The strongest evidence for superiority of quantum annealing on spin glass problems has come from comparing simulated quantum annealing using quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods to simulated classical annealing [G. Santoro et al., Science 295, 2427(2002
)]. Motivated by experiments on programmable quantum annealing devices we revisit the question of when quantum speedup may be expected for Ising spin glass problems. We find that even though a better scaling compared to simulated classical annealing can be achieved for QMC simulations, this advantage is due to time discretization and measurements which are not possible on a physical quantum annealing device. QMC simulations in the physically relevant continuous time limit, on the other hand, do not show superiority. Our results imply that care has to be taken when using QMC simulations to assess quantum speedup potential and are consistent with recent arguments that no quantum speedup should be expected for two-dimensional spin glass problems.
We investigate the properties of an atmospheric channel for free space quantum communication with continuous polarization variables. In our prepare-and-measure setup, coherent polarization states are transmitted through an atmospheric quantum channel
of 100m length on the roof of our institutes building. The signal states are measured by homodyne detection with the help of a local oscillator (LO) which propagates in the same spatial mode as the signal, orthogonally polarized to it. Thus the interference of signal and LO is excellent and atmospheric fluctuations are autocompensated. The LO also acts as spatial and spectral filter, which allows for unrestrained daylight operation. Important characteristics for our system are atmospheric channel influences that could cause polarization, intensity and position excess noise. Therefore we study these influences in detail. Our results indicate that the channel is suitable for our quantum communication system in most weather conditions.
In our continuous variable quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme, the homodyne detection set-up requires balancing the intensity of an incident beam between two photodiodes. Realistic lens systems are insufficient to provide a spatially stable focus
in the presence of large spatial beam-jitter caused by atmospheric transmission. We therefore present an improved geometry for optical tapers which offer up to four times the angular tolerance of a lens. The effective area of a photodiode can thus be increased, without decreasing its bandwidth. This makes them suitable for use in our free space QKD experiment and in free space optical communication in general.
