## Physics

### End-to-end correlations in the Kitaev chain. (arXiv:1804.10584v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

The interdependence between long range correlations and topological signatures in fermionic arrays is examined. End-to-end correlations, in particular classical correlations, maintain a characteristic pattern in the presence of delocalized excitations and this behavior can be used as an operational criterion to identify Majorana fermions in one-dimensional systems. The study discusses how to obtain the chain eigenstates in tensor-state representation together with the proposed assessment of correlations. Outstandingly, the final result can be written as a simple analytical expression that underlines the link with the system's topological phases.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum Algorithms for Connectivity and Related Problems. (arXiv:1804.10591v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

An important family of span programs, st-connectivity span programs, have been used to design quantum algorithms in various contexts, including a number of graph problems and formula evaluation problems. The complexity of the resulting algorithms depends on the largest positive witness size of any 1-input, and the largest negative witness size of any 0-input. Belovs and Reichardt first showed that the positive witness size is exactly characterized by the effective resistance of the input graph, but only rough upper bounds were known previously on the negative witness size. We show that the negative witness size in an st-connectivity span program is exactly characterized by the capacitance of the input graph. This gives a tight analysis for algorithms based on st-connectivity span programs on any set of inputs.

We use this analysis to give a new quantum algorithm for estimating the capacitance of a graph. We also describe a new quantum algorithm for deciding if a graph is connected, which improves the previous best quantum algorithm for this problem if we're promised that either the graph has at least kappa > 1 components, or the graph is connected and has small average resistance, which is upper bounded by the diameter. We also give an alternative algorithm for deciding if a graph is connected that can be better than our first algorithm when the maximum degree is small. Finally, using ideas from our second connectivity algorithm, we give an algorithm for estimating the algebraic connectivity of a graph, the second largest eigenvalue of the Laplacian.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### What witness entanglement witnesses?. (arXiv:1804.10594v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Quantum entanglement lies at the heart of quantum mechanics and quantum information processing. In this work, we show a new framework where entangled states play the role of witnesses. We extend the notion of entanglement witnesses, developing a hierarchy of witnesses for classes of observables. This hierarchy captures the fact that entangled states act as witnesses for detecting entanglement witnesses and separable states act as witnesses for the set of non-block-positive Hermitian operators. Indeed, more hierarchies of witnesses exist. We introduce the concept of \emph{finer} and \emph{optimal} entangled states. These definitions not only give an unambiguous and non-numeric quantification of entanglement and a new perspective on edge states but also answer the open question of what the remainder of the best separable approximation of a density matrix. Furthermore, we classify all entangled states into disjoint families with optimal entangled states at its heart. This implies that we can focus only on the study of a typical family with optimal entangled states at its core when we investigate entangled states. Our framework also assembles many seemingly different findings with simple arguments that do not require lengthy calculations.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Demonstration of analyzers for multimode photonic time-bin qubits. (arXiv:1509.07490v3 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

We demonstrate two approaches for unbalanced interferometers as time-bin qubit analyzers for quantum communication, robust against mode distortions and polarization effects as expected from free-space quantum communication systems including wavefront deformations, path fluctuations, pointing errors, and optical elements. Despite strong spatial and temporal distortions of the optical mode of a time-bin qubit, entangled with a separate polarization qubit, we verify entanglement using the Negative Partial Transpose, with the measured visibility of up to 0.85$\pm$0.01. The robustness of the analyzers is further demonstrated for various angles of incidence up to 0.2$^{\circ}$. The output of the interferometers is coupled into multimode fiber yielding a high system throughput of 0.74. Therefore, these analyzers are suitable and efficient for quantum communication over multimode optical channels.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A full-vortex flux qubit for charged particle optics. (arXiv:1608.02363v4 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

We introduce a design of a superconducting flux qubit capable of holding a full magnetic flux quantum $\phi_{0}$, which arguably is an essential property for applications in charged particle optics. The qubit comprises a row of $N$ constituent qubits, which hold a fractional magnetic flux quantum $\phi_{0}/N$. Insights from physics of the transverse-field Ising chain reveal that properly designed interaction between these constituent qubits enables their collective behavior while also maintaining the overall quantumness.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Behavior of l-bits near the many-body localization transition. (arXiv:1707.05362v2 [cond-mat.dis-nn] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Eigenstates of fully many-body localized (FMBL) systems are described by quasilocal operators $\tau_i^z$ (l-bits), which are conserved exactly under Hamiltonian time evolution. The algebra of the operators $\tau_i^z$ and $\tau_i^x$ associated with l-bits ($\boldsymbol{\tau}_i$) completely defines the eigenstates and the matrix elements of local operators between eigenstates at all energies. We develop a non-perturbative construction of the full set of l-bit algebras in the many-body localized phase for the canonical model of MBL. Our algorithm to construct the Pauli-algebra of l-bits combines exact diagonalization and a tensor network algorithm developed for efficient diagonalization of large FMBL Hamiltonians. The distribution of localization lengths of the l-bits is evaluated in the MBL phase and used to characterize the MBL-to-thermal transition.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with virtual photon subtraction. (arXiv:1711.04225v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

The method of improving the performance of continuous-variable quantum key distribution protocols by post-selection has been recently proposed and verified. In continuous-variable measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (CV-MDI QKD) protocols, the measurement results are obtained from untrusted third party Charlie. There is still not an effective method of improving CV-MDI QKD by the post-selection with untrusted measurement. We propose a method to improve the performance of coherent-state CV-MDI QKD protocol by non-Gaussian post-selection. The non-Gaussian post-selection of transmitted data is equivalent to an ideal photon subtraction on the two-mode squeezed vacuum state, which is favorable to enhance the performance of CV-MDI QKD. In CV-MDI QKD protocol with non-Gaussian post-selection, two users select their own data independently. We demonstrate that the optimal performance of the renovated CV-MDI QKD protocol is obtained with the transmitted data only selected by Alice. By setting appropriate parameters of the non-Gaussian post-selection, the secret key rate and tolerable excess noise are both improved at long transmission distance. The method provides an effective optimization scheme for the application of CV-MDI QKD protocols.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Insufficiency of avoided crossings for witnessing large-scale quantum coherence in flux qubits. (arXiv:1801.03441v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Do experiments based on superconducting loops segmented with Josephson junctions (e.g., flux qubits) show macroscopic quantum behavior in the sense of Schr\"odinger's cat example? Various arguments based on microscopic and phenomenological models were recently adduced in this debate. We approach this problem by adapting (to flux qubits) the framework of large-scale quantum coherence, which was already successfully applied to spin ensembles and photonic systems. We show that contemporary experiments might show quantum coherence more than 100 times larger than experiments in the classical regime. However, we argue that the often-used demonstration of an avoided crossing in the energy spectrum is not sufficient to make a conclusion about the presence of large-scale quantum coherence. Alternative, rigorous witnesses are proposed.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A Derivation of Moment Evolution Equations for Linear Open Quantum Systems. (arXiv:1801.04149v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Given a linear open quantum system which is described by a Lindblad master equation, we detail the calculation of the moment evolution equations from this master equation. We stress that the moment evolution equations are well-known, but their explicit derivation from the master equation cannot be found in the literature to the best of our knowledge, and so we provide this derivation for the interested reader.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Design of an inductively shunted transmon qubit with tunable transverse and longitudinal coupling. (arXiv:1804.09777v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

This thesis is set in the framework of superconducting transmon-type qubit architectures with special focus on two important types of coupling between qubits and harmonic resonators: transverse and longitudinal coupling. We will see that longitudinal coupling offers some remarkable advantages with respect to scalability and readout. This thesis will focus on a design, which combines both these coupling types in a single circuit and provides the possibility to choose between pure transverse and pure longitudinal or have both at the same time. We will start with an introduction to circuit quantization, where we will explain how to describe and analyze superconducting electrical circuits in a systematic way and discuss which characteristic circuit elements make up qubits and resonators. We will then introduce the two types of coupling between qubit and resonator which are provided in our design. Translating this discussion from the Hamiltonian level to the language of circuit quantization, we will show how to design circuits with specifically tailored couplings. We will focus on our circuit design that consists of an inductively shunted transmon qubit with tunable coupling to an embedded harmonic mode. The distinctive feature of the tunable design is that the transverse coupling disappears when the longitudinal is maximal and vice versa. Subsequently, we will turn to the implementation of our circuit design, discuss how to choose the parameters, and present an adapted alternative circuit, where coupling strength and anharmonicity scale better than in the original circuit. In addition, we present a proposal for an experimental device that will serve as a prototype for a first experiment. We will conclude the thesis discussing different possibilities to do readout with our circuit design, including a short discussion of the influence of dissipation.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Post-selection-loophole-free Bell violation with genuine time-bin entanglement. (arXiv:1804.10150v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Entanglement is an invaluable resource for fundamental tests of physics and the implementation of quantum information protocols such as device-independent secure communications. In particular, time-bin entanglement is widely exploited to reach these purposes both in free-space and optical fiber propagation, due to the robustness and simplicity of its implementation. However, all existing realizations of time-bin entanglement suffer from an intrinsic post-selection loophole, which undermines their usefulness. Here, we report the first experimental violation of Bell's inequality with "genuine" time-bin entanglement, free of the post-selection loophole. We modify the setup by replacing the first passive beam-splitter in each measurement station with an additional interferometer acting as a fast optical switch synchronized with the source. Using this setup we obtain a post-selection-loophole-free Bell violation of more than nine standard deviations. Since our scheme is fully implementable using standard fiber-based components and is compatible with modern integrated photonics, our results pave the way for the distribution of genuine time-bin entanglement over long distances.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Agents, subsystems, and the conservation of information. (arXiv:1804.01943v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Dividing the world into subsystems is an important component of the scientific method. The choice of subsystems, however, is not defined a priori. Typically, it is dictated by experimental capabilities, which may be different for different agents. Here we propose a way to define subsystems in general physical theories, including theories beyond quantum and classical mechanics. Our construction associates every agent A with a subsystem SA, equipped with its set of states and its set of transformations. In quantum theory, this construction accommodates the notion of subsystems as factors of a tensor product Hilbert space, as well as the notion of subsystems associated to a subalgebra of operators. Classical systems can be interpreted as subsystems of quantum systems in different ways, by applying our construction to agents who have access to different sets of operations, including multiphase covariant channels and certain sets of free operations arising in the resource theory of quantum coherence. After illustrating the basic definitions, we restrict our attention to closed systems, that is, systems where all physical transformations act invertibly and where all states can be generated from a fixed initial state. For closed systems, we propose a dynamical definition of pure states, and show that all the states of all subsystems admit a canonical purification. This result extends the purification principle to a broader setting, in which coherent superpositions can be interpreted as purifications of incoherent mixtures.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Resource theory of non-Gaussian operations. (arXiv:1803.07580v2 [quant-ph] UPDATED)

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Mon, 2018-04-30 11:45

Non-Gaussian states and operations are crucial for various continuous-variable quantum information processing tasks. To quantitatively understand non-Gaussianity beyond states, we establish a resource theory for non-Gaussian operations. In our framework, we consider Gaussian operations as free operations, and non-Gaussian operations as resources. We define entanglement-assisted non-Gaussianity generating power and show that it is a monotone that is non-increasing under the set of free super-operations, i.e., concatenation and tensoring with Gaussian channels. For conditional unitary maps, this monotone can be analytically calculated. As examples, we show that the non-Gaussianity of ideal photon-number subtraction and photon-number addition equal the non-Gaussianity of the single-photon Fock state. Based on our non-Gaussianity monotone, we divide non-Gaussian operations into two classes: (1) the finite non-Gaussianity class, e.g., photon-number subtraction, photon-number addition and all Gaussian-dilatable non-Gaussian channels; and (2) the diverging non-Gaussianity class, e.g., the binary phase-shift channel and the Kerr nonlinearity. This classification also implies that not all non-Gaussian channels are exactly Gaussian-dilatable. Our resource theory enables a quantitative characterization and a first classification of non-Gaussian operations, paving the way towards the full understanding of non-Gaussianity.

Categories: Journals, Physics