## Physics

### Searching for scalar dark matter with compact mechanical resonators. (arXiv:1910.07574v1 [astro-ph.IM])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

We explore the viability of laboratory-scale mechanical resonators as detectors for ultralight scalar dark matter. The signal we investigate is an atomic strain due to modulation of the fine structure constant and the lepton mass at the Compton frequency of dark matter particles. The resulting stress can drive an elastic body with acoustic breathing modes, producing displacements that are accessible with opto- or electromechanical readout techniques. To address the unknown mass of dark matter particles (which determines their Compton frequency), we consider various resonator designs operating at kHz to MHz frequencies, corresponding to $10^{-12}-10^{-5}$ eV particle mass. Current resonant-mass gravitational wave detectors that have been repurposed as dark matter detectors weigh $\sim \! 10^3$ kg. We find that a large unexplored parameter space can be accessed with ultra-high-$Q$, cryogenically-cooled, cm-scale mechanical resonators possessing $\sim \! 10^7$ times smaller mass.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Response to "Retraction Note: Can Two-Way Direct Communication Protocols Be Considered Secure?". (arXiv:1910.07580v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

This is a response to "Retraction Note: Can Two-Way Direct Co mmunication Protocols Be Considered Secure? Mladen Pavicic," Nanoscale Research Letters,14, 242 (2019). The "anonymised" report which served the editors to retract the paper is reproduced in full. A response to the report by the author of the original paper, sent to the editors of the journal, is also reproduced in full. The author analyses and discusses both the report and the retraction note and explains why he cannot agree to the retraction.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Precise measurement of quantum observables with neural-network estimators. (arXiv:1910.07596v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

The measurement precision of modern quantum simulators is intrinsically constrained by the limited set of measurements that can be efficiently implemented on hardware. This fundamental limitation is particularly severe for quantum algorithms where complex quantum observables are to be precisely evaluated. To achieve precise estimates with current methods, prohibitively large amounts of sample statistics are required in experiments. Here, we propose to reduce the measurement overhead by integrating artificial neural networks with quantum simulation platforms. We show that unsupervised learning of single-qubit data allows the trained networks to accommodate measurements of complex observables, otherwise costly using traditional post-processing techniques. The effectiveness of this hybrid measurement protocol is demonstrated for quantum chemistry Hamiltonians using both synthetic and experimental data. Neural-network estimators attain high-precision measurements with a drastic reduction in the amount of sample statistics, without requiring additional quantum resources.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Entropic Bounds For Unitary Testers and Mutually Unbiased Unitary Bases. (arXiv:1910.07665v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

We define the entropic bounds, i.e minimal uncertainty for pairs of unitary testers in distinguishing between unitary transformations not unlike the well known entropic bounds for observables. We show that in the case of specific sets of testers which pairwise saturate the trivial zero bound, the testers are all equivalent in the sense their statistics are the same. On the other hand, when maximal bounds are saturated by such sets of testers, the unitary operators would form unitary bases which are mutually unbiased. This resembles very much the role of mutually unbiased bases in maximizing the entropic bounds for observables. We show how such a bound can be useful in certain quantum cryptographic protocols.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Certification of high-dimensional entanglement generated in Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. (arXiv:1910.07684v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Entanglement and quantum interference are key ingredients in a variety of quantum information processing tasks. Harnessing the generation and characterization of entanglement in high-dimensional state spaces is a necessary prerequisite towards practical quantum protocols. Here, we use quantum interference on a beam splitter to engineer hyperentanglement in polarization and discrete frequency degrees of freedom (DOF). We show how independent measurements of polarization and frequency DOF allow for both the verification and, strictly stronger requirement, also the certification of high-dimensional entanglement in the combined state space. These results may indicate new paths towards practical exploitation of entanglement stored in multiple degrees of freedom, in particular in the context of high-dimensional quantum information processing protocols.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Projected Cooling Algorithm for Quantum Computation. (arXiv:1910.07708v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

In the current era of noisy quantum devices, there is a need for quantum algorithms that are efficient and robust against noise. Towards this end, we introduce the projected cooling algorithm for quantum computation. The projected cooling algorithm is able to construct the localized ground state of any Hamiltonian with a translationally-invariant kinetic energy. The method can be viewed as the quantum analog of evaporative cooling. We start with an initial state with support over a compact region of a large volume. We then drive the excited quantum states to disperse and measure the remaining portion of the wave function left behind. The method can be used in concert with other techniques such as variational methods and adiabatic evolution to achieve better performance than existing approaches for the same number of quantum gates per qubit. For the nontrivial examples we consider here, the improvement is substantial. The only additional resource required is performing the operations in a volume significantly larger than the size of the localized state.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Non-Markovian effects on charging of quantum batteries. (arXiv:1910.07751v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

In general, a quantum battery unavoidably interacts with its surroundings. Here, we study memory effects on energy and ergotropy of a quantum battery in the framework of open system dynamics, where the battery and charger are individually allowed to access a bosonic environment. Our investigation shows that the battery can be fully charged and all the energy stored in the battery can be extracted in the presence of non-Markovian dynamics, in addition, its energy can be preserved for long times compared with Markovian dynamics. Our results indicate that memory effects can play a significant role in improving the performance of quantum batteries.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### High coherent frequency-entangled photons generated by parametric instability in active fiber ring cavity. (arXiv:1910.07758v1 [physics.optics])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

High coherent frequency-entangled photons at telecom band are critical in quantum information protocols and quantum tele-communication. While photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion in nonlinear crystal or modulation instability in optical fiber exhibit random fluctuations, making the photons distinguishable among consecutive roundtrips. Here, we demonstrate a frequency-entangled photons based on parametric instability in an active fiber ring cavity, where periodic modulation of dispersion excites parametric resonance. The characteristic wave number in parametric instability is selected by the periodic modulation of resonator, and stable patterns with symmetric gains are formed. We find that the spectra of parametric instability sidebands possess a high degree of coherence, which is verified by the background-free autocorrelation of single-shot spectra. Two photon interference is performed by a fiber-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer without any stabilization. We obtain a Hong-Ou-Mandel interference visibility of 86.3% with a dip width of 4.3 mm. The correlation time measurement exhibits a linewidth of 68.36 MHz, indicating high coherence and indistinguishability among the photon pairs. Our results proves that the parametric instability in active fiber cavity is effective to generate high coherent frequency-entangled photon pairs, which would facilitate subsequent quantum applications.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Theory of interactions between cavity photons induced by a mesoscopic circuit. (arXiv:1910.07801v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

We use a quantum path integral approach to describe the behavior of a microwave cavity coupled to a dissipative mesoscopic circuit. We integrate out the mesoscopic electronic degrees of freedom to obtain a cavity effective action at fourth order in the light/matter coupling. By studying the structure of this action, we establish conditions in which the cavity dynamics can be considered as Markovian. In this case, one can use a Lindblad equation to describe the cavity quantum dynamics, with effective parameters set by electronic correlation functions. This equation reveals that the mesoscopic circuit induces an effective Kerr interaction and two-photon dissipative processes. We use our method to study the effective dynamics of a cavity coupled to a double quantum dot with normal metal reservoirs. If the cavity is driven at twice its frequency, the double dot circuit generates photonic squeezing and non-classicalities visible in the cavity Wigner function. In particular, we find a counterintuitive situation where mesoscopic dissipation enables the production of photonic Schr\"odinger cats. These effects can occur for realistic circuit parameters. Our method can be generalized straightforwardly to more complex circuit geometries with, for instance, multiple quantum dots, and other types of fermionic reservoirs such as superconductors and ferromagnets.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Encrypted quantum correlations: Delayed choice of quantum statistics and other applications. (arXiv:1910.07806v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

In a three-particle extension of Wheeler's delayed choice gedanken experiment, the quantum statistics of two particles is undetermined until a third particle is measured. As a function of the measurement result, the particles behave either as bosons or as fermions. The particles are distinguishable if no measurement is performed at all or when the measurement is performed in a rotated basis. The scheme is based on Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger quantum correlations. It can be interpreted more generally as the encryption of maximally entangled states in a larger quantum superposition. The local quantum information is scrambled but can be decoded by the measurement result of a control particle. This can be extended to multiple particles and allows to develop quantum information protocols whose successful implementation depends on the collaboration of all parties.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Sending-or-Not-Sending with Independent Lasers: Secure Twin-Field Quantum Key Distribution Over 509 km. (arXiv:1910.07823v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Twin field quantum key distribution promises high key rates at long distance to beat the rate distance limit. Here, applying the sending or not sending TF QKD protocol, we experimentally demonstrate a secure key distribution breaking the absolute key rate limit of repeaterless QKD over 509 km, 408 km ultra-low loss optical fibre and 350 km standard optical fibre. Two independent lasers are used as the source with remote frequency locking technique over 500 km fiber distance; Practical optical fibers are used as the optical path with appropriate noise filtering; And finite key effects are considered in the key rate analysis. The secure key rates obtained at different distances are more than 5 times higher than the conditional limit of repeaterless QKD, a bound value assuming the same detection loss in the comparison. The achieved secure key rate is also higher than that a traditional QKD protocol running with a perfect repeaterless QKD device and even if an infinite number of sent pulses. Our result shows that the protocol and technologies applied in this experiment enable TF QKD to achieve high secure key rate at long distribution distance, and hence practically useful for field implementation of intercity QKD.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Encrypt me! A game-based approach to Bell inequalities and quantum cryptography. (arXiv:1910.07845v1 [physics.ed-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

We present a game-based approach to teach Bell inequalities and quantum cryptography at high school. The approach is based on kinesthetic activities and allows students to experience and discover quantum features and their applications first-hand. We represent quantum states by the orientation of students, and mimic quantitative random behaviour and measurements using dice and apps.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Quantum locally linear embedding. (arXiv:1910.07854v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Reducing the dimension of nonlinear data is crucial in data processing and visualization. The locally linear embedding algorithm (LLE) is specifically a representative nonlinear dimensionality reduction method with well maintaining the original manifold structure. In this paper, we present two implementations of the quantum locally linear embedding algorithm (qLLE) to perform the nonlinear dimensionality reduction on quantum devices. One implementation, the linear-algebra-based qLLE algorithm utilizes quantum linear algebra subroutines to reduce the dimension of the given data. The other implementation, the variational qLLE algorithm utilizes a variational quantum-classical hybrid procedure to acquire the low-dimensional data. The classical LLE algorithm requires polynomial time complexity of $N$, where $N$ is the global number of the original high-dimensional data. In data preprocessing, we invoke the quantum $k$-nearest neighbors algorithm ($k$-NN) to find out the $k$ nearest neighbors of the given data with quadratic speedup. For the main part of the qLLE algorithm, compared with the corresponding classical algorithm, the linear-algebra-based qLLE algorithm proposed in this paper achieves an exponential speedup in $O(\mathrm{poly}(\log N))$. The variational qLLE algorithm can be implemented on the near term quantum devices. In addition, the corresponding quantum circuits of the qLLE algorithm are also presented.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### An Evolutionary Approach to Optimizing Communication Cost in Distributed Quantum Computation. (arXiv:1910.07877v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Distributed quantum computing has been well-known for many years as a system composed of a number of small-capacity quantum circuits. Limitations in the capacity of monolithic quantum computing systems can be overcome by using distributed quantum systems which communicate with each other through known communication links. In our previous study, an algorithm with an exponential complexity was proposed to optimize the number of qubit teleportations required for the communications between two partitions of a distributed quantum circuit. In this work, a genetic algorithm is used to solve the optimization problem in a more efficient way. The results are compared with the previous study and we show that our approach works almost the same with a remarkable speed-up. Moreover, the comparison of the proposed approach based on GA with a random search over the search space verifies the effectiveness of GA.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Achieving unprecedented high secure key rates over a representative satellite link. (arXiv:1910.07889v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Coherence Time Extension by Large Scale Optical Spin Polarization in a Rare-Earth Doped Crystal. (arXiv:1910.07907v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Optically addressable spins are actively investigated in quantum communication, processing and sensing. Optical and spin coherence lifetimes, which determine quantum operation fidelity and storage time, are often limited by spin-spin interactions, which can be decreased by polarizing spins in their lower energy state using large magnetic fields and/or mK range temperatures. Here, we show that optical pumping of a small fraction of ions with a fixed frequency laser, coupled with spin-spin interactions and spin diffusion, leads to substantial spin polarization in a paramagnetic rare earth doped crystal, $^{171}$Yb$^{3+}$:YSO. Indeed, up to more than 90 % spin polarizations have been achieved at 2 K and zero magnetic field. Using this spin polarization mechanism, we furthermore demonstrate an increase in optical coherence lifetime from 0.3 ms to 0.8 ms, due to a strong decrease in spin-spin interactions. This effect opens the way to new schemes for obtaining long optical and spin coherence lifetimes in various solid-state systems such as ensembles of rare earth ions or color centers in diamond, which is of interest for a broad range of quantum technologies.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Error--Disturbance Relation in Stern--Gerlach Measurements. (arXiv:1910.07929v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

Based on the recent development of universally valid reformulations of Heisenberg's error--disturbance uncertainty relation, we study the error and disturbance of Stern--Gerlach measurements of a spin-1/2 particle. By rigorously solving Heisenberg equations of motion for the spin and orbital degrees of freedom passing through an inhomogeneous magnetic field and freely evolving to reach the screen, we determine the range of the possible values of the error and disturbance for arbitrary Stern--Gerlach apparatuses with the orbital degree prepared in an arbitrary Gaussian state. We compare it with the range for completely arbitrary apparatuses previously obtained by Branciard and one of the authors, to show that the range occupies a broad area tighter than the previously investigated range for the improperly directed projective measurements of neutron spin by Hasegawa and co-workers. We show the existence of orbital states in which the error is minimized by the screen at a finite distance from the magnet, in contrast to the standard far field description, and characterize those states by the position-momentum correlation and contractivity under free evolution.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### A pair of quasirandom estimations of two-qubit separability probabilities with respect to ten measures -- the Hilbert-Schmidt and nine operator monotone ones. (arXiv:1910.07937v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

We conduct a pair of quasirandom estimations of the separability probabilities with respect to ten measures on the 15-dimensional convex set of two-qubit states, using its Euler-angle parameterization. The measures include the (non-monotone) Hilbert-Schmidt one, plus nine based on operator monotone functions. Our results are supportive of previous assertions that the Hilbert-Schmidt and Bures (minimal monotone) separability probabilities are $\frac{8}{33} \approx 0.242424$ and $\frac{25}{341} \approx 0.0733138$, respectively, as well as suggestive of the Wigner-Yanase counterpart being $\frac{1}{20}$. However, they appear inconsistent (much too small) with the additional claim that the separability probability associated with the operator monotone (geometric-mean) function $\sqrt{x}$ is $1-\frac{256}{27 \pi ^2} \approx 0.0393251$. But a seeming explanation for this phenomenon is that the volume of states for the $\sqrt{x}$-based measure is infinite, so the validity of the conjecture--as well as an alternative one, $\frac{1}{9} \left(593-60 \pi ^2\right) \approx 0.0915262$, we now introduce--can not be examined through our numerical approach, at least perhaps not without some truncation procedure for extreme values.

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Toward durable Al-InSb hybrid heterostructures via epitaxy of 2ML interfacial InAs screening layers. (arXiv:1910.07952v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

The large Land\'{e} g-factor, high spin-orbit coupling, and low effective mass of the two-dimensional electron gas in InSb quantum wells combined with proximal superconductivity may realize a scalable platform for topological quantum computation. Aluminum thin films directly deposited on top of InSb planar structures result in the formation of a reactive AlInSb layer at the interface. This interlayer progressively consumes the whole Al film, resulting in a disordered AlInSb layer after few months at room temperature. We report on a heterostructure design that results in a significant increase of the durability of these hybrid Al-InSb heterostructures with the preservation of a pure Al film and sharp superconductor-semiconductor interface for more than one year. Two monolayers of epitaxial InAs at the superconductor-semiconductor interface prevent interfacial reactivity as evidenced by X-ray reflectivity and energy dispersive spectroscopy measurements. Structural characterizations of the Al films by transmission electron microscopy reveal the presence of tens of nanometers wide grains predominantly oriented with Al(110) parallel to InSb(001).

Categories: Journals, Physics

### Thermally Excited Quasiparticles in Metals, Dispersion Forces, and the Thermal Anomaly. (arXiv:1910.07957v1 [quant-ph])

arXiv.org: Quantum Physics - Sat, 2019-10-19 02:45

We provide a brief review of the contribution of thermally excited carriers to dispersion forces. In a metal, these carriers generate charge and current fluctuations whose spectral frequencies are comparable to $k_B T/\hbar$. They are very likely responsible for the "plasma vs. Drude" anomaly.

Categories: Journals, Physics