No Arabic abstract
The protocol of quantum reading refers to the quantum enhanced retrieval of information from an optical memory, whose generic cell stores a bit of information in two possible lossy channels. In the following we analyze the case of a particular class of optical receiver, based on photon counting measurement, since they can be particularly simple in view of real applications. We show that a quantum advantage is achievable when a transmitter based on two-mode squeezed vacuum (TMSV) states is combined with a photon counting receiver, and we experimentally confirm it. In this paper, after introducing some theoretical background, we focus on the experimental realisation, describing the data collection and the data analysis in detail.
The final goal of quantum hypothesis testing is to achieve quantum advantage over all possible classical strategies. In the protocol of quantum reading this advantage is achieved for information retrieval from an optical memory, whose generic cell stores a bit of information in two possible lossy channels. For this protocol, we show, theoretically and experimentally, that quantum advantage is obtained by practical photon-counting measurements combined with a simple maximum-likelihood decision. In particular, we show that this receiver combined with an entangled two-mode squeezed vacuum source is able to outperform any strategy based on statistical mixtures of coherent states for the same mean number of input photons. Our experimental findings demonstrate that quantum entanglement and simple optics are able to enhance the readout of digital data, paving the way to real applications of quantum reading and with potential applications for any other model that is based on the binary discrimination of bosonic loss.
Increasing demand for algorithms that can learn quickly and efficiently has led to a surge of development within the field of artificial intelligence (AI). An important paradigm within AI is reinforcement learning (RL), where agents interact with environments by exchanging signals via a communication channel. Agents can learn by updating their behaviour based on obtained feedback. The crucial question for practical applications is how fast agents can learn to respond correctly. An essential figure of merit is therefore the learning time. While various works have made use of quantum mechanics to speed up the agents decision-making process, a reduction in learning time has not been demonstrated yet. Here we present a RL experiment where the learning of an agent is boosted by utilizing a quantum communication channel with the environment. We further show that the combination with classical communication enables the evaluation of such an improvement, and additionally allows for optimal control of the learning progress. This novel scenario is therefore demonstrated by considering hybrid agents, that alternate between rounds of quantum and classical communication. We implement this learning protocol on a compact and fully tunable integrated nanophotonic processor. The device interfaces with telecom-wavelength photons and features a fast active feedback mechanism, allowing us to demonstrate the agents systematic quantum advantage in a setup that could be readily integrated within future large-scale quantum communication networks.
We report the first experimental observation of quantum holographic imaging with entangled photon pairs, generated in a spontaneous parametric down-conversion process. The signal photons play both roles of object wave and reference wave in holography but are recorded by a point detector providing only encoding information, while the idler photons travel freely and are locally manipulated with spatial resolution. The holographic image is formed by the two-photon correlation measurement, although both the signal and idler beams are incoherent. According to the detection regime of the signal photons, we analyze three types of quantum holography schemes: point detection, coherent detection and bucket detection, which can correspond to classical holography using a point source, a plane-wave coherent source and a spatially incoherent source, respectively. Our experiment demonstrates that the two-photon holography in the point detection regime is equivalent to the one-photon holography using a point source. Physically, the quantum holography experiment verifies that a pair of non-commutable physical quantities, the amplitude and phase components of the field operator, can be nonlocally measured through two-photon entanglement.
Since Bells theorem, it is known that the concept of local realism fails to explain quantum phenomena. Indeed, the violation of a Bell inequality has become a synonym of the incompatibility of quantum theory with our classical notion of cause and effect. As recently discovered, however, the instrumental scenario -- a tool of central importance in causal inference -- allows for signatures of nonclassicality that do not hinge on this paradigm. If, instead of relying on observational data only, we can also intervene in our experimental setup, quantum correlations can violate classical bounds on the causal influence even in scenarios where no violation of a Bell inequality is ever possible. That is, through interventions, we can witness the quantum behaviour of a system that would look classical otherwise. Using a photonic setup -- faithfully implementing the instrumental causal structure and allowing to switch between the observational and interventional modes in a run to run basis -- we experimentally observe this new witness of nonclassicality for the first time. In parallel, we also test quantum bounds for the causal influence, showing that they provide a reliable tool for quantum causal modelling.
Quantum communication employs the counter-intuitive features of quantum physics to perform tasks that are im- possible in the classical world. It is crucial for testing the foundations of quantum theory and promises to rev- olutionize our information and communication technolo- gies. However, for two or more parties to execute even the simplest quantum transmission, they must establish, and maintain, a shared reference frame. This introduces a considerable overhead in communication resources, par- ticularly if the parties are in motion or rotating relative to each other. We experimentally demonstrate how to circumvent this problem with the efficient transmission of quantum information encoded in rotationally invariant states of single photons. By developing a complete toolbox for the efficient encoding and decoding of quantum infor- mation in such photonic qubits, we demonstrate the fea- sibility of alignment-free quantum key-distribution, and perform a proof-of-principle alignment-free entanglement distribution and violation of a Bell inequality. Our scheme should find applications in fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and satellite-based quantum communication.