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arXiv:2610.10073

Tradeoff between Wigner negativity and decoherence time for cubic Gaussian states

Matthieu Arnhem, Valerio Crescimanna, Giuseppe Patera, Stephan De Bièvre

quant-phSubmitted Oct 7, 2026• Announced Oct 8, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Wigner negativity has been shown to be a resource in quantum computing, raising the question of how to efficiently produce states with a large Wigner negativity. Cubic Gaussian states, obtained when a cubic gate is applied to a Gaussian state, have been proposed as candidates for this purpose. We show that cubic Gaussian states with a large Wigner negativity $\mathcal N$ necessarily have a short decoherence time $τ$ that is bounded above by $\mathcal N^{-2}$. In other words, a large Wigner negativity comes at a cost: the decoherence time $τ$ of cubic Gaussian states decreases at least quadratically in the negativity $\mathcal N$. Maximizing $τ$ at fixed Wigner negativity $\mathcal N$, we show that this upper bound is reached by optimal cubic Gaussian states. They have the property that for large negativity, the optimal squeezing scales as $\ln\mathcal N$ and the optimal cubicity as $\mathcal N^{-1}$. Optimal cubic Gaussian states with large negativity can therefore be constructed with small cubicity, provided sufficient squeezing is applied. However, their decoherence time decreases with growing negativity. In addition, we show that their preparation is extremely sensitive to thermal noise. Finally, we compare, for each integer $n$, the optimal cubic Gaussian state with the $n$th Fock state that has the same negativity: despite their pronounced differences in photon number distribution and Wigner function, we show that they have similar, be it slightly larger, decoherence times and entanglement generating potential through a beam splitter.

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32 pages, 9 figures

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The generation of non-Gaussian states of bosonic systems described by continuous quantum degrees of freedom is of interest in a variety of contexts, ranging from quantum foundations to computation and communication. A crucial feature of genuine non-Gaussian states is that they cannot be described in general with a non-negative Wignerquasi-probability distribution. In particular, this feature is equivalent to contextuality and it underpins all attempts at attaining quantum computational advantage in a universal setting. In this thesis, the generation of Wigner-negative states is addressed, pursuing two approaches. First, in an optomechanical-like setting, we develop schemes to generate Wigner-negative states of two massive mechanical systems, in turn correlated such that they also feature entanglement, another genuine quantum hallmark. These schemes are based on driven-dissipative systems where dissipation is properly engineered by taking advantage of linear-and-quadratic optomechanical interactions. We address the robustness of these schemes when uncontrollable noisy channels are included in the dynamics, proving that their resilience is comparable to Gaussian schemes that have already been implemented experimentally. Second, considering in particular circuit QED systems and trapped ions, we propose a method to engineer a set of Hamiltonian evolutions that are universal in terms of single-mode state preparation. This method is based on a driven quantum Rabi model, where the desired evolution is effectively imprinted on a continuous-variable degree of freedom by its interaction with a properly driven two-level system. We demonstrate the universality of such approach by simulating the generation of multi-squeezed and other states, including the celebrated cubic-phase state. We also consider the effect of noise in realistic settings, showing in particular that in systems involving superconducting qubits, the generation of tri-squeezed states --- a universal resource for continuous-variable quantum computation which we prove to display larger Wigner negativities with respect to Fock and cubic-phase states for the same energy --- is within experimental reach.
We study the slowing of the decoherence effect in the double-slit experiment by considering an initially correlated Gaussian state. The effects of the decoherence are included in a specific propagator which we use to obtain the density matrix at the detection screen. We calculate the uncertainties in the position and momentum for the density matrix as a function of the decoherence at the detection screen. We show that for a contractive initial state and specific times of propagation the state at the detection screen is squeezed in position in comparison with the standard Gaussian superposition. For this squeezed Gaussian superposition state, we observe that the fringe visibility is more robust to the decoherence in comparison with the standard Gaussian superposition. Then, we calculate the negativity of the Wigner function and study its behavior as a function of the decoherence and correlation parameters at the detection screen. We observe that the negativity decreases more slowly for the squeezed Gaussian superposition.
Non-Gaussian states with Wigner negativity are of particular interest in quantum technology due to their potential applications in quantum computing and quantum metrology. However, how to create such states at a remote location remains a challenge, which is important for efficiently distributing quantum resource between distant nodes in a network. Here, we experimentally prepare an optical non-Gaussian state with negative Wigner function at a remote node via local non-Gaussian operation and shared Gaussian entangled state existing quantum steering. By performing photon subtraction on one mode, Wigner negativity is created in the remote target mode. We show that the Wigner negativity is sensitive to loss on the target mode, but robust to loss on the mode performing photon subtraction. This experiment confirms the connection between the remotely created Wigner negativity and quantum steering. As an application, we present that the generated non-Gaussian state exhibits metrological power in quantum phase estimation.
Cubic phase states provide the essential non-Gaussian resource for continuous-variable quantum computing. We show that they also offer significant potential for quantum metrology, surpassing the phase-sensing sensitivity of all Gaussian states at equal average photon number. Optimal sensitivity requires only moderate initial squeezing, and the non-Gaussian advantage remains robust against loss and detection noise. We identify optimal measurement strategies and show that several experimentally relevant preparation schemes surpass Gaussian limits, in some cases reaching the sensitivity of cubic phase states. Our results establish cubic phase states as a promising resource for quantum-enhanced precision measurements beyond Gaussian limits.
A near-deterministic source of non-Gaussianity is the missing piece to reach universal and fault-tolerant quantum computing with continuous-variable optics. Due to a lack of strong non-linearities, the probabilistic photon-subtracted Gaussian states remain the most promising contender. In combination with Gaussian measurements and single-mode feed-forward operations, they have been shown to provide sufficient non-Gaussianity at high rates. However, these existing breeding protocols lack the necessary loss tolerance to be experimentally feasible. In this work, we introduce a mathematical formalism based on the application of a Gaussian blur and filter on the measured Fock Wigner function to describe general photon-subtracted Gaussian states. Within our representation, the initial squeezing, Gaussian measurements, and photon loss can all be understood as contributions to the total blurring and interchanged accordingly. We find that this intuitive approach can be used to find improvements to cat, cubic phase, and GKP state generation by compromising between success rates, feed-forward compatibility, and loss tolerance. In the case of multiple photon subtractions, this is achieved by introducing a hybrid setup variant bridging the gap between protocols based on breeding and post-selection. Finally, we establish a general lower bound on the resources needed to generate a given target state near-deterministically by introducing the expected Wigner logarithmic negativity as an additive monotone of non-Gaussianity.