up to 100 photons by spatiotemporally multiplexing an array of superconducting nanowires along a single waveguide. The unparalleled photon number resolution paired with the high-speed response exclusively allows us to unveil the quantum photon statistics of a true thermal light source for the first time, which is realized by direct measurement of high-order correlation function g^(N) with N up to 15, observation of photon-subtraction-induced photon number enhancement, and quantum-limited state discrimination against a coherent light source. Our detector provides a viable route towards various important applications, including photonic quantum computation and quantum metrology.

quant-ph↗

Direct tomography of high-dimensional density matrices for general quantum states of photons

Quantum state tomography is the conventional method used to characterize density matrices for general quantum states. However, the data acquisition time generally scales linearly with the dimension of the Hilbert space, hindering the possibility of dynamic monitoring of a high-dimensional quantum system. Here, we demonstrate a direct tomography protocol to measure density matrices of photons in the position basis through the use of a polarization-resolving camera, where the dimension of density matrices can be as large as 580$\times$580 in our experiment. The use of the polarization-resolving camera enables parallel measurements in the position and polarization basis and as a result, the data acquisition time of our protocol does not increase with the dimension of the Hilbert space and is solely determined by the camera exposure time (on the order of 10 ms). Our method is potentially useful for the real-time monitoring of the dynamics of quantum states and paves the way for the development of high-dimensional, time-efficient quantum metrology techniques.

quant-ph↗

Confocal super-resolution microscopy based on a spatial mode sorter

Spatial resolution is one of the most important specifications of an imaging system. Recent results in quantum parameter estimation theory reveal that an arbitrarily small distance between two incoherent point sources can always be efficiently determined through the use of a spatial mode sorter. However, extending this procedure to a general object consisting of many incoherent point sources remains challenging, due to the intrinsic complexity of multi-parameter estimation problems. Here, we generalize the Richardson-Lucy (RL) deconvolution algorithm to address this challenge. We simulate its application to an incoherent confocal microscope, with a Zernike spatial mode sorter replacing the pinhole used in a conventional confocal microscope. We test different spatially incoherent objects of arbitrary geometry, and we find that the resolution enhancement of sorter-based microscopy is on average over 30% higher than that of a conventional confocal microscope using the standard RL deconvolution algorithm. Our method could potentially be used in diverse applications such as fluorescence microscopy and astronomical imaging.

physics.optics↗

High-fidelity spatial mode transmission through a 1-km-long multimode fiber via vectorial time reversal

The large number of spatial modes supported by standard multimode fibers is a promising platform for boosting the channel capacity of quantum and classical communications by orders of magnitude. However, the practical use of long multimode fibers is severely hampered by modal crosstalk and polarization mixing. To overcome these challenges, we develop and experimentally demonstrate a vectorial time reversal technique, which is accomplished by digitally pre-shaping the wavefront and polarization of the forward-propagating signal beam to be the phase conjugate of an auxiliary, backward-propagating probe beam. Here, we report an average modal fidelity above 80% for 210 Laguerre-Gauss and Hermite-Gauss modes by using vectorial time reversal over an unstabilized 1-km-long fiber. We also propose a practical and scalable spatial-mode-multiplexed quantum communication protocol over long multimode fibers to illustrate potential applications that can be enabled by our technique.

physics.optics↗

Experimental demonstration of superresolution of partially coherent light sources using parity sorting

Analyses based on quantum metrology have shown that the ability to localize the positions of two incoherent point sources can be significantly enhanced through the use of mode sorting. Here we theoretically and experimentally investigate the effect of partial coherence on the sub-diffraction limit localization of two sources based on parity sorting. With the prior information of a negative and real-valued degree of coherence, higher Fisher information is obtained than that for the incoherent case. Our results pave the way to clarifying the role of coherence in quantum limited metrology.

physics.optics↗

Multiprobe time reversal for high-fidelity vortex-mode-division multiplexing over a turbulent free-space link

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons presents a degree of freedom for enhancing the secure key rate of free-space quantum key distribution (QKD) through mode-division multiplexing (MDM). However, atmospheric turbulence can lead to substantial modal crosstalk, which is a long-standing challenge to MDM for free-space QKD. Here, we show that the digital generation of time-reversed wavefronts for multiple probe beams is an effective method for mitigating atmospheric turbulence. We experimentally characterize seven OAM modes after propagation through a 340-m outdoor free-space link and observe an average modal crosstalk as low as 13.2% by implementing real-time time reversal. The crosstalk can be further reduced to 3.4% when adopting a mode spacing $Δ\ell$ of 2. We implement a classical MDM system as a proof-of-principle demonstration, and the bit error rate is reduced from $3.6\times 10^{-3}$ to be less than $1.3\times 10^{-7}$ through the use of time reversal. We also propose a practical and scalable scheme for high-speed, mode-multiplexed QKD through a turbulent link. The modal crosstalk can be further reduced by using faster equipment. Our method can be useful to various free-space applications that require crosstalk suppression.

physics.optics↗

Turbulence-Resilient Coherent Free-Space Optical Communications using Automatic Power-Efficient Pilot-Assisted Optoelectronic Beam Mixing of Many Modes

Atmospheric turbulence generally limits free-space optical (FSO) communications, and this problem is severely exacerbated when implementing highly sensitive and spectrally efficient coherent detection. Specifically, turbulence induces power coupling from the transmitted Gaussian mode to higher-order Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes, resulting in a significant decrease of the power that mixes with a single-mode local oscillator (LO). Instead, we transmit a frequency-offset Gaussian pilot tone along with the data signal, such that both experience similar turbulence and modal power coupling. Subsequently, the photodetector (PD) optoelectronically mixes all corresponding pairs of the beams' modes. During mixing, a conjugate of the turbulence experienced by the pilot tone is automatically generated and compensates the turbulence experienced by the data, and nearly all orders of the same corresponding modes efficiently mix. We demonstrate a 12-Gbit/s 16-quadrature-amplitude-modulation (16-QAM) polarization-multiplexed (PolM) FSO link that exhibits resilience to emulated turbulence. Experimental results for turbulence D/r_0~5.5 show up to ~20 dB reduction in the mixing power loss over a conventional coherent receiver. Therefore, our approach automatically recovers nearly all the captured data power to enable high-performance coherent FSO systems.

physics.optics↗

Performance of real-time adaptive optics compensation in a turbulent channel with high-dimensional spatial-mode encoding

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons is a promising degree of freedom for high-dimensional quantum key distribution (QKD). However, effectively mitigating the adverse effects of atmospheric turbulence is a persistent challenge in OAM QKD systems operating over free-space communication channels. In contrast to previous works focusing on correcting static simulated turbulence, we investigate the performance of OAM QKD in real atmospheric turbulence with real-time adaptive optics (AO) correction. We show that, even our AO system provides a limited correction, it is possible to mitigate the errors induced by weak turbulence and establish a secure channel. The crosstalk induced by turbulence and the performance of AO systems is investigated in two configurations: a lab-scale link with controllable turbulence, and a 340 m long cross-campus link with dynamic atmospheric turbulence. Our experimental results suggest that an advanced AO system with fine beam tracking, reliable beam stabilization, precise wavefront sensing, and accurate wavefront correction is necessary to adequately correct turbulence-induced error. We also propose and demonstrate different solutions to improve the performance of OAM QKD with turbulence, which could enable the possibility of OAM encoding in strong turbulence.

eess.SP↗

Compensation-Free High-Capacity Free-Space Optical Communication Using Turbulence-Resilient Vector Beams

Free-space optical communication is a promising means to establish versatile, secure and high-bandwidth communication for many critical point-to-point applications. While the spatial modes of light offer an additional degree of freedom to increase the information capacity of an optical link, atmospheric turbulence can introduce severe distortion to the spatial modes and lead to data degradation. Here, we propose and demonstrate a vector-beam-based, turbulence-resilient communication protocol, namely spatial polarization differential phase shift keying (SPDPSK), that can encode a large number of information levels using orthogonal spatial polarization states of light. We show experimentally that the spatial polarization profiles of the vector modes are resilient to atmospheric turbulence, and therefore can reliably transmit high-dimensional information through a turbid channel without the need of any adaptive optics for beam compensation. We construct a proof-of-principle experiment with a controllable turbulence cell. Using 34 vector modes, we have measured a channel capacity of 4.84 bits per pulse (corresponding to a data error rate of 4.3\%) through a turbulent channel with a scintillation index larger than 1. Our SPDPSK protocol can also effectively transmit 4.02 bits of information per pulse using 18 vector modes through even stronger turbulence with a scintillation index of 1.54. Our study provides direct experimental evidence on how the spatial polarization profiles of vector beams are resilient to atmospheric turbulence and paves the way towards practical, high-capacity, free-space communication solutions with robust performance under harsh turbulent environments.

physics.optics↗

Optimal measurements for quantum multiparameter estimation with general states

We generalize the approach by Braunstein and Caves [Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 3439 (1994)] to quantum multi-parameter estimation with general states. We derive a matrix bound of the classical Fisher information matrix due to each measurement operator. The saturation of all these bounds results in the saturation of the matrix Helstrom Cramér-Rao bound. Remarkably, the saturation of the matrix bound is equivalent to the saturation of the scalar bound with respect to any given positive definite weight matrix. Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for the optimal measurements that give rise to the Helstrom Cramér-Rao bound associated with a general quantum state. To saturate the Helstrom bound with separable measurements or collective measurement entangling only a small number of identical states, we find it is necessary for the symmetric logarithmic derivatives to commute on the support of the state. As an important application of our results, we construct several local optimal measurements for the problem of estimating the three-dimensional separation of two incoherent optical point sources.

quant-ph↗

Using all transverse degrees of freedom in quantum communications based on a generic mode sorter

The dimension of the state space for information encoding offered by the transverse structure of light is usually limited by the finite size of apertures. The widely used orbital angular momentum (OAM) number of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes in free-space communications cannot achieve the theoretical maximum transmission capacity unless the radial degree of freedom is multiplexed into the protocol. While the methodology to sort the radial quantum number has been developed, the application of radial modes in quantum communications requires an additional ability to efficiently measure the superposition of LG modes in the mutually unbiased basis. Here we develop and implement a generic mode sorter that is capable of sorting the superposition of LG modes through the use of a mode converter. As a consequence, we demonstrate an 8-dimensional quantum key distribution experiment involving all three transverse degrees of freedom: spin, azimuthal, and radial quantum numbers of photons. Our protocol presents an important step towards the goal of reaching the capacity limit of a free-space link and can be useful to other applications that involve spatial modes of photons.

physics.optics↗

Quantum-limited estimation of the axial separation of two incoherent point sources

Improving axial resolution is crucial for three-dimensional optical imaging systems. Here we present a scheme of axial superresolution for two incoherent point sources based on spatial mode demultiplexing. A radial mode sorter is used to losslessly decompose the optical fields into a radial mode basis set to extract the phase information associated with the axial positions of the point sources. We show theoretically and experimentally that, in the limit of a zero axial separation, our scheme allows for reaching the quantum Cramér-Rao lower bound and thus can be considered as one of the optimal measurement methods. Unlike other superresolution schemes, this scheme does not require neither activation of fluorophores nor sophisticated stabilization control. Moreover, it is applicable to the localization of a single point source in the axial direction. Our demonstration can be useful to a variety of applications such as far-field fluorescence microscopy.

physics.optics↗

Performance analysis of d-dimensional quantum cryptography under state-dependent diffraction

Standard protocols for quantum key distribution (QKD) require that the sender be able to transmit in two or more mutually unbiased bases. Here, we analyze the extent to which the performance of QKD is degraded by diffraction effects that become relevant for long propagation distances and limited sizes of apertures. In such a scenario, different states experience different amounts of diffraction, leading to state-dependent loss and phase acquisition, causing an increased error rate and security loophole at the receiver. To solve this problem, we propose a pre-compensation protocol based on pre-shaping the transverse structure of quantum states. We demonstrate, both theoretically and experimentally, that when performing QKD over a link with known, symbol-dependent loss and phase shift, the performance of QKD will be better if we intentionally increase the loss of certain symbols to make the loss and phase shift of all states same. Our results show that the pre-compensated protocol can significantly reduce the error rate induced by state-dependent diffraction and thereby improve the secure key rate of QKD systems without sacrificing the security.

quant-ph↗