We study a class of mixed non-Gaussian entangled states that, whilst closely related to Gaussian entangled states, none-the-less exhibit distinct properties previously only associated with more exotic, pure non-Gaussian states.
Many different quantum information communication protocols such as teleportation, dense coding and entanglement based quantum key distribution are based on the faithful transmission of entanglement between distant location in an optical network. The distribution of entanglement in such a network is however hampered by loss and noise that is inherent in all practical quantum channels. Thus, to enable faithful transmission one must resort to the protocol of entanglement distillation. In this paper we present a detailed theoretical analysis and an experimental realization of continuous variable entanglement distillation in a channel that is inflicted by different kinds of non-Gaussian noise. The continuous variable entangled states are generated by exploiting the third order non-linearity in optical fibers, and the states are sent through a free-space laboratory channel in which the losses are altered to simulate a free-space atmospheric channel with varying losses. We use linear optical components, homodyne measurements and classical communication to distill the entanglement, and we find that by using this method the entanglement can be probabilistically increased for some specific non-Gaussian noise channels.
Currently available separability criteria for continuous-variable states are generally based on the covariance matrix of quadrature operators. The well-known separability criterion of Duan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2722 (2000)] and Simon [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2726 (2000)] , for example, gives a necessary and sufficient condition for a two-mode Gaussian state to be separable, but leaves many entangled non-Gaussian states undetected. Here, we introduce an improvement of this criterion that enables a stronger entanglement detection. The improved condition is based on the knowledge of an additional parameter, namely the degree of Gaussianity, and exploits a connection with Gaussianity-bounded uncertainty relations [Phys. Rev. A 86, 030102 (2012)]. We exhibit families of non-Gaussian entangled states whose entanglement remains undetected by the Duan-Simon criterion.
We study nonclassical correlations beyond entanglement in a family of two-mode non-Gaussian states which represent the continuous-variable counterpart of two-qubit Werner states. We evaluate quantum discord and other quantumness measures obtaining exact analytical results in special instances, and upper and lower bounds in the general case. Non-Gaussian measurements such as photon counting are in general necessary to solve the optimization in the definition of quantum discord, whereas Gaussian measurements are strictly suboptimal for the considered states. The gap between Gaussian and optimal non-Gaussian conditional entropy is found to be proportional to a measure of non-Gaussianity in the regime of low squeezing, for a subclass of continuous-variable Werner states. We further study an example of a non-Gaussian state which is positive under partial transposition, and whose nonclassical correlations stay finite and small even for infinite squeezing. Our results pave the way to a systematic exploration of the interplay between nonclassicality and non-Gaussianity in continuous-variable systems, in order to gain a deeper understanding of -and to draw a bigger advantage from- these two important resources for quantum technology.
We have recently shown that the output field in the Braunstein-Kimble protocol of teleportation is a superposition of two fields: the input one and a field created by Alices measurement and by displacement of the state at Bobs station by using the classical information provided by Alice. We study here the noise added by teleportation and compare its influence in the Gaussian and non-Gaussian settings.
The distribution of entangled states of light over long distances is a major challenge in the field of quantum information. Optical losses, phase diffusion and mixing with thermal states lead to decoherence and destroy the non-classical states after some finite transmission-line length. Quantum repeater protocols, which combine quantum memory, entanglement distillation and entanglement swapping, were proposed to overcome this problem. Here we report on the experimental demonstration of entanglement distillation in the continuous-variable regime. Entangled states were first disturbed by random phase fluctuations and then distilled and purified using interference on beam splitters and homodyne detection. Measurements of covariance matrices clearly indicate a regained strength of entanglement and purity of the distilled states. In contrast to previous demonstrations of entanglement distillation in the complementary discrete-variable regime, our scheme achieved the actual preparation of the distilled states, which might therefore be used to improve the quality of downstream applications such as quantum teleportation.