Observables of quantum systems can posses either a discrete or a continuous spectrum. For example, upon measurements of the photon number of a light state, discrete outcomes will result whereas measurements of the light's quadrature amplitudes result in continuous outcomes. If one uses the continuous degree of freedom of a quantum system either for encoding, processing or detecting information, one enters the field of continuous variable (CV) quantum information processing. In this paper we review the basic principles of CV quantum information processing with main focus on recent developments in the field. We will be addressing the three main stages of a quantum informational system; the preparation stage where quantum information is encoded into CVs of coherent states and single photon states, the processing stage where CV information is manipulated to carry out a specified protocol and a detection stage where CV information is measured using homodyne detection or photon counting.
Observables of quantum systems can posses either a discrete or a continuous spectrum. For example, upon measurements of the photon number of a light state, discrete outcomes will result whereas measurements of the light's quadrature amplitudes result in continuous outcomes. If one uses the continuous degree of freedom of a quantum system either for encoding, processing or detecting information, one enters the field of continuous variable (CV) quantum information processing. In this paper we review the basic principles of CV quantum information processing with main focus on recent developments in the field. We will be addressing the three main stages of a quantum informational system; the preparation stage where quantum information is encoded into CVs of coherent states and single photon states, the processing stage where CV information is manipulated to carry out a specified protocol and a detection stage where CV information is measured using homodyne detection or photon counting.
Abstract Observables of quantum systems can possess either a discrete or a continuous spectrum. For example, upon measurements of the photon number of a light state, discrete outcomes will result whereas measurements of the light's quadrature amplitudes result in continuous outcomes. If one uses the continuous degree of freedom of a quantum system for encoding, processing or detecting information, one enters the field of continuous‐variable (CV) quantum information processing. In this paper we review the basic principles of CV quantum information processing with main focus on recent developments in the field. We will be addressing the three main stages of a quantum information system; the preparation stage where quantum information is encoded into CVs of coherent states and single‐photon states, the processing stage where CV information is manipulated to carry out a specified protocol and a detection stage where CV information is measured using homodyne detection or photon counting.
Quantum optics is central to emerging quantum technologies such as quantum metrology and quantum information. The continuous variable (CV) approach to encoding information in a physical system, for example the electromagnetic field quadratures has significant advantages over discrete variables (DV) encoding. CV offers higher density encoding in a single optical state and on-demand state preparation for example. However, techniques for CV preparation, manipulation and measurement are not as well developed as the corresponding DV approach. In this thesis we present methods to characterize quantum detectors that operate in the CV regime, and discuss their application to CV state preparation. A quantum detector is described by its positive operator valued measure (POVM) set, with one operator for each measurement outcome. We present an experimental scheme for detector tomography, that is reconstruction of the POVM set of an unknown detector by means of measurement outcomes for a set of tomographically complete input states. We use this scheme to experimentally determine the POVM set of an avalanche photodiode (APD) and a time-multiplexed-detector (TMD) and compare the results to models of the detectors. We introduce a weak-homodyne photon-number-resolving detector (PNRD) , which uses a weak local oscillator beam to set a phase reference for the detection process. We develop a theoretical description of the sensitivity regimes for this detector using the Wigner phase space picture. We also present experimental detector tomography for a weak-homodyne detector based on two APDs. In many cases it is sufficient to calibrate the efficiencies of previously characterized PNRDs. We experimentally demonstrate a scheme using correlated photons produced by spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) to determine the efficiencies of PNRDs, based on the photon number statistics of the source. The same SPDC source is also used to demonstrate preparation of photonic states in the photon number basis and for a first proof-of-principle experiment with a weak-homodyne PNRD based on a TMD.
Continuous-variable quantum systems are characterized by physical quantities that can take continuous values.It appears in many physical systems, such as the position and momentum of oscillator modes of trapped ions and the complex amplitude of an optical mode.Especially, the quantum optical system is one of the most important continuous-variable systems for the quantum information application since light is an information carrier for telecommunication and behaves quantum mechanically even in the room-temperature environment.Furthermore, the complex amplitude of the optical mode can easily be manipulated.However, using a continuous variable, as it is, in quantum information processing does not work since a continuous variable is subject to continuous noises in the physical world, and such noises cannot completely be corrected.In order to perform reliable and fault-tolerant quantum information processing, information should be encoded in a digitized degree of freedom.In this thesis, digital quantum information processing with continuous-variables systems is studied in the quantum key distribution (QKD) and the quantum computation (QC), two major fields of quantum information processing.For the QKD, the so-called continuous-variable QKD protocols, in which information is encoded on the complex amplitude of an optical pulse and the homodyne or heterodyne detector is used to measure it, are studied.More specifically, a continuousvariable QKD protocol that uses discretely modulated signals and the classical digital information processing is developed, and its security proof against general attacks in the finite-key case is established.This is achieved by virtually introducing the discretevariable quantum system into the continuous-variable system and thereby reducing its security argument to that of discrete-variable QKDs, which is more mature.This is in sharp contrast to the previous security analyses on this kind of QKD protocol, where they directly use continuous variables in the security analyses and thus have difficulty in extending the analyses to the finite-key case.Another key to our security proof is the development of the method of estimating a lower bound on the fidelity to the coherent states, which eventually leads to the evaluation of how well the discrete-variable system can be approximated by the continuous-variable one.These security analyses are further elaborated, and a protocol whose key rate against the loss noise achieves almost optimal scaling is obtained.For the QC with the continuous-variable system, the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code, which encodes discrete quantum information into a continuous-variable system, is studied.This code has many desirable properties for the optical implementation of QC; e.g., the universal QC is possible using only the Gaussian operations, which are relatively easy to implement in the quantum optical system, along with the GKP-encoded states.Because the ideal GKP-encoded state is unphysical, only i I have received much support and advice during my Ph.D. studies.First, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Masato Koashi for the instruction and all the constructive suggestions.He was always ready to listen to my questions and concerns for both academic and non-academic matters.From him, I learned the approaches to challenging problems and the importance of thorough consideration.
Summary form only given. Traditionally quantum information research has centred on discrete quantum variables, particularly binary variables (qubits). However, recently much attention has focused on quantum information manipulations with continuous variables such as the amplitude and phase of the electromagnetic field. As well as offering the possibility of high data rates, continuous variables also exhibit greater versatility in realizing certain operations. For example teleportation, in which quantum information is passed intact through a classical channel with the assistance of shared entanglement, can be achieved more efficiently using continuous variable techniques. I review recent work on the characterization of teleportation and entanglement swapping and present new work on interferometric tests of teleportation. These interferometric tests are important because they allow the efficacy of teleportation to be checked without knowledge of the input quantum state. They can be applied equally to the cases of discrete and continuous variable inputs and in so doing highlight unexpected similarities. I contrast the various classical limits which emerge from the different ways of assessing teleportation. An obvious omission from the list of continuous variable quantum information manipulations is any proposal for direct analogues of 2 photon interference effects, especially those that lead to Bell inequality type tests of local realism. Bell-type correlations are the defining feature of discrete variable entanglement experimentally. I discuss new work that shows how entanglement of the Bell-type can be observed in continuous variable, homodyne measurement schemes.
Quantum information can be processed in two fundamentally different ways, using either discrete or continuous variable implementations. Each one of them provides different practical advantages and drawbacks. In this thesis we study theoretical means allowing to implement quantum information protocols originally formulated for discrete quantum systems in physical objects characterized by continuous variables. At the heart of our considerations is the use of modular variables as helpful technique to reveal discrete structure in continuous-variable states, operations and observables. The present work is strongly guided by the experimental applicability of our ideas in quantum optics experiments, with a particular focus on the transverse degrees of freedom of single photons.One of the main themes of this thesis is the formulation of a framework for quantum information processing in phase-space based on the use of modular variables. The term modular variables refers to a specific class of observables that are periodic with respect to some pair of conjugate variables. In our framework we use these periodic observables in order to encode discrete quantum information in Hilbert spaces of infinite dimension. In particular, we consider protocols that involve measurements of judiciously chosen logical observables enabling the readout of the encoded discrete quantum information from the corresponding logical states. Using this framework we show how to perform tests of fundamental properties of quantum mechanics, such as entanglement, Bell nonlocality and contextuality, in Hilbert spaces of various dimensions. Particularly, we generalize known tests of each of these properties, that were originally formulated for measurements with discrete outcomes, to more general measurement contexts comprising the case of bounded continuous outcomes. Concerning experimental implementations of the presented theoretical elaborations we discuss the transverse degrees of freedom of single photons as a natural platform to manipulate and measure modular variables. In particular, we demonstrate how to process discrete quantum information encoded in the spatial distribution of single photons via the optical Talbot effect - a near-field interference effect. Finally, we show how to produce d-dimensional entangled Talbot photon pairs without post-selection, using spontaneous parametric down-conversion and linear optical elements only. As last topic we explore the nonlocal properties of a specific class of hybrid entanglement between particle-like and wave-like optical qubits. Using a hybrid measurement scheme of Pauli and displaced parity measurements we show that, even after including realistic experimental losses, a violation of local-realism is theoretically possible.
Quantum key distribution is a technique in which secret key bits are encoded into quantum states which are transmitted over a quantum channel, e.g. an optical link, so that the security is guaranteed by the laws of quantum physics. Most experimental realizations to date have relied on discrete protocols, involving ideally single-photons states (or, in practice, strongly attenuated light pulses) as well as single-photon detectors. In this chapter, we present an overview of the recent continuous-variable quantum cryptosystems, which instead rely on continuously-modulated Gaussian states (e.g. coherent states) and homodyne detection. The series of security proofs of these protocols against increasingly powerful attacks will be reviewed. A particular emphasis will be put on the op-timality of Gaussian attacks in this context, which holds provided that the second-order moments of the relevant variables are monitored.