Nonclassical Character Research Articles

Scalable quantum detector tomography by high-performance computing

Abstract At large scales, quantum systems may become advantageous over their classical counterparts at performing certain tasks. Developing tools to analyze these systems at the relevant scales, in a manner consistent with quantum mechanics, is therefore critical to benchmarking performance and characterizing their operation. While classical computational approaches cannot perform like-for-like computations of quantum systems beyond a certain scale, classical high-performance computing (HPC) may nevertheless be useful for precisely these characterization and certification tasks. By developing open-source customized algorithms using high-performance computing, we perform quantum tomography on a megascale quantum photonic detector covering a Hilbert space of 106. This requires finding 108 elements of the matrix corresponding to the positive operator valued measure (POVM), the quantum description of the detector, and is achieved in minutes of computation time. Moreover, by exploiting the structure of the problem, we achieve highly efficient parallel scaling, paving the way for quantum objects up to a system size of 1012 elements to be reconstructed using this method. In general, this shows that a consistent quantum mechanical description of quantum phenomena is applicable at everyday scales. More concretely, this enables the reconstruction of large-scale quantum sources, processes and detectors used in computation and sampling tasks, which may be necessary to prove their nonclassical character or quantum computational advantage.

Probing quantum discord and coherence dynamics in the discrete-time quantum walk under generalized amplitude damping noise channel

We investigate the behaviour of one-dimensional dissipative Hadamard discrete-time quantum walk (DTQW) in the generalized amplitude damping channel. By manipulating the noise intensity, we uncover intriguing dynamics in the coherence of the coin state such as rebounding and freezing phenomena. The entanglement between the quantum walker’ states diminishes at lower dissipation rates despite the pronounced coherence. The non-classical characters of the dissipative DTQW becomes evident through the manifestation of quantum discord. Our study shows that even under maximum dissipation stemming from both zero and finite-temperature environment, the quantum walker retains rudimentary non-classical behaviours. It is shown that fine-tuning the parameter governing the coin rotation angle optimizes the quantum discord of the walker. These results are useful for optimizing quantum walks in the presence of noisy channels.

Nonclassicality versus quantum non-Gaussianity of photon-subtracted displaced Fock state

In this paper, a quantitative investigation of the non-classical and quantum non-Gaussian characters of the photon-subtracted displaced Fock state [Formula: see text], where k is the number of photons subtracted and n is Fock parameter, is performed by using a collection of measures like Wigner logarithmic negativity, linear entropy potential, skew information-based measure, and relative entropy of quantum non-Gaussianity. It is noticed that the number of photons subtracted ( k) changes the nonclassicality and quantum non-Gaussianity in a significant amount in the regime of small values of the displacement parameter, whereas the Fock parameter ( n) presents a notable change in the large regime of the displacement parameter. In this respect, the role of the Fock parameter is found to be stronger as compared to the photon subtraction number. Finally, the Wigner function dynamics considering the effects of photon loss channel is used to show that the Wigner negativity can only be detected by highly efficient detectors.

Spherical Aromaticity of Tetrahedral Pnictogens Through Off-Nucleus Isotropic Magnetic Shielding.

This work revealed the spherical aromaticity of some inorganic E4 cages and their protonated E4 H+ ions (E=N, P, As, Sb, and Bi). For this purpose, we employed several evaluations like (0D-1D) nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS), multidimensional (2D-3D) off-nucleus isotropic shielding σiso (r), and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The magnetic calculations involved gauge-including atomic orbitals (GIAO) with two density functionals B3LYP and WB97XD, and basis sets of Jorge-ATZP, 6-311+G(d,p), and Lanl2DZp. The Jorge-ATZP basis set showed the best consistency. Our findings disclosed non-classical aromatic characters in the above molecules, which decreased from N to Bi cages. Also, the results showed more aromaticity in E4 than E4 H+ . The NBO analysis attributed the aromaticity in the above molecules to the residual density of the overlapping σ-bonding orbitals. So, the aromaticity in these molecules is unlike the classical aromaticity that is associated with electron delocalization. Scanning 1D σiso (r) variation along E-E bonds indicated a lowering in the shielding trend from N to Bi cages. The 3D results showed a similar decrease in the relative volumetric diffusion of the magnetic activity, whereas the volumetric ratio of V1ppm /V2ppm is almost constant for all the E4 cages.

Partitioning dysprosium's electronic spin to reveal entanglement in nonclassical states

Quantum spins of mesoscopic size are a well-studied playground for engineering non-classical states. If the spin represents the collective state of an ensemble of qubits, its non-classical behavior is linked to entanglement between the qubits. In this work, we report on an experimental study of entanglement in dysprosium's electronic spin. Its ground state, of angular momentum $J=8$, can formally be viewed as a set of $2J$ qubits symmetric upon exchange. To access entanglement properties, we partition the spin by optically coupling it to an excited state $J'=J-1$, which removes a pair of qubits in a state defined by the light polarization. Starting with the well-known W and squeezed states, we extract the concurrence of qubit pairs, which quantifies their non-classical character. We also directly demonstrate entanglement between the 14- and 2-qubit subsystems via an increase in entropy upon partition. In a complementary set of experiments, we probe decoherence of a state prepared in the excited level $J'=J+1$ and interpret spontaneous emission as a loss of a qubit pair in a random state. This allows us to contrast the robustness of pairwise entanglement of the W state with the fragility of the coherence involved in a Schr\"odinger cat state. Our findings open up the possibility to engineer novel types of entangled atomic ensembles, in which entanglement occurs within each atom's electronic spin as well as between different atoms.

Phase-dependent fluctuations of resonance fluorescence near the coherent population trapping condition

We study phase-dependent fluctuations of the resonance fluorescence of a single Λ-type three-level atom in the regime near coherent population trapping, i.e. alongside the two-photon detuning condition. To this end, we employ the method of conditional homodyne detection (CHD) which considers squeezing in the weak driving regime, and extends to non-Gaussian fluctuations for saturating and strong fields. In this framework, and using estimated parameter settings of the resonance fluorescence of a single trapped 138Ba+ ion, the light scattered from the probe transitions is found to manifest a non-classical character and conspicuous asymmetric third-order fluctuations in the amplitude-intensity correlation of CHD.

Direct Experimental Certification of Quantum Non-Gaussian Character and Wigner Function Negativity of Single-Photon Detectors.

Highly nonclassical character of optical quantum detectors, such as single-photon detectors, is essential for preparation of quantum states of light and a vast majority of applications in quantum metrology and quantum information processing. Therefore, it is both fundamentally interesting and practically relevant to investigate the nonclassical features of optical quantum measurements. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate a procedure for direct certification of quantum non-Gaussianity and Wigner function negativity, two crucial nonclassicality levels, of photonic quantum detectors. Remarkably, we characterize the highly nonclassical properties of the detector by probing it with only two classical thermal states and a vacuum state. We experimentally demonstrate the quantum non-Gaussianity of a single-photon avalanche diode even under the presence of background noise, and we also certify the negativity of the Wigner function of this detector. Our results open the way for direct benchmarking of photonic quantum detectors with a few measurements on classical states.

Minimal informationally complete measurements for probability representation of quantum dynamics

In the present work, we suggest an approach for describing dynamics of finite-dimensional quantum systems in terms of pseudostochastic maps acting on probability distributions, which are obtained via minimal informationally complete quantum measurements. The suggested method for probability representation of quantum dynamics preserves the tensor product structure, which makes it favourable for the analysis of multi-qubit systems. A key advantage of the suggested approach is that minimal informationally complete positive operator-valued measures (MIC-POVMs) are easier to construct in comparison with their symmetric versions (SIC-POVMs). We establish a correspondence between the standard quantum-mechanical formalism and the MIC-POVM-based probability formalism. Within the latter approach, we derive equations for the unitary von-Neumann evolution and the Markovian dissipative evolution, which is governed by the Gorini–Kossakowski–Sudarshan–Lindblad (GKSL) generator. We apply the MIC-POVM-based probability representation to the digital quantum computing model. In particular, for the case of spin-1/2 evolution, we demonstrate identifying a transition of a dissipative quantum dynamics to a completely classical-like stochastic dynamics. One of the most important findings is that the MIC-POVM-based probability representation gives more strict requirements for revealing the non-classical character of dissipative quantum dynamics in comparison with the SIC-POVM-based approach. Our results give a physical interpretation of quantum computations and pave a way for exploring the resources of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices.

Information-Theoretic Descriptors of Molecular States and Electronic Communications between Reactants.

The classical (modulus/probability) and nonclassical (phase/current) components of molecular states are reexamined and their information contributions are summarized. The state and information continuity relations are discussed and a nonclassical character of the resultant gradient information source is emphasized. The states of noninteracting and interacting subsystems in the model donor-acceptor reactive system are compared and configurations of the mutually-closed and -open equidensity orbitals are tackled. The density matrices for subsystems in reactive complexes are used to describe the entangled molecular fragments and electron communications in donor-acceptor systems which determine the entropic multiplicity and composition of chemical bonds between reactants.

Nonquantum information gain from higher-order correlation functions

Nonlinear correlation functions are at the heart of quantum theory. The second-order correlation function $g^{(2)}(\tau)$ has been a cornerstone of quantum optics since over half a century and a myriad of quantum and classical applications has been discovered. In contrast, higher-order correlation functions have so far only been used to reveal the nonclassical character of the emitted fields. In this paper, we study the relation between the $k$th-order correlation function $g^{(k)}(0)$ and the projection of the underlying quantum state of light onto the subspace of Fock states with photon number less than $k$. We show, that when $g^{(k)}(0)$ falls below a critical value, lower bounds for the projection on this subspace can be concluded as well as on the ratio of the subspace with one upto $k-1$ photons and $k$ to infinity. These bounds are at face value only valid for nonclassical quantum states. However, when the quantum state includes a nonzero projection on the vacuum state, the value of $g^{(k)}(0)$ is artificially enhanced, potentially covering these projections. We derive an effective $k$th-order correlation function, which accounts for the effect of vacuum. We show that the information gained from the effective correlation function is not limited to nonclassical quantum states and thus constitute a quantum- and classical application of higher-order correlation functions.

Quantum Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering Based on One Dimension Discrete Quantum Walk with Single-Point Phase Defects

As an important branch of machine learning, clustering analysis is widely used in some fields, e.g., image pattern recognition, social network analysis, information security, and so on. In this paper, we consider the designing of clustering algorithm in quantum scenario, and propose a quantum hierarchical agglomerative clustering algorithm, which is based on one dimension discrete quantum walk with single-point phase defects. In the proposed algorithm, two nonclassical characters of this kind of quantum walk, localization and ballistic effects, are exploited. At first, each data point is viewed as a particle and performed this kind of quantum walk with a parameter, which is determined by its neighbors. After that, the particles are measured in a calculation basis. In terms of the measurement result, every attribute value of the corresponding data point is modified appropriately. In this way, each data point interacts with its neighbors and moves toward a certain center point. At last, this process is repeated several times until similar data points cluster together and form distinct classes. Simulation experiments on the synthetic and real world data demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented algorithm. Compared with some classical algorithms, the proposed algorithm achieves better clustering results. Moreover, combining quantum cluster assignment method, the presented algorithm can speed up the calculating velocity.

Orthogonal state of coherent state based on Hermite-excited superposition operator: Production and Wigner function

An orthogonal state of coherent state is produced by applying an orthogonalizer related with Hermite-excited superposition operator [Formula: see text]. Using some technique, we cleverly deal with the normalization and discuss the nonclassical and non-Gaussian characters of the orthogonal state. The analytical expressions for the Wigner functions of the orthogonal state are derived in detail. Numerical results show that the orthogonal state will exhibit its richly nonclassical and non-Gaussian character by changing the interaction parameters.

Magnon heralding in cavity optomagnonics

In the emerging field of cavity optomagnonics, photons are coupled coherently to magnons in solid-state systems. These new systems are promising for implementing hybrid quantum technologies. Being able to prepare Fock states in such platforms is an essential step towards the implementation of quantum information schemes. We propose a magnon-heralding protocol to generate a magnon Fock state by detecting an optical cavity photon. Due to the peculiarities of the optomagnonic coupling, the protocol involves two distinct cavity photon modes. Solving the quantum Langevin equations of the coupled system, we show that the temporal scale of the heralding is governed by the magnon-photon cooperativity and derive the requirements for generating high fidelity magnon Fock states. We show that the nonclassical character of the heralded state, which is imprinted in the autocorrelation of an optical "read" mode, is only limited by the magnon lifetime for small enough temperatures. We address the detrimental effects of nonvacuum initial states, showing that high fidelity Fock states can be achieved by actively cooling the system prior to the protocol.

Entangled Photon Resonance Energy Transfer in Arbitrary Media.

Inspired by the unique nonclassical character of two-photon interactions induced by entangled photons, we develop a new comprehensive Förster-type formulation for entangled-two-photon resonance energy transfer (E2P-RET) mediated by inhomogeneous, dispersive, and absorptive media with any space-dependent and frequency-dependent dielectric function and with any size of donor/acceptor. In our theoretical framework, two uncoupled particles are jointly excited by the temporally entangled field associated with two virtual photons that are produced by three-level radiative cascade decay in a donor particle. The temporal entanglement leads to frequency anticorrelation in the virtual photon's field, and vanishing of one of the time-ordered excitation pathways. The underlying mechanism leads to more than 3 orders of magnitude enhancement in the E2P-RET rate compared with the uncorrelated photon case. With the power of our new formulation, we propose a way to characterize E2P-RET through an effective rate coefficient KE2P, introduced here. This coefficient shows how energy transfer can be enhanced or suppressed depending on rate parameters in the radiative cascade, and by varying the donor-acceptor frequency differences.

Society semantics for four-valued Łukasiewicz logic

AbstractWe argue that many-valued logics (MVLs) can be useful in analysing informational conflicts by using society semantics (SSs). This work concentrates on four-valued Łukasiewicz logic. SSs were proposed by Carnielli and Lima-Marques (1999, Advances in Contemporary Logic and Computer Science, 235, 33–52) to deal with conflicts of information involving rational agents that make judgements about propositions according to a given logic within a society, where a society is understood as a collection $\mathcal{A}$ of agents. The interesting point of such semantics is that a new logic can be obtained by combining the logic of the agents under some appropriate rules. Carnielli and Lima-Marques (1999, Advances in Contemporary Logic and Computer Science, 235, 33–52) defined SSs for the three-valued logics $I^{1}$ and $P^{1}$. In this kind of semantics, all the agents reason according to classical logic (CL) and the molecular formulas behave in the same way as in CL (the non-classical character of these logics only appears at the propositional level). Marcos (unpublished data) provided SSs with classical agents for the three-valued Łukasiewicz logic Ł$_{3}$, but in this case, the molecular formulas do not behave classically. We prove here that one can characterize Ł$_{4}^{\prime}$, a conservative extension of Ł$_{4}$ obtained by adding a connective $\blacktriangledown$, by means of a closed society where the agents reason according to Ł$_{3}$. We shall emphasize the importance of recovery operators in the construction of this class of societies. Moreover, we shall relate this semantics to Suszko’s view on the ‘two-valuedness’ of logic.

Quantifying quantum coherence in experimentally observed neutrino oscillations

Neutrino oscillation represents an intriguing physical phenomenon where the quantumness can be maintained and detected over a long distance. Previously, the non-classical character of neutrino oscillation was tested with the Leggett-Garg inequality, where a clear violation of the classical bound was observed [J. A. Formaggio et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 050402 (2016)]. However, there are several limitations in testing neutrino oscillations with the Leggett-Garg inequality. In particular, the degree of violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality cannot be taken as a "measure of quantumness". Here we focus on quantifying the quantumness of experimentally-observed neutrino oscillation, using the tools of recently-developed quantum resource theory. We analyzed ensembles of reactor and accelerator neutrinos at distinct energies from a variety of neutrino sources, including Daya Bay (0.5 km and 1.6 km), Kamland (180 km), MINOS (735 km), and T2K (295 km). The quantumness of the three-flavoured neutrino oscillation is characterized within a 3{\sigma} range relative to the theoretical prediction. It is found that the maximal coherence was observed in the neutrino source from the Kamland reactor. However, even though the survival probability of the Daya Bay experiment did not vary significantly (dropped about 10 percent), the coherence recorded can reach up to 40 percent of the maximal value. These results represent the longest distance over which quantumness were experimentally determined for quantum particles other than photons.

Total Description of Intrinsic Amphiphile Aggregation: Calorimetry Study and Molecular Probing.

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is an apt tool for a total thermodynamic description of self-assembly of atypical amphiphiles such as anionic boron cluster compounds (COSAN) in water. Global fitting of ITC enthalpograms reveals remarkable features that differentiate COSAN from classical amphiphiles: (i) strong enthalpy and weak entropy contribution to the free energy of aggregation, (ii) low degree of counterion binding, and (iii) very low aggregation number, leading to deviations from the ideal closed association model. The counterion condensation obtained from the thermodynamic model was compared with the results of 7Li DOSY NMR of Li[COSAN] micelles, which allows direct tracking of Li cations. The basic thermodynamic study of COSAN alkaline salt aggregation was complemented by NMR and ITC experiments in dilute Li/NaCl and acetonitrile aqueous solutions of COSAN. The strong affinity of acetonitrile molecules to COSAN clusters was microscopically investigated by all-atomic molecular dynamics simulations. The impact of ionic strength on COSAN self-assembling was comparable to the behavior of classical amphiphiles, whereas even a small amount of acetonitrile cosolvent has a pronounced nonclassical character of COSAN aggregation. It demonstrates that large self-assembling changes are triggered by traces of organic solvents.

Orthogonalization of coherent state and generation of continuous-variable qubit state via a coherent superposition of photon addition and subtraction

Based on the coherent state (S1) and the operator [Formula: see text], we induce other three quantum states (here we abbreviate them as S2, S3 and S4). S2 is obtained by operating the operator on S1 directly. S3 is an orthogonal state of S1 constructed from the orthogonalizer relevant with that operator. S4 is a continuous-variable (CV) qubit state superposed from S1 and S3. We study and compare the mathematical and physical properties of such four quantum states. We demonstrate some statistical properties for S1–S4, including the mean photon number (MPN), anti-bunching effect, quadrate squeezing, photon number distribution, Husimi Q-function and Wigner function. The numerical results show some interesting non-classical characters for such states. It is worthy to note that the photon-added coherent state introduced by Agarwal and Tara is only a special case of our considered states.

Probing nonclassicality in an optically driven cavity with two atomic ensembles

The possibility of observing nonclassical features in a physical system comprised of a cavity with two ensembles of two-level atoms has been investigated by considering different configurations of the ensembles with respect to the Node and Antinode of the cavity field under the framework of open quantum systems. The study reveals the strong presence of nonclassical characters in the physical system by establishing the existence of many facets of nonclassicality, such as the sub-Poissonian boson statistics and squeezing in single modes, intermodal squeezing, intermodal entanglement, antibunching, and steering. The effect of a number of parameters, characterizing the physical system, on the different aspects of nonclassicality are also investigated. Specifically, it is observed that the depth of the nonclassicality witnessing parameters can be enhanced by externally driving one of the ensembles with an optical field. The work is done in the presence of open system effects, in particular, use is made of Langevin equations along with a suitable perturbative technique.

Nonclassical Light from Large Ensembles of Trapped Ions.

The vast majority of physical objects we are dealing with are almost exclusively made of atoms. Because of their discrete level structure, single atoms have proved to be emitters of light, which is incompatible with the classical description of electromagnetic waves. We demonstrate this incompatibility for atomic fluorescence when scaling up the size of the source ensemble, which consists of trapped atomic ions, by several orders of magnitude. The presented measurements of nonclassical statistics on light unconditionally emitted from ensembles containing up to more than a thousand ions promise further scalability to much larger emitter numbers. The methodology can be applied to a broad range of experimental platforms focusing on the bare nonclassical character of single isolated emitters.