No Arabic abstract
The archetypal quantum interferometry experiment yields an interference pattern that results from the indistinguishability of two spatiotemporal paths available to a photon or to a pair of entangled photons. A fundamental challenge in quantum interferometry is to perform such experiments with a higher number of paths, and over large distances. In particular, the distribution of such highly entangled states in long-haul optical fibers is one of the core concepts behind quantum information networks. We demonstrate that using indistinguishable frequency paths instead of spatiotemporal ones allows for robust, high-dimensional quantum interferometry in optical fibers. In our system, twin-photons from an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pair are offered up to 9 frequency paths after propagation in long-haul optical fibers, and we show that the multi-path quantum interference patterns can be faithfully restored after the photons travel a total distance of up to 60 km.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols based on high-dimensional quantum states have shown the route to increase the key rate generation while benefiting of enhanced error tolerance, thus overcoming the limitations of two-dimensional QKD protocols. Nonetheless, the reliable transmission through fiber links of high-dimensional quantum states remains an open challenge that must be addressed to boost their application. Here, we demonstrate the reliable transmission over a 2 km long multicore fiber of path-encoded high-dimensional quantum states. Leveraging on a phase-locked loop system, a stable interferometric detection is guaranteed, allowing for low error rates and the generation of 6.3 Mbit/s of secret key rate.
Quantum digital signature (QDS) is an approach to guarantee the nonrepudiation, unforgeability and transferability of a signature with the information-theoretical security. All previous experimental realizations of QDS relied on an unrealistic assumption of secure channels and the longest distance is only several kilometers. Here, we have experimentally demonstrated a recently proposed QDS protocol without any secure channel. Exploiting the decoy state modulation, we have successfully signed one bit message through up to 102 km optical fiber. Furthermore, we continuously run the system to sign the longer message USTC with 32 bit at the distance of 51 km. Our results pave the way towards the practical application of QDS.
Quantum cryptography allows confidential information to be communicated between two parties, with secrecy guaranteed by the laws of nature alone. However, upholding guaranteed secrecy over quantum communication networks poses a further challenge, as classical receive-and-resend routing nodes can only be used conditional of trust by the communicating parties. Here, we demonstrate the operation of a quantum relay over 1 km of optical fiber, which teleports a sequence of photonic quantum bits to a receiver by utilizing entangled photons emitted by a semiconductor LED. The average relay fidelity of the link is 0.90+/-0.03, exceeding the classical bound of 0.75 for the set of states used, and sufficiently high to allow error correction. The fundamentally low multi-photon emission statistics and the integration potential of the source present an appealing platform for future quantum networks.
A working free-space quantum key distribution (QKD) system has been developed and tested over an outdoor optical path of ~1 km at Los Alamos National Laboratory under nighttime conditions. Results show that QKD can provide secure real-time key distribution between parties who have a need to communicate secretly. Finally, we examine the feasibility of surface to satellite QKD.
As a direct consequence of the no-cloning theorem, the deterministic amplification as in classical communication is impossible for quantum states. This calls for more advanced techniques in a future global quantum network, e.g. for cloud quantum computing. A unique solution is the teleportation of an entangled state, i.e. entanglement swapping, representing the central resource to relay entanglement between distant nodes. Together with entanglement purification and a quantum memory it constitutes a so-called quantum repeater. Since the aforementioned building blocks have been individually demonstrated in laboratory setups only, the applicability of the required technology in real-world scenarios remained to be proven. Here we present a free-space entanglement-swapping experiment between the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife, verifying the presence of quantum entanglement between two previously independent photons separated by 143 km. We obtained an expectation value for the entanglement-witness operator, more than 6 standard deviations beyond the classical limit. By consecutive generation of the two required photon pairs and space-like separation of the relevant measurement events, we also showed the feasibility of the swapping protocol in a long-distance scenario, where the independence of the nodes is highly demanded. Since our results already allow for efficient implementation of entanglement purification, we anticipate our assay to lay the ground for a fully-fledged quantum repeater over a realistic high-loss and even turbulent quantum channel.