Polarization features and entanglement of biphoton polarization qutrits are briefly outlined. Schmidt modes of qutrits are found analytically and in a general form by the method different from the standard one and based on the original approach of Erhard Schmidt (1906)
For a general-form polarization biphoton qutrit, physically corresponding to a pair of arbitrarily polarized photons in a single frequency and wavevector mode, we explicitly find polarization Schmidt modes. A simple method is suggested for factorizing the state vector and the explicit expressions for the factorizing photon creation operators are found. The degrees of entanglement and polarization of a qutrit are shown to depend directly on the commutation features of the factorizing operators. Clear graphic representations for the Stokes vectors of the qutrit state as a whole, its Schmidt modes and factorizing single-photon creation operators are given based on the Poincaré sphere. An experimental scheme is proposed for measuring the parameters of the Schmidt decomposition as well as for demonstrating the operational meaning of qutrit entanglement.
For a general-form polarization biphoton qutrit, physically corresponding to a pair of arbitrarily polarized photons in a single frequency and wavevector mode, we explicitly find polarization Schmidt modes. A simple method is suggested for factorizing the state vector and the explicit expressions for the factorizing photon creation operators are found. The degrees of entanglement and polarization of a qutrit are shown to depend directly on the commutation features of the factorizing operators. Clear graphic representations for the Stokes vectors of the qutrit state as a whole, its Schmidt modes and factorizing single-photon creation operators are given based on the Poincare sphere. An experimental scheme is proposed for measuring the parameters of the Schmidt decomposition as well as for demonstrating the operational meaning of qutrit entanglement.
Motivated by their frequent use in quantum mechanical studies of entanglement, we give a brief overview of Schmidt modes and Schmidt decompositions of two-particle wave functions. We discuss methods of their derivation and include a little-known approach used in the original work by E. Schmidt [Math. Annalen, 63 (1906), 433]. This employs the bipartite wave function itself rather than the more complicated two-party reduced density matrix. As an illustration, Schmidt modes for two-photon polarisation qutrits are derived in a general form. The derivation is accompanied by a series of simple examples with special choices of parameters. Relationships between Schmidt modes, polarisation Stokes vectors and entanglement are also discussed.
We investigate features of biphoton qutrits and ququarts with the symmetry of biphoton wavefunctions fully taken into account. Entanglement quantifiers of such states are found as functions of qutrit and ququart parameters. For biphoton qutrits, a general relation between degrees of entanglement and polarization is established. In the case of biphoton ququarts, photon frequencies are considered as variables independent of polarization variables, with both polarization and frequency degrees of freedom equally contributing to the total ququart entanglement. Averaging over one of these two degrees of freedom is shown to reduce pure ququart states to mixed two-qubit states. The degree of polarization and degrees of correlations in mixed polarization states are investigated.
In a general form, three-photon polarization states are superpositions of contributions from four three-photon polarization modes with four arbitrary complex coefficients. Entanglement of such states is defined as entanglement between their one-photon and two-photon parts. The degree of entanglement is found explicitly in terms of such entanglement quantifiers as the generalized concurrence, entropy of reduced states and the Schmidt parameter. Polarization Stokes vectors, as well as the Schmidt decompositions of three-photon states are found and discussed. Similarity and differences with respect to biphoton polarization states are discussed too.