Quantum Superposition States Research Articles

Image classification based on quantum K-Nearest-Neighbor algorithm

Image classification is an important task in the field of machine learning and image processing. However, common classification method, the K-Nearest-Neighbor algorithm, has high complexity, because its two main processes: similarity computing and searching, are time-consuming. Especially in the era of big data, the problem is prominent when the amount of images to be classified is large. In this paper, we try to use the powerful parallel computing ability of quantum computers to optimize the efficiency of image classification. The scheme is based on quantum K-Nearest-Neighbor algorithm. Firstly, the feature vectors of images are extracted on classical computers. Then, the feature vectors are inputted into a quantum superposition state, which is used to achieve parallel computing of similarity. Next, the quantum minimum search algorithm is used to speed up searching process for similarity. Finally, the image is classified by quantum measurement. The complexity of the quantum algorithm is only $$O(\sqrt{kM})$$ , which is superior to the classical algorithms. Moreover, the measurement step is executed only once to ensure the validity of the scheme. The experimental results show that the classification accuracy is $$83.1\%$$ on Graz-01 dataset and $$78\%$$ on Caltech-101 dataset, which is close to existing classical algorithms. Hence, our quantum scheme has a good classification performance while greatly improving the efficiency.

Ultrafast dissipative spin-state dynamics triggered by x-ray pulse trains

Frontiers of attosecond science are constantly shifting, thus addressing more and more intricate effects with increasing resolution. Ultrashort pulses offer a practical way to prepare complex superpositions of quantum states, follow, and steer their dynamics. In this contribution, an ultrafast spin-flip process triggered by sub-femtosecond (fs) excitation and strong spin-orbit coupling between 2p core-excited states of a transition metal complex is investigated using density matrix-based time-dependent restricted active space configuration interaction theory. The effect of the nuclear vibrations is incorporated making use of an electronic system plus vibrational bath partitioning. The differences between isolated sub-fs pulses and pulse trains as well as influence of various pulse characteristics on the initiated dynamics are discussed. The effect under study can be potentially used for ultrafast clocking in sub-few fs experiments.

Design and Implementation of Color Image Encryption Based on Qubit Rotation About Axis

Currently, almost all color image encryption/decryption algorithms are designed based on a classical computer, in which the key space is relatively small, and the huge gains from quantum parallelism are not obtained. To address this problem, we propose a novel color image encryption/decryption method based on random rotation of qubit and Quantum Fourier transform (QFT). First, the color image is represented in a quantum superposition state |Image⟩, in which the color information of each pixel is described by only one qubit |c⟩. Then, the |c⟩ are randomly rotated on the Bloch sphere about three coordinate axis, and the QFT is performed on the |Image⟩. Once again, the |c⟩ is randomly rotated on the Bloch sphere and then the inverse QFT is performed on the |Image⟩, which the encryption process is implemented. The keys are the rotation angles of two above-mentioned rotations. The decryption is the inverse process of the encryption. Our method may run on a quantum computer in the future. The simulation results on the classic computer show that our approaches have better security.

Light polarization measurements in tests of macrorealism

According to the world view of macrorealism, the properties of a given system exist prior to and independent of measurement, which is incompatible with quantum mechanics. Leggett and Garg put forward a practical criterion capable of identifying violations of macrorealism, and so far experiments performed on microscopic and mesoscopic systems have always ruled out in favor of quantum mechanics. However, a macrorealist can always assign the cause of such violations to the perturbation that measurements effect on such small systems, and hence a definitive test would require using non-invasive measurements, preferably on macroscopic objects, where such measurements seem more plausible. However, the generation of truly macroscopic quantum superposition states capable of violating macrorealism remains a big challenge. In this work we propose a setup that makes use of measurements on the polarization of light, a property which has been extensively manipulated both in classical and quantum contexts, hence establishing the perfect link between the microscopic and macroscopic worlds. In particular, we use Leggett-Garg inequalities and the criterion of no-signaling in time to study the macrorealistic character of light polarization for different kinds of measurements, in particular with different degrees of coarse-graining. Our proposal is non-invasive for coherent input states by construction. We show for states with well defined photon number in two orthogonal polarization modes, that there always exists a way of making the measurement sufficiently coarse-grained so that a violation of macrorealism becomes arbitrarily small, while sufficiently sharp measurements can always lead to a significant violation.

Displacemon Electromechanics: How to Detect Quantum Interference in a Nanomechanical Resonator

We introduce the `displacemon' electromechanical architecture that comprises a vibrating nanobeam, e.g. a carbon nanotube, flux coupled to a superconducting qubit. This platform can achieve strong and even ultrastrong coupling enabling a variety of quantum protocols. We use this system to describe a protocol for generating and measuring quantum interference between two trajectories of a nanomechanical resonator. The scheme uses a sequence of qubit manipulations and measurements to cool the resonator, apply an effective diffraction grating, and measure the resulting interference pattern. We simulate the protocol for a realistic system consisting of a vibrating carbon nanotube acting as a junction in a superconducting qubit, and we demonstrate the feasibility of generating a spatially distinct quantum superposition state of motion containing more than $10^6$ nucleons.

Quantum Adder for Superposition States

Quantum superposition is one of the essential features that make quantum computation surpass classical computation in space complexity and time complexity. However, it is a double-edged sword. For example, it is troublesome to add all the numbers stored in a superposition state. The usual solution is taking out and adding the numbers one by one. If there are \(2^{n}\) numbers, the complexity of this scheme is \(O(2^{n})\) which is the same as the complexity of the classical scheme \(O(2^{n})\). Moreover, taking account to the current physical computing speed, quantum computers will have no advantage. In order to solve this problem, a new method for summing all numbers in a quantum superposition state is proposed in this paper, whose main idea is that circularly shifting the superposition state and summing the new one with the original superposition state. Our scheme can effectively reduce the time complexity to \(O(n)\).

Theory and Ab Initio Computation of the Anisotropic Light Emission in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are direct gap semiconductors with a unique potential for use in ultrathin light emitters. However, their photoluminescence (PL) is not completely understood. We develop an approach to compute the radiative recombination rate in monolayer TMDCs as a function of photon emission direction and polarization. Using exciton wavefunctions and energies obtained with the ab initio Bethe-Salpeter equation, we obtain polar plots of the PL for different scenarios. Our results can explain the PL anisotropy and polarization dependence measured in recent experiments and predict that light is emitted with a peak intensity normal to the exciton dipole in monolayer TMDCs. We show that excitons emit light anisotropically upon recombination when they are in any quantum superposition state of the K and K' inequivalent valleys. When averaged over the emission angle and exciton momentum, our new treatment recovers the temperature-dependent radiative lifetimes that we previously derived. Our work demonstrates a generally applicable first-principles approach to studying anisotropic light emission in two-dimensional materials.

Generation of mechanical interference fringes by multi-photon counting

Exploring the quantum behaviour of macroscopic objects provides an intriguing avenue to study the foundations of physics and to develop a suite of quantum-enhanced technologies. One prominent path of study is provided by quantum optomechanics which utilizes the tools of quantum optics to control the motion of macroscopic mechanical resonators. Despite excellent recent progress, the preparation of mechanical quantum superposition states remains outstanding due to weak coupling and thermal decoherence. Here we present a novel optomechanical scheme that significantly relaxes these requirements allowing the preparation of quantum superposition states of motion of a mechanical resonator by exploiting the nonlinearity of multi-photon quantum measurements. Our method is capable of generating non-classical mechanical states without the need for strong single-photon coupling, is resilient against optical loss, and offers more favourable scaling against initial mechanical thermal occupation than existing schemes. Moreover, our approach allows the generation of larger superposition states by projecting the optical field onto NOON states. We experimentally demonstrate this multi-photon-counting technique on a mechanical thermal state in the classical limit and observe interference fringes in the mechanical position distribution that show phase super-resolution. This opens a feasible route to explore and exploit quantum phenomena at a macroscopic scale.

Plasmonic interferences of two-particle N00N states

Quantum plasmonics lies at the intersection between nanophotonics and quantum optics. Genuine quantum effects can be observed with non-classical states such as Fock states and with entangled states. A N00N state combines both aspects: it is a quantum superposition state of a Fock state with N excitations in two spatial modes. Here we report the first observation of two-plasmon (N = 2) N00N state interferences using a plasmonic beamsplitter etched on a planar interface between gold and air. We analyze in detail the role of losses at the beamsplitter and during the propagation along the metal/air interface. While the intrinsic losses of the beamsplitter are responsible for the emergence of quantum nonlinear absorption, we note that N00N states decay N times faster than classical states due to propagation losses.

Realization of Quantum Maxwell’s Demon with Solid-State Spins**Supported by the Ministry of Education of China, and the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant No 2016YFA0301902.

We report experimental realization of a quantum version of Maxwell’s demon using solid state spins where the information acquiring and feedback operations by the demon are achieved through conditional quantum gates. A unique feature of this implementation is that the demon can start in a quantum superposition state or in an entangled state with an ancilla observer. Through quantum state tomography, we measure the entropy in the system, demon, and the ancilla, showing the influence of coherence and entanglement on the result. A quantum implementation of Maxwell’s demon adds more controllability to this paradoxical thermal machine and may find applications in quantum thermodynamics involving microscopic systems.

Entanglement and quantum superposition induced by a single photon

We predict the occurrence of single-photon-induced entanglement and quantum superposition in a hybrid quantum model, introducing an optomechanical coupling into the Rabi model. Originally, it comes from the photon-dependent quantum property of ground state featured by the proposed hybrid model. It associates with a single-photon-induced quantum phase transition, and is immune to the $A^2$ term of the spin-field interaction. Moreover, the obtained quantum superposition state is actual a squeezed cat state, which can give a significant precision enhancement in quantum metrology. This work offers an approach to manipulate entanglement and quantum superposition with a single photon, which might has potential applications in the engineering of new single-photon quantum devices, and also fundamentally broaden the regime of cavity QED.

Modeling decoherence with qubits

Quantum effects like the superposition principle contradict our experience of daily life. Decoherence can be viewed as a possible explanation why we do not observe quantum superposition states in the macroscopic world. In this article, we use the qubit ansatz to discuss decoherence in the simplest possible model system and propose a visualization for the microscopic origin of decoherence, and the emergence of a so-called pointer basis. Finally, we discuss the possibility of ‘macroscopic’ quantum effects.

On-chip quantum interference of a superconducting microsphere

We propose and analyze an all-magnetic scheme to perform a Young’s double slit experiment with a micron-sized superconducting sphere of mass amu. We show that its center of mass could be prepared in a spatial quantum superposition state with an extent of the order of half a micrometer. The scheme is based on magnetically levitating the sphere above a superconducting chip and letting it skate through a static magnetic potential landscape where it interacts for short intervals with quantum circuits. In this way, a protocol for fast quantum interferometry using quantum magnetomechanics is passively implemented. Such a table-top earth-based quantum experiment would operate in a parameter regime where gravitational energy scales become relevant. In particular, we show that the faint parameter-free gravitationally-induced decoherence collapse model, proposed by Diósi and Penrose, could be unambiguously falsified.

Spontaneous decoherence of coupled harmonic oscillators confined in a ring

We study the spontaneous decoherence of coupled harmonic oscillators confined in a ring container, where the nearest-neighbor harmonic potentials are taken into consideration. Without any external symmetry-breaking field or surrounding environment, the quantum superposition state prepared in the relative degrees of freedom gradually loses its quantum coherence spontaneously. This spontaneous decoherence is interpreted by the gauge couplings between the center-of-mass and the relative degrees of freedoms, which actually originate from the symmetries of the ring geometry and the corresponding nontrivial boundary conditions. In particular, such spontaneous decoherence does not occur at all at the thermodynamic limit because the nontrivial boundary conditions become the trivial Born-von Karman boundary conditions when the perimeter of the ring container tends to infinity. Our investigation shows that a thermal macroscopic object with certain symmetries has a chance for its quantum properties to degrade even without applying an external symmetry-breaking field or surrounding environment.

Tracing feed-back driven exciton dynamics in molecular aggregates.

Perturbative treatment of excitation dynamics in molecular systems with respect to external interactions with a dissipative environment is extensively used for the description of excitation energy transfer and relaxation. However the simulated dynamics becomes sensitive to a specific representation basis set, which makes the conclusions obscure and questionable. We revisit questions of excitation creation patterns, coherent dynamics, relaxation and detection from a theoretical viewpoint, and demonstrate that a mixture of specific requirements should be met to observe coherent phenomena and incoherent decay processes. We discuss how intermixing of coherent components in relaxation phenomena is related to a non-perturbative regime of dynamics leading to nonlinear feed-back effects where bath relaxation also affects excitation wavepackets. We also discuss how bath equilibration causes local heating effects which is often neglected in numerical simulations. The parameters reflecting the complexity of the processes are related to excitation delocalization patterns in various basis representations. While these seem to be auxiliary nonobservable features, their evaluation allows better investigation of the physical behavior of quantum relaxation processes in molecular aggregate systems.

General measure for macroscopic quantum states beyond ‘dead and alive’

We consider the characterization of quantum superposition states beyond the pattern ‘dead and alive’. We propose a measure that is applicable to superpositions of multiple macroscopically distinct states, superpositions with different weights as well as mixed states. The measure is based on the mutual information to characterize the distinguishability between the multiple branches of the superposition. This allows us to overcome limitations of previous proposals, and to bridge the gap between general measures for macroscopic quantumness and measures for Schrödinger-cat type superpositions. We discuss a number of relevant examples, provide an alternative definition using basis-dependent quantum discord and reveal connections to other proposals in the literature. Finally, we also show the connection between the size of quantum states as quantified by our measure and their vulnerability to noise.

Macroscopic superpositions require tremendous measurement devices

We consider fundamental limits on the detectable size of macroscopic quantum superpositions. We argue that a full quantum mechanical treatment of system plus measurement device is required, and that a (classical) reference frame for phase or direction needs to be established to certify the quantum state. When taking the size of such a classical reference frame into account, we show that to reliably distinguish a quantum superposition state from an incoherent mixture requires a measurement device that is quadratically bigger than the superposition state. Whereas for moderate system sizes such as generated in previous experiments this is not a stringent restriction, for macroscopic superpositions of the size of a cat the required effort quickly becomes intractable, requiring measurement devices of the size of the Earth. We illustrate our results using macroscopic superposition states of photons, spins, and position. Finally, we also show how this limitation can be circumvented by dealing with superpositions in relative degrees of freedom.

Robust coherent superposition of states using quasiadiabatic inverse engineering

We use the invariant-based inverse engineering subject to the quasiadiabatic condition to produce robust and high fidelity coherent superposition of quantum states. The inverse engineering provides shortcuts to the desired quantum-state evolution while the quasiadiabaticity provides robustness with respect to errors. We derive simple pulses with low areas which are robust with respect to pulse area and detuning.

Weak measurement of quantum superposition states in graphene

We employ a weak measurement approach to demonstrate the very existence of the photoexcited interband superposition states in intrinsic graphene. We propose an optical two-beam setup where such measurements are possible and derive an explicit formula for the differential optical absorption that contains a signature of such states. We provide an interpretation of our results in terms of a non-Markovian weak measurement formalism applied to the pseudospin degree of freedom coupled with an electromagnetic wave.

Satellite-to-ground quantum key distribution.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses individual light quanta in quantum superposition states to guarantee unconditional communication security between distant parties. However, the distance over which QKD is achievable has been limited to a few hundred kilometres, owing to the channel loss that occurs when using optical fibres or terrestrial free space that exponentially reduces the photon transmission rate. Satellite-based QKD has the potential to help to establish a global-scale quantum network, owing to the negligible photon loss and decoherence experienced in empty space. Here we report the development and launch of a low-Earth-orbit satellite for implementing decoy-state QKD-a form of QKD that uses weak coherent pulses at high channel loss and is secure because photon-number-splitting eavesdropping can be detected. We achieve a kilohertz key rate from the satellite to the ground over a distance of up to 1,200 kilometres. This key rate is around 20 orders of magnitudes greater than that expected using an optical fibre of the same length. The establishment of a reliable and efficient space-to-ground link for quantum-state transmission paves the way to global-scale quantum networks.