Papers New

Interaction of evanescent particles with an Unruh-DeWitt detector

We demonstrate that the recently introduced evanescent particles of a massive scalar field can be emitted and absorbed by an Unruh-DeWitt detector. In doing so the particles carry away from or deposit on the detector a quantized amount of energy, in a manner quite analogous to ordinary propagating particles. In contradistinction to propagating particles the amount of energy is less than the mass of the field, but still positive. We develop relevant methods and provide a study of the detector emission spectrum, emission probability and absorption probability involving both propagating and evanescent particles.

Flexible Error Mitigation of Quantum Processes with Data Augmentation Empowered Neural Model

Neural networks have shown their effectiveness in various tasks in the realm of quantum computing. However, their application in quantum error mitigation, a crucial step towards realizing practical quantum advancements, has been restricted by reliance on noise-free statistics. To tackle this critical challenge, we propose a data augmentation empowered neural model for error mitigation (DAEM). Our model does not require any prior knowledge about the specific noise type and measurement settings and can estimate noise-free statistics solely from the noisy measurement results of the target quantum process, rendering it highly suitable for practical implementation. In numerical experiments, we show the model’s superior performance in mitigating various types of noise, including Markovian noise and Non-Markovian noise, compared with previous error mitigation methods. We further demonstrate its versatility by employing the model to mitigate errors in diverse types of quantum processes, including those involving large-scale quantum systems and continuous-variable quantum states. This powerful data augmentation-empowered neural model for error mitigation establishes a solid foundation for realizing more reliable and robust quantum technologies in practical applications.

Quantum teleportation of a genuine vacuum-one-photon qubit generated via a quantum dot source

Quantum state teleportation represents a pillar of quantum information and a milestone on the roadmap towards quantum networks with a large number of nodes. Successful photonic demonstrations of this protocol have been carried out employing different qubit encodings. However, demonstrations in the Fock basis encoding are challenging, due to the impossibility of creating a coherent superposition of vacuum-one photon states on a single mode with linear optics. Previous realizations using such an encoding strongly relied on ancillary modes of the electromagnetic field, which only allowed the teleportation of subsystems of entangled states. Here, we enable quantum teleportation of genuine vacuum-one photon states avoiding ancillary modes, by exploiting coherent control of a resonantly excited semiconductor quantum dot in a micro-cavity. Within our setup, we can teleport vacuum-one-photon qubits and perform entanglement swapping in such an encoding. Our results may disclose new potentialities of quantum dot single-photon sources for quantum information applications.

Black Hole Entropy and Planckian Discreteness

A brief overview of the discovery that macroscopic black holes are thermodynamical systems is presented. They satisfy the laws of thermodynamics and are associated with a temperature and an entropy equal to one quarter of their horizon area in Planck units. They emit black body radiation and slowly evaporate as a consequence of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. The problem of understanding the microscopic source of their large entropy, as well as the nature of their final fate after evaporation, are discussed from the perspective of approaches to quantum gravity that predict discreteness at the Planck scale. We review encouraging first steps in computing black hole entropy and briefly discuss their implications for the black hole information puzzle.

Spinfoams: Foundations

Spinfoams provide a framework for the dynamics of loop quantum gravity that is manifestly covariant under the full four-dimensional diffeomorphism symmetry group of general relativity. In this way they complete the ideal of three-dimensional diffeomorphism covariance that consistently motivates loop quantum gravity at every step. Specifically, spinfoam models aim to provide a projector onto, and a physical inner product on, the simultaneous kernel of all of the constraints of loop quantum gravity by means of a discretization of the gravitational path integral. In the limit of small Planck constant, they are closely related to the path integral for Regge calculus, while at the same time retaining all of the tools of a canonical quantum theory of gravity. They may also be understood as generalizations of well-understood state sum models for topological quantum field theories. In this chapter, we review all of these aspects of spinfoams, as well as review in detail the derivation of the currently most used spinfoam model, the EPRL model, calculational tools for it, and the various extensions of it in the literature. We additionally summarize some of the successes and open problems in the field.

Typical entanglement entropy in systems with particle-number conservation

We calculate the typical bipartite entanglement entropy $langle S_Arangle_N$ in systems containing indistinguishable particles of any kind as a function of the total particle number $N$, the volume $V$, and the subsystem fraction $f=V_A/V$, where $V_A$ is the volume of the subsystem. We expand our result as a power series $langle S_Arangle_N=a f V+bsqrt{V}+c+o(1)$, and find that $c$ is universal (i.e., independent of the system type), while $a$ and $b$ can be obtained from a generating function characterizing the local Hilbert space dimension. We illustrate the generality of our findings by studying a wide range of different systems, e.g., bosons, fermions, spins, and mixtures thereof. We provide evidence that our analytical results describe the entanglement entropy of highly excited eigenstates of quantum-chaotic spin and boson systems, which is distinct from that of integrable counterparts.

Dimension-independent weak value estimation via controlled SWAP operations

Weak values of quantum observables are a powerful tool for investigating a broad spectrum of quantum phenomena. For this reason, several methods to measure them in the laboratory have been proposed. Some of these methods require weak interactions and postselection, while others are deterministic, but require statistics over a number of experiments growing exponentially with the number of measured particles. Here we propose a deterministic dimension-independent scheme for estimating weak values of arbitrary observables. The scheme, based on coherently controlled SWAP operations, does not require prior knowledge of the initial and final states, nor of the measured observables, and therefore can work with uncharacterized preparation and measurement devices. As a byproduct, our scheme provides an alternative expression for two-time states, that is, states describing quantum systems subject to pre and post-selections. Using this expression, we show that the controlled-SWAP scheme can be used to estimate weak values for a class of two-time states associated to bipartite quantum states with positive partial transpose.

Experimental certification of contextuality, coherence and dimension in a programmable universal photonic processor

Quantum superposition of high-dimensional states enables both computational speed-up and security in cryptographic protocols. However, the exponential complexity of tomographic processes makes certification of these properties a challenging task. In this work, we experimentally certify coherence witnesses tailored for quantum systems of increasing dimension, using pairwise overlap measurements enabled by a six-mode universal photonic processor fabricated with a femtosecond laser writing technology. In particular, we show the effectiveness of the proposed coherence and dimension witnesses for qudits of dimensions up to 5. We also demonstrate advantage in a quantum interrogation task, and show it is fueled by quantum contextuality. Our experimental results testify to the efficiency of this novel approach for the certification of quantum properties in programmable integrated photonic platforms