QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

We exploit the geometry of a zig-zag cold-ion crystal in a linear trap to propose the quantum simulation of a paradigmatic model of long-ranged magnetic frustration. Such a quantum simulation would clarify the complex features of a rich phase diagram that presents ferromagnetic, dimerized antiferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and floating phases, together with previously unnoticed features that are hard to assess by numerics.

A locking protocol between two parties is as follows: Alice gives an encrypted classical message to Bob which she does not want Bob to be able to read until she gives him the key. If Alice is using classical resources, and she wants to approach unconditional security, then the key and the message must have comparable sizes. But if Alice prepares a quantum state, the size of the key can be comparatively negligible. This effect is called quantum locking. Entanglement does not play a role in this quantum advantage.

Squeezed states can be employed for entanglement-based continuous-variable quantum key distribution, where the secure key rate is proportional to the bandwidth of the squeezing. We produced a non-classical continuous-wave laser field at the telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm, which showed squeezing over a bandwidth of more than 2GHz. The experimental setup used parametric down-conversion via a periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal (PPKTP).

The strength of classical correlations is subject to certain constraints, commonly known as Bell inequalities. Violation of these inequalities is the manifestation of nonlocality---displayed, in particular, by quantum mechanics, meaning that quantum mechanics can outperform classical physics at tasks associated with such Bell inequalities. Interestingly, however, there exist situations in which this is not the case.

The information causality principle is a generalisation of the no-signalling principle which implies some of the known restrictions on quantum correlations. But despite its clear physical motivation, information causality is formulated in terms of a rather specialised game and figure of merit. We explore different perspectives on information causality, discussing the probability of success as the figure of merit, a relation between information causality and the non-local `inner-product game', and the derivation of a quadratic bound for these games.

According to quantum theory, the outcomes obtained by measuring an entangled state necessarily exhibit some randomness if they violate a Bell inequality. In particular, a maximal violation of the CHSH inequality guarantees that 1.23 bits of randomness are generated by the measurements. However, by performing measurements with binary outcomes on two subsystems one could in principle generate up to two bits of randomness.

Local measurements on bipartite maximally entangled states can yield correlations that are maximally nonlocal, monogamous, and associated to fully random outcomes. This makes these states ideal for bipartite cryptographic tasks. Genuine-multipartite nonlocality constitutes a stronger notion of nonlocality that appears in the multipartite case. Maximal genuine-multipartite nonlocality, monogamy and full random outcomes are thus highly desired properties for multipartite correlations in intrinsically genuine-multipartite cryptographic scenarios.

Quantum mechanics is a nonlocal theory, but not as nonlocal as the no-signalling principle allows. However, there exist quantum correlations that exhibit maximal nonlocality: they are as nonlocal as any nonsignalling correlation and thus have a local content, quantified by the fraction pL of events admitting a local description, equal to zero.

We investigate the relation between unextendible product bases (UPB) and Bell inequalities found recently in [R. Augusiak et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 070401 (2011)]. We first review the procedure introduced there that associates to any set of mutually orthogonal product vectors in a many-qubit Hilbert space a Bell inequality. We then show that if a set of mutually orthogonal product vectors can be completed to a full basis, then the associated Bell inequality is trivial.

Around the globe several observatories are seeking the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs). These waves are predicted by Einsteins general theory of relativity and are generated, for example, by black-hole binary systems. Present GW detectors are Michelson-type kilometre-scale laser interferometers measuring the distance changes between mirrors suspended in vacuum. The sensitivity of these detectors at frequencies above several hundred hertz is limited by the vacuum (zero-point) fluctuations of the electromagnetic field.