QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

The characterization of a quantum device is a crucial step in the development of quantum experiments. This is accomplished via Quantum Process Tomography, which combines the outcomes of different projective measurements to deliver a possible reconstruction of the underlying process. The tomography is typically performed by processing an overcomplete set of measurements and extracting the process matrix from maximum-likelihood estimation. Here, we introduce a new technique, referred to as Fourier Quantum Process Tomography, which requires a reduced number of measurements, and benchmark its performance against the standard maximum-likelihood approach. Fourier Quantum Process Tomography is based on measuring probability distributions in two conjugate spaces for different state preparations and projections. Exploiting the concept of phase retrieval, our scheme achieves a complete and robust characterization of the setup by processing a near-minimal set of measurements. We experimentally test the technique on different space-dependent polarization transformations, reporting average fidelities higher than 90% and significant computational advantage.

Many inference scenarios rely on extracting relevant information from known data in order to make future predictions. When the underlying stochastic process satisfies certain assumptions, there is a direct mapping between its exact classical and quantum simulators, with the latter asymptotically using less memory. Here we focus on studying whether such quantum advantage persists when those assumptions are not satisfied, and the model is doomed to have imperfect accuracy. By studying the trade-off between accuracy and memory requirements, we show that quantum models can reach the same accuracy with less memory, or alternatively, better accuracy with the same memory. Finally, we discuss the implications of this result for learning tasks.

We present an open-source database of superconducting quantum device designs that may be used as the starting point for customized devices. Each design can be generated programmatically using the open-source Qiskit Metal package, and simulated using finite-element electromagnetic solvers. We present a robust workflow for achieving high accuracy on design simulations. Many designs in the database are experimentally validated, showing excellent agreement between simulated and measured parameters. Our database includes a front-end interface that allows users to generate ``best-guess'' designs based on desired circuit parameters. This project lowers the barrier to entry for research groups seeking to make a new class of devices by providing them a well-characterized starting point from which to refine their designs.

We introduce a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm to compute the Green function for strongly correlated electrons on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The technique consists in the construction of a non-orthogonal excitation basis composed of a set of single-particle excitations generated by occupation number operators. The excited sectors of the Hamiltonian in this basis can then be measured on the quantum device and a classical post-processing procedure yields the Green function in the Lehmann representation. The technique allow for noise filtering, a useful feature for NISQ devices. To validate the approach, we carry out a set of proof-of-principle calculations on the single-band Hubbard model on IBM quantum hardware. For a 2 site system we find good agreement between the results of quantum simulations and the exact result for the local spectral function. A simulation of a 4 site system carried out on classical hardware suggests that the approach can achieve similar accuracy for larger systems.

The dielectric loss of silicon nitride (Si$_3$N$_4$) limits the performance of microwave-frequency devices that rely on this material for sensing, signal processing, and quantum communication. Using superconducting resonant circuits, we measure the cryogenic loss tangent of either as-deposited or high-temperature annealed stoichiometric Si$_3$N$_4$ as a function of drive strength and temperature. The internal loss behavior of the electrical resonators is largely consistent with the standard tunneling model of two-level systems (TLS), including damping caused by resonant energy exchange with TLS and by the relaxation of non-resonant TLS. We further supplement the TLS model with a self-heating effect to explain an increase in the loss observed in as-deposited films at large drive powers. Critically, we demonstrate that annealing remedies this anomalous power-induced loss, reduces the relaxation-type damping by more than two orders of magnitude, and reduces the resonant-type damping by a factor of three. Employing infrared absorption spectroscopy, we find that annealing reduces the concentration of hydrogen in the Si$_3$N$_4$, suggesting that hydrogen impurities cause substantial dissipation.

We investigate two types of temporal symmetry in quantum mechanics. The first type, time symmetry, refers to the inclusion of opposite time orientations on an equivalent physical footing. The second, event symmetry, refers to the inclusion of all time instants in a history sequence on an equivalent physical footing. We find that recent time symmetric interpretations of quantum mechanics fail to respect event symmetry. Building on the recent fixed-point formulation (FPF) of quantum theory, we formulate the notion of an event precisely as a fixed point constraint on the Keldysh time contour. Then, considering a sequence of measurement events in time, we show that both time and event symmetry can be retained in this multiple-time formulation of quantum theory. We then use this model to resolve conceptual paradoxes with time symmetric quantum mechanics within an `all-at-once', atemporal picture.

Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is a cornerstone of particle physics and also finds diverse applications in condensed matter systems. Despite its significance, the dynamics of quantum electrodynamics under a quantum quench remains inadequately explored. In this paper, we investigate the nonequilibrium regime of quantum electrodynamics following a global quantum quench. Specifically, a massive Dirac fermion is quenched to a gapless state with an interaction with gauge bosons. In stark contrast to equilibrium (3+1)-dimensional QED with gapless Dirac fermions, where the coupling is marginally irrelevant, we identify a nonequilibrium fixed point characterized by nonFermi liquid behavior. Notably, the anomalous dimension at this fixed point varies with the initial quench parameter, suggesting an interesting quantum memory effect in a strongly interacting system. Additionally, we propose distinctive experimental signatures for nonequilibrium quantum electrodynamics.

A ubiquitous feature of quantum mechanical theories is the existence of states of superposition. This is expected to be no different for a quantum gravity theory. Guided by this consideration and others we consider a framework in which classical reference frames may be in superposition relative to one another. Mirroring standard quantum mechanics we introduce a complex-valued wavefunctional, which takes as input the transformations between the coordinates, $\Psi[x(x')]$, with the interpretation that an interaction between the reference frames may select a particular transformation with probability distribution given by the Born rule - $P[x(x')] = \text{probability distribution functional} \equiv \vert \Psi[x(x')] \vert^2$. The cases of two and three reference frames in superposition are considered explicitly. It is shown that the set of transformations is closed. A rule for transforming wavefunctions from one system to another system in superposition is proposed and consistency with the Schrodinger equation is demonstrated.

We study digital signatures with revocation capabilities and show two results. First, we define and construct digital signatures with revocable signing keys from the LWE assumption. In this primitive, the signing key is a quantum state which enables a user to sign many messages and yet, the quantum key is also revocable, i.e., it can be collapsed into a classical certificate which can later be verified. Once the key is successfully revoked, we require that the initial recipient of the key loses the ability to sign. We construct digital signatures with revocable signing keys from a newly introduced primitive which we call two-tier one-shot signatures, which may be of independent interest. This is a variant of one-shot signatures, where the verification of a signature for the message ``0'' is done publicly, whereas the verification for the message ``1'' is done in private. We give a construction of two-tier one-shot signatures from the LWE assumption. As a complementary result, we also construct digital signatures with quantum revocation from group actions, where the quantum signing key is simply ``returned'' and then verified as part of revocation.

Second, we define and construct digital signatures with revocable signatures from OWFs. In this primitive, the signer can produce quantum signatures which can later be revoked. Here, the security property requires that, once revocation is successful, the initial recipient of the signature loses the ability to find accepting inputs to the signature verification algorithm. We construct this primitive using a newly introduced two-tier variant of tokenized signatures. For the construction, we show a new lemma which we call the adaptive hardcore bit property for OWFs, which may enable further applications.

The telecloning protocol distributes quantum states from a single sender to multiple receivers via a shared entangled state by exploiting the notions of teleportation and approximate cloning. We investigate the optimal telecloning fidelities obtained using both Gaussian and non-Gaussian shared resources. When the shared non-Gaussian state is created by subtracting photons from both the modes of the Gaussian two-mode squeezed vacuum state, we demonstrate that higher telecloning fidelities can be achieved in comparison with its Gaussian counterpart. To quantify this advantage, we introduce a quadrature-based nonclassicality measure, which is capable of estimating the fidelity of the clones, both with Gaussian and non-Gaussian resource states. We further provide a linear optical setup for asymmetric telecloning of continuous variables using a multimode entangled state.

A system-bath entanglement theorem (SBET) with Gaussian environments was established previously in J. Chem. Phys. 152, 034102 (2020) in terms of linear response functions. This theorem connects the system-bath entanglement responses to the local system and bare bath ones. In this work, we generalize it to correlation functions. Key steps in derivation are the generalized Langevin dynamics for the hybridizing bath modes as in the previous work, together with the Bogoliubov transformation mapping the original finite-temperature canonical reservoir to an effective zero-temperature vacuum via an auxiliary bath. With the theorem, the system-bath entangled correlations and the bath modes correlations in the full composite space can be evaluated as long as the bare-bath statistical properties are known and the reduced system correlations are obtained. Numerical demonstrations are carried out for the evaluation of the solvation free energy of an electron transfer system with a certain intramolecular vibrational modes.

We present a rigorous quantum scattering study of the effects of hyperfine and Zeeman interactions on cold Li - H$_{2}$ collisions in the presence of an external magnetic field using a recent ab initio potential energy surface. We find that the low-field-seeking states of H$_{2}$ predominantly undergo elastic collisions: the ratio of elastic-to-inelastic collisions exceeds 100 for collision energies below 1.5 K. Furthermore, we demonstrate that most inelastic collisions conserve the space-fixed projection of the nuclear spin. We show that the anisotropic hyperfine interaction between the nuclear spin of H$_{2}$ and the electron spin of Li can have a significant effect on inelastic scattering in the ultracold regime, as it mediates two processes: the electron spin relaxation in lithium, and the nuclear spin - electron spin exchange. Given the predominance of elastic collisions and the propensity of inelastic collisions to retain H$_{2}$ in its low-field-seeking states, our results open up the possibility of sympathetic cooling of molecular hydrogen by atomic lithium, paving the way for future exploration of ultracold collisions and high-precision spectroscopy of H$_{2}$ molecules.

A new generalization of the Calogero's rational ($A_N$) many-body quantum model is proposed and studied. The key innovation lies in an asymmetrization of the Calogero's two-body interaction. In the generalized model the exact solvability is preserved while the Calogeero's single coupling constant $C$ is replaced by a certain multiplet of freely variable parameters. The resulting Calogero-like Hamiltonian ceases to be re-arrangement-invariant. As a consequence, the degeneracy of the bound-state spectrum gets partially unfolded.

Quantum information is based on the apparent contradictions between classical logic and quantum coherence described by Kochen-Specker contextuality. Surprisingly, this contradiction can be demonstrated in a comparatively simple three-path interferometer, where it is impossible to trace the path of a single photon through five consecutive stages of the interferometer. Here, I discuss the paradoxical aspects of single photon interferences revealed by the three-path interferometer and point out the essential role of dynamics in quantum information.

We introduce a novel, model-independent method for the efficient simulation of low-entropy systems, whose dynamics can be accurately described with a limited number of states. Our method leverages the time-dependent variational principle to efficiently integrate the Lindblad master equation, dynamically identifying and modifying the low-rank basis over which we decompose the system's evolution. By dynamically adapting the dimension of this basis, and thus the rank of the density matrix, our method maintains optimal representation of the system state, offering a substantial computational advantage over existing adaptive low-rank schemes in terms of both computational time and memory requirements. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method through extensive benchmarks on a variety of model systems, with a particular emphasis on multi-qubit bosonic codes, a promising candidate for fault-tolerant quantum hardware. Our results highlight the method's versatility and efficiency, making it applicable to a wide range of systems characterized by arbitrary degrees of entanglement and moderate entropy throughout their dynamics. We provide an implementation of the method as a Julia package, making it readily available to use.

In this paper, we explore the characteristics of reduced density matrix spectra in quantum field theories. Previous studies mainly focus on the function $\mathcal{P}(\lambda):=\sum_i \delta(\lambda-\lambda_i)$, where $\lambda_i$ denote the eigenvalues of the reduced density matirx. We introduce a series of functions designed to capture the parameter dependencies of these spectra. These functions encompass information regarding the derivatives of eigenvalues concerning the parameters, notably including the function $\mathcal{P}_{\alpha_J}(\lambda):=\sum_i \frac{\partial \lambda_i }{\partial \alpha_J}\delta(\lambda-\lambda_i)$, where $\alpha_J$ denotes the specific parameter. Computation of these functions is achievable through the utilization of R\'enyi entropy. Intriguingly, we uncover compelling relationships among these functions and demonstrate their utility in constructing the eigenvalues of reduced density matrices for select cases. We perform computations of these functions across several illustrative examples. Specially, we conducted a detailed study of the variations of $\mathcal{P}(\lambda)$ and $\mathcal{P}_{\alpha_J}(\lambda)$ under general perturbation, elucidating their physical implications. In the context of holographic theory, we ascertain that the zero point of the function $\mathcal{P}_{\alpha_J}(\lambda)$ possesses universality, determined as $\lambda_0=e^{-S}$, where $S$ denotes the entanglement entropy of the reduced density matrix. Furthermore, we exhibit potential applications of these functions in analyzing the properties of entanglement entropy.

Quantum information theory predicts that communication technology can be enhanced by using quantum signals to transfer classical bits. In order to fulfill this promise, the message-carrying signals must interact coherently at the decoding stage via a joint-detection receiver (JDR), whose realization with optical technologies remains an outstanding open problem to date.

We introduce a supervised-learning framework for the systematic discovery of new JDR designs based on parametrized photonic integrated circuits. Our framework relies on the synthesis of a training set comprising quantum codewords and the corresponding classical message label; the codewords are processed by the JDR circuit and, after photo-detection, produce a guess for the label. The circuit parameters are then updated by minimizing a suitable loss function, reaching an optimal JDR design for that specific architecture. We showcase our method with coherent-state codes for the pure-loss bosonic channel, modelling optical-fiber and space communication, with a circuit architecture comprising linear optics, squeezing and threshold photo-detectors. We train JDR circuits for several code families, varying energy and code-size.

We discover optical JDR circuit setups for maximum-size codes and small message-length that offer up to a $3$-fold enhancement in the bit decoding rate with respect to the optimal single-symbol receiver, and less than $7\%$-away from the theoretically optimal decoder, for which an explicit design is missing to date. Furthermore, the discovered receivers surpass previous JDR designs both in terms of bit decoding and bit transmission rate.

Finally, we observe that the best-performing codes are those which can be mapped, via the JDR's optical processing, to modulations with different energy levels on different symbols, making the message symbols more distinguishabile via photo-detection.

High-quality factor microwave resonators operating in a magnetic field are a necessity for some quantum sensing applications and hybrid platforms. Losses in microwave superconducting resonators can have several origins, including microscopic defects, usually known as two-level-systems (TLS). Here, we characterize the magnetic field response of NbTiN resonators patterned on sapphire and observe clear absorption lines occurring at specific magnetic fields. We identify the spin systems responsible for these features, including a yet unreported spin with $g=1.85$ that we attribute to defects in the NbTiN thin film. We develop mitigation strategies involving namely an aluminum etch mask, resulting in maintaining quality factors above $Q>2 \times 10^5$ in the range $0$-$0.3$ T.

We show that the precise preparation of a quantum superposition between three rotational states of an ultracold dipolar molecule generates controllable interferences in their two-body scattering dynamics and collisional rate coefficients, at an electric field that produces a F\"orster resonance. This proposal represents a feasible protocol to achieve coherent control on ultracold molecular collisions in current experiments. It sets the basis for future studies in which one can think to control the amount of each produced pairs, including trapped entangled pairs of reactants, individual pairs of products in a chemical reaction, and measuring each of their scattering phase-shifts that could envision ``complete chemical experiments" at ultracold temperatures.

We study post-quench dynamics of charge-density-wave (CDW) order in the square-lattice $t$-$V$ model. The ground state of this system at half-filling is characterized by a checkerboard modulation of particle density. A generalized self-consistent mean-field method, based on the time-dependent variational principle, is employed to describe the dynamical evolution of the CDW states. Assuming a homogeneous CDW order throughout the quench process, the time-dependent mean-field approach is reduced to the Anderson pseudospin method. Quench simulations based on the Bloch equation for pseudospins produce three canonical behaviors of order-parameter dynamics: phase-locked persistent oscillation, Landau-damped oscillation, and dynamical vanishing of the CDW order. We further develop an efficient real-space von Neumann equation method to incorporate dynamical inhomogeneity into simulations of quantum quenches. Our large-scale simulations uncover complex pattern formations in the post-quench CDW states, especially in the strong quench regime. The emergent spatial textures are characterized by super density modulations on top of the short-period checkerboard CDW order. Our demonstration of pattern formation in quenched CDW states, described by a simple broken $Z_2$ symmetry, underscores the importance of dynamical inhomogeneity in quantum quenches of many-body systems with more complex orders.