Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2002.12566 · Physical Review A

Generalized quantum scissors for noiseless linear amplification

Matthew S. Winnel, Nedasadat Hosseinidehaj, Timothy C. Ralph

Published Dec 21, 2020• 52 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We generalize the concept of optical state truncation and noiseless linear amplification to enable truncation of the Fock-state expansion of an optical state to higher order and to simultaneously amplify it using linear optics. The resulting generalized quantum scissors are more efficient for noiseless linear amplification than employing multiple scissors in parallel and are experimentally practical. As a particular example, we focus on a third-order scissor device and demonstrate advantages in terms of fidelity with the target state, probability of success, distillable entanglement, and the amount of non-Gaussianity introduced.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.102.063715

Related papers

Optimal linear-optical noiseless quantum amplifiers driven by auxiliary multiphoton Fock states

Jaromı́r Fiurášek

Quantum scissors refer to interferometric schemes that allow combined teleportation and amplification of quantum states. Here, the author demonstrates that quantum scissors without feedforward can be optimized to have higher success probability than previously shown, and that quantum scissors can themselves be outperformed by generalized interferometric couplings.

Physical Review A•Jun 15, 2022•13 citations

Hybrid Heralded Noiseless Amplification with Finite-Cutoff Quantum Scissors

Haixi Miao, Timothy C. Ralph

A noiseless linear amplifier (NLA) can probabilistically amplify an optical state without the noise required by deterministic phase-insensitive amplification. We study a hybrid amplifier in which a finite-cutoff quantum-scissor NLA is placed between two single-mode squeezers. Analysis based on an ideal (infinite cutoff) NLA finds a gain enhancement from the squeezing. We explore the physics of this enhancement as the cutoff of the quantum scissors is increased. The low-cutoff sequence shows how this gain enhancement emerges from the truncated Fock space. Cutoff 3 is the lowest order at which the additional even- and odd-photon components can both contribute to gain enhancement, albeit with some skewing of the coefficients which reduces the fidelity. As the cutoff is increased the fidelity improves. However, unlike the ideal transformation, the finite-cutoff device depends on the phase of the coherent amplitude relative to the squeezing axes, with states aligned with the anti-squeezing requiring higher cutoffs to achieve high fidelity. We track behavior to high cutoffs and eventually see the performance predicted in the ideal theory emerge.

quant-pharXiv:2608.27872•Aug 31, 2026•0 citations

Quantum scissors for noiseless linear amplification of polarization frequency hyper-encoded coherent state

Wei Zhong, Yupeng Li, Yu‐Bo Sheng +1 more

Abstract Quantum scissor (QS) is a powerful tool to realize the optical truncation and noiseless linear amplification (NLA) of the Fock state. The hyper-encoding technology which encodes messages in two or more degrees of freedom of a photon is a promising tool for increasing the channel capacity of photons and has been widely used in quantum computing and quantum communication fields. Here, we propose the one-photon and three-photon QSs for the frequency-encoded and polarization frequency hyper-encoded coherent states, which can realize the one-order and three-order truncation and NLA of the coherent state, and preserve the encoded features of the photons. The quantum scissors for the hyper-encoded coherent state would introduce some unwanted disturb items with small probability. Our QSs can be extended to distill the hyper-encoded multi-spatial-mode entanglement. Our QSs have application potential in the future quantum information processing field.

Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Sep 12, 2022•6 citations

Quantum state truncation using an optical parametric amplifier and a beam splitter

E. P. Mattos, A. Vidiella-Barranco

We present a scheme of quantum state truncation in the Fock basis (quantum scissors), based on the combined action of a nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier and a beam splitter. Differently from previously proposed linear-optics-based quantum scissors devices, which depend on reliable Fock state sources, our scheme requires only readily available Gaussian states, such as coherent state inputs (vacuum state included). A truncated state is generated after performing photodetections in the global state. We find that, depending on which output ports each of the two photodetectors is positioned, different types of truncated states may be produced: (i) states having a maximum Fock number of $N$, or (ii) states having a minimum Fock number $N$. In order to illustrate our method, we discuss an example having as input states a coherent state in the beam splitter and vacuum states in the amplifier, and show that the resulting truncated states display nonclassical properties, such as sub-Poissonian statistics and squeezing. We quantify the nonclassicality degree of the generated states using the Wigner-Yanase skew information measure. For complementarity, we discuss the efficiency of the protocol, e.g., generation probability as well as the effects of imperfections such as the detector's quantum efficiency and dark counts rate.

arXiv:2109.12016•Physical Review A•Sep 24, 2021•12 citations

Noiseless linear amplifiers for multimode states

Mingjian He, Robert Malaney, Benjamin A. Burnett

The entanglement structure between different frequency components within broadband quantum light pulses, forged at entanglement creation, represents a promising route to the practical delivery of many multipartite quantum information applications. However, the scalability of such applications is largely limited by the entanglement decoherence caused by photon loss. One promising method to combat such losses is noiseless linear amplification. However, while there have been various procedures that implement noiseless linear amplification on single-mode states, no realization has thus far been proposed for noiseless linear amplification on quantum states carrying a multimode structure. In this work we close this gap, proposing a noiseless linear amplifier (NLA) with photon catalysis (PC), namely, the PC-NLA. Constructing a multimode version of an existing NLA that uses quantum scissors (QS), the QS-NLA, we then show how the PC-NLA is compatible with the QS-NLA, even though the former uses half the physical resources of the latter. We then apply our multimode NLA frameworks to the problem of continuous-variable (CV) entanglement distillation, determining how the multimode structure of the entanglement impacts the performance of the NLAs. Different from single-mode NLA analyses, we find that a multimode NLA is only effective as a CV entanglement distillation strategy when the channel loss is beyond some threshold---a threshold largely dependent on the multimode structure. The results provided here will be valuable for real-world implementations of multipartite quantum information applications that utilize complex entanglement structure within broadband light pulses.

arXiv:2008.08376•Physical Review A•Jan 19, 2021•24 citations

Quantum non-deterministic noiseless linear amplification

CUI Shihe, Mingming Du, LI Xiyun +2 more

Quantum communication can realize secure information transmission based on the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. Photon is a crucial information carrier in quantum communication. The photonic quantum communication protocols require the transmission of photons or photonic entanglement between communicating parties. However, in this process, photon transmission loss inevitably occurs due to environmental noise. Photon transmission loss significantly reduces the efficiency of quantum communication and even threatens its security, so that it becomes a major obstacle for practical long-distance quantum communication. Quantum noiseless linear amplification (NLA) is a promising method for mitigating photon transmission loss. Through local operations and post-selection, NLA can effectively increase the fidelity of the target state or the average photon number in the output state while perfectly preserving the encoded information of the target state. As a result, employing NLA technology can effectively overcome photon transmission loss and extend the secure communication distance. In this paper, the existing NLA protocols are categorized into two types, i.e. the NLA protocols in DV quantum systems and CV quantum systems. A detailed introduction is given to the quantum scissor (QS)-based NLA protocols for single photons, single-photon polarization qubits, and single-photon spatial entanglement in the DV quantum systems. The QS-based NLA can effectively increase the fidelity of the target states while perfectly preserving its encodings. In recent years, researchers have made efforts to study various improvements to the QS-based NLA protocols. In the CV quantum systems, researchers have adopted parallel multiple QS structure and generalized QS to increase the average photon numbers of the Fock states, coherent states and two-mode squeezed vacuum states. In addition to theoretical advancements, significant progress has also been made in the experimental implementations of NLA. The representative experimental demonstrations of QS-based NLA protocols are summarized. Finally, the future development directions for NLA to facilitate its practical applications are presented. This review can provide theoretical support for practically developing NLA in the future.

Acta Physica Sinica•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations
We generalize the concept of optical state truncation and noiseless linear amplification to enable truncation of the Fock-state expansion of an optical state to higher order and to simultaneously amplify it using linear optics. The resulting generalized quantum scissors are more efficient for noiseless linear amplification than employing multiple scissors in parallel and are experimentally practical. As a particular example, we focus on a third-order scissor device and demonstrate advantages in terms of fidelity with the target state, probability of success, distillable entanglement, and the amount of non-Gaussianity introduced.
A noiseless linear amplifier (NLA) can probabilistically amplify an optical state without the noise required by deterministic phase-insensitive amplification. We study a hybrid amplifier in which a finite-cutoff quantum-scissor NLA is placed between two single-mode squeezers. Analysis based on an ideal (infinite cutoff) NLA finds a gain enhancement from the squeezing. We explore the physics of this enhancement as the cutoff of the quantum scissors is increased. The low-cutoff sequence shows how this gain enhancement emerges from the truncated Fock space. Cutoff 3 is the lowest order at which the additional even- and odd-photon components can both contribute to gain enhancement, albeit with some skewing of the coefficients which reduces the fidelity. As the cutoff is increased the fidelity improves. However, unlike the ideal transformation, the finite-cutoff device depends on the phase of the coherent amplitude relative to the squeezing axes, with states aligned with the anti-squeezing requiring higher cutoffs to achieve high fidelity. We track behavior to high cutoffs and eventually see the performance predicted in the ideal theory emerge.
Abstract Quantum scissor (QS) is a powerful tool to realize the optical truncation and noiseless linear amplification (NLA) of the Fock state. The hyper-encoding technology which encodes messages in two or more degrees of freedom of a photon is a promising tool for increasing the channel capacity of photons and has been widely used in quantum computing and quantum communication fields. Here, we propose the one-photon and three-photon QSs for the frequency-encoded and polarization frequency hyper-encoded coherent states, which can realize the one-order and three-order truncation and NLA of the coherent state, and preserve the encoded features of the photons. The quantum scissors for the hyper-encoded coherent state would introduce some unwanted disturb items with small probability. Our QSs can be extended to distill the hyper-encoded multi-spatial-mode entanglement. Our QSs have application potential in the future quantum information processing field.
We present a scheme of quantum state truncation in the Fock basis (quantum scissors), based on the combined action of a nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier and a beam splitter. Differently from previously proposed linear-optics-based quantum scissors devices, which depend on reliable Fock state sources, our scheme requires only readily available Gaussian states, such as coherent state inputs (vacuum state included). A truncated state is generated after performing photodetections in the global state. We find that, depending on which output ports each of the two photodetectors is positioned, different types of truncated states may be produced: (i) states having a maximum Fock number of NNN, or (ii) states having a minimum Fock number NNN. In order to illustrate our method, we discuss an example having as input states a coherent state in the beam splitter and vacuum states in the amplifier, and show that the resulting truncated states display nonclassical properties, such as sub-Poissonian statistics and squeezing. We quantify the nonclassicality degree of the generated states using the Wigner-Yanase skew information measure. For complementarity, we discuss the efficiency of the protocol, e.g., generation probability as well as the effects of imperfections such as the detector's quantum efficiency and dark counts rate.
The entanglement structure between different frequency components within broadband quantum light pulses, forged at entanglement creation, represents a promising route to the practical delivery of many multipartite quantum information applications. However, the scalability of such applications is largely limited by the entanglement decoherence caused by photon loss. One promising method to combat such losses is noiseless linear amplification. However, while there have been various procedures that implement noiseless linear amplification on single-mode states, no realization has thus far been proposed for noiseless linear amplification on quantum states carrying a multimode structure. In this work we close this gap, proposing a noiseless linear amplifier (NLA) with photon catalysis (PC), namely, the PC-NLA. Constructing a multimode version of an existing NLA that uses quantum scissors (QS), the QS-NLA, we then show how the PC-NLA is compatible with the QS-NLA, even though the former uses half the physical resources of the latter. We then apply our multimode NLA frameworks to the problem of continuous-variable (CV) entanglement distillation, determining how the multimode structure of the entanglement impacts the performance of the NLAs. Different from single-mode NLA analyses, we find that a multimode NLA is only effective as a CV entanglement distillation strategy when the channel loss is beyond some threshold---a threshold largely dependent on the multimode structure. The results provided here will be valuable for real-world implementations of multipartite quantum information applications that utilize complex entanglement structure within broadband light pulses.
Quantum communication can realize secure information transmission based on the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. Photon is a crucial information carrier in quantum communication. The photonic quantum communication protocols require the transmission of photons or photonic entanglement between communicating parties. However, in this process, photon transmission loss inevitably occurs due to environmental noise. Photon transmission loss significantly reduces the efficiency of quantum communication and even threatens its security, so that it becomes a major obstacle for practical long-distance quantum communication. Quantum noiseless linear amplification (NLA) is a promising method for mitigating photon transmission loss. Through local operations and post-selection, NLA can effectively increase the fidelity of the target state or the average photon number in the output state while perfectly preserving the encoded information of the target state. As a result, employing NLA technology can effectively overcome photon transmission loss and extend the secure communication distance. In this paper, the existing NLA protocols are categorized into two types, i.e. the NLA protocols in DV quantum systems and CV quantum systems. A detailed introduction is given to the quantum scissor (QS)-based NLA protocols for single photons, single-photon polarization qubits, and single-photon spatial entanglement in the DV quantum systems. The QS-based NLA can effectively increase the fidelity of the target states while perfectly preserving its encodings. In recent years, researchers have made efforts to study various improvements to the QS-based NLA protocols. In the CV quantum systems, researchers have adopted parallel multiple QS structure and generalized QS to increase the average photon numbers of the Fock states, coherent states and two-mode squeezed vacuum states. In addition to theoretical advancements, significant progress has also been made in the experimental implementations of NLA. The representative experimental demonstrations of QS-based NLA protocols are summarized. Finally, the future development directions for NLA to facilitate its practical applications are presented. This review can provide theoretical support for practically developing NLA in the future.