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arXiv:2301.13680 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Entanglement witnessing with untrusted detectors

Giuseppe Viola, Nikolai Miklin, Mariami Gachechiladze, Marcin Pawłowski

Published Sep 21, 2023• 0 citations
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Abstract

Abstract We consider the problem of entanglement detection in the presence of faulty, potentially malicious detectors. A common—and, as of yet, the only—approach to this problem is to perform a Bell test in order to identify nonlocality of the measured entangled state. However, there are two significant drawbacks in this approach: the requirement to exceed a critical, and often high, detection efficiency, and much lower noise tolerance. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach to this problem, which is resilient to the detection loophole and is based on the standard tool of entanglement witness. We discuss how the two main techniques to detection losses, namely the discard and assignment strategies, apply to entanglement witnessing. We demonstrate using the example of a two-qubit Bell state that the critical detection efficiency can be significantly reduced compared to the Bell test approach.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8121/acfc08

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Abstract We consider the problem of entanglement detection in the presence of faulty, potentially malicious detectors. A common—and, as of yet, the only—approach to this problem is to perform a Bell test in order to identify nonlocality of the measured entangled state. However, there are two significant drawbacks in this approach: the requirement to exceed a critical, and often high, detection efficiency, and much lower noise tolerance. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach to this problem, which is resilient to the detection loophole and is based on the standard tool of entanglement witness. We discuss how the two main techniques to detection losses, namely the discard and assignment strategies, apply to entanglement witnessing. We demonstrate using the example of a two-qubit Bell state that the critical detection efficiency can be significantly reduced compared to the Bell test approach.
We consider a possible detector-efficiency loophole in experiments that detect entanglement via the local measurement of witness operators. Here, only local properties of the detectors are known. We derive a general threshold for the detector efficiencies which guarantees that a negative expectation value of a witness is due to entanglement, rather than to erroneous detectors. This threshold depends on the local decomposition of the witness and its measured expectation value. For two-qubit witnesses, we find the local operator decomposition that is optimal with respect to closing the loophole.
Detectors in the laboratory are often unlike their ideal theoretical cousins. They have nonideal efficiencies, which may then lead to nontrivial implications. We show how it is possible to predict correct answers about whether a shared quantum state is entangled in spite of finite detector efficiencies, when the tool for entanglement detection is a nonlinear entanglement witness. We first consider the detection loophole for shared quantum states with nonpositive partial transpose. We subsequently find nonlinear witness operators for bound entangled states with positive partial transpose, and show how the detection loophole can be closed also in such instances.
Quantum entanglement is an essential resource for quantum technologies, and the controlled swap test provides a versatile tool for its detection and quantification. Here, we propose a SWAP-based entanglement witness that applies to arbitrary two-qubit states - both pure and mixed - and provides a lower bound on the concurrence. The method is resource-efficient, robust to noise, and platform-independent. As an example, we validate the approach on a room-temperature photonic chip, where the swap test is carried out using only linear and well-established integrated optical components. The robustness of the method against photonic-hardware noise is also analysed. Our results establish a simple and reliable tool for entanglement witnessing.
There always exists an entanglement witness for every entangled quantum state. Negativity of the expectation value of an entanglement witness operator guarantees entanglement of the corresponding state, given that the measurement devices involved are perfect, i.e., the performed measurements actually constitute the witness operator for the state under consideration. In a realistic situation, there are two possible ways of measurements to drive the process away from the ideal one. First, wrong measurements may be performed, and, second, while the measurement operators are implemented correctly, the detection process may be noisy. Entanglement witnesses are prone to both of these imperfections. The concept of measurement-device-independent entanglement witnesses was introduced to remove the first problem. We analyze the ``detection loophole'' in the context of measurement-device-independent entanglement witnesses, which deal with the second problem of imprecise measurements. We obtain an upper bound, a threshold value, on the entanglement witness function in the measurement-device-independent entanglement witness scenario, below which entanglement is guaranteed for given nonideal detector efficiencies, that can involve both lost events and dark counts. We also present a threshold value on the function in the ``worst-case scenario'' where the threshold of the witness operator for guaranteeing entanglement assumes its maximal negative value.
Loophole-free quantum nonlocality often demands experiments with high complexity (defined by all parties' settings and outcomes) and multiple efficient detectors. Here, we identify the fundamental efficiency and complexity thresholds for quantum steering using two-qubit entangled states. Remarkably, it requires only one photon detector on the untrusted side, with efficiency ε>1/Xε> 1/Xε>1/X, where X≥2X \geq 2X≥2 is the number of settings on that side. This threshold applies to all pure entangled states, in contrast to analogous Bell-nonlocality tests, which require almost unentangled states to be loss-tolerant. We confirm these predictions in a minimal-complexity (X=2X = 2X=2 for the untrusted party and a single three-outcome measurement for the trusted party), detection-loophole-free photonic experiment with $ε= (51.6 \pm 0.4)\% $.
This paper presents an efficient method for detecting entanglement in high-dimensional two-qudit states by mapping the Hilbert space onto the space of two qubits. This transformation enables the use of well-established two-qubit entanglement witnesses. The proposed approach is not restricted to any specific class of states, successfully identifies a vast majority of pure entangled states, and requires a number of measurements that does not increase with the dimensionality of the qudits. The method demonstrates solid sensitivity when applied to two notable classes of states—incomplete-permutation-symmetric states and random pure states mixed with white noise—and is shown to be feasible with current experimental techniques.