No Arabic abstract
Although universal continuous-variable quantum computation cannot be achieved via linear optics (including squeezing), homodyne detection and feed-forward, inclusion of ideal photon counting measurements overcomes this obstacle. These measurements are sometimes described by arrays of beam splitters to distribute the photons across several modes. We show that such a scheme cannot be used to implement ideal photon counting and that such measurements necessarily involve nonlinear evolution. However, this requirement of nonlinearity can be moved off-line, thereby permitting universal continuous-variable quantum computation with linear optics.
We show that the sender (Alice) and the receiver (Bob) each require coherent devices in order to achieve unconditional continuous variable quantum teleportation (CVQT), and this requirement cannot be achieved with conventional laser sources, even in principle. The appearance of successful CVQT in recent experiments is due to interpreting the measurement record fallaciously in terms of one preferred ensemble (or decomposition) of the correct density matrix describing the state. Our analysis is unrelated to technical problems such as laser phase drift or finite squeezing bandwidth.
We present universal continuous variable quantum computation (CVQC) in the micromaser. With a brief history as motivation we present the background theory and define universal CVQC. We then show how to generate a set of operations in the micromaser which can be used to achieve universal CVQC. It then follows that the micromaser is a potential architecture for CVQC but our proof is easily adaptable to other potential physical systems.
We describe a generalization of the cluster-state model of quantum computation to continuous-variable systems, along with a proposal for an optical implementation using squeezed-light sources, linear optics, and homodyne detection. For universal quantum computation, a nonlinear element is required. This can be satisfied by adding to the toolbox any single-mode non-Gaussian measurement, while the initial cluster state itself remains Gaussian. Homodyne detection alone suffices to perform an arbitrary multi-mode Gaussian transformation via the cluster state. We also propose an experiment to demonstrate cluster-based error reduction when implementing Gaussian operations.
It has been argued [T. Rudolph and B.C. Sanders, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 077903 (2001)] that continuous-variable quantum teleportation at optical frequencies has not been achieved because the source used (a laser) was not `truly coherent. Here I show that `true coherence is always illusory, as the concept of absolute time on a scale beyond direct human experience is meaningless. A laser is as good a clock as any other, even in principle, and this objection to teleportation experiments is baseless.
We provide an explicit construction of a universal gate set for continuous-variable quantum computation with microwave circuits. Such a universal set has been first proposed in quantum-optical setups, but its experimental implementation has remained elusive in that domain due to the difficulties in engineering strong nonlinearities. Here, we show that a realistic three-wave mixing microwave architecture based on the SNAIL [Frattini et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 222603 (2017)] allows us to overcome this difficulty. As an application, we show that this architecture allows for the generation of a cubic phase state with an experimentally feasible procedure. This work highlights a practical advantage of microwave circuits with respect to optical systems for the purpose of engineering non-Gaussian states, and opens the quest for continuous-variable algorithms based on few repetitions of elementary gates from the continuous-variable universal set.