Qiss

Successful realization of Bell tests has settled an 80-year-long debate, proving the existence of correlations which cannot be explained by a local realistic model. Recent experimental progress allowed to rule out any possible loopholes in these tests, and opened up the possibility of applications in cryptography envisaged more than three decades ago. A prominent example of such an application is device-independent quantum key distribution, which has recently been demonstrated. One remaining gap in all existing experiments, however, is that access to perfect randomness is assumed. To tackle this problem, the concept of randomness amplification has been introduced, allowing to generate such randomness from a weak source — a task impossible in classical physics. In this work, we demonstrate the amplification of imperfect randomness coming from a physical source. It is achieved by building on two recent developments: The first is a theoretical protocol implementing the concept of randomness amplification within an experimentally realistic setup, which however requires a combination of the degree of Bell inequality violation (S-value) and the amount of data not attained previously. The second is experimental progress enabling the execution of a loophole-free Bell test with superconducting circuits, which offers a platform to reach the necessary combination. Our experiment marks an important step in achieving the theoretical physical limits of privacy and randomness generation.

Mode-division multiplexing using multimode optical fibers has been intensively studied in recent years, in order to alleviate the transmission capacity crunch. Moreover, the need for secure information transmission based on quantum encryption protocols leads to investigating the possibility of multiplexing both quantum and classical signals in the same fiber. In this work, we experimentally study the modal multiplexing of both quantum and classical signals at telecom wavelengths, by using a few-mode fiber of 8 km and modal multiplexers/demultiplexers. We observe the existence of random-mode coupling at the quantum level, leading to cross-talk among both degenerate and non-degenerate channels. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using few-mode fibers for simultaneously transmitting classical and quantum information, leading to an efficient implementation of physical information encryption protocols in spatial-division multiplexed systems.

We present a variety of methods for training complex-valued word embeddings, based on the classical Skip-gram model, with a straightforward adaptation simply replacing the real-valued vectors with arbitrary vectors of complex numbers. In a more “physically-inspired” approach, the vectors are produced by parameterised quantum circuits (PQCs), which are unitary transformations resulting in normalised vectors which have a probabilistic interpretation. We develop a complex-valued version of the highly optimised C code version of Skip-gram, which allows us to easily produce complex embeddings trained on a 3.8B-word corpus for a vocabulary size of over 400k, for which we are then able to train a separate PQC for each word. We evaluate the complex embeddings on a set of standard similarity and relatedness datasets, for some models obtaining results competitive with the classical baseline. We find that, while training the PQCs directly tends to harm performance, the quantum word embeddings from the two-stage process perform as well as the classical Skip-gram embeddings with comparable numbers of parameters. This enables a highly scalable route to learning embeddings in complex spaces which scales with the size of the vocabulary rather than the size of the training corpus. In summary, we demonstrate how to produce a large set of high-quality word embeddings for use in complex-valued and quantum-inspired NLP models, and for exploring potential advantage in quantum NLP models.

Quantum homogenization is a reservoir-based quantum state approximation protocol, which has been successfully implemented in state transformation on quantum hardware. In this work we move beyond that and propose the homogenization as a novel platform for quantum state stabilization and information protection. Using the Heisenberg exchange interactions formalism, we extend the standard quantum homogenization protocol to the dynamically-equivalent ($mathtt{SWAP}$)$^alpha$ formulation. We then demonstrate its applicability on available noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) processors by presenting a shallow quantum circuit implementation consisting of a sequence of $mathtt{CNOT}$ and single-qubit gates. In light of this, we employ the Beny-Oreshkov generalization of the Knill-Laflamme (KL) conditions for near-optimal recovery channels to show that our proposed ($mathtt{SWAP}$)$^alpha$ quantum homogenization protocol yields a completely positive, trace preserving (CPTP) map under which the code subspace is correctable. Therefore, the protocol protects quantum information contained in a subsystem of the reservoir Hilbert space under CPTP dynamics.

A significant step towards a rigorous understanding of perturbative gravitational entropy was recently achieved by a series of works showing that a proper accounting of gauge invariance and observer degrees of freedom converts the Type III algebra of QFT observables in a gravitational subregion to a Type II crossed product, whose entropy reduces to the generalized entropy formula in a semiclassical limit. The observers thus used are also known as quantum reference frames (QRFs); as noted in our companion work [arXiv:2405.00114], using different QRFs result in different algebras, and hence different entropies — so gravitational entropy is observer-dependent. Here, we provide an in-depth analysis of this phenomenon, with full derivations of many new results. Using the perspective-neutral QRF formalism, we extend previous constructions to allow for arbitrarily many observers, each carrying a clock with possibly degenerate energy spectra. We consider a semiclassical regime characterized by clocks whose energy fluctuations dominate over the fluctuations of the energy of the QFT. Unlike previous works, we allow the clocks and fields to be arbitrarily entangled. At leading order the von Neumann entropy still reduces to the generalized entropy, but linear corrections are typically non-vanishing and quantify the degree of entanglement between the clocks and fields. We also describe an `antisemiclassical’ regime as the opposite of the semiclassical one, with suppressed fluctuations of the clock energy; in this regime, we show how the clock may simply be `partially traced’ out when evaluating the entropy. Four explicit examples of observer-dependent entropy are then given, involving a gravitational interferometer, degenerate clock superselection, a semiclassical approximation applying to some clocks but not others, and differences between monotonic and periodic clocks.

We prove that the generalised second law (GSL), with an appropriate modification, holds in perturbative gravity to all orders beyond the semiclassical limit and without a UV cutoff imposed on the fields. Our proof uses algebraic techniques and builds on the recent work of Faulkner and Speranza, which combined Wall’s proof of the GSL with the identification of generalised entropy as the von Neumann entropy of a boost-invariant crossed product algebra. The key additional step in our approach is to further impose invariance under null translations. Doing so requires one to describe horizon exterior regions in a relational manner, so we introduce `dynamical cuts’: quantum reference frames which give the location of a cut of the horizon. We use idealised dynamical cuts, but expect that our methods can be generalised to more realistic models. The modified GSL that we prove says that the difference in generalised entropies of the regions outside two dynamical cuts is bounded below by the free energy of the degrees of freedom giving the location of the later cut. If one takes a semiclassical limit, imposes a UV cutoff, and requires the cuts to obey certain energy conditions, then our result reduces to the standard GSL.

One can theoretically conceive of processes where the causal order between quantum operations is no longer well-defined. Certain such causally indefinite processes have an operational interpretation in terms of quantum operations on time-delocalised subsystems — that is, they can take place as part of standard quantum mechanical evolutions on quantum systems that are delocalised in time. In this paper, we formalise the underlying idea that quantum evolutions can be represented with respect to different subsystem decompositions in a general way. We introduce a description of quantum circuits, including cyclic ones, in terms of an operator acting on the global Hilbert space of all systems in the circuit. This allows us to express in a concise form how a given circuit transforms under arbitrary changes of subsystem decompositions. We then explore the link between this framework and the concept of causal perspectives, which has been introduced to describe causally indefinite processes from the point of view of the different parties involved. Surprisingly, we show that the causal perspectives that one can associate to the different parties in the quantum switch, a paradigmatic example of a causally indefinite process, cannot be related by a change of subsystem decomposition, i.e., they cannot be seen as two equivalent descriptions of the same process.

Modular crossed product algebras have recently assumed an important role in perturbative quantum gravity as they lead to an intrinsic regularization of entanglement entropies by introducing quantum reference frames (QRFs) in place of explicit regulators. This is achieved by imposing certain boost constraints on gravitons, QRFs and other fields. Here, we revisit the question of how these constraints should be understood through the lens of perturbation theory and particularly the study of linearization (in)stabilities, exploring when linearized solutions can be integrated to exact ones. Our aim is to provide some clarity about the status of justification, under various conditions, for imposing such constraints on the linearized theory in the $G_Nto0$ limit as they turn out to be of second-order. While for spatially compact spacetimes there is an essentially unambiguous justification, in the presence of boundaries or the absence of isometries this depends on whether one is also interested in second-order observables. Linearization (in)stabilities occur in any gauge-covariant field theory with non-linear equations and to address this in a unified framework, we translate the subject from the usual canonical formulation into a systematic covariant phase space language. This overcomes theory-specific arguments, exhibiting the universal structure behind (in)stabilities, and permits us to cover arbitrary generally covariant theories. We comment on the relation to modular flow and illustrate our findings in several gravity and gauge theory examples.

This collection of perspective pieces captures recent advancements and reflections from a dynamic research community dedicated to bridging quantum gravity, hydrodynamics, and emergent cosmology. It explores four key research areas: (a) the interplay between hydrodynamics and cosmology, including analog gravity systems; (b) phase transitions, continuum limits and emergent geometry in quantum gravity; (c) relational perspectives in gravity and quantum gravity; and (d) the emergence of cosmological models rooted in quantum gravity frameworks. Each contribution presents the distinct perspectives of its respective authors. Additionally, the introduction by the editors proposes an integrative view, suggesting how these thematic units could serve as foundational pillars for a novel theoretical cosmology framework termed “hydrodynamics on superspace”.

Bell scenarios are multipartite scenarios that exclude any communication between parties. This constraint leads to a strict hierarchy of correlation sets in such scenarios, namely, classical, quantum, and nonsignaling. However, without any constraints on communication between the parties, they can realize arbitrary correlations by exchanging only classical systems. Here we consider a multipartite scenario where the parties can engage in at most a single round of communication, i.e., each party is allowed to receive a system once, implement any local intervention on it, and send out the resulting system once. While no global assumption about causal relations between parties is assumed in this scenario, we do make a causal assumption local to each party, i.e., the input received by it causally precedes the output it sends out. We then introduce antinomicity, a notion of nonclassicality for correlations in such scenarios, and prove the existence of a strict hierarchy of correlation sets classified by their antinomicity. Antinomicity serves as a generalization of Bell nonlocality: when all the parties discard their output systems (i.e., in a nonsignaling scenario), it is mathematically equivalent to Bell nonlocality. Like Bell nonlocality, it can be understood as an instance of fine-tuning, one that is necessary in any classical model of cyclic causation that avoids time-travel antinomies but allows antinomic correlations. Furthermore, antinomicity resolves a long-standing puzzle, i.e., the failure of causal inequality violations as device-independent witnesses of nonclassicality. Antinomicity implies causal inequality violations, but not conversely.