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arXiv:2609.15040

Scaling up multi-mode entanglement generated by mode swapping

Yuki Kodama, Holger F. Hofmann

quant-phSubmitted Sep 14, 2026• Announced Sep 15, 2026
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Abstract

Entanglement between two local multi-photon multi-mode systems can be generated by swapping a pair of modes between the two local multi-mode systems. In this presentation, we consider possible strategies for the efficient generation of entanglement between systems with three or more modes. It is shown that the choice of photon number inputs in the local systems adds a new degree of freedom to the non-local interference effects observed in the output photon number statistics.

Journal reference
Proc. SPIE 14228, Quantum Communications and Quantum Imaging XXIV, 1422806 (2026)
DOI
10.1117/12.3114886
Comments
6 pages, 1 figure. Presented at SPIE Optics + Photonics 2026

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Entanglement between two local multi-photon multi-mode systems can be generated by swapping a pair of modes between the two local multi-mode systems. In this presentation, we consider possible strategies for the efficient generation of entanglement between systems with three or more modes. It is shown that the choice of photon number inputs in the local systems adds a new degree of freedom to the non-local interference effects observed in the output photon number statistics.
Multi-photon interference can be observed using independently generated photons as input. In the most simple case, these photons meet up at a beam splitter, resulting in quantum interference between transmission and reflection of the photons. Here, we show that non-local multi-photon interference can be implemented by using a mode swap operation to generate entanglement between the photons detected in the outputs of two spatially separated interferometers. The spatial separation of the output photons makes this implementation of multi-photon interference particularly suitable for quantum protocols that distribute quantum information to different parties.
Single photon sources can be used to generate and control highly non-classical states of light. Here, we consider the possibility of generating bi-partite entanglement between two separate multi-photon states by splitting the input modes of the single photon sources into a mode distributed to AAA and a mode distributed to BBB. If multiple photons are combined at AAA and at BBB, the large variety of photon patterns observed after linear optics transformations of the local multi-mode systems can be used to characterize the non-classical correlation of this entangled state. However, the transformation between different photon number states in linear optics is a complicated problem, and further analysis is needed to understand the possible applications of this scalable quantum system. To obtain maximal complementarity between two measurements, we consider the unbiased interference of all input modes represented by a discrete Fourier transform of the multi-mode field. We identify characteristic patterns that can be used to identify non-classical correlations between the two multi-photon systems at AAA and BBB and derive a quantitative criterion for entanglement verification. Our results indicate that the large scale quantum operations can be achieved by a comparatively simple quantum network interfering the outputs of multiple single photons, where the size of the system mainly depends on the number of available single photon sources.
We propose a new scheme to generate multi-photon entanglement in two steps. First, we utilize a superconductor to create multi-quantum-dot entanglement; secondly, we use the input photon to transfer it into multi-photon entanglement. Moreover, the maximum probability for the swap of photon and quantum-dot qubits is close to unity for a single input Gaussian photon. More importantly, by mapping the multi-quantum-dot state into coherent states of oscillators, such as cavity modes, the multi-quantum-dot entanglement in our scheme can be protected from the decoherence induced by the noise. Thus, it is possible to generate more than eight spatially separated entangled photons in the realistic experimental conditions.
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Two-photon interference effects arise because photons are indistinguishable particles. In the wellknown Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, the transmission of two photons at a beam splitter interferes destructively with the reflection of both photons, requiring both photons to "bunch up" by leaving the beam splitter on the same side. Here, we show that the interference between locally propagating photons and photons exchanged by a mode swap can be implemented by post-selecting spatially separated photon outputs of a four-path interferometer. Even though the photons detected at spatially separated locations must have travelled along paths that never met up at the same beam splitter, the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect can be observed in correlations between the output ports that originate from the association of detection events with non-local output modes defined by the two single photon inputs. Local phase shifts can be used to map out non-classical correlations between the photons detected at different output locations, clarifying the role of linear optics in generating entanglement between spatially separated photons. Our work thus establishes a fundamental relation between multiphoton interference and entanglement, opening the door to new possibilities in optical quantum technologies.