Quantum Router Research Articles

Unveiling the curtain of superposition: Recent gedanken and laboratory experiments

What is the true meaning of quantum superposition? Can a particle genuinely reside in several places simultaneously? These questions lie at the heart of this paper which presents an updated survey of some important stages in the evolution of the three-boxes paradox, as well as novel conclusions drawn from it. We begin with the original thought experiment of Aharonov and Vaidman, and proceed to its non-counterfactual version. The latter was recently realized by Okamoto and Takeuchi using a quantum router. We then outline a dynamic version of this experiment, where a particle is shown to “disappear” and “re-appear” during the time evolution of the system. This surprising prediction based on self-cancellation of weak values is directly related to our notion of Quantum Oblivion. Finally, we present the non-counterfactual version of this disappearing-reappearing experiment. Within the near future, this last version of the experiment is likely to be realized in the lab, proving the existence of exotic hitherto unknown forms of superposition. With the aid of Bell’s theorem, we prove the inherent nonlocality and nontemporality underlying such pre- and post-selected systems, rendering anomalous weak values ontologically real.

Implementation of single-photon quantum routing and decoupling using a nitrogen-vacancy center and a whispering-gallery-mode resonator-waveguide system.

Quantum router is a key element needed for the construction of future complex quantum networks. However, quantum routing with photons, and its inverse, quantum decoupling, are difficult to implement as photons do not interact, or interact very weakly in nonlinear media. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of implementing photonic quantum routing based on effects in cavity quantum electrodynamics, and present a scheme for single-photon quantum routing controlled by the other photon using a hybrid system consisting of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center coupled with a whispering-gallery-mode resonator-waveguide structure. Different from the cases in which classical information is used to control the path of quantum signals, both the control and signal photons are quantum in our implementation. Compared with the probabilistic quantum routing protocols based on linear optics, our scheme is deterministic and also scalable to multiple photons. We also present a scheme for single-photon quantum decoupling from an initial state with polarization and spatial-mode encoding, which can implement an inverse operation to the quantum routing. We discuss the feasibility of our schemes by considering current or near-future techniques, and show that both the schemes can operate effectively in the bad-cavity regime. We believe that the schemes could be key building blocks for future complex quantum networks and large-scale quantum information processing.

High efficient single-photon router with six ports

With the assistance of three coupled cavity arrays with infinite length, which are crossed by coupling with two Δ-type three-level atoms, we propose a single-photon quantum router with six output ports. By solving the motion equation for the single-photon scattering numerically, where the affect of the atoms on the photon is written as the effective potentials, we find that the channel transfer rate can be larger than that with only one atom in the four output ports scheme.

The Case of the Disappearing (and Re-Appearing) Particle

A novel prediction is derived by the Two-State-Vector-Formalism (TSVF) for a particle superposed over three boxes. Under appropriate pre- and post-selections, and with tunneling enabled between two of the boxes, it is possible to derive not only one, but three predictions for three different times within the intermediate interval. These predictions are moreover contradictory. The particle (when looked for using a projective measurement) seems to disappear from the first box where it would have been previously found with certainty, appearing instead within the third box, to which no tunneling is possible, and later re-appearing within the second. It turns out that local measurement (i.e. opening one of the boxes) fails to indicate the particle’s presence, but subtler measurements performed on the two boxes together reveal the particle’s nonlocal modular momentum spatially separated from its mass. Another advance of this setting is that, unlike other predictions of the TSVF that rely on weak and/or counterfactual measurements, the present one uses actual projective measurements. This outcome is then corroborated by adding weak measurements and the Aharonov-Bohm effect. The results strengthen the recently suggested time-symmetric Heisenberg ontology based on nonlocal deterministic operators. They can be also tested using the newly developed quantum router.

Quantum coordinated multi-point communication based on entanglement swapping

In a quantum network, adjacent nodes can communicate with each other point to point by using pre-shared Einsten---Podolsky---Rosen (EPR) pairs, and furthermore remote nodes can establish entanglement channels by using quantum routing among intermediate nodes. However, with the rapid development of quantum networks, the demand of various message transmission among nodes inevitably emerges. In order to realize this goal and extend quantum networks, we propose a quantum coordinated multi-point communication scheme based on entanglement swapping. The scheme takes full advantage of EPR pairs between adjacent nodes and performs multi-party entanglement swapping to transmit messages. Considering various demands of communication, all nodes work cooperatively to realize different message transmission modes, including one to many, many to one and one to some. Scheme analysis shows that the proposed scheme can flexibly organize a coordinated group and efficiently use EPR resources, while it meets basic security requirement under the condition of coordinated communication.

A quantum router for high-dimensional entanglement

In addition to being a workhorse for modern quantum technologies, entanglement plays a key role in fundamental tests of quantum mechanics. The entanglement of photons in multiple levels, or dimensions, explores the limits of how large an entangled state can be, while also greatly expanding its applications in quantum information. Here we show how a high-dimensional quantum state of two photons entangled in their orbital angular momentum can be split into two entangled states with a smaller dimensionality structure. Our work demonstrates that entanglement is a quantum property that can be subdivided into spatially separated parts. In addition, our technique has vast potential applications in quantum as well as classical communication systems.

T-bulge-shaped quantum router

The transport properties of a single photon scattered by a two-level system (TLS) in a T-bulge-shaped waveguide have been studied, which is made of two coupled-resonator waveguides (CRWs), an infinite CRW and a semi-infinite CRW with $$N-1$$N-1 FP cavities below the node. The spontaneous emission of the TLS directs single photons from one CRW to the other. The $$N-1$$N-1 FP cavities effect the extreme point's value and location of the propagation coefficient and incident energy curve.

Experimental demonstration of a quantum shutter closing two slits simultaneously.

The interference between two paths of a single photon at a double slit is widely considered to be the most paradoxical result of quantum theory. Here is a new interesting question to the phenomenon: can a single shutter simultaneously close two slits by effectively being in a superposition of different locations? Aharonov and Vaidman have shown that it is indeed possible to construct a quantum shutter that can close two slits and reflect a probe photon perfectly when its initial and final states are appropriately selected. Here we report the experimental demonstration of their proposal overcoming the difficulty to realize a ‘quantum shutter’ by employing photonic quantum routers. The reflectance ratio of 0.61 ± 0.027 surpasses the classical limit with 4.1 standard deviation, shedding new light on the unusual physical properties of quantum operations. This experimental demonstration, where the strong measurement and non-local superposition seem co-existing, provides an alternative to weak measurements as a way to explore the nature of quantum physics.

Routing protocol for wireless quantum multi-hop mesh backbone network based on partially entangled GHZ state

Quantum multi-hop teleportation is important in the field of quantum communication. In this study, we propose a quantum multi-hop communication model and a quantum routing protocol with multihop teleportation for wireless mesh backbone networks. Based on an analysis of quantum multi-hop protocols, a partially entangled Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state is selected as the quantum channel for the proposed protocol. Both quantum and classical wireless channels exist between two neighboring nodes along the route. With the proposed routing protocol, quantum information can be transmitted hop by hop from the source node to the destination node. Based on multi-hop teleportation based on the partially entangled GHZ state, a quantum route established with the minimum number of hops. The difference between our routing protocol and the classical one is that in the former, the processes used to find a quantum route and establish quantum channel entanglement occur simultaneously. The Bell state measurement results of each hop are piggybacked to quantum route finding information. This method reduces the total number of packets and the magnitude of air interface delay. The deduction of the establishment of a quantum channel between source and destination is also presented here. The final success probability of quantum multi-hop teleportation in wireless mesh backbone networks was simulated and analyzed. Our research shows that quantum multi-hop teleportation in wireless mesh backbone networks through a partially entangled GHZ state is feasible.

Robust entanglement distribution via quantum network coding

Many protocols of quantum information processing, like quantum key distribution or measurement-based quantum computation, ‘consume’ entangled quantum states during their execution. When participants are located at distant sites, these resource states need to be distributed. Due to transmission losses quantum repeater become necessary for large distances (e.g. ). Here we generalize the concept of the graph state repeater to D-dimensional graph states and to repeaters that can perform basic measurement-based quantum computations, which we call quantum routers. This processing of data at intermediate network nodes is called quantum network coding. We describe how a scheme to distribute general two-colourable graph states via quantum routers with network coding can be constructed from classical linear network codes. The robustness of the distribution of graph states against outages of network nodes is analysed by establishing a link to stabilizer error correction codes. Furthermore we show, that for any stabilizer error correction code there exists a corresponding quantum network code with similar error correcting capabilities.

Quantum leaps of black holes: Magnifying glasses of quantum gravity

We show using simple arguments, that the conceptual triad of a classical black hole, semi-classical Hawking emission and geometry quantization is inherently, mutually incompatible. Presence of any two explicitly violates the third. We argue that geometry quantization, if realized in nature, magnifies the quantum gravity features hugely to catapult them into the realm of observational possibilities. We also explore a quantum route towards extremality of the black holes.

Single photon transport in two waveguides chirally coupled by a quantum emitter.

We investigate single photon transport in two waveguides coupled to a two-level quantum emitter (QE). With the deduced analytical scattering amplitudes, we show that under condition of the chiral coupling between the QE and the photon in the two waveguides, the QE can play the role of ideal quantum router to redirect a single photon incident from one waveguide into the other waveguide with a probability of 100% in the ideal condition. The influences of cross coupling between two waveguides and dissipations on the routing are also shown.

Graph State-Based Quantum Secret Sharing with the Chinese Remainder Theorem

Quantum secret sharing (QSS) is a significant quantum cryptography technology in the literature. Dividing an initial secret into several sub-secrets which are then transferred to other legal participants so that it can be securely recovered in a collaboration fashion. In this paper, we develop a quantum route selection based on the encoded quantum graph state, thus enabling the practical QSS scheme in the small-scale complex quantum network. Legal participants are conveniently designated with the quantum route selection using the entanglement of the encoded graph states. Each participant holds a vertex of the graph state so that legal participants are selected through performing operations on specific vertices. The Chinese remainder theorem (CRT) strengthens the security of the recovering process of the initial secret among the legal participants. The security is ensured by the entanglement of the encoded graph states that are cooperatively prepared and shared by legal users beforehand with the sub-secrets embedded in the CRT over finite fields.

Quantum Router for Single Photons Carrying Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum.

Quantum router is an essential element in the quantum network. Here, we present a fully quantum router based on interaction free measurement and quantum dots. The signal photonic qubit can be routed to different output ports according to one control electronic qubit. Besides, our scheme is an interferometric method capable of routing single photons carrying either spin angular momentum (SAM) or orbital angular momentum (OAM), or simultaneously carrying SAM and OAM. Then we describe a cascaded multi-level quantum router to construct a one-to-many quantum router. Subsequently we analyze the success probability by using a tunable controlled phase gate. The implementation issues are also discussed to show that this scheme is feasible.

Proposal for a transmon-based quantum router

We propose an implementation of a quantum router for microwave photons in a superconducting qubit architecture consisting of a transmon qubit, SQUIDs and a nonlinear capacitor. We model and analyze the dynamics of operation of the quantum switch using quantum Langevin equations in a scattering approach and compute the photon reflection and transmission probabilities. For parameters corresponding to up-to-date experimental devices we predict successful operation of the router with probabilities above 94%.

Information-holding quantum router of single photons using natural atom

In a quantum network, a quantum router can play a key role that involves exchanging quantum information (quantum states) among different parties. In this paper, we propose a single-photon quantum router by using a four-level atom that is embedded in quantum multi-channels, which are composed of coupled-resonator waveguides. Single photons can be guided from one quantum channel to another by controlling an on-demand classical field. The fidelity of the routing atom recovers to a maximum after a time evolution cycle of the system; thus, the fidelity of the information-carrying single photon reaches unit at the same time. For the first time, we demonstrate that quantum information carried by single photons can be perfectly held after a quantum router.

Controllable single-photon transport between remote coupled-cavity arrays

We develop a new approach for controllable single-photon transport between two remote one-dimensional coupled-cavity arrays, used as quantum registers, mediated by an additional one-dimensional coupled-cavity array, acting as a quantum channel. A single two-level atom located inside one cavity of the intermediate channel is used to control the long-range coherent quantum coupling between two remote registers, thereby functioning as a quantum switch. With a time-independent perturbative treatment, we find that the leakage of quantum information can in principle be made arbitrarily small. Furthermore, our method can be extended to realize a quantum router in multi-register quantum networks, where single-photons can be either stored in one of the registers or transported to another on demand. These results are confirmed by numerical simulations.

Single-photon quantum router by two distant artificial atoms

Nowadays, quantum router is playing a key role in quantum communication and quantum network- s. Here we propose a tunable single-photon routing scheme, based on quantum interference, which uses two distant artificial atoms coupling to two transmission lines. Depending on the distance between the two atoms, the collective effect will lead to destructive or constructive interference between the scattered photons. Under standing wave condition, single photon from the incident channel can be perfectly transmitted or redirected into another channel by asymmetric or symmet- ric reflected phase shift of atoms, respectively. Therefore, we show that our router can be controlled by adjusting the detuning of the atoms and interatomic distance, without any classical field.

Single-photon router: Implementation of Information-Holding of Quantum States

The quantum router is an indispensable element in the future quantum network. In this study, by calculating the fidelity of the atom, we show that the quantum router proposed by J. Lu et al. (Phys. Rev. A 89, 013805, 2014) achieves quantum information-holding. After the single photon passes through the atom, the fidelity of the atom decreases from the maximum value after a period of time and rises to the maximum value of 1. Even upon changing the size of the classical field, this phenomenon will not disappear, only undergo a cycle change. This means such a single-photon quantum router can be applied experimentally since quantum state can be perfectly held after the routing.

A scheme of quantum packet transmission and its performance analysis based on hierarchical

By using quantum packet transmission technology in large scale quantum communication networks, the throughput of transmission node, network link utilization, and the anti-interference performance of communication can be effectively improved. However, the fast transmission of quantum packets is closely related to the performance of router. The bottleneck of the router performance will seriously affect the scalability of the network and the transmission efficiency of the link. In order to reduce the number of quantum packet queues in nodes of the quantum communication network and to reduce the transmission delay of quantum packets, firstly, according to the classical computer communication network structure, in our paper, we divide the quantum communication network into quantum local area network, quantum metropolitan area network and quantum wide area network. Secondly, the quantum packet format and the quantum cluster format compatible with the packet format in the computer network are determined. Then, a quantum information packet transmission scheme based on the hierarchy is proposed, to realize the end-to-end transmission of quantum information. In our scheme, the quantum packets are divided into quantum packet header information and quantum data information. Quantum dense coding mode is used to transmit the quantum packet header information, while the quantum data information uses quantum teleportation to transmit. First, the quantum packets are sent to the router of the quantum local area network at source address, then the quantum LAN router relay the packets to the quantum metropolitan area network router, the router here makes the quantum packets into quantum cluster according to destination address. Quantum clusters are transmitted in the quantum metropolitan area network and quantum wide area network, ending in the quantum metropolitan area network routing. After the quantum clusters are decomposed, they are sent to the destination address through the local area network router of each quantum packet.We analyze the number of quantum entanglement pairs and the total transmission time in our scheme. The results show that the more the routers by the quantum packet and the quantum cluster are, the more the number of quantum entanglement pairs required by the transmission of a certain quantum packet is. When the number of routers is certain, the number of entanglement pairs required in the transmission process of quantum packet and quantum cluster depends on the number of quantum packets. Finally, the theoretical analysis and calculation are carried out by Matlab simulation, the results show that hierarchical quantum packet information transmission scheme can effectively reduce the transmission time of quantum packet information in the quantum communication network, and the reduced time is related to the quantum router performance and the number of quantum packets to send: the more the number of quantum packets to send, the longer the length of packet processing time needs is and the more obvious the advantage of our scheme is. Therefore, the proposed scheme in this paper is suitable for the construction of large scale quantum communication networks.