High-dimensional Quantum Systems Research Articles

Teleportation in an indivisible quantum system

AbstractTeleportation protocol is conventionally treated as a method for quantum state transfer between two spatially separated physical carriers. Recent experimental progress in manipulation with high-dimensional quantum systems opens a new framework for implementation of teleportation protocols. We show that the one-qubit teleportation can be considered as a state transfer between subspaces of the whole Hilbert space of an indivisible eight-dimensional system. We explicitly show all corresponding operations and discuss an alternative way of implementation of similar tasks.

Volterra filters for quantum estimation and detection

The implementation of optimal statistical inference protocols for high-dimensional quantum systems is often computationally expensive. To avoid the difficulties associated with optimal techniques, here I propose an alternative approach to quantum estimation and detection based on Volterra filters. Volterra filters have a clear hierarchy of computational complexities and performances, depend only on finite-order correlation functions, and are applicable to systems with no simple Markovian model. These features make Volterra filters appealing alternatives to optimal nonlinear protocols for the inference and control of complex quantum systems. Applications of the first-order Volterra filter to continuous-time quantum filtering, the derivation of a Heisenberg-picture uncertainty relation, quantum state tomography, and qubit readout are discussed.

Least-bias state estimation with incomplete unbiased measurements

Measuring incomplete sets of mutually unbiased bases constitutes a sensible approach to the tomography of high-dimensional quantum systems. The unbiased nature of these bases optimizes the uncertainty hypervolume. However, imposing unbiasedness on the probabilities for the unmeasured bases does not generally yield the estimator with the largest von Neumann entropy, a popular figure of merit in this context. Furthermore, this imposition typically leads to mock density matrices that are not even positive definite. This provides a strong argument against perfunctory applications of linear estimation strategies. We propose to use instead the physical state estimators that maximize the Shannon entropy of the unmeasured outcomes, which quantifies our lack of knowledge fittingly and gives physically meaningful statistical predictions.

Negativity and strong monogamy of multiparty quantum entanglement beyond qubits

We propose the square of convex-roof extended negativity(SCREN) as a powerful candidate to characterize strong monogamy of multi-party quantum entanglement. We first provide a strong monogamy inequality of multi-party entanglement using SCREN, and show that the tangle-based multi-qubit strong monogamy inequality can be rephrased by SCREN. We further show that SCREN strong monogamy inequality is still true for the counterexamples that violate tangle-based strong monogamy inequality in higher-dimensional quantum systems rather than qubits. We also analytically show that SCREN strong monogamy inequality is true for a large class of multi-qudit states, a superposition of multi-qudit generalized W-class states and vacuums. Thus SCREN is a good alternative to characterize the strong monogamy of entanglement even in multi-qudit systems.

Nonlocality of orthogonal product-basis quantum states

We study the local indistinguishability of mutually orthogonal product basis quantum states in the high-dimensional quantum system. In the quantum system of $\mathbb{C}^d\otimes\mathbb{C}^d$, where $d$ is odd, Zhang \emph{et al} have constructed $d^2$ orthogonal product basis quantum states which are locally indistinguishable in [Phys. Rev. A. {\bf 90}, 022313(2014)]. We find a subset contains with $6d-9$ orthogonal product states which are still locally indistinguishable. Then we generalize our method to arbitrary bipartite quantum system $\mathbb{C}^m\otimes\mathbb{C}^n$. We present a small set with only $3(m+n)-9$ orthogonal product states and prove these states are LOCC indistinguishable. Even though these $3(m+n)-9$ product states are LOCC indistinguishable, they can be distinguished by separable measurements. This shows that separable operations are strictly stronger than the local operations and classical communication.

Accurate and Robust Unitary Transformations of a High-Dimensional Quantum System.

Unitary transformations are the most general input-output maps available in closed quantum systems. Good control protocols have been developed for qubits, but questions remain about the use of optimal control theory to design unitary maps in high-dimensional Hilbert spaces, and about the feasibility of their robust implementation in the laboratory. Here we design and implement unitary maps in a 16-dimensional Hilbert space associated with the 6S(1/2) ground state of (133)Cs, achieving fidelities >0.98 with built-in robustness to static and dynamic perturbations. Our work has relevance for quantum information processing and provides a template for similar advances on other physical platforms.

Experimental access to higher-dimensional entangled quantum systems using integrated optics

Integrated optics allow the generation and control of increasingly complex photonic states on chip based architectures. Here, we implement two entangled qutrits - a 9-dimensional quantum system - and demonstrate an exceptionally high degree of experimental control. The approach which is conceptually different to common bulk optical implementations is heavily based on methods of integrated in-fiber and on-chip technologies and further motivated by methods commonly used in today's telecommunication industry. The system is composed of an in-fiber source creating entangled qutrit states of any amplitude and phase and an on-chip integrated general Multiport enabling the realization of any desired local unitary transformation within the two qutrit 9-dimensional Hilbert space. The complete design is readily extendible towards higher-dimensions with moderate increase in complexity. Ultimately, our scheme allows for complete on-chip integration. We demonstrate the flexibility and generality of our system by realizing a complete characterization of the two qutrit space of higher-order Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations.

Multiplexing scheme for simplified entanglement-based large-alphabet quantum key distribution

We propose a practical quantum cryptographic scheme which combines high information capacity, such as provided by high-dimensional quantum entanglement, with the simplicity of a two-dimensional Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell test for security verification. By applying a state combining entanglement in a two-dimensional degree of freedom, such as photon polarization, with high-dimensional correlations in another degree of freedom, such as photon orbital angular momentum (OAM) or path, the scheme provides a considerably simplified route towards security verification in quantum key distribution (QKD) aimed at exploiting high-dimensional quantum systems for increased secure key rates. It also benefits from security against collective attacks and is feasible using currently available technologies.

Error thresholds for Abelian quantum double models: Increasing the bit-flip stability of topological quantum memory

Current approaches for building quantum computing devices focus on two-level quantum systems which nicely mimic the concept of a classical bit, albeit enhanced with additional quantum properties. However, rather than artificially limiting the number of states to two, the use of d-level quantum systems (qudits) could provide advantages for quantum information processing. Among other merits, it has recently been shown that multi-level quantum systems can offer increased stability to external disturbances - a key problem in current technologies. In this study we demonstrate that topological quantum memories built from qudits, also known as abelian quantum double models, exhibit a substantially increased resilience to noise. That is, even when taking into account the multitude of errors possible for multi-level quantum systems, topological quantum error correction codes employing qudits can sustain a larger error rate than their two-level counterparts. In particular, we find strong numerical evidence that the thresholds of these error-correction codes are given by the hashing bound. Considering the significantly increased error thresholds attained, this might well outweigh the added complexity of engineering and controlling higher dimensional quantum systems.

Scan-free direct measurement of an extremely high-dimensional photonic state

Retrieving the vast amount of information carried by a photon is an enduring challenge in quantum metrology science and quantum photonics research. The transverse spatial state of a photon is a convenient high-dimensional quantum system for study, as it has a well-understood classical analog as the transverse complex field profile of an optical beam. One severe drawback of all currently available quantum metrology techniques is the need for a time-consuming characterization process, which scales very unfavorably with the dimensionality of the quantum system. Here we demonstrate a technique that directly measures a million-dimensional photonic spatial state with a single setting of the measurement apparatus. Through the arrangement of a weak measurement of momentum and parallel strong measurements of position, the complex values of the entire photon state vector become measurable directly. The dimension of our measured state is approximately four orders of magnitude larger than previously measured. Our work opens up a practical route for characterizing high-dimensional quantum systems in real time. Furthermore, our demonstration also serves as a high-speed, extremely high-resolution unambiguous complex field measurement technique for diverse classical applications.

Nonlocality of orthogonal product basis quantum states

In this paper, we mainly study the local indistinguishability of mutually orthogonal product basis quantum states in the high-dimensional quantum systems. In the Hilbert space of $3\ensuremath{\bigotimes}3$, Walgate and Hardy [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 147901 (2002)] presented a very simple proof for nonlocality of nine orthogonal product basis quantum states which are given by Bennett et al. [Phys. Rev. A 59, 1070 (1999)]. In the quantum system of $d\ensuremath{\bigotimes}d$, where $d$ is odd, we construct ${d}^{2}$ orthogonal product basis quantum states and prove these states are locally indistinguishable. Then we are able to construct some locally indistinguishable product basis quantum states in the multipartite systems. All these results reveal the phenomenon of ``nonlocality without entanglement.''

Device-independent certification of high-dimensional quantum systems.

An important problem in quantum information processing is the certification of the dimension of quantum systems without making assumptions about the devices used to prepare and measure them, that is, in a device-independent manner. A crucial question is whether such certification is experimentally feasible for high-dimensional quantum systems. Here we experimentally witness in a device-independent manner the generation of six-dimensional quantum systems encoded in the orbital angular momentum of single photons and show that the same method can be scaled, at least, up to dimension 13.

Characterizing Quantum Correlations in Arbitrary-Dimensional Bipartite Systems Using Hurwitz's Theory

Quantum correlations play vital roles in the quantum features in quantum information processing tasks. Among the measures of quantum correlations, quantum discord (QD) and entanglement of formation (EOF) are two significant ones. Recent research has shown that there exists a relation between QD and EOF, which makes QD more significant in quantum information theory. However, until now, there exists no general method of characterizing quantum discord in high-dimensional quantum systems. In this paper, we have proposed a general method for calculating quantum discord in arbitrary-dimensional bipartite quantum systems in terms of Hurwitz's theory. Applications including the Werner state, the spin-1 XXZ model thermal equilibrium state, the Horodecki state, and the separable-bound-free entanglement state are investigated. We present the method of obtaining the EOF of arbitrary-dimensional bipartite quantum states via purification, and the relationship between QD and EOF.

Multi-layer Potfit: An accurate potential representation for efficient high-dimensional quantum dynamics

The multi-layer multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method (ML-MCTDH) is a highly efficient scheme for studying the dynamics of high-dimensional quantum systems. Its use is greatly facilitated if the Hamiltonian of the system possesses a particular structure through which the multi-dimensional matrix elements can be computed efficiently. In the field of quantum molecular dynamics, the effective interaction between the atoms is often described by potential energy surfaces (PES), and it is necessary to fit such PES into the desired structure. For high-dimensional systems, the current approaches for this fitting process either lead to fits that are too large to be practical, or their accuracy is difficult to predict and control. This article introduces multi-layer Potfit (MLPF), a novel fitting scheme that results in a PES representation in the hierarchical tensor (HT) format. The scheme is based on the hierarchical singular value decomposition, which can yield a near-optimal fit and give strict bounds for the obtained accuracy. Here, a recursive scheme for using the HT-format PES within ML-MCTDH is derived, and theoretical estimates as well as a computational example show that the use of MLPF can reduce the numerical effort for ML-MCTDH by orders of magnitude, compared to the traditionally used POTFIT representation of the PES. Moreover, it is shown that MLPF is especially beneficial for high-accuracy PES representations, and it turns out that MLPF leads to computational savings already for comparatively small systems with just four modes.

Entropy vector formalism and the structure of multidimensional entanglement in multipartite systems

We review and generalize the recently introduced framework of entropy vectors for detecting and quantifying genuine multipartite entanglement in high dimensional multicomponent quantum systems. We show that these ideas can be extended to discriminate among other forms of multipartite entanglement. In particular, we develop methods to test whether density matrices are: decomposable, i.\ e.\ separable with respect to certain given partitions of the subsystems; $k$-separable, i.\ e.\ separable with respect to $k$ partitions of the subsystems; $k$-partite entangled, i.e. there is entanglement among a subset of at least $k$ parties. We also discuss how to asses the dimensionality of entanglement in all these cases.

Complementarity reveals bound entanglement of two twisted photons

We demonstrate the detection of bipartite bound entanglement as predicted by the Horodecki's in 1998. Bound entangled states, being heavily mixed entangled quantum states, can be produced by incoherent addition of pure entangled states. Until 1998 it was thought that such mixing could always be reversed by entanglement distillation; however, this turned out to be impossible for bound entangled states. The purest form of bound entanglement is that of only two particles, which requires higher-dimensional (d > 2) quantum systems. We realize this using photon qutrit (d = 3) pairs produced by spontaneous parametric downconversion, that are entangled in the orbital angular momentum degrees of freedom, which is scalable to high dimensions. Entanglement of the photons is confirmed via a ‘maximum complementarity protocol’. This conceptually simple protocol requires only maximized complementary of measurement bases; we show that it can also detect bound entanglement. We explore the bipartite qutrit space and find that, also experimentally, a significant portion of the entangled states are actually bound entangled.

Self-calibrating tomography for angular Schmidt modes in spontaneous parametric down-conversion

We report an experimental self-calibrating tomography scheme for entanglement characterization in high-dimensional quantum systems using Schmidt decomposition techniques. The self-tomography technique based on maximal likelihood estimation was developed for characterizing nonideal measurements in the Schmidt basis, allowing us to infer both Schmidt eigenvalues and detecting efficiencies.

Characterization of high-dimensional entangled systems via mutually unbiased measurements.

Mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) play a key role in many protocols in quantum science, such as quantum key distribution. However, defining MUBs for arbitrary high-dimensional systems is theoretically difficult, and measurements in such bases can be hard to implement. We show experimentally that efficient quantum state reconstruction of a high-dimensional multipartite quantum system can be performed by considering only the MUBs of the individual parts. The state spaces of the individual subsystems are always smaller than the state space of the composite system. Thus, the benefit of this method is that MUBs need to be defined for the small Hilbert spaces of the subsystems rather than for the large space of the overall system. This becomes especially relevant where the definition or measurement of MUBs for the overall system is challenging. We illustrate this approach by implementing measurements for a high-dimensional system consisting of two photons entangled in the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom, and we reconstruct the state of this system for dimensions of the individual photons from d = 2 to 5.

PT phase transition in higher-dimensional quantum systems

Abstract We consider a 2d anisotropic SHO with ixy interaction and a 3d SHO in an imaginary magnetic field with μ → l . B → interaction to study the PT phase transition analytically in higher dimension. Unbroken PT symmetry in the first case is complementary to the rotational symmetry of the original Hermitian system. PT phase transition ceases to occur the moment the 2d oscillator becomes isotropic. Transverse magnetic field in the other system introduces the anisotropy in the system and the system undergoes PT phase transition depending on the strength of the magnetic field and frequency of the oscillator. All these results in higher dimensions are based on exact analytical calculations.

Experimental realization of an approximate transpose operation for qutrit systems using a structural physical approximation

Although important for detecting entanglement, the transpose operation cannot be directly realized in laboratory because it is a nonphysical operation. It is, however, possible to find an approximate transpose operation using the method known as the structural physical approximation (SPA); recently, SPA-based implementations of the transpose and partial transpose have been demonstrated for a single-qubit [Phys. Rev. A 83, 020301(R) (2011)] and an entangled two-qubit system [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 160401 (2011)]. In this work, we expand SPA-transpose to a three-dimensional quantum system: a qutrit. The photonic qutrit state is encoded in the polarization, and path degrees of freedom of a single-photon and the SPA-transpose operation, which is based on measurement and preparation of quantum states, is implemented with linear optics. Our work paves the way toward entanglement detection for higher-dimensional quantum systems.