Quantum information theory is a very young area of research offering a lot of challenging open questions to be tackled by ambitious upcoming physicists. One such problem is addressed in this thesis. Recently, several protocols have emerged which exploit both continuous variables and discrete variables. On the one hand, outperforming many of the established pure continuous variable or discrete variable schemes, these hybrid approaches offer new opportunities. However, on the other hand, they also lead to new, intricate, as yet uninvestigated, phenomena. An important ingredient of several of these hybrid protocols is a new kind of entanglement: The hybrid entanglement between continuous variable and discrete variable quantum systems, which is studied in detail in this work. An exhaustive analysis of this kind of entanglement is performed, where the focus is on bipartite entanglement. Nevertheless, also issues regarding multipartite hybrid entanglement are briefly discussed. The quintessence of this thesis is a new classification scheme which distinguishes between effective discrete variable hybrid entanglement and so-called true hybrid entanglement. However, along the way, also other questions are addressed, which have emerged during the studies. For example, entanglement witnessing is discussed not only for hybrid entangled states, but also for fully continuous variable two-mode Schroedinger cat states. Furthermore, subtleties regarding entanglement witnessing in a certain kind of mixed states are examined. Not only theoretical classification and analysis of hybrid entangled states are discussed, but also their generation is presented and a few applications are demonstrated.
Quantum information theory is a very young area of research offering a lot of challenging open questions to be tackled by ambitious upcoming physicists. One such problem is addressed in this thesis. Recently, several protocols have emerged which exploit both continuous variables and discrete variables. On the one hand, outperforming many of the established pure continuous variable or discrete variable schemes, these hybrid approaches offer new opportunities. However, on the other hand, they also lead to new, intricate, as yet uninvestigated, phenomena. An important ingredient of several of these hybrid protocols is a new kind of entanglement: The hybrid entanglement between continuous variable and discrete variable quantum systems, which is studied in detail in this work. An exhaustive analysis of this kind of entanglement is performed, where the focus is on bipartite entanglement. Nevertheless, also issues regarding multipartite hybrid entanglement are briefly discussed. The quintessence of this thesis is a new classification scheme which distinguishes between effective discrete variable hybrid entanglement and so-called true hybrid entanglement. However, along the way, also other questions are addressed, which have emerged during the studies. For example, entanglement witnessing is discussed not only for hybrid entangled states, but also for fully continuous variable two-mode Schroedinger cat states. Furthermore, subtleties regarding entanglement witnessing in a certain kind of mixed states are examined. Not only theoretical classification and analysis of hybrid entangled states are discussed, but also their generation is presented and a few applications are demonstrated.
Recently, several hybrid approaches to quantum information emerged which utilize both continuous- and discrete-variable methods and resources at the same time. In this work, we investigate the bipartite hybrid entanglement between a finite-dimensional, discrete-variable quantum system and an infinite-dimensional, continuous-variable quantum system. A classification scheme is presented leading to a distinction between pure hybrid entangled states, mixed hybrid entangled states (those effectively supported by an overall finite-dimensional Hilbert space), and so-called truly hybrid entangled states (those which cannot be described in an overall finite-dimensional Hilbert space). Examples for states of each regime are given and entanglement witnessing as well as quantification are discussed. In particular, using the channel map of a thermal photon noise channel, we find that true hybrid entanglement naturally occurs in physically important settings. Finally, extensions from bipartite to multipartite hybrid entanglement are considered.
Quantum entanglement is the key property that makes quantum information theory different from its classical counterpart and is also a valuable physical resource with massive potential for technological applications. However, our understanding of entanglement is still far from complete despite intense research activities. Like other physical resources, the first step towards exploiting them fully is to know how to quantify. There are many reasons to focus on the entanglement of continuous-variable states since the underlying degrees of freedom of physical systems carrying quantum information are frequently continuous, rather than discrete. Much of the effort has been concentrated on Gaussian states, because these are common as the ground or \nthermal states of optical modes. Within this framework, many interesting topics have been studied and some significant progress made. Nevertheless, non-Gaussian states are also extremely important; this is especially so in condensed-phase systems, where harmonic behaviour in any \ndegree of freedom is likely to be only an approximation. So far, there is little knowledge about the quantification of entanglement in non-Gaussian states. \nThis thesis aims to contribute to the active field of research in quantum entanglement by introducing a new approach to the analysis of entanglement, especially in continuous-variable states, and shows that it leads to the first systematic quantification of the (local) entanglement \nin arbitrary bipartite non-Gaussian states. By applying this local approach, many new insights can be gained. Notably, local entanglements of systems with smooth wavefunctions are fully characterised by the derived simple expressions, provided the wavefunction is known. The local (logarithmic) negativity of any two-mode mixed states can be directly computed from the closed-form formulae given. For multi-mode mixed states, this approach provides a scheme that \npermits much simpler numerical computation for quantifying entanglement than is generally possible from directly computing the full entanglement of the system.
Today, the potential power of quantum information processing comes as no surprise to physicist or science-fiction writer alike. However, the grand promises of this field remain unrealized, despite significant strides forward, due to the inherent difficulties of manipulating quantum systems. Simply put, it turns out that it is incredibly difficult to interact, in a controllable way, with the quantum realm when we seem to live our day to day lives in a classical world. In an effort to solve this challenge, people are exploring a variety of different physical platforms, each with their strengths and weaknesses, in hopes of developing new experimental methods that one day might allow us to control a quantum system. One path forward rests in combining different quantum systems in novel ways to exploit the benefits of different systems while circumventing their respective weaknesses. In particular, quantum systems come in two different flavours: either discrete-variable systems or continuous-variable ones. The field of hybrid quantum information seeks to combine these systems, in clever ways, to help overcome the challenges blocking the path between what is theoretically possible and what is achievable in a laboratory. In this thesis we explore four topics in the context of hybrid methods in quantum information, in an effort to contribute to the resolution of existing challenges and to stimulate new avenues of research. First, we explore the manipulation of a continuous-variable quantum system consisting of phonons in a linear chain of trapped ions where we use the discretized internal levels to mediate interactions. Using our proposed interaction we are able to implement, for example, the acoustic equivalent of a beam splitter with modest experimental resources. Next we propose an experimentally feasible implementation of the cubic phase gate, a primitive non-Gaussian gate required for universal continuous-variable quantum computation, based off sequential photon subtraction. We then discuss the notion of embedding a finite dimensional state into a continuous-variable system, and propose a method of performing quantum computations on encrypted continuous-variable states. This protocol allows for a client, of limited quantum ability, to outsource a computation while hiding their information. Next, we discuss the possibility of performing universal quantum computation on discrete-variable logical states encoded in mixed continuous-variable quantum states. Finally, we present an account of open problems related to our results, and possible future avenues of research.
We discuss some of the main features of a recently-generated form of hybrid entanglement between discrete- and continuous-variable states of light. Ideally, such a kind of entanglement should involve single-photon and coherent states as key representatives of the respective categories of states. Here we investigate the characteristics and limits of a scheme that, relying on a superposition of photon-creation operators onto two distinct modes, realizes the above ideal form of hybrid entanglement in an approximate way.
Entanglement is a key resource for fundamental tests of physics and emerging quantum technologies. In quantum optics, two perspectives on entanglement coexist. In the continuous-variable framework, entanglement is understood as holding between optical modes. In contrast, discrete-variable quantum optics focuses on quantum correlations in degrees of freedom such as polarization that label fixed numbers of photons. In this paper, we show that entanglement can transcend this separation. Spontaneous parametric down-conversion inherently generates correlations in optical phase space, photon number, and labelling degrees of freedom simultaneously. In polarization, this structure is traditionally described by macroscopic Bell states. Existing witnesses, however, fail to detect the genuine hybrid entanglement of these states, which goes beyond the continuous-discrete-variable categorization. Here, we lay the groundwork for a general framework unifying continuous- and discrete-variable notions of entanglement. In particular, we derive an operational witness providing a sufficient criterion for genuine hybrid number-polarization entanglement and outline its experimental implementation. Finally, we discuss exemplary states which, together with our results on macroscopic Bell states, motivate a broader classification of genuine hybrid quantum correlations.
In optical quantum information, one can distinguish two approaches: the discrete-variable (DV), involving single photons, for example c0|0〉 + c1|1〉, and the continuous-variable alternative (CV) encoding information into the quadrature components of the light field. In this CV approach, qubits can be implemented as superposition of coherent states of opposite phases, |cat ±〉 = |α〉 ± |−α〉, also called optical Schrodinger cat states. Combining these two approaches has recently led to a so-called optical hybrid quantum information aiming at merging the properties of both [1]. As both encodings have their own advantages and drawbacks, transferring information between them is a requirement which can be fulfill by teleportation using hybrid entanglement between particle-like qubits and wave-like qubits, i.e. entanglement of the form |0〉|α〉 + |1〉|−α〉.