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arXiv:2609.19625 · Physical Review A

Experimental certification of the nonlocal advantages of quantum imaginarity

Jian-Hao Wu, Kai-Yu Yuan, Yun-Xiang Tian, Hao-Ran Tan, Yan-Xin Rong, Zhen Shang, Yong-Jian Gu, Ya Xiao

quant-phSubmitted Sep 17, 2026• Announced Sep 18, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Quantum imaginarity is a distinct resource in quantum information theory, yet its nonlocal properties have not been fully explored. Here, we report an experimental study of the nonlocal advantage of quantum imaginarity (NAQI), in which local measurements on one subsystem can steer the average imaginarity of the conditional states of the other subsystem beyond the corresponding classical bound. The $l_1$-norm of imaginarity inequality is adopted as an experimentally accessible witness. A hybrid optimization algorithm that combines a genetic algorithm with sequential quadratic programming is developed to avoid local optima and accelerate the search for optimal measurement settings. Using polarization-encoded photonic qubits, we prepare two classes of two-qubit Bell-diagonal states and experimentally characterize the imaginarity of the conditional states following local measurements. Clear violations of the $l_1$-norm of imaginarity inequality are observed, providing an experimental certification of NAQI. We further investigate the relationship among NAQI, the nonlocal advantage of quantum coherence (NAQC), and Bell nonlocality based on their respective inequality criteria. For the two-qubit Werner states considered in this work, the regions of states that violate the respective criteria satisfy $\mathcal{D}_{\rm NAQC}\subset\mathcal{D}_{\rm NAQI}\subset\mathcal{D}_{\rm BN}$. Our work provides an experimental realization of NAQI and a comparison of different forms of quantum nonclassicality in a photonic platform.

Journal reference
Phys. Rev. A 114, 032439 (2026)
DOI
10.1103/7jcn-yq29
Comments
[10] pages, [6] figures. Accepted by Physical Review A. DOI: 10.1103/7jcn-yq29

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Quantum imaginarity and quantum nonlocality capture the essence of quantumness of a physical system from different aspects. We establish a connection between the imaginarity and quantum nonlocality in any two-qubit states. Based on the imaginarity l1{l}_{1}l1​-norm and relative entropy, we derive complementary relations among the quantum imaginarities with respect to any set of mutually unbiased bases for arbitrary qubit states. Based on these complementary relations, we introduce the nonlocal advantage of quantum imaginarity (NAQI). We show that any two-qubit state with NAQI is quantum steerable, but not vice versa. In addition, we investigate the exclusion property of NAQI in three-qubit pure states.
Nonlocal advantage of quantum coherence (NAQC) based on coherence complementarity relations is generally viewed as a stronger nonclassical correlation than Bell nonlocality. An arbitrary two-qubit state with NAQC must be an entangled state, which demonstrates that the criterion of NAQC can also be regarded as an entanglement witness. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the NAQC for Bell-diagonal states with high fidelity in an optics-based platform. We perform local measurements on a subsystem in three mutually unbiased bases and reconstruct the density matrices of the measured states by a quantum state tomography process. By analyzing characteristics of the l1{l}_{1}l1​ norm, relative entropy, and skew information of coherence with parameters of quantum states, NAQC for the quantum states is accurately captured, and it shows that our experimental results are well compatible with the theoretical predictions. Our results have shown that NAQC could be a new kind of entanglement witness and a useful physical resource for quantum information processing.
Nonlocal advantage of quantum coherence (NAQC) or steerability of local quantum coherence is a strong nonlocal resource based on coherence complementarity relations. In this work, we provide an upper bound on the number of observers who can independently steer the coherence of the observer in the other wing in a scenario where half of an entangled pair of spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ particles is shared between a single observer (Bob) in one wing and several observers (Alices) on the other, who can act sequentially and independently of each other. We consider one-parameter dichotomic POVMs for the Alices and mutually unbiased basis in which Bob measures coherence in the case of the maximally entangled bipartite qubit state. We show that not more than two Alices can exhibit NAQC when the l1{l}_{1}l1​ norm of coherence measure is probed, whereas for two other measures of coherence, only one Alice can reveal NAQC within the same framework.
Black hole spacetimes provide a natural setting for quantum systems in curved spacetime, where effects such as Hawking radiation arise from event horizons. In this work, we investigate the impact of the Hawking effect on quantum imaginarity in Schwarzschild spacetime, focusing on nonlocal advantage of quantum imaginarity (NAQI) and assisted imaginarity distillation. For NAQI, it is significantly affected by Hawking radiation, exhibiting a pronounced difference between physically accessible and inaccessible regions. It is suppressed in the physically accessible region with increasing Hawking temperature and may vanish, while remaining absent in the physically inaccessible region across the parameter regime. For assisted imaginarity distillation, the Hawking effect modifies the assisted fidelity in a state-dependent manner. In the physically accessible region, the fidelity generally decreases with increasing temperature, indicating reduced distillation capability, whereas the physically inaccessible region exhibits the opposite monotonic trend, indicating enhanced distillation capability. These results highlight distinct operational behaviors of physically accessible and inaccessible regions under relativistic effects, providing insight into quantum imaginarity in curved spacetime.
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Quantum imaginarity is an essential physical resource that underpins key functionalities of modern quantum technologies. We improve imaginarity witnessing via the prior knowledge of imaginarity-witness operators. To this end, we derive a rigorous upper bound on the maximum expectation value of an imaginarity witness operator over the set of all free (real) quantum states, which is given by the spectral norm of the real component of the corresponding witness operator. We demonstrate via detailed examples that this bound substantially improves imaginarity detection. We further classify all imaginarity-witness operators into four distinct families based on this bound. For these four witness classes, we perform a comprehensive analysis of their completeness and finite completeness, the joint detection of shared imaginary quantum states by different witnesses, and the conditions for distinct witnesses to identify identical imaginary states. Our results advance the fundamental understanding of imaginarity detection and offer useful insights for both theoretical studies and experimental implementations of quantum imaginarity.