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Optics Express

Counterfactual entanglement swapping enables high-efficiency entanglement distribution

Qi Guo, Liu‐Yong Cheng, Hong‐Fu Wang, Shou Zhang

Published Oct 3, 2018• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose an alternative entanglement swapping scheme based on the principle of the counterfactual quantum communication, which demonstrates nonlocal entanglement swapping can be achieved by the operations of a third party. During the whole process, it is not needed to transmit any physical particles among the participants. Furthermore, all the entangled particles are not destroyed in the counterfactual entanglement swapping process, which means we can obtain two pairs of nonlocal entanglement at the same time, thus achieve high-efficiency entanglement distribution. The numerical analysis about the performance of the presented scheme shows that this counterfactual protocol can be implemented with high success probability and fidelity in the ideal asymptotic limit. The scheme may be meaningful for large-scale quantum communication network and quantum repeater.

DOI
10.1364/oe.26.027314

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We propose an alternative entanglement swapping scheme based on the principle of the counterfactual quantum communication, which demonstrates nonlocal entanglement swapping can be achieved by the operations of a third party. During the whole process, it is not needed to transmit any physical particles among the participants. Furthermore, all the entangled particles are not destroyed in the counterfactual entanglement swapping process, which means we can obtain two pairs of nonlocal entanglement at the same time, thus achieve high-efficiency entanglement distribution. The numerical analysis about the performance of the presented scheme shows that this counterfactual protocol can be implemented with high success probability and fidelity in the ideal asymptotic limit. The scheme may be meaningful for large-scale quantum communication network and quantum repeater.
To date, all schemes for entanglement distribution needed to send entangled particles or a separable mediating particle among distant participants. Here, we propose a counterfactual protocol for entanglement distribution against the traditional forms, that is, two distant particles can be entangled with no physical particles travel between the two remote participants. We also present an alternative scheme for realizing the counterfactual photonic entangled state distribution using Michelson-type interferometer and self-assembled GaAs/InAs quantum dot embedded in a optical microcavity. The numerical analysis about the effect of experimental imperfections on the performance of the scheme shows that the entanglement distribution may be implementable with high fidelity.
Counterfactual quantum communication allows distant users to share a message without any physical particles traveling through the quantum channel. Here, we present a counterfactual scheme to realize multiparty entanglement distribution. We first realize bipartite counterfactual entanglement distribution to create photon–electron entanglement by using interaction-free measurements and quantum dots. Then the atom–cavity systems are used to create many photon–photon entanglement pairs, which can connect photon–electron pairs with the help of an entanglement beam splitter. Consequently, the electron spins in distant optical microcavities are entangled by the coherent exchange of single flying photons. We also discuss the implementation issues to show that the presented scheme can be realized successfully in experiment. The numerical analysis about the efficiency of multiparty entanglement distribution indicates that there is a trade-off between the entanglement fidelity and the number of users.
We propose two counterfactual schemes for tripartite entanglement distribution without any physical particles travelling through the quantum channel. One scheme arranges three participators to connect with the absorption object by using switch. Using the "chained" quantum Zeno effect, three participators can accomplish the task of entanglement distribution with unique counterfactual interference probability. Another scheme uses Michelson-type interferometer to swap two entanglement pairs such that the photons of three participators are entangled. Moreover, the distance of entanglement distribution is doubled as two distant absorption objects are used. We also discuss the implementation issues to show that the proposed schemes can be realized with current technology.
Long-distance quantum communication holds significant promises for information transmission over extremely large distances. However, ensuring communication security over extensive distances poses considerable challenges. In this article, we propose a new approach to long-distance quantum communication that is carried out in an information-carrying particle-free manner, known as counterfactual quantum communication. Our approach extends the counterfactual transmission signal by leveraging quantum repeaters situated between distant nodes, facilitating counterfactual entanglement swapping. Due to the absence of information-carrying particles in the channel, it enhances the security of information transmission. We demonstrate that our proposed protocol not only establishes the direct communication link between distant nodes, but also generates redundant communication links between neighboring nodes, enhancing resilience against primary link failures. Furthermore, we provide numerical simulations of C-Swap gate and counterfactual long-distance quantum communication scenarios to quantify success probabilities where the photon is not lost during the counterfactual communication.
Abstract Counterfactual quantum communication is one of the most interesting facets of quantum communication, allowing two parties to communicate without any transmission of quantum or classical particles between the parties involved in the communication process. This aspect of quantum communication originates from the interaction-free measurements where the chained quantum Zeno effect plays an important role. Here, we propose a new counterfactual quantum communication protocol for transmitting an entangled state from a pair of electrons to two independent photons. Interestingly, the protocol proposed here shows that the counterfactual method can be employed to transfer information from house qubits to flying qubits. Following this, we show that the protocol finds uses in building quantum repeaters leading to a counterfactual quantum network, enabling counterfactual communication over a linear quantum network.
Entanglement-based quantum networks can provide unconditionally secure communication by distributing entangled pairs between distant end nodes. To achieve end-to-end entanglement distribution, multiple operations of entanglement swapping in a quantum repeater chain are always required. However, due to the non-determinism of entanglement swapping caused by imperfect physical devices, the execution pattern of swapping operations has a direct impact on the performance of entanglement distribution, which can be categorized into an entanglement access control (EAC) problem. In this article, we attribute the EAC problem to two aspects: the matching optimization within quantum nodes, and the swapping conflict avoidance between quantum nodes. Accordingly, we propose an asynchronous entanglement distribution protocol which contains a custom weighted maximum matching algorithm, and a reliable signaling interaction mechanism to avoid a swapping conflict, respectively. Based on the proposed protocol, quantum repeaters autonomously decide their behaviors and spontaneously construct the end-to-end entangled pairs asynchronously. Simulation results show that our protocol can significantly improve the entanglement distribution rate and fidelity of end-to-end entangled pairs while simplifying the deployment and management process of the quantum networks.