Abstract Quantum entanglement is one of the most important resources in quantum information. In recent years, the research of quantum entanglement mainly focused on the increase in the number of entangled qubits or the high-dimensional entanglement of two particles. Compared with qubit states, multipartite high-dimensional entangled states have beneficial properties and are powerful for constructing quantum networks. However, there are few studies on multipartite high-dimensional quantum entanglement due to the difficulty of creating such states. In this paper, we experimentally prepared a multipartite high-dimensional state $$\left|{\Psi }_{442}\right\rangle =\frac{1}{2}(\left|000\right\rangle +\left|110\right\rangle +\left|221\right\rangle +\left|331\right\rangle )$$ Ψ 442 = 1 2 ( 000 + 110 + 221 + 331 ) by using the path mode of photons. We obtain the fidelity F = 0.854 ± 0.007 of the quantum state, which proves a real multipartite high-dimensional entangled state. Finally, we use this quantum state to demonstrate a layered quantum network in principle. Our work highlights another route toward complex quantum networks.
Abstract Quantum entanglement is one of the most important resources in quantum information. In recent years, the research of quantum entanglement mainly focused on the increase in the number of entangled qubits or the high-dimensional entanglement of two particles. Compared with qubit states, multipartite high-dimensional entangled states have beneficial properties and are powerful for constructing quantum networks. However, there are few studies on multipartite high-dimensional quantum entanglement due to the difficulty of creating such states. In this paper, we experimentally prepared a multipartite high-dimensional state ∣Ψ442⟩=21(∣000⟩+∣110⟩+∣221⟩+∣331⟩) Ψ 442 = 1 2 ( 000 + 110 + 221 + 331 ) by using the path mode of photons. We obtain the fidelity F = 0.854 ± 0.007 of the quantum state, which proves a real multipartite high-dimensional entangled state. Finally, we use this quantum state to demonstrate a layered quantum network in principle. Our work highlights another route toward complex quantum networks.
Quantum information science has leaped forward with the exploration of high-dimensional quantum systems, offering greater potential than traditional qubits in quantum communication and quantum computing. To advance the field of high-dimensional quantum technology, a significant effort is underway to progressively enhance the entanglement dimension between two particles. An alternative effective strategy involves not only increasing the dimensionality but also expanding the number of particles that are entangled. We present an experimental study demonstrating multi-partite quantum non-locality beyond qubit constraints, thus moving into the realm of strongly entangled high-dimensional multi-particle quantum systems. In the experiment, quantum states were encoded in the path degree of freedom (DoF) and controlled via polarization, enabling efficient operations in a two-dimensional plane to prepare three- and four-particle Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states in three-level systems. Our experimental results reveal ways in which high-dimensional systems can surpass qubits in terms of violating local-hidden-variable theories. Our realization of multiple complex and high-quality entanglement technologies is an important primary step for more complex quantum computing and communication protocols. Experimental demonstrations of genuine high-dimensional multipartite quantum nonlocality have been lacking so far. Here, the authors fill this gap using entangled photons, surpassing qubit-based limits and paving the way for device-independent quantum information processing in more complex systems.
Quantum entanglement is one of the most prominent features of quantum mechanics and forms the basis of quantum information technologies. Here we present a novel method for the creation of quantum entanglement in multipartite and high-dimensional systems. The two ingredients are (i) superposition of photon pairs with different origins and (ii) aligning photons such that their paths are identical. We explain the experimentally feasible creation of various classes of multiphoton entanglement encoded in polarization as well as in high-dimensional Hilbert spaces-starting only from nonentangled photon pairs. For two photons, arbitrary high-dimensional entanglement can be created. The idea of generating entanglement by path identity could also apply to quantum entities other than photons. We discovered the technique by analyzing the output of a computer algorithm. This shows that computer designed quantum experiments can be inspirations for new techniques.
Scaling the number of entangled nodes in a quantum network is a challenge with significant implications for quantum computing, clock synchronisation, secure communications, and quantum sensing. In a quantum network, photons interact with matter qubits at different nodes, flexibly enabling the creation of remote entanglement between them. Multipartite entanglement among multiple nodes will be crucial for many proposed quantum network applications, including quantum computational tasks and quantum metrology. To date, experimental efforts have primarily focused on generating bipartite entanglement between nodes, which is widely regarded as the fundamental quantum resource for quantum networks. However, relying exclusively on bipartite entanglement to form more complex multipartite entanglement introduces several challenges. These include the need for ancillary qubits, extensive local entangling operations which increases the preparation latency, and increasingly stringent requirements on coherence times as the number of nodes grows. Here, we analyse various schemes that achieve multipartite entanglement between nodes in a single step, bypassing the need for multiple rounds of bipartite entanglement. We demonstrate that different schemes can produce distinct multipartite entangled states, with varying fidelity and generation rates. Additionally, we discuss the applicability of these schemes across different experimental platforms, highlighting their primary advantages and disadvantages.
Entanglement states serve as the central resource for a number of important applications in quantum information science, including quantum key distribution, quantum precision measurement, and quantum computing. In pursuit of more promising applications, efforts have been made to generate entangled states with more qubits. However, the efficient creation of a high-fidelity multiparticle entanglement remains an outstanding challenge due to the difficulty that increases exponentially with the number of particles. We design an interferometer that is capable of coupling the polarization and spatial paths of photons and prepare 2-D four-qubit GHZ entanglement states. Using quantum state tomography, entanglement witness, and the violation of Ardehali inequality against local realism, the properties of the prepared 2-D four-qubit entangled state are analyzed. The experimental results show that the prepared four-photon system is an entangled state with high fidelity.
Characterizing entanglement of systems composed of multiple particles is a very complex problem that is attracting increasing attention across different disciplines related to quantum physics. The task becomes even more complex when the particles have many accessible levels, i.e., they are of high dimension, which leads to a potentially high-dimensional multipartite entangled state. These are important resources for an ever-increasing number of tasks, especially when a network of parties needs to share highly entangled states, e.g., for communicating more efficiently and securely. For these applications, as well as for purely theoretical arguments, it is important to be able to certify both the high-dimensional and the genuine multipartite nature of entangled states, possibly based on simple measurements. Here we derive a novel method that achieves this and improves over typical entanglement witnesses like the fidelity with respect to states of a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) form, without needing more complex measurements. We test our condition on paradigmatic classes of high-dimensional multipartite entangled states like imperfect GHZ states with random noise, as well as on purely randomly chosen ones and find that, in comparison with other available criteria our method provides a significant advantage and is often also simpler to evaluate.
The field of high-dimensional quantum photonics involves the use of multimode photonic degrees-of-freedom such as the spatial, temporal, or spectral structure of light to encode multi-level quantum states. Recent years have seen rapid progress in the development of methods to generate, manipulate, and distribute such quantum states of light and their use in a range of quantum technology applications that offer practical advantages over conventional qubit-based approaches. High-dimensional quantum states of light encoded in photonic time-bins, frequency-bins, transverse-spatial modes, waveguide paths, and temporal modes have enabled noise-robust fundamental tests of quantum mechanics, error-resilient and high-capacity quantum communication protocols, andas well as efficient approaches for quantum information processing, to name just a few examples. However, research in this field has progressed fairly independently, with little exchange across different photonic degrees-of-freedom or between experiment and theory and no comprehensive comparison between degrees-of-freedom. This roadmap aims to bridge this gap by surveying progress in each area and identifying shared challenges and opportunities that cut across two or more photonic degrees-of-freedoms. We review early work and state-of-the-art experimental techniques under development for high-dimensional quantum states encoded in single and entangled photons, as well as theoretical tools for their measurement and certification. We outline the main outstanding challenges for theory and each experimental degree-of-freedom, identifying promising future directions of research that may enable these to be overcome. We end by discussing interconnections and shared challenges centered around their distribution, measurement, and manipulation, with a view towards their integration into next-generation quantum technology platforms and applications.