Photonic quantum information processing

Abstract

Information processing with light is ubiquitous, from communication, metrology and imaging to computing. When we consider light as a quantum mechanical object, new ways of information processing become possible. In this review I give an overview of how quantum information processing can be implemented with single photons, and what hurdles still need to be overcome to implement the various applications in practice. I will place special emphasis on the quantum mechanical properties of light that make it different from classical light, and how these properties relate to quantum information processing tasks.