No Arabic abstract
We formulate the problem of finding the optimal entanglement swapping scheme in a quantum repeater chain as a Markov decision process and present its solution for different repeaters sizes. Based on this, we are able to demonstrate that the commonly used doubling scheme for performing probabilistic entanglement swapping of probabilistically distributed entangled qubit pairs in quantum repeaters does not always produce the best possible raw rate. Focussing on this figure of merit, without considering additional probabilistic elements for error suppression such as entanglement distillation on higher nesting levels, our approach reveals that a power-of-two number of segments has no privileged position in quantum repeater theory; the best scheme can be constructed for any number of segments. Moreover, classical communication can be included into our scheme, and we show how this influences the raw waiting time for different number of segments, confirming again the optimality of non-doubling in some relevant parameter regimes. Thus, our approach provides the minimal possible waiting time of quantum repeaters in a fairly general physical setting.
The standard approach to realize a quantum repeater relies upon probabilistic but heralded entangled state manipulations and the storage of quantum states while waiting for successful events. In the literature on this class of repeaters, calculating repeater rates has typically depended on approximations assuming sufficiently small probabilities. Here we propose an exact and systematic approach including an algorithm based on Markov chain theory to compute the average waiting time (and hence the transmission rates) of quantum repeaters with arbitrary numbers of links. For up to four repeater segments, we explicitly give the exact rate formulae for arbitrary entanglement swapping probabilities. Starting with three segments, we explore schemes with arbitrary (not only doubling) and dynamical (not only predetermined) connections. The effect of finite memory times is also considered and the relative influence of the classical communication (of heralded signals) is shown to grow significantly for larger probabilities. Conversely, we demonstrate that for small swapping probabilities the statistical behavior of the waiting time in a quantum repeater cannot be characterized by its average value alone and additional statistical quantifiers are needed. For large repeater systems, we propose a recursive approach based on exactly but still efficiently computable waiting times of sufficiently small sub-repeaters. This approach leads to better lower bounds on repeater rates compared to existing schemes.
We report entanglement swapping with time-bin entangled photon pairs, each constituted of a 795 nm photon and a 1533 nm photon, that are created via spontaneous parametric down conversion in a non-linear crystal. After projecting the two 1533 nm photons onto a Bell state, entanglement between the two 795 nm photons is verified by means of quantum state tomography. As an important feature, the wavelength and bandwidth of the 795 nm photons is compatible with Tm:LiNbO3-based quantum memories, making our experiment an important step towards the realization of a quantum repeater.
We report an experimental demonstration of entanglement swapping over two quantum stages. By successful realizations of two cascaded photonic entanglement swapping processes, entanglement is generated and distributed between two photons, that originate from independent sources and do not share any common past. In the experiment we use three pairs of polarization entangled photons and conduct two Bell-state measurements (BSMs) one between the first and second pair, and one between the second and third pair. This results in projecting the remaining two outgoing photons from pair 1 and 3 into an entangled state, as characterized by an entanglement witness. The experiment represents an important step towards a full quantum repeater where multiple entanglement swapping is a key ingredient.
Recent advances in quantum technologies are rapidly stimulating the building of quantum networks. With the parallel development of multiple physical platforms and different types of encodings, a challenge for present and future networks is to uphold a heterogeneous structure for full functionality and therefore support modular systems that are not necessarily compatible with one another. Central to this endeavor is the capability to distribute and interconnect optical entangled states relying on different discrete and continuous quantum variables. Here we report an entanglement swapping protocol connecting such entangled states. We generate single-photon entanglement and hybrid entanglement between particle-like and wave-like optical qubits, and then demonstrate the heralded creation of hybrid entanglement at a distance by using a specific Bell-state measurement. This ability opens up the prospect of connecting heterogeneous nodes of a network, with the promise of increased integration and novel functionalities.
We investigate the continuous-variable entanglement swapping protocol in a non-Gaussian setting, with non- Gaussian states employed either as entangled inputs and/or as swapping resources. The quality of the swapping protocol is assessed in terms of the teleportation fidelity achievable when using the swapped states as shared entangled resources in a teleportation protocol. We thus introduce a two-step cascaded quantum communication scheme that includes a swapping protocol followed by a teleportation protocol. The swapping protocol is fed by a general class of tunable non-Gaussian states, the squeezed Bell states, which, by means of controllable free parameters, allows for a continuous morphing from Gaussian twin beams up to maximally non-Gaussian squeezed number states. In the realistic instance, taking into account the effects of losses and imperfections, we show that as the input two-mode squeezing increases, optimized non-Gaussian swapping resources allow for a monotonically increasing enhancement of the fidelity compared to the corresponding Gaussian setting. This result implies that the use of non-Gaussian resources is necessary to guarantee the success of continuous-variable entanglement swapping in the presence of decoherence.