Entanglement Degradation Research Articles

Entanglement degradation as a tool to detect signatures of modified gravity

Entanglement degradation as a tool to detect signatures of modified gravity

Entanglement Degradation in Two Interacting Qubits Coupled to Dephasing Environments.

One of the main obstacles toward building efficient quantum computing systems is decoherence, where the inevitable interaction between the qubits and the surrounding environment leads to a vanishing entanglement. We consider a system of two interacting asymmetric two-level atoms (qubits) in the presence of pure and correlated dephasing environments. We study the dynamics of entanglement while varying the interaction strength between the two qubits, their relative frequencies, and their coupling strength to the environment starting from different initial states of practical interest. The impact of the asymmetry of the two qubits, reflected in their different frequencies and coupling strengths to the environment, varies significantly depending on the initial state of the system and its degree of anisotropy. For an initial disentangled, or a Werner, state, as the difference between the frequencies increases, the entanglement decay rate increases, with more persistence at the higher degrees of anisotropy in the former state. However, for an initial anti-correlated Bell state, the entanglement decays more rapidly in the symmetric case compared with the asymmetric one. The difference in the coupling strengths of the two qubits to the pure (uncorrelated) dephasing environment leads to higher entanglement decay in the different initial state cases, though the rate varies depending on the degree of anisotropy and the initial state. Interestingly, the correlated dephasing environment, within a certain range, was found to enhance the entanglement dynamics starting from certain initial states, such as the disentangled, anti-correlated Bell, and Werner, whereas it exhibits a decaying effect in other cases such as the initial correlated Bell state.

Orbital angular momentum entanglement in noninertial reference frame

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons has shown the ability to generate high-dimensional entanglement. Here, we examine a novel kind of entanglement degradation caused by the Unruh effect. By paraxially quantizing the light field, we derive the mode functions in both inertial and noninertial reference frames and demonstrate that, from the perspective of an accelerating observer, empty inertial space may seem to be full of OAM particles. They may inundate the high-dimensional entangled OAM photons and cause them to decay. Additionally, we investigate high-dimensional entanglement in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild black hole. Our results suggest that higher-dimensional entanglement will suffer from greater adverse impacts in both instances.

Beyond the Four-Level Model: Dark and Hot States in Quantum Dots Degrade Photonic Entanglement.

Entangled photon pairs are essential for a multitude of quantum photonic applications. To date, the best performing solid-state quantum emitters of entangled photons are semiconductor quantum dots operated around liquid-helium temperatures. To favor the widespread deployment of these sources, it is important to explore and understand their behavior at temperatures accessible with compact Stirling coolers. Here we study the polarization entanglement among photon pairs from the biexciton-exciton cascade in GaAs quantum dots at temperatures up to ∼65 K. We observe entanglement degradation accompanied by changes in decay dynamics, which we ascribe to thermal population and depopulation of hot and dark states in addition to the four levels relevant for photon pair generation. Detailed calculations considering the presence and characteristics of the additional states and phonon-assisted transitions support the interpretation. We expect these results to guide the optimization of quantum dots as sources of highly entangled photons at elevated temperatures.

Silicon Photonic Wires for Broadband Polarization Entanglement at Telecommunication Wavelengths

Compact and scalable sources of broadband polarization entanglement at telecommunication wavelengths will pave the way for multiuser long-distance quantum communication at enhanced data rates, but progress toward this goal has been hindered due to large birefringence in conventional silicon-on-insulator nanowaveguides. The authors theoretically demonstrate, via dispersion engineering, the successful generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs over a broad range of wavelengths. This work also provides a strategy to avoid entanglement degradation due to polarization-mode dispersion. The proposed devices will be useful building blocks for large-scale quantum communication networks.

Open-Air Microwave Entanglement Distribution for Quantum Teleportation

Microwave technology plays a central role in current wireless communications, standing among them mobile communication and local area networks (LANs). The microwave range shows relevant advantages with respect to other frequencies in open-air transmission, such as low absorption losses and low energy consumption, and it is additionally the natural working frequency in superconducting quantum technologies. Entanglement distribution between separate parties is at the core of secure quantum communications. Therefore, understanding its limitations in realistic open-air settings, specially in the rather unexplored microwave regime, is crucial for transforming microwave quantum communications into a mainstream technology. Here, we investigate the feasibility of an open-air entanglement distribution scheme with microwave two-mode squeezed states. First, we study the reach of direct entanglement transmission in open-air, obtaining a maximum distance of approximately 500 meters in a realistic setting with state-of-the-art experimental parameters. Afterwards, we adapt entanglement distillation and entanglement swapping protocols to microwave technology in order to reduce environmental entanglement degradation. While entanglement distillation helps to increase quantum correlations in the short-distance low-squeezing regime by up to $46\%$, entanglement swapping increases the reach by $14\%$. Then, we compute the fidelity of a continuous-variable quantum teleportation protocol using open-air-distributed entanglement as a resource. Finally, we adapt the machinery to explore the limitations of quantum communication between satellites, where the thermal noise impact is substantially reduced and diffraction losses are dominant.

How gravitational fluctuations degrade the high-dimensional spatial entanglement

Twisted photons carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) are competent candidates for future interstellar communications. However, the gravitational fluctuations are ubiquitous in spacetime. Thus a fundamental question arises naturally as to how the gravitational fluctuations affect the coherence and the degree of high-dimensional OAM entanglement when twisted photons travel across the textures of curved spacetime. Here, we consider the covariant scalar Helmholtz equations and the Minkowski metric with fluctuations of Gaussian distribution and formulate analytically the equations describing the motion for twisted light in the Laguerre-Gaussian mode space. It is seen that the OAM cannot remain conserved in the presence of gravitational fluctuations. Furthermore, two-photon density matrices are derived for interstellar OAM quantum entanglement distribution, and the degree of entanglement degradation is characterized by purity and negativity. It is revealed that the higher-dimensional OAM entanglement is more susceptible to spacetime fluctuations. We believe that our findings will be of fundamental importance for the future interstellar quantum communications with twisted photons.

Quantum channel correction outperforming direct transmission

Long-distance optical quantum channels are necessarily lossy, leading to errors in transmitted quantum information, entanglement degradation and, ultimately, poor protocol performance. Quantum states carrying information in the channel can be probabilistically amplified to compensate for loss, but are destroyed when amplification fails. Quantum correction of the channel itself is therefore required, but break-even performance—where arbitrary states can be better transmitted through a corrected channel than an uncorrected one—has so far remained out of reach. Here we perform distillation by heralded amplification to improve a noisy entanglement channel. We subsequently employ entanglement swapping to demonstrate that arbitrary quantum information transmission is unconditionally improved—i.e., without relying on postselection or post-processing of data—compared to the uncorrected channel. In this way, it represents realization of a genuine quantum relay. Our channel correction for single-mode quantum states will find use in quantum repeater, communication and metrology applications.

Ingestion and characterization of plastic debris by loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, in the Balearic Islands

Plastic waste has become ubiquitous pollutants in seas and oceans and can affect a wide range of species. For some marine species, plastic debris could pose a considerable threat through entanglement, ingestion, and habitat degradation and loss. Sea turtles are one of the most sensitive species, as their migratory behaviour and multifaceted life cycles make these reptiles especially vulnerable to the negative effects of plastic debris. The present study aimed to assess the amount and composition of plastic debris ingested by loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Balearic Islands Sea, thusly providing new information to complete the knowledge for this topic. In this work, 45 stranded dead C. caretta specimens were necropsied, and their digestive tract content analysed for the presence of plastic debris. Plastic objects were observed in 27 individuals (60.0%), with an average of 12.7 ± 4.7 plastic items per turtle. Litter in the faecal pellet was also monitored in 67 living individuals, observing plastic elements in 46 (68.7%) of the specimens, reporting an average of 9.7 ± 3.3 plastic elements per individual. Overall, 785 plastic items were found, measured, weighed and categorized according to size, colour, shape, and type of polymer. The main elements ingested were plastic sheets that were found in 65.3% of the turtles analysed, being white (42.7%) and transparent (29.2%) the most predominant colours. Most elements were macroplastics (59.3%), while microplastics were not found. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR) analysis showed that high-density polyethylene and polypropylene were the main polymer plastics, representing 42.3% and 33.8% of the total, respectively. In conclusion, the high occurrence of plastic debris determined in the present study evidenced for the first time plastic ingestion in loggerhead turtles in the Balearic Islands, and highlights C. caretta as a bioindicator organism for marine pollution.

Entangled detectors nonperturbatively harvest mutual information

We investigate how entangled inertial Unruh-DeWitt detectors are affected by interaction with a quantum field using a nonperturbative method. Inertial detectors in a ($3+1$)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime with instantaneous switching ($\ensuremath{\delta}$-switching) experience degradation of their initial entanglement as their coupling strength with a scalar field increases. Somewhat surprisingly, initially separable or weakly entangled detectors can extract mutual information from the vacuum. We also find that entanglement degradation is not reduced if communication via the field is possible; rather this only changes the manner in which entanglement is degraded.

Quantum analysis of polarization entanglement degradation induced by multiple-photon-pair generation

The formation of multiple photon pairs in spontaneous parametric down-conversion leads to a degradation of polarization entanglement quality. The authors characterize this quality and perform all-quantum calculations that agree with known results for two different Bell-state-generation methods.

Generation of entanglement between quantum dot molecule with the presence of phonon effects in a voltage-controlled junction

We investigate the generation of entanglement through a quantum dot molecule under the influence of vibrational phonon modes in a bias voltage junction. The molecular quantum dot system is realized by coupled quantum dots inside a suspended carbon nanotube. We consider the dynamical entanglement as a function of bias voltage and temperature by taking into account the electron-phonon interaction. In order to generate the robust entanglement between quantum dots and preserve it to reach the maximal achievable amount steadily, we introduce an asymmetric coupling protocol and apply the easy tunable bias voltage-driven field. For an oscillating bias voltage, the time-varying entanglement can periodically reach the maximum revival. In thermal entanglement dynamics, the phenomena of thermal entanglement degradation and thermal entanglement revival are observed which are intensively affected by the strength of phonon decoherence. The revival of entanglement shows a larger value for a higher phonon coupling.

Entanglement Degradation of Photons Entangled States in Oceanic Turbulence

Entanglement Degradation of Photons Entangled States in Oceanic Turbulence

Entanglement degradation of cavity modes due to the dynamical Casimir effect

We study the entanglement dynamics between two cavities when one of them is harmonically shaken in the context of quantum information theory. We find four different regimes depending on the frequency of the motion and the spectrum of the moving cavity. If the moving cavity is three dimensional only two modes inside get coupled and the entanglement can either degrade asymptotically with time or oscillate depending on the driving. On the other hand, if the cavity has an equidistant spectrum the entanglement can either vanish asymptotically if it is driven with its fundamental frequency or have a sudden death if it is driven with an uneven harmonic frequency.

Quantum speed limit time and entanglement in a non-Markovian evolution of spin qubits of coupled quantum dots

Quantum speed limit time and entanglement in a system composed of coupled quantum dots are investigated. The excess electron spin in each quantum dot constitutes the physical system (qubit). Also the spin interaction is modeled through the Heisenberg model and the spins are imposed by an external magnetic field. Taking into account the spin relaxation as a non-Markovian process, the quantum speed limit and entanglement evolution are discussed. Our findings reveal that increasing the magnetic field leads to the faster quantum evolution. In addition, the temperature increment causes the longer quantum speed limit time as well as the entanglement degradation.

Radiative processes of entangled detectors in rotating frames

We investigate the radiative processes of accelerated entangled two-level systems. Using first-order perturbation theory, we evaluate transition rates of two entangled Unruh-DeWitt detectors rotating with the same angular velocity interacting with a massive scalar field. Decay processes for arbitrary radius, angular velocities, and energy gaps are analyzed. We discuss the mean-life of entangled states and entanglement harvesting and degradation.

Entanglement dynamics for static two-level atoms in cosmic string spacetime

We study the entanglement dynamics of two static atoms coupled with a bath of fluctuating scalar fields in vacuum in the cosmic string spacetime. Three different alignments of atoms, i.e. parallel, vertical, and symmetric alignments with respect to the cosmic string are considered. We focus on how entanglement degradation and generation are influenced by the cosmic string, and find that they are crucially dependent on the atom-string distance r, the interatomic separation L, and the parameter nu that characterizes the nontrivial topology of the cosmic string. For two atoms initially in a maximally entangled state, the destroyed entanglement can be revived when the atoms are aligned vertically to the string, which cannot happen in the Minkowski spacetime. When the symmetrically aligned two-atom system is initially in the antisymmetric state, the lifetime of entanglement can be significantly enhanced as nu increases. For two atoms which are initially in the excited state, when the interatomic separation is large compared to the transition wavelength, entanglement generation cannot happen in the Minkowski spacetime, while it can be achieved in the cosmic string spacetime when the position of the two atoms is appropriate with respect to the cosmic string and nu is large enough.

Quantum Correlation and Coherence in Dissipative Two SC-Qubit Systems Interacting with a Coherent SC-Cavity

An analytical solution of the master equation is obtained for a coherent SC-cavity interacts with two SC-qubits. With this solution, the effect of an intrinsic decoherence on the growth of coherence loss (mixture) and the entanglement degradation is shown. Due to the intrinsic decoherence, the oscillatory behavior of the qubit-inversion is deteriorated, and its amplitude decreases. Where its stationary state refers to that the energy is stored more in the SC-qubits. The growth of the mixture is investigated for the entire system and its sub-systems of the SC-cavity and two qubits. The entanglement is studied for two different partitions, between the SC-cavity and the two qubits as well as between the two qubits. It is found that the generation of the entanglement and mixture and their stationary values depend on the initial coherence intensity and the intrinsic decoherence rate. The stationary entanglement and mixture, and the phenomena of sudden appearance and disappearance of the entanglement could be controlled by adjusting the intrinsic noise rate and the initial coherence intensity.

Entanglement dynamics for circularly accelerated two-level atoms coupled with electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations

We investigate, in the framework of open quantum systems, the entanglement dynamics of two circularly accelerated two-level atoms with the same centripetal acceleration interacting with a bath of fluctuating electromagnetic fields in the Minkowski vacuum. We assume that the two atoms rotate synchronically with their separation perpendicular to the rotating plane, and study the entanglement degradation, creation, revival, and enhancement by solving the Markovian master equation. In contrast to the scalar-field case, the entanglement dynamics is crucially dependent on the atomic polarizations in the sense that the polarization directions may affect the entanglement decay rate, and may determine the occurrences of entanglement creation, revival and enhancement. Compared with the uniformly accelerated case and the thermal case, the decay rate of entanglement for circularly accelerated atoms is larger, while the revival and enhancement rates are smaller.

Entanglement between distant atoms mediated by a hybrid quantum system consisting of superconducting flux qubit and resonators

A hybrid quantum system consisting of spatially separated two-level atoms is studied. Two atoms do not interact directly, but they are coupled via an intermediate system which consists of a superconducting flux qubit interacting with a mechanical and an electrical resonator which are coupled to one of the atoms. Moreover, the superconducting flux qubit is driven by a classical microwave field. Applying adiabatic elimination, an effective Hamiltonian for the atomic subsystem is obtained. Our results demonstrate that entanglement degradation decay as well as fidelity decay in the dispersive regime are faster. Moreover, the driven field amplitude possesses an important role in entanglement and fidelity evolution.