Nonclassicality in bosonic systems can be certified directly from occupation probabilities without full state reconstruction. To complete a library of such criteria we introduce a numerical framework that constructs optimal linear nonclassicality witnesses from arbitrary subsets of measured occupation probabilities by solving a semi-infinite linear program. The method contains known analytical criteria as special cases while generally detecting substantially larger nonclassical regions. We provide an open-source implementation of the numerical optimization together with the analytical criteria discussed here, enabling direct application of the framework to measured occupation statistics across bosonic platforms. As a case study, we apply it to the resonant Jaynes--Cummings model with thermal states and reveal nonclassicality at short interaction times and close to thermal balance, where detection of nonclassicality is otherwise challenging.
Nonclassicality in bosonic systems can be certified directly from occupation probabilities without full state reconstruction. To complete a library of such criteria we introduce a numerical framework that constructs optimal linear nonclassicality witnesses from arbitrary subsets of measured occupation probabilities by solving a semi-infinite linear program. The method contains known analytical criteria as special cases while generally detecting substantially larger nonclassical regions. We provide an open-source implementation of the numerical optimization together with the analytical criteria discussed here, enabling direct application of the framework to measured occupation statistics across bosonic platforms. As a case study, we apply it to the resonant Jaynes--Cummings model with thermal states and reveal nonclassicality at short interaction times and close to thermal balance, where detection of nonclassicality is otherwise challenging.
Abstract Experimentally certifying the nonclassicality of quantum states in a reliable and efficient way is a challenge that remains both fundamental and daunting. Despite decades of topical research, techniques that can exploit optimally the information available in a given experimental setup are lacking. Here, we introduce a different paradigm to tackle these challenges, that is both directly applicable to experimental realities, and extendible to a wide variety of circumstances. We demonstrate that Klyshko’s criteria, which remained a primary approach to tackle nonclassicality for the past 20 years, is a special case of a much more general class of nonclassicality criteria. We provide both analytical results and numerical evidence for the optimality of our approach in several different scenarios of interest for trapped-ion, superconducting circuits, optical and optomechanical experiments with photon-number resolving detectors. This work represents a significant milestone towards a complete characterisation of the nonclassicality detectable from the limited knowledge scenarios faced in experimental implementations.
We address the problem of measuring nonclassicality in continuous-variable bosonic systems without having access to a known reference signal. To this end, we construct broader classes of criteria for nonclassicality which allow us to investigate quantum phenomena regardless of the quantumness of selected subsystems. Such witnesses are based on the notion of partial normal ordering. This approach is applied to balanced homodyne detection using arbitrary, potentially nonclassical local oscillator states, yet only revealing the probed signal's quantumness. Our framework is compared to standard techniques, and the robustness and advanced sensitivity of our approach is shown. Therefore, a widely applicable framework, well-suited for applications in quantum metrology and quantum information, is derived to assess the quantum features of a photonic system when a well-defined coherent laser as a reference state is not available in the physical domain under study.
Nonclassical states of bosonic modes are important resources for quantum-enhanced technologies. However, quantifying nonclassicality of these states, in particular mixed states, can be a challenge. Here we present results of quantifying the nonclassicality of a bosonic mode in a mixed Fock state via the operational resource theory measure [Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 023400 (2020)], which relates nonclassicality to metrological advantage. Generally speaking, evaluating a resource-theoretic measure for mixed states is challenging, since it involves finding a convex roof. However, we show that our problem can be reduced to a linear programming problem. By analyzing the results of numerical optimization, we are able to extract analytical results for the case where three or four neighboring Fock states have nonzero population. Interestingly, we find that such a mode can be in distinct phases, depending on the populations. Finally, we demonstrate how our method is generalizable to density matrices of higher ranks. Our findings suggest a viable method for evaluating nonclassicality of arbitrary mixed bosonic states and potentially for solving other convex roof optimization problems.
Nonclassicality, defined in the quantum optical sense, serves as a resource for photon-based quantum technologies. Therefore, certifying the nonclassicality of a quantum state is crucial for gauging its potential for quantum advantage. However, traditional nonclassicality witnesses that assume perfect knowledge of the witness observables often fail in realistic scenarios with limited statistics and finite-resolution photon detectors. Furthermore, these witnesses do not exploit the fact that certain states are unlikely to be observed in a given experiment. Here, we train a variational model to distinguish classical from nonclassical states using finitely many measurement samples of multimode quantum states that are probed with different photon-number-resolving detection schemes. The learned decision rule is then an indicator of nonclassicality, tailored to a given set of physically relevant states. Our approach is both data-driven and interpretable in the sense that the learned analytical decision rule can be extracted. Training the model on experimental data measured with (i) a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector and (ii) a time-bin multiplexing detection scheme demonstrates the versatility of the approach, paving the way for efficient nonclassicality detection.
Nonclassical states of bosonic modes, especially the large number states, are valuable resources for quantum information processing and quantum metrology. It is however intricate to generate a desired Fock state of bosonic systems by unitary protocols due to their uniform energy spectrum. We here propose a nonunitary protocol that is based on the resonant Jaynes-Cummings interaction of the bosonic mode with an ancillary two-level atom and sequential projective measurements on the atom. Using the generalized parity-measurement operator constructed by several rounds of free evolution with stepwise halved intervals and measurement, we can efficiently filter out the unwanted population and push the target resonator conditionally toward the desired Fock state. In the ideal situation, a Fock state ∣nt≈2000⟩ can be prepared with a fidelity over 98% using only eight rounds of measurements. Under qubit dissipation and dephasing and cavity decay in the current circuit-QED platforms, a Fock state ∣nt≈100⟩ can be prepared with a fidelity of about 80% by six measurements. It is found that the number of measurement rounds for preparing a large Fock state ∣nt⟩ scales roughly as log2nt, which is similar to the number of ancillary qubits required in the state preparation via the quantum phase estimation algorithm and yet costs much less in gate operations. Our protocol can also be used to prepare a large Dicke state ∣J≃1000,0⟩ of a spin ensemble with a sufficiently high fidelity by less than six measurements. It is qualified by the quantum Fisher information approaching the Heisenberg scaling in sensing the rotation phase along the x axis.
We address the problem of constructing witnesses for nonclassical light that are applicable in state-of-the-art photon-counting devices. The key ingredient for the criteria we derive are generalized and directly measurable counting statistics and matrices of counting moments. Beyond common criteria, we find classes of witnesses that are based on half-integer powers of click moments and counts. Remarkably, this leads to an exponential increase of the number of nonclassicality criteria one can construct and apply. With this finding, special attention is payed to probing even and odd parity states, requiring such distinct witnesses. Our method is applicable to spatial and time-bin multiplexing in optical systems, where each spatial and temporal mode can be measured with both on-off detectors and detectors with partial internal quasi-photon-number resolution. Generalizations to multimode scenarios are provided, allowing for the direct measurement of nonclassical correlations and coincidence counts between an arbitrary number of modes.