Quantum Reports — Open Access Journal

Ideal photon-number-resolving detectors form a class of important optical components in quantum optics and quantum information theory. In this article, we theoretically investigate the potential of multiport devices having reconstruction performances approaching that of the Fock-state measurement. By recognizing that all multiport devices are minimally complete, we first provide a general analytical framework to describe the tomographic accuracy (or quality) of these devices. Next, we show that a perfect multiport device with an infinite number of output ports functions as either the Fock-state measurement when photon losses are absent or binomial mixtures of Fock-state measurements when photon losses are present and derive their respective expressions for the tomographic transfer function. This function is the scaled asymptotic mean squared error of the reconstructed photon-number distributions uniformly averaged over all distributions in the probability simplex. We then supply more general analytical formulas for the transfer function for finite numbers of output ports in both the absence and presence of photon losses. The effects of photon losses on the photon-number resolving power of both infinite- and finite-size multiport devices are also investigated. Full article

The basic notion of physical system states is different in classical statistical mechanics and in quantum mechanics. In classical mechanics, the particle system state is determined by its position and momentum; in the case of fluctuations, due to the motion in environment, it is determined by the probability density in the particle phase space. In quantum mechanics, the particle state is determined either by the wave function (state vector in the Hilbert space) or by the density operator. Recently, the tomographic-probability representation of quantum states was proposed, where the quantum system states were identified with fair probability distributions (tomograms). In view of the probability-distribution formalism of quantum mechanics, we formulate the superposition principle of wave functions as interference of qubit states expressed in terms of the nonlinear addition rule for the probabilities identified with the states. Additionally, we formulate the probability given by Born’s rule in terms of symplectic tomographic probability distribution determining the photon states. Full article

Everett suggested that there’s no such thing as wavefunction collapse. He hypothesized that for an idealized spin measurement the apparatus evolves into a superposition on the pointer basis of two apparatuses, each displaying one of the two outcomes which are standardly thought of as alternatives. As a result, the observer ‘splits’ into two observers, each perceiving a different outcome. There have been problems. Why the pointer basis? Decoherence is generally accepted by Everettian theorists to be the key to the right answer there. Also, in what sense is probability involved, when all possible outcomes occur? Everett’s response to that problem was inadequate. A first attempt to find a different route to probability was introduce by Neil Graham in 1973 and the path from there has led to two distinct models of branching. I describe how the ideas have evolved and their relation to the concepts of uncertainty and objective probability. Then I describe the further problem of wavefunction monism, emphasized by Maudlin, and make a suggestion as to how it might be resolved. Full article

The rapid evolution towards future telecommunications infrastructures (e.g., 5G, the fifth generation of mobile networks) and the internet is renewing a strong interest for artificial intelligence (AI) methods, systems, and networks. Processing big data to infer patterns at high speeds and with low power consumption is becoming an increasing central technological challenge. Electronics are facing physically fundamental bottlenecks, whilst nanophotonics technologies are considered promising candidates to overcome the limitations of electronics. Today, there are evidences of an emerging research field, rooted in quantum optics, where the technological trajectories of deep neural networks (DNNs) and nanophotonics are crossing each other. This paper elaborates on these topics and proposes a theoretical architecture for a Complex DNN made from programmable metasurfaces; an example is also provided showing a striking correspondence between the equivariance of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and the invariance principle of gauge transformations. Full article

In the last decades, unprecedented progress in the manipulation of the spin angular momentum (SAM) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light has been achieved, enabling a number of applications, ranging from classical and quantum communication to optical microscopy and super-resolution imaging. Metasurfaces are artificially engineered 2D metamaterials with designed subwavelength-size building blocks, which allow the precise control of optical fields with unparalleled flexibility and performance. The reduced dimensionality of optical metasurfaces enables new physics and leads to functionalities and applications that are remarkably different from those achievable with bulk materials. In this review, we present an overview of the progress in optical metasurfaces for the manipultation of SAM and OAM of light, for applications in integrated spin-orbit conversion (SOC) devices. Full article

We show that by using the quantum orthogonal functions invariant, we found a solution to coupled time-dependent harmonic oscillators where all the time-dependent frequencies are arbitrary. This system may be found in many applications such as nonlinear and quantum physics, biophysics, molecular chemistry, and cosmology. We solve the time-dependent coupled harmonic oscillators by transforming the Hamiltonian of the interaction using a set of unitary operators. In passing, we show that N time-dependent and coupled oscillators have a generalized orthogonal functions invariant from which we can write a Ermakov–Lewis invariant. Full article

The usual Poisson bracket $\{A,B\}$ can be identified with the so-called Moyal bracket ${\{A,B\}}_{\mathrm{M}}$ for larger classes of symbols than was previously thought, provided that one uses the Born–Jordan quantization rule instead of the better known Weyl correspondence. We apply our results to a generalized version of Ehrenfest’s theorem on the time evolution of averages of operators. Full article

We propose a dissipative scheme to prepare maximally entangled steady states in cavity QED setup, consisting of two two-level atoms interacting with the two counter-propagating whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) of a microtoroidal resonator. Using spontaneous emission and cavity decay as the dissipative quantum dynamical source, we show that the steady state of this system can be steered into a two-atom single state as well as into a two-mode single state. We probed the compound system with weak field coupled to the system via a tapered fiber waveguide, finding it is possible to determine whether the two atoms or two modes are driven to a maximally entangled state. Through the transmission and reflection measurements, without disturbing the atomic state, when the cavity modes are being driven, or without disturbing the cavity field state, when a single atom being driven, one can get the information about the maximal entanglement. We also investigated for both subsystem, two-atom and two-mode states, the entanglement generation and under what conditions one can transfer entanglement from one subsystem to the other. Our scheme can be selectively used to prepare both maximally entangled atomic state as well as maximally entangled cavity-modes state, providing an efficient method for quantum information processing. Full article

The phenomenon of many-body localized (MBL) systems has attracted significant interest in recent years, for its intriguing implications from a perspective of both condensed-matter and statistical physics: they are insulators even at non-zero temperature and fail to thermalize, violating expectations from quantum statistical mechanics. What is more, recent seminal experimental developments with ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices constituting analog quantum simulators have pushed many-body localized systems into the realm of physical systems that can be measured with high accuracy. In this work, we introduce experimentally accessible witnesses that directly probe distinct features of MBL, distinguishing it from its Anderson counterpart. We insist on building our toolbox from techniques available in the laboratory, including on-site addressing, super-lattices, and time-of-flight measurements, identifying witnesses based on fluctuations, density–density correlators, densities, and entanglement. We build upon the theory of out of equilibrium quantum systems, in conjunction with tensor network and exact simulations, showing the effectiveness of the tools for realistic models. Full article

We present a critical examination of the difficulties with the quantum versions of a lifted weight that are widely used as work storage systems in quantum thermodynamics. To overcome those difficulties, we turn to the strong connections between information and thermodynamics illuminated by Szilard’s engine and Landauer’s principle, and consider the concept of informational work storage. This concept is in sharp contrast with the usual one of mechanical work storage underlying the idealization of a quantum weight. An informational work storage system based on maximally mixed qubits that does not act as an entropy sink and is capable of truly distinguishing work from heat is studied. Applying it to the problem of single-shot work extraction in various extraction schemes, we show that for a given system state the maximum extractable work is independent of extraction scheme, in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics. Full article

We investigated numerically the dynamics of quantum Fisher information (QFI) and entanglement for three- and four-level atomic systems interacting with a coherent field under the effect of Stark shift and Kerr medium. It was observed that the Stark shift and Kerr-like medium play a prominent role during the time evolution of the quantum systems. The non-linear Kerr medium has a stronger effect on the dynamics of QFI as compared to the quantum entanglement (QE). QFI is heavily suppressed by increasing the value of Kerr parameter. This behavior was found comparable in the cases of three- and four-level atomic systems coupled with a non-linear Kerr medium. However, QFI and quantum entanglement (QE) maintain their periodic nature under atomic motion. On the other hand, the local maximum value of QFI and von Neumann entropy (VNE) decrease gradually under the Stark effect. Moreover, no prominent difference in the behavior of QFI and QE was observed for three- and four-level atoms while increasing the value of Stark parameter. However, three- and four-level atomic systems were found equally prone to the non-linear Kerr medium and Stark effect. Furthermore, three- and four-level atomic systems were found fully prone to the Kerr-like medium and Stark effect. Full article

The fundamental group ${\pi }_1\left(L\right)$ of a knot or link L may be used to generate magic states appropriate for performing universal quantum computation and simultaneously for retrieving complete information about the processed quantum states. In this paper, one defines braids whose closure is the L of such a quantum computer model and computes their braid-induced Seifert surfaces and the corresponding Alexander polynomial. In particular, some d-fold coverings of the trefoil knot, with $d=3$ , 4, 6, or 12, define appropriate links L, and the latter two cases connect to the Dynkin diagrams of $E_6$ and $D_4$ , respectively. In this new context, one finds that this correspondence continues with Kodaira’s classification of elliptic singular fibers. The Seifert fibered toroidal manifold ${\mathsf{\Sigma }}^{\prime }$ , at the boundary of the singular fiber $\widetilde{E_8}$ , allows possible models of quantum computing. Full article

We propose a conceptual design for a quantum blockchain. Our method involves encoding the blockchain into a temporal GHZ (Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger) state of photons that do not simultaneously coexist. It is shown that the entanglement in time, as opposed to an entanglement in space, provides the crucial quantum advantage. All the subcomponents of this system have already been shown to be experimentally realized. Furthermore, our encoding procedure can be interpreted as nonclassically influencing the past. Full article