Inverting the quantum cloning of photons

Giacomo Mauro D’Ariano, F. De Martini, Chiara Macchiavello

Sadegh Raeisi, Wolfgang Tittel, Christoph Simon

We propose an experiment where a photon is first cloned by stimulated parametric down-conversion, making many (imperfect) copies, and then the cloning transformation is inverted, regenerating the original photon while destroying the copies. Focusing on the case where the initial photon is entangled with another photon, we study the conditions under which entanglement can be proven in the final state. The proposed experiment would provide a clear demonstration that quantum information is preserved in quantum cloning. It would furthermore allow a definitive experimental proof for micro-macro entanglement in the intermediate multiphoton state, which is still an outstanding challenge. Finally, it might provide a quantum detection technique for small differences in transmission (e.g., in biological samples), whose sensitivity scales better with the number of photons used than a classical transmission measurement.

Hans‐Joachim Lewerenz

Nicolas J. Cerf, Jaromı́r Fiurášek

D. Valente, Y. Li, J.-Ph. Poizat +4 more

We study an initially inverted three-level atom in the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ configuration embedded in a waveguide, interacting with a propagating single-photon pulse. Depending on the temporal shape of the pulse, the system behaves either as an optimal universal cloning machine or as a highly efficient deterministic source of maximally entangled photon pairs. This quantum transistor operates over a wide range of frequencies and can be implemented with today's solid-state technologies.

Mark S. Hillery, D. Yu

An amplifier consists of a collection of inverted two-level atoms. It can be used to amplify a light signal but in the process the fluctuation behavior of the lights will be modified. In particular, for sufficiently large gains, nonclassical input states will become classical at the output. Hong, Friberg, and Mandel examined the effect of amplification on sub-Poissonian photon statistics and normal squeezing. They found that both of these effects disappear at the output if the intensity gain |G|2 > 2. The gain |G|2 = 2 is known as the photon cloning limit because one gets two photons out for every one that goes in. This gain has stood as an upper limit for the amplification of nonclassical behavior.