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

Quantum Information and Computation

A simulated photon-number detector in quantum information processing

Kae Nemoto, S. Braunstein

Published Nov 1, 2002• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A simulated photon-number detection via homodyne detectors is considered as a way to improve the efficiency near the single-photon level of communication. Current photon-number detectors at infrared wavelengths are typically characterized by their low detection efficiencies, which significantly reduce the mutual information of a bosonic communication channel. In order to avoid the inefficiency inherent in such direct photon-number detection, we evaluate an alternative set-up based on efficient dual homodyne detection. We show that replacing inefficient direct detectors with homodyne-based simulated direct detectors can yield significant improvements, even near the single-photon level of operation. However we argue that there is a fundamental limit on the ability of homodyne detection to simulate ideal photon number detection, considering the exponential gap between quantum and classical computers. This applies to arbitrarily complicated simulation strategies based on homodyne detection.

DOI
10.26421/qic2.s-5

Related papers

Equivalent efficiency of a simulated photon-number detector

Kae Nemoto, Samuel L. Braunstein

Homodyne detection is considered as a way to improve the efficiency of communication near the single-photon level. The current lack of commercially available infrared photon-number detectors significantly reduces the mutual information accessible in such a communication channel. We consider simulating direct detection via homodyne detection. We find that our particular simulated direct detection strategy could provide limited improvement in the classical information transfer. However, we argue that homodyne detectors (and a polynomial number of linear optical elements) cannot simulate photocounters arbitrarily well, since otherwise the exponential gap between quantum and classical computers would vanish.

arXiv:quant-ph/0111087•Physical Review A•Sep 16, 2002•14 citations

Bennett-Brassard 1984 quantum key distribution using conjugate homodyne detection

Bing Qi

Optical homodyne detection has been widely used in continuous-variable (CV) quantum information processing for measuring field quadrature. In this paper we explore the possibility of operating a conjugate homodyne detection system in ``photon counting'' mode to implement discrete-variable (DV) quantum key distribution (QKD). A conjugate homodyne detection system, which consists of a beam splitter followed by two optical homodyne detectors, can simultaneously measure a pair of conjugate quadratures $X$ and $P$ of the incoming quantum state. In classical electrodynamics, ${X}^{2}+{P}^{2}$ is proportional to the energy (the photon number) of the input light. In quantum optics, $X$ and $P$ do not commute and thus the above photon-number measurement is intrinsically noisy. This implies that a blind application of standard security proofs of QKD could result in pessimistic performance. We overcome this obstacle by taking advantage of two special features of the proposed detection scheme. First, the fundamental detection noise associated with vacuum fluctuations cannot be manipulated by an external adversary. Second, the ability to reconstruct the photon number distribution at the receiver's end can place additional constraints on possible attacks from the adversary. As an example, we study the security of the BB84 QKD using conjugate homodyne detection and evaluate its performance through numerical simulations. This study may open the door to a family of QKD protocols, complementary to the well-established DV-QKD based on single-photon detection and CV-QKD based on coherent detection.

arXiv:2008.04142•Physical Review A•Jan 20, 2021•24 citations

Quantum-enhanced receiver for quadrature phase shift keying using conjugated homodyne detection

Tianyi Wu, Ran Yang, Zichao Zhou +3 more

Abstract Coherent detection (homodyne detection/heterodyne detection) and single photon detection are commonly applied in classical communication and quantum communication/receiver respectively. In this paper, we firstly propose a quantum-enhanced receiver based on conjugated homodyne detection, which is consisted of two classical balanced homodyne detectors, for discrimination among quadrature-phase-modulated weak coherent states. Our detection part works as a photon counter in every single-shot measurement during the process of detection and feedback, which could help our quantum-enhanced receiver surpass the standard quantum limit when an optimized detection threshold $\tau = 0.3$ is selected. Moreover, our proposed quantum-enhanced receiver with conjugated homodyne detectors can obtain the same low error probability as conventional quantum-enhanced receivers (with its superconducting nanowire single photon detectors' detection efficiency 75$\%$ for pulse separation $M=8$ and 85$\%$ for $M=12$ under the same adaptive feedback countermeasures.) Meanwhile, our scheme of the quantum-enhanced receiver gains its incomparable advantages on room-temperature working condition and low cost due to the application of conjugated homodyne detectors. As far as we concerned, this is the first time to explore the performance of the quantum-enhanced receiver with commercial homodyne detectors. And the analysis in this paper may pave the way to reduce the cost of the quantum-enhanced receiver and make it more adaptable for long-distance optical communication systems.

EPJ Quantum Technology•May 2, 2023•2 citations

Hybrid near-optimum binary receiver with realistic photon-number-resolving detectors

Michele N. Notarnicola, Matteo G. A. Paris, Stefano Olivares

We propose a near-optimum receiver for the discrimination of binary phase-shift-keyed coherent states employing photon-number-resolving detectors. The receiver exploits a discrimination strategy based on both so-called homodyne-like and direct detection, thus resulting in a hybrid scheme. We analyze the performance and robustness of the proposed scheme under realistic conditions, namely, in the presence of inefficient detection and dark counts. We show that the present hybrid setup is near- optimum and beats both the standard quantum limit and the performance of the Kennedy receiver.

arXiv:2207.07518•Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Jan 18, 2023•19 citations

Estimating the Photon-Number Distribution of Photonic Channels for Realistic Devices and Applications in Photonic Quantum Information Processing

Emilien Lavie, Ignatius William Primaatmaja, Wen Yu Kon +2 more

Characterizing the input-output photon-number distribution of an unknown optical quantum channel is a worthwhile task for many applications in quantum information processing. Ideally, this would require deterministic photon-number sources and photon-number-resolving detectors, but these technologies are still work in progress. In this work, we propose a general method to rigorously bound the input-output photon-number distribution of an unknown optical channel using standard optical devices such as coherent light sources and non-photon-number-resolving detectors and homodyne detectors. To demonstrate the broad utility of our method, we consider the security analysis of practical quantum key distribution systems based on calibrated single-photon detectors and an experimental proposal to implement time-correlated single-photon counting technology using homodyne detectors instead of single-photon detectors.

arXiv:2102.08419•Physical Review Applied•Sep 10, 2021•5 citations

Hybrid Approach to Mitigate Errors in Linear Photonic Bell-State Measurement for Quantum Interconnects

Beate E. Asenbeck, Akito Kawasaki, Ambroise Boyer +4 more

Optical quantum information processing relies critically on Bell-state measurement, a ubiquitous operation for quantum communication and computing. Its practical realization involves the interference of optical modes and the detection of a single photon in an indistinguishable manner. Yet, in the absence of efficient photon-number-resolution capabilities, errors arise from multiphoton components, decreasing the overall process fidelity. Here, we introduce a hybrid detection scheme for Bell-state measurement, leveraging both on-off single-photon detection and quadrature conditioning via homodyne detection. We derive explicit fidelities for quantum teleportation and entanglement-swapping processes employing this strategy, demonstrating its efficacy. We also compare with photon-number-resolving detectors and find a strong advantage of the hybrid scheme in a wide range of parameters. This work provides a new tool for linear-optics schemes, with applications to quantum state engineering and quantum interconnects. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

arXiv:2406.10331•PRX Quantum•Aug 12, 2024•1 citation
A simulated photon-number detection via homodyne detectors is considered as a way to improve the efficiency near the single-photon level of communication. Current photon-number detectors at infrared wavelengths are typically characterized by their low detection efficiencies, which significantly reduce the mutual information of a bosonic communication channel. In order to avoid the inefficiency inherent in such direct photon-number detection, we evaluate an alternative set-up based on efficient dual homodyne detection. We show that replacing inefficient direct detectors with homodyne-based simulated direct detectors can yield significant improvements, even near the single-photon level of operation. However we argue that there is a fundamental limit on the ability of homodyne detection to simulate ideal photon number detection, considering the exponential gap between quantum and classical computers. This applies to arbitrarily complicated simulation strategies based on homodyne detection.
Homodyne detection is considered as a way to improve the efficiency of communication near the single-photon level. The current lack of commercially available infrared photon-number detectors significantly reduces the mutual information accessible in such a communication channel. We consider simulating direct detection via homodyne detection. We find that our particular simulated direct detection strategy could provide limited improvement in the classical information transfer. However, we argue that homodyne detectors (and a polynomial number of linear optical elements) cannot simulate photocounters arbitrarily well, since otherwise the exponential gap between quantum and classical computers would vanish.
Optical homodyne detection has been widely used in continuous-variable (CV) quantum information processing for measuring field quadrature. In this paper we explore the possibility of operating a conjugate homodyne detection system in ``photon counting'' mode to implement discrete-variable (DV) quantum key distribution (QKD). A conjugate homodyne detection system, which consists of a beam splitter followed by two optical homodyne detectors, can simultaneously measure a pair of conjugate quadratures XXX and PPP of the incoming quantum state. In classical electrodynamics, X2+P2{X}^{2}+{P}^{2}X2+P2 is proportional to the energy (the photon number) of the input light. In quantum optics, XXX and PPP do not commute and thus the above photon-number measurement is intrinsically noisy. This implies that a blind application of standard security proofs of QKD could result in pessimistic performance. We overcome this obstacle by taking advantage of two special features of the proposed detection scheme. First, the fundamental detection noise associated with vacuum fluctuations cannot be manipulated by an external adversary. Second, the ability to reconstruct the photon number distribution at the receiver's end can place additional constraints on possible attacks from the adversary. As an example, we study the security of the BB84 QKD using conjugate homodyne detection and evaluate its performance through numerical simulations. This study may open the door to a family of QKD protocols, complementary to the well-established DV-QKD based on single-photon detection and CV-QKD based on coherent detection.
Abstract Coherent detection (homodyne detection/heterodyne detection) and single photon detection are commonly applied in classical communication and quantum communication/receiver respectively. In this paper, we firstly propose a quantum-enhanced receiver based on conjugated homodyne detection, which is consisted of two classical balanced homodyne detectors, for discrimination among quadrature-phase-modulated weak coherent states. Our detection part works as a photon counter in every single-shot measurement during the process of detection and feedback, which could help our quantum-enhanced receiver surpass the standard quantum limit when an optimized detection threshold τ=0.3\tau = 0.3τ=0.3 is selected. Moreover, our proposed quantum-enhanced receiver with conjugated homodyne detectors can obtain the same low error probability as conventional quantum-enhanced receivers (with its superconducting nanowire single photon detectors' detection efficiency 75%\%% for pulse separation M=8M=8M=8 and 85%\%% for M=12M=12M=12 under the same adaptive feedback countermeasures.) Meanwhile, our scheme of the quantum-enhanced receiver gains its incomparable advantages on room-temperature working condition and low cost due to the application of conjugated homodyne detectors. As far as we concerned, this is the first time to explore the performance of the quantum-enhanced receiver with commercial homodyne detectors. And the analysis in this paper may pave the way to reduce the cost of the quantum-enhanced receiver and make it more adaptable for long-distance optical communication systems.
We propose a near-optimum receiver for the discrimination of binary phase-shift-keyed coherent states employing photon-number-resolving detectors. The receiver exploits a discrimination strategy based on both so-called homodyne-like and direct detection, thus resulting in a hybrid scheme. We analyze the performance and robustness of the proposed scheme under realistic conditions, namely, in the presence of inefficient detection and dark counts. We show that the present hybrid setup is near- optimum and beats both the standard quantum limit and the performance of the Kennedy receiver.
Characterizing the input-output photon-number distribution of an unknown optical quantum channel is a worthwhile task for many applications in quantum information processing. Ideally, this would require deterministic photon-number sources and photon-number-resolving detectors, but these technologies are still work in progress. In this work, we propose a general method to rigorously bound the input-output photon-number distribution of an unknown optical channel using standard optical devices such as coherent light sources and non-photon-number-resolving detectors and homodyne detectors. To demonstrate the broad utility of our method, we consider the security analysis of practical quantum key distribution systems based on calibrated single-photon detectors and an experimental proposal to implement time-correlated single-photon counting technology using homodyne detectors instead of single-photon detectors.
Optical quantum information processing relies critically on Bell-state measurement, a ubiquitous operation for quantum communication and computing. Its practical realization involves the interference of optical modes and the detection of a single photon in an indistinguishable manner. Yet, in the absence of efficient photon-number-resolution capabilities, errors arise from multiphoton components, decreasing the overall process fidelity. Here, we introduce a hybrid detection scheme for Bell-state measurement, leveraging both on-off single-photon detection and quadrature conditioning via homodyne detection. We derive explicit fidelities for quantum teleportation and entanglement-swapping processes employing this strategy, demonstrating its efficacy. We also compare with photon-number-resolving detectors and find a strong advantage of the hybrid scheme in a wide range of parameters. This work provides a new tool for linear-optics schemes, with applications to quantum state engineering and quantum interconnects. Published by the American Physical Society 2024