Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Implementing quantum gates and channels using linear optics

Kent Bonsma-Fisher

Published Sep 28, 2012• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This thesis deals with the implementation of quantum channels using linear optics. We begin with overviews of some important concepts in both quantum information and quantum optics. First, we discuss the quantum bit and describe the evolution of the states via quantum channels. We then discuss both quantum state and process tomography, methods for how to determine which states and operations we are experimentally implementing in the lab. Second, we discuss topics in quantum optics such the generation of single photons, polarization entanglement, and the construction of an entangling gate. \n \nThe first experiment is the implementation of a quantum damping channel, which intentionally can add a specific type and amount of decohering noise to a photonic qubit. Specifically, we realized a class of quantum channels which contains both the amplitude-damping channel and the bit-flip channel, and did so with a single, static, optical setup. Many quantum channels, and some gates, can only be implemented probabilistically when using linear optics and postselection. Our main result is that the optical setup achieves the optimal success probability for each channel. Using a novel ancilla-assisted tomography, we characterize each case of the channel, and find process fideilities of $0.98 \\pm 0.01$ for the amplitude-damping channel and $0.976 \\pm 0.009$ for the bit-flip. \n \nThe second experiment is an implementation of a protocol for quantum computing on encrypted data. The protocol provides the means for a client with very limited quantum power to use a server's quantum computer while maintaining privacy over the data. We perform a quantum process tomography for each gate in a universal set, showing that only when the proper decryption key is used on the output states, which is hidden from the server, then the action of the quantum gate is recovered. Otherwise, the gate acts as the completely depolarizing channel.

Related papers

Optimal linear optical implementation of a single-qubit damping channel

Kent Bonsma-Fisher, Robert Prevedel, Rainer Kaltenbaek +1 more

We experimentally demonstrate a single-qubit decohering quantum channel using linear optics. We implement the channel, whose special cases include the familiar amplitude-damping channel and the bit-flip channel, using a single, static optical setup. Following a recent theoretical result (Piani et al 2011 Phys. Rev. A 84 032304), we realize the channel in an optimal way, maximizing the probability of success, i.e. the probability for the photonic qubit to remain in its encoding. Using a two-photon entangled resource, we characterize the channel using ancilla-assisted process tomography and find average process fidelities of 0.98 ± 0.01 and 0.976 ± 0.009 for amplitude-damping and the bit-flip case, respectively.

arXiv:1109.2070•New Journal of Physics•Mar 12, 2012•33 citations

Realisation of Quantum Operations using Linear Optics

David Pitkanen

The main topic of this thesis is linear optics and the implementation of quantum operations (measurements, quantum channels, and unitary rotations) on optical systems. \nIn the opening chapter the basic notions needed to understand the rest of the thesis will be explained. \nThese notions include defining a quantum state, measurement, quantum channel and the linear optics tool set. \n \nThe work in this thesis takes both fundamental and practical approaches to studying linear optical networks. \nFor instance in the first chapter a proof is provided that shows that any unitary on a single mode Fock state can be realised with linear optics. \nThe proof is constructive, however the approach to realising the unitary is not suitable for experimental implementation \nbecause it requires complicated ancilla states. \nAs in the KLM proposal the procedure works only stochastically however by allowing the size of the ancilla to grow \nthe probability of failure can be made arbitrarly small. \n \nFurthermore we investigate the realisation of arbitrary channels in a specific encoding that we call a $d$-rail encoding. \nThe only ancilla state that we allow is a vacuum ancilliary state and further restrictions were considered (e.g. photon counting). \nA proof is provided that using these resources only random unitaries can be applied deterministically using linear optics. An expression for the optimal probability of success for realising \nmore general channels with these resources is also discussed. \n \nAs a final topic we also investigate the realisation of a quantum non-demolition measurement onto the dual rail qubit space. \nThe investigation is a blend of both fundamental and practical approaches. \nTo begin we employ a modified KLM-like procedure and show that the scheme can be realised perfectly but stochastically. \nThe probability that the proper measurement is made can be made arbitrarly close to one using a suitably large ancilla state. \nIn addition we consider an existing scheme \\cite{gisin10a} which uses practical sources (two single photon sources) to perform the measurement. \nThe scheme does not realise the true measurement but instead has a free parameter in it which is the transmittiviy of a beamsplitter. The measurement will project onto a space that has a vacuum component. By adjusting the transmittivity of this beamsplitter the vacuum component can be made arbitrarly small but only at the expense of the probability of success of the procedure. \nIn this thesis a modification that can be made to eliminate the vacuum component without changing the sources is introduced. The modification is surprisingly simple and only involves the addition of a single beamsplitter. In the proposal for the original amplifier it was used in simulations for DIQKD that included device imperfections. \nTo show the improvement of our modification these DIQKD simulations are reproduced using the modified amplifier and its results are compared to the results of the original amplifier.

•Oct 4, 2011•0 citations

Stepping stones towards linear optical quantum computing

Till J. Weinhold

The experiments described in this thesis form an investigation into the path towards establishing the requirements of quantum computing in a linear optical system. Our qubits are polarisation encoded photons for which the basic operations of quantum computing, single qubit rotations, are a well understood problem. The difficulty lies in the interaction of photons. To achieve these we use measurement induced non-linearities. The first experiment in this thesis describes the thorough characterisation of a controlled-sign gate based on such non-linearities. The photons are provided as pairs generated through parametric down-conversion, and as such share correlations unlikely to carry over into large scale implementations of the future. En route to such larger circuits, a characterisation of the actions of the controlled-sign gate is conducted, when the input qubits have been generated independently from each other, revealing a large drop in process fidelity. To explore the cause of this degradation of the gate performance a thorough and highly accurate model of the gate is derived including the realistic description of faulty circuitry, photon loss and multi-photon emission by the source. By simulating the effects of the various noise sources individually, the heretofore largely ignored multi-photon emission is identified as the prime cause of the degraded gate performance, causing a drop in fidelity nearly three times as large as any other error source. I further draw the first comparison between the performance of an experimental gate to the error probabilities per gate derived as thresholds for fault-tolerant quantum computing. In the absence of a single vigourous threshold value, I compare the gate performance to the models that yielded the highest threshold to date as an upper bound and to the threshold of the Gremlin-model, which allows for the most general errors. Unsurprisingly this comparison reveals that the implemented gate is clearly insufficient, however just remedying the multi-photon emission error will allow this architecture to move to within striking distance of the boundary for fault-tolerant quantum computing. The utilised methodology can be applied to any gate in any architecture and can, combined with a suitable model of the noise sources, become an important guide for developments required to achieve fault tolerant quantum computing. The final experiment on the path towards linear optical quantum computing is the demonstration of a pair of basic versions of Shor's algorithm which display the essential entanglement for the algorithm. The results again highlight the need for extensive measurements to reveal the fundamental quality of the implemented algorithm, which is not accessible with limited indicative measurements. In the second part of the thesis, I describe two experiments on other forms of entanglement by extending the actions of a Fock-State filter, a filter that is capable of attenuating single photon states stronger than multi-photon states, to produce entangled states. Furthermore this device can be used in conjunction with standard wave-plates to extend the range of operations possible on the bi-photonic qutrit space, showing that this setup suffices to produce any desired qutrit state, thereby giving access to new measurement capabilities and in the process creating and proving the first entanglement between a qubit and a qutrit.

•Apr 1, 2010•1 citation

Linear-optics realization of channels for single-photon multimode qudits

Marco Piani, David Pitkanen, Rainer Kaltenbaek +1 more

We propose and theoretically study a method for the stochastic realization of arbitrary quantum channels on multimode single-photon qudits. In order for our method to be undemanding in its implementation, we restrict our analysis to linear-optical techniques, vacuum ancillary states, and nonadaptive schemes, but we allow for random switching between different optical networks. With our method it is possible to deterministically implement random-unitary channels and to stochastically implement general channels. We provide an expression for the optimal probability of success of our scheme and calculate this quantity for specific examples such as the qubit amplitude-damping channel. The success probability is shown to be related to the entanglement properties of the Choi-Jamio\l{}kowski state isomorphic to the channel.

arXiv:1012.3474•Physical Review A•Sep 6, 2011•19 citations

TOPICS IN LINEAR OPTICAL QUANTUM COMPUTATION

Scott Glancy

This thesis covers several topics in optical quantum computation. A quantum computer is a computational device which is able to manipulate information by performing unitary operations on some physical system whose state can be described as a vector (or mixture of vectors) in a Hilbert space. The basic unit of information, called the qubit, is considered to be a system with two orthogonal states, which are assigned logical values of 0 and 1. Photons make excellent candidates to serve as qubits. They have little interactions with the environment. Many operations can be performed using very simple linear optical devices such as beam splitters and phase shifters. Photons can easily be processed through circuit-like networks. Operations can be performed in very short times. Photons are ideally suited for the long-distance communication of quantum information. The great difficulty in constructing an optical quantum computer is that photons naturally interact weakly with one another. This thesis first gives a brief review of two early approaches to optical quantum computation. It will describe how any discrete unitary operation can be performed using a single photon and a network of beam splitters, and how the Kerr effect can be used to construct a two photon logic gate. Second, this work provides a thorough introduction to the linear optical quantum computer developed by Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn. It then presents this author's results on the reliability of this scheme when implemented using imperfect photon detectors. This author finds that quantum computers of this sort cannot be built using current technology. Third, this dissertation describes a method for constructing a linear optical quantum computer using nearly orthogonal coherent states of light as the qubits. It shows how a universal set of logic operations can be performed, including calculations of the fidelity with which these operations may be accomplished. It discusses methods for reducing and correcting errors and recovering from failed operations. Lastly it describes an analysis of the long distance transmission of the coherent state qubits and shows how transmission errors can be corrected.

•Sep 15, 2022•0 citations

Investigating Photonic Quantum Computation

Casey R. Myers

The use of photons as qubits is a promising implementation for quantum computation. The inability of photons to interact, especially with the environment, makes them an ideal physical candidate. However, this also makes them a difficult system to perform two qubit gates on. Recent breakthroughs in photonic quantum computing have shown methods around the requirement of direct photon-photon interaction. In this thesis we study three recently discovered schemes for optical quantum computation. \n \n We first investigate the so called linear optical quantum computing (LOQC) scheme, exploring a method to improve the original proposal by constructing a photon-number QND detector that succeeds with a high probability. In doing this we present a new type of LOQC teleporter, one that can detect the presence of a single photon in an arbitrary polarisation state when the input state is a sum of vacuum and multi-photon terms. This new type of teleporter is an improvement on the original scheme in that the entangled states required can be made offline with fewer entangling operations. \n \n We next investigate the so called quantum bus (qubus) scheme for photonic quantum computing. We show a scheme to measure the party of n qubit states by using a single qubus mode, controlled rotations and displacements. This allows for the syndrome measurements of any stabilizer quantum error correcting code. We extend these results to a fault tolerant scheme to measure an arbitrary Pauli operator of weight n, incorporating so called single bit teleportations. We investigate the construction of a Toffoli gate by using a single qubus mode, controlled rotations and displacements that works with a success probability of at least 25%. We also investigate the use of single bit teleportations to construct a universal set of gates on coherent state type logic and in the construction of cluster states. \n \nWe finally investigate the optical Zeno gate, a gate that uses the Zeno effect in the form of two photon absorbers to induce a CSIGN. We model realistic two photon absorption and include realistic single photon loss for this gate, examining the use of encoding to overcome the single photon loss, showing that our results are competitive with the leading equivalent LOQC scheme.

•Sep 28, 2007•0 citations
This thesis deals with the implementation of quantum channels using linear optics. We begin with overviews of some important concepts in both quantum information and quantum optics. First, we discuss the quantum bit and describe the evolution of the states via quantum channels. We then discuss both quantum state and process tomography, methods for how to determine which states and operations we are experimentally implementing in the lab. Second, we discuss topics in quantum optics such the generation of single photons, polarization entanglement, and the construction of an entangling gate. \n \nThe first experiment is the implementation of a quantum damping channel, which intentionally can add a specific type and amount of decohering noise to a photonic qubit. Specifically, we realized a class of quantum channels which contains both the amplitude-damping channel and the bit-flip channel, and did so with a single, static, optical setup. Many quantum channels, and some gates, can only be implemented probabilistically when using linear optics and postselection. Our main result is that the optical setup achieves the optimal success probability for each channel. Using a novel ancilla-assisted tomography, we characterize each case of the channel, and find process fideilities of 0.98pm0.010.98 \\pm 0.010.98pm0.01 for the amplitude-damping channel and 0.976pm0.0090.976 \\pm 0.0090.976pm0.009 for the bit-flip. \n \nThe second experiment is an implementation of a protocol for quantum computing on encrypted data. The protocol provides the means for a client with very limited quantum power to use a server's quantum computer while maintaining privacy over the data. We perform a quantum process tomography for each gate in a universal set, showing that only when the proper decryption key is used on the output states, which is hidden from the server, then the action of the quantum gate is recovered. Otherwise, the gate acts as the completely depolarizing channel.
We experimentally demonstrate a single-qubit decohering quantum channel using linear optics. We implement the channel, whose special cases include the familiar amplitude-damping channel and the bit-flip channel, using a single, static optical setup. Following a recent theoretical result (Piani et al 2011 Phys. Rev. A 84 032304), we realize the channel in an optimal way, maximizing the probability of success, i.e. the probability for the photonic qubit to remain in its encoding. Using a two-photon entangled resource, we characterize the channel using ancilla-assisted process tomography and find average process fidelities of 0.98 ± 0.01 and 0.976 ± 0.009 for amplitude-damping and the bit-flip case, respectively.
The main topic of this thesis is linear optics and the implementation of quantum operations (measurements, quantum channels, and unitary rotations) on optical systems. \nIn the opening chapter the basic notions needed to understand the rest of the thesis will be explained. \nThese notions include defining a quantum state, measurement, quantum channel and the linear optics tool set. \n \nThe work in this thesis takes both fundamental and practical approaches to studying linear optical networks. \nFor instance in the first chapter a proof is provided that shows that any unitary on a single mode Fock state can be realised with linear optics. \nThe proof is constructive, however the approach to realising the unitary is not suitable for experimental implementation \nbecause it requires complicated ancilla states. \nAs in the KLM proposal the procedure works only stochastically however by allowing the size of the ancilla to grow \nthe probability of failure can be made arbitrarly small. \n \nFurthermore we investigate the realisation of arbitrary channels in a specific encoding that we call a ddd-rail encoding. \nThe only ancilla state that we allow is a vacuum ancilliary state and further restrictions were considered (e.g. photon counting). \nA proof is provided that using these resources only random unitaries can be applied deterministically using linear optics. An expression for the optimal probability of success for realising \nmore general channels with these resources is also discussed. \n \nAs a final topic we also investigate the realisation of a quantum non-demolition measurement onto the dual rail qubit space. \nThe investigation is a blend of both fundamental and practical approaches. \nTo begin we employ a modified KLM-like procedure and show that the scheme can be realised perfectly but stochastically. \nThe probability that the proper measurement is made can be made arbitrarly close to one using a suitably large ancilla state. \nIn addition we consider an existing scheme \\cite{gisin10a} which uses practical sources (two single photon sources) to perform the measurement. \nThe scheme does not realise the true measurement but instead has a free parameter in it which is the transmittiviy of a beamsplitter. The measurement will project onto a space that has a vacuum component. By adjusting the transmittivity of this beamsplitter the vacuum component can be made arbitrarly small but only at the expense of the probability of success of the procedure. \nIn this thesis a modification that can be made to eliminate the vacuum component without changing the sources is introduced. The modification is surprisingly simple and only involves the addition of a single beamsplitter. In the proposal for the original amplifier it was used in simulations for DIQKD that included device imperfections. \nTo show the improvement of our modification these DIQKD simulations are reproduced using the modified amplifier and its results are compared to the results of the original amplifier.
The experiments described in this thesis form an investigation into the path towards establishing the requirements of quantum computing in a linear optical system. Our qubits are polarisation encoded photons for which the basic operations of quantum computing, single qubit rotations, are a well understood problem. The difficulty lies in the interaction of photons. To achieve these we use measurement induced non-linearities. The first experiment in this thesis describes the thorough characterisation of a controlled-sign gate based on such non-linearities. The photons are provided as pairs generated through parametric down-conversion, and as such share correlations unlikely to carry over into large scale implementations of the future. En route to such larger circuits, a characterisation of the actions of the controlled-sign gate is conducted, when the input qubits have been generated independently from each other, revealing a large drop in process fidelity. To explore the cause of this degradation of the gate performance a thorough and highly accurate model of the gate is derived including the realistic description of faulty circuitry, photon loss and multi-photon emission by the source. By simulating the effects of the various noise sources individually, the heretofore largely ignored multi-photon emission is identified as the prime cause of the degraded gate performance, causing a drop in fidelity nearly three times as large as any other error source. I further draw the first comparison between the performance of an experimental gate to the error probabilities per gate derived as thresholds for fault-tolerant quantum computing. In the absence of a single vigourous threshold value, I compare the gate performance to the models that yielded the highest threshold to date as an upper bound and to the threshold of the Gremlin-model, which allows for the most general errors. Unsurprisingly this comparison reveals that the implemented gate is clearly insufficient, however just remedying the multi-photon emission error will allow this architecture to move to within striking distance of the boundary for fault-tolerant quantum computing. The utilised methodology can be applied to any gate in any architecture and can, combined with a suitable model of the noise sources, become an important guide for developments required to achieve fault tolerant quantum computing. The final experiment on the path towards linear optical quantum computing is the demonstration of a pair of basic versions of Shor's algorithm which display the essential entanglement for the algorithm. The results again highlight the need for extensive measurements to reveal the fundamental quality of the implemented algorithm, which is not accessible with limited indicative measurements. In the second part of the thesis, I describe two experiments on other forms of entanglement by extending the actions of a Fock-State filter, a filter that is capable of attenuating single photon states stronger than multi-photon states, to produce entangled states. Furthermore this device can be used in conjunction with standard wave-plates to extend the range of operations possible on the bi-photonic qutrit space, showing that this setup suffices to produce any desired qutrit state, thereby giving access to new measurement capabilities and in the process creating and proving the first entanglement between a qubit and a qutrit.
We propose and theoretically study a method for the stochastic realization of arbitrary quantum channels on multimode single-photon qudits. In order for our method to be undemanding in its implementation, we restrict our analysis to linear-optical techniques, vacuum ancillary states, and nonadaptive schemes, but we allow for random switching between different optical networks. With our method it is possible to deterministically implement random-unitary channels and to stochastically implement general channels. We provide an expression for the optimal probability of success of our scheme and calculate this quantity for specific examples such as the qubit amplitude-damping channel. The success probability is shown to be related to the entanglement properties of the Choi-Jamio\l{}kowski state isomorphic to the channel.
This thesis covers several topics in optical quantum computation. A quantum computer is a computational device which is able to manipulate information by performing unitary operations on some physical system whose state can be described as a vector (or mixture of vectors) in a Hilbert space. The basic unit of information, called the qubit, is considered to be a system with two orthogonal states, which are assigned logical values of 0 and 1. Photons make excellent candidates to serve as qubits. They have little interactions with the environment. Many operations can be performed using very simple linear optical devices such as beam splitters and phase shifters. Photons can easily be processed through circuit-like networks. Operations can be performed in very short times. Photons are ideally suited for the long-distance communication of quantum information. The great difficulty in constructing an optical quantum computer is that photons naturally interact weakly with one another. This thesis first gives a brief review of two early approaches to optical quantum computation. It will describe how any discrete unitary operation can be performed using a single photon and a network of beam splitters, and how the Kerr effect can be used to construct a two photon logic gate. Second, this work provides a thorough introduction to the linear optical quantum computer developed by Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn. It then presents this author's results on the reliability of this scheme when implemented using imperfect photon detectors. This author finds that quantum computers of this sort cannot be built using current technology. Third, this dissertation describes a method for constructing a linear optical quantum computer using nearly orthogonal coherent states of light as the qubits. It shows how a universal set of logic operations can be performed, including calculations of the fidelity with which these operations may be accomplished. It discusses methods for reducing and correcting errors and recovering from failed operations. Lastly it describes an analysis of the long distance transmission of the coherent state qubits and shows how transmission errors can be corrected.
The use of photons as qubits is a promising implementation for quantum computation. The inability of photons to interact, especially with the environment, makes them an ideal physical candidate. However, this also makes them a difficult system to perform two qubit gates on. Recent breakthroughs in photonic quantum computing have shown methods around the requirement of direct photon-photon interaction. In this thesis we study three recently discovered schemes for optical quantum computation. \n \n We first investigate the so called linear optical quantum computing (LOQC) scheme, exploring a method to improve the original proposal by constructing a photon-number QND detector that succeeds with a high probability. In doing this we present a new type of LOQC teleporter, one that can detect the presence of a single photon in an arbitrary polarisation state when the input state is a sum of vacuum and multi-photon terms. This new type of teleporter is an improvement on the original scheme in that the entangled states required can be made offline with fewer entangling operations. \n \n We next investigate the so called quantum bus (qubus) scheme for photonic quantum computing. We show a scheme to measure the party of n qubit states by using a single qubus mode, controlled rotations and displacements. This allows for the syndrome measurements of any stabilizer quantum error correcting code. We extend these results to a fault tolerant scheme to measure an arbitrary Pauli operator of weight n, incorporating so called single bit teleportations. We investigate the construction of a Toffoli gate by using a single qubus mode, controlled rotations and displacements that works with a success probability of at least 25%. We also investigate the use of single bit teleportations to construct a universal set of gates on coherent state type logic and in the construction of cluster states. \n \nWe finally investigate the optical Zeno gate, a gate that uses the Zeno effect in the form of two photon absorbers to induce a CSIGN. We model realistic two photon absorption and include realistic single photon loss for this gate, examining the use of encoding to overcome the single photon loss, showing that our results are competitive with the leading equivalent LOQC scheme.