Concentrating partially entangled W-class states on nonlocal atoms using low-Q optical cavity and linear optical elements

Abstract

Entanglement plays an important role in quantum information science, especially in quantum communications. Here we present an efficient entanglement concentration protocol (ECP) for nonlocal atom systems in the partially entangled W-class states, using the single-photon input-output process regarding low-$Q$ cavity and linear optical elements. Compared with previously published ECPs for the concentration of non-maximally entangled atomic states, our protocol is much simpler and more efficient as it employs the Faraday rotation in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) and the parameter-splitting method. The Faraday rotation requires the cavity with low-$Q$ factor and weak coupling to the atom, which makes the requirement for entanglement concentration much less stringent than the previous methods, and achievable with current cavity QED techniques. The parameter-splitting method resorts to linear-optical elements only. This ECP has high efficiency and fidelity in realistic experiments, and some imperfections during the experiment can be avoided efficiently with currently available techniques.