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arXiv:1509.02031 · Physical Review A

Quantum imaging as an ancilla-assisted process tomography

Masoud Ghalaii, M. Afsary, S. Alipour, A. T. Rezakhani

Published Oct 4, 2016• 9 citations
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Abstract

We show how a recent experiment of quantum imaging with undetected photons can basically be described as an (a partial) ancilla-assisted process tomography in which the object is described by an amplitude-damping quantum channel. We propose a simplified quantum circuit version of this scenario, which also enables one to recast quantum imaging in quantum computation language. Our analogy and analysis may help us to better understand the role of classical and/or quantum correlations in imaging experiments.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.94.042102

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We show how a recent experiment of quantum imaging with undetected photons can basically be described as an (a partial) ancilla-assisted process tomography in which the object is described by an amplitude-damping quantum channel. We propose a simplified quantum circuit version of this scenario, which also enables one to recast quantum imaging in quantum computation language. Our analogy and analysis may help us to better understand the role of classical and/or quantum correlations in imaging experiments.
Complete and precise characterization of a quantum dynamical process can be achieved via the method of quantum process tomography. Using a source of correlated photons, we have implemented several methods, each investigating a wide range of processes, e.g., unitary, decohering, and polarizing. One of these methods, ancilla-assisted process tomography (AAPT), makes use of an additional "ancilla system," and we have theoretically determined the conditions when AAPT is possible. Surprisingly, entanglement is not required. We present data obtained using both separable and entangled input states. The use of entanglement yields superior results, however.
Standard quantum process tomography on a ddd-dimensional input is performed by preparing several states of an input probe that then evolve under the action of the quantum channel corresponding to the progress. The final states of the probe are reconstructed by means of state tomography. An alternative is offered by ancilla-assisted process tomography: a single probe-ancilla state is used, and the correlations existing between probe and ancilla are exploited to fully reconstruct the information on the channel. In order for ancilla-assisted process tomography to be possible, the probe-ancilla input state does not need to be entangled, but still needs to have maximal operator Schmidt rank. Here we establish and analyze a framework for process tomography that interpolates between these two methods, aiming at exploiting any correlations that may exist between probe and ancilla to allow process tomography with as few input preparations as possible, when the probe-ancilla state may be operator-Schmidt-rank deficient. The main object of our investigation is the minimal number of initial local operations on the input probe for a given starting probe-ancilla state that are needed to allow process tomography. We prove that such a number scales inversely proportional to the operator Schmidt rank of the input probe-ancilla state for arbitrary local input processing. We also provide results for the case where this initial local processing is restricted to be a unitary rotation, in particular showing that the mentioned scaling is satisfied for pure input entangled states, and that in the case of mixed states there might be extreme cases where the fixed input probe-ancilla state provides information on a ≈d2/2\approx d^2/2≈d2/2-dimensional subspace of the operator space and a single additional input unitary rotation allows process tomography.
This thesis deals with the implementation of quantum channels using linear optics. We begin with overviews of some important concepts in both quantum information and quantum optics. First, we discuss the quantum bit and describe the evolution of the states via quantum channels. We then discuss both quantum state and process tomography, methods for how to determine which states and operations we are experimentally implementing in the lab. Second, we discuss topics in quantum optics such the generation of single photons, polarization entanglement, and the construction of an entangling gate. \n \nThe first experiment is the implementation of a quantum damping channel, which intentionally can add a specific type and amount of decohering noise to a photonic qubit. Specifically, we realized a class of quantum channels which contains both the amplitude-damping channel and the bit-flip channel, and did so with a single, static, optical setup. Many quantum channels, and some gates, can only be implemented probabilistically when using linear optics and postselection. Our main result is that the optical setup achieves the optimal success probability for each channel. Using a novel ancilla-assisted tomography, we characterize each case of the channel, and find process fideilities of 0.98pm0.010.98 \\pm 0.010.98pm0.01 for the amplitude-damping channel and 0.976pm0.0090.976 \\pm 0.0090.976pm0.009 for the bit-flip. \n \nThe second experiment is an implementation of a protocol for quantum computing on encrypted data. The protocol provides the means for a client with very limited quantum power to use a server's quantum computer while maintaining privacy over the data. We perform a quantum process tomography for each gate in a universal set, showing that only when the proper decryption key is used on the output states, which is hidden from the server, then the action of the quantum gate is recovered. Otherwise, the gate acts as the completely depolarizing channel.
A novel quantum imaging technique has recently been demonstrated in an experiment, where the photon used for illuminating an object is not detected; the image is obtained by interfering two beams, none of which ever interacts with the object. Here we present a detailed theoretical analysis of the experiment. We show that the object information is present only in the interference term and not in the individual intensities of the interfering beams. We also theoretically establish that the magnification of the imaging system depends on two wavelengths: the average wavelength of the photon that illuminates the object and the average wavelength of the photon that is detected. Our analysis affirms that the imaging process is based on the principle that quantum interference occurs when interferometric path information is unavailable.
Lu \textit{et al.} [Ann. Phys. (Berlin) \textbf{534}, 2100550 (2022)] posed the question of whether bound entangled states can be used for ancilla-assisted quantum process tomography (AAQPT). In this work, we answer this question in the affirmative by explicitly demonstrating that certain bound entangled states can be used for AAQPT. We further show that, although local filtering operations may improve the trace norm of the realignment criterion, they are essentially ineffective for AAQPT, as they render the resulting states \emph{unfaithful} and therefore unsuitable for reliable process reconstruction. Further, we investigate the efficiency of bound entangled states for AAQPT and establish quantitative bounds by comparing their performance with Werner and isotropic states. Our results therefore provide a new application of bound entangled states in the context of ancilla-assisted quantum process tomography.