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We implement the direct sampling of negative phase-space functions via unbalanced homodyne measurement using click-counting detectors. The negativities significantly certify nonclassical light in the high-loss regime using a small number of detectors which cannot resolve individual photons. We apply our method to heralded single-photon states and experimentally demonstrate the most significant certification of nonclassicality for only two detection bins. By contrast, the frequently applied Wigner function fails to indicate such quantum characteristics for the quantum efficiencies present in our setup. In addition, it would require ideal photon-number resolution. Hence, we realize a robust, reliable, and resource-efficient approach to characterize nonclassical light in phase space under realistic conditions.
Continuous variable entanglement is a manifestation of nonclassicality of quantum states. In this paper we attempt to analyze whether and under which conditions nonclassicality can be used as an entanglement criterion. We adopt the well-accepted definition of nonclassicality in the form of lack of well-defined positive Glauber Sudarshan P-function describing the state. After demonstrating that the classicality of subsystems is not sufficient for the nonclassicality of the overall state to be identifiable with entanglement, we focus on Gaussian states and find specific local unitary transformations required to arrive at this equivalency. This is followed by the analysis of quantitative relation between nonclassicality and entanglement.
The representation of quantum states via phase-space functions constitutes an intuitive technique to characterize light. However, the reconstruction of such distributions is challenging as it demands specific types of detectors and detailed models thereof to account for their particular properties and imperfections. To overcome these obstacles, we derive and implement a measurement scheme that enables a reconstruction of phase-space distributions for arbitrary states whose functionality does not depend on the knowledge of the detectors, thus defining the notion of detector-agnostic phase-space distributions. Our theory presents a generalization of well-known phase-space quasiprobability distributions, such as the Wigner function. We implement our measurement protocol, using state-of-the-art transition-edge sensors without performing a detector characterization. Based on our approach, we reveal the characteristic features of heralded single- and two-photon states in phase space and certify their nonclassicality with high statistical significance.
The efficient certification of nonclassical effects of light forms the basis for applications in optical quantum technologies. We derive general correlation conditions for the verification of nonclassical light based on multiplexed detection. The obtained nonclassicality criteria are valid for imperfectly-balanced multiplexing scenarios with on-off detectors and do not require any knowledge about the detector system. In this sense they are fully independent of the detector system. In our experiment, we study light emitted by clusters of single-photon emitters, whose photon number may exceed the number of detection channels. Even under such conditions, our criteria certify nonclassicality with high statistical significance.
Measurement incompatibility is a distinguishing property of quantum physics and an essential resource for many quantum information processing tasks. We introduce an approach to verify the joint measurability of measurements based on phase-space quasiprobability distributions. Our results therefore establish a connection between two notions of non-classicality, namely the negativity of quasiprobability distributions and measurement incompatibility. We show how our approach can be applied to the study of incompatibility-breaking channels and derive incompatibility-breaking sufficient conditions for bosonic systems and Gaussian channels. In particular, these conditions provide useful tools for investigating the effects of errors and imperfections on the incompatibility of measurements in practice. To illustrate our method, we consider all classes of single-mode Gaussian channels. We show that pure lossy channels with 50% or more losses break the incompatibility of all measurements that can be represented by non-negative Wigner functions, which includes the set of Gaussian measurements.
Existing measures of bipartite nonclassical correlation that is typically characterized by nonvanishing nonlocalizable information under the zero-way CLOCC protocol are expensive in computational cost. We define and evaluate economical measures on the basis of a new class of maps, eigenvalue-preserving-but-not-completely-eigenvalue-preserving (EnCE) maps. The class is in analogy to the class of positive-but-not-completely-positive (PnCP) maps that have been commonly used in the entanglement theories. Linear and nonlinear EnCE maps are investigated. We also prove subadditivity of the measures in a form of logarithmic fidelity.