No Arabic abstract
Key to realising quantum computers is minimising the resources required to build logic gates into useful processing circuits. While the salient features of a quantum computer have been shown in proof-of-principle experiments, difficulties in scaling quantum systems have made more complex operations intractable. This is exemplified in the classical Fredkin (controlled-SWAP) gate for which, despite theoretical proposals, no quantum analogue has been realised. By adding control to the SWAP unitary, we use photonic qubit logic to demonstrate the first quantum Fredkin gate, which promises many applications in quantum information and measurement. We implement example algorithms and generate the highest-fidelity three-photon GHZ states to-date. The technique we use allows one to add a control operation to a black-box unitary, something impossible in the standard circuit model. Our experiment represents the first use of this technique to control a two-qubit operation and paves the way for larger controlled circuits to be realised efficiently.
Distinguishing between strings of data or waveforms is at the core of multiple applications in information technologies. In a quantum language the task is to design protocols to differentiate quantum states. Quantum-based technologies promises to go beyond the capabilities offered by technologies based on classical principles. However the implementation of the logical gates that are the core of these systems is challenging since they should overcome quantum decoherence, low probability of success and are prone to errors. One unexpected contribution of considering ideas in the quantum world is to inspire similar solutions in the classical world (quantum-inspired technologies), protocols that aim at mimicking particular features of quantum algorithms. This is based on features of quantum physics also shared by waves in the classical world, such it is the case of interference or entanglement between degrees of freedom of a single particle. Here we demonstrate in a proof-of-concept experiment a new type of quantum-inspired protocol based on the idea of quantum fingerprinting (Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 167902, 2001). Information is encoded on optical beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM). These beams allow to implement a crucial element of our system, a new type of Fredkin gate or polarization-controlled SWAP operation that exchange data between OAM beams. The protocols can evaluate the similarity between pairs of waveforms and strings of bits and quarts without unveiling the information content of the data.
The realization of multimode optomechanical interactions in the single-photon strong-coupling regime is a desired task in cavity optomechanics, but it remains a challenge in realistic physical systems. In this work, we propose a reliable scheme to simulate a three-mode optomechanical system working in the single-photon strong-coupling regime based on the Fredkin-type interaction. This is achieved by utilizing two strong drivings to the two exchangly-coupled modes in the Fredkin-type coupling involving one optical mode and two mechanical-like modes. As an application of this enhanced three-mode nonlinear optomechanical coupling, we show how to generate entangled-cat states of the mechanical-like modes using the conditional displacement mechanism. The quantum coherence effects in the generated states are investigated by calculating two-mode joint Wigner function and quantum entanglement. The influence of the dissipation effect on the state generation is considered in the open-system case.
We demonstrate a probabilistic entangling quantum gate between two distant trapped ytterbium ions. The gate is implemented between the hyperfine clock state atomic qubits and mediated by the interference of two emitted photons carrying frequency encoded qubits. Heralded by the coincidence detection of these two photons, the gate has an average fidelity of 90+-2%. This entangling gate together with single qubit operations is sufficient to generate large entangled cluster states for scalable quantum computing.
We present a method to control the detection events in quantum key distribution systems that use gated single-photon detectors. We employ bright pulses as faked states, timed to arrive at the avalanche photodiodes outside the activation time. The attack can remain unnoticed, since the faked states do not increase the error rate per se. This allows for an intercept-resend attack, where an eavesdropper transfers her detection events to the legitimate receiver without causing any errors. As a side effect, afterpulses, originating from accumulated charge carriers in the detectors, increase the error rate. We have experimentally tested detectors of the system id3110 (Clavis2) from ID Quantique. We identify the parameter regime in which the attack is feasible despite the side effect. Furthermore, we outline how simple modifications in the implementation can make the device immune to this attack.
The sum gate is the canonical two-mode gate for universal quantum computation based on continuous quantum variables. It represents the natural analogue to a qubit C-NOT gate. In addition, the continuous-variable gate describes a quantum nondemolition (QND) interaction between the quadrature components of two light fields. We experimentally demonstrate a QND sum gate, employing the scheme by R. Filip, P. Marek, and U.L. Andersen [pra {bf 71}, 042308 (2005)], solely based on offline squeezed states, homodyne measurements, and feedforward. The results are verified by simultaneously satisfying the criteria for QND measurements in both conjugate quadratures.