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Physical Review Research

Generation of high-dimensional qudit quantum states via two-dimensional quantum walks

Chiara Esposito, Francesco Di Colandrea, Francesco Hoch, Gonzalo Carvacho, Filippo Cardano, Nicolò Spagnolo, Lorenzo Marrucci, Fabio Sciarrino

Published Oct 10, 2023• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Several quantum protocols, with applications ranging from fundamental studies to cryptographic scenarios, can be enhanced through the generation and manipulation of quantum states that belong to high-dimensional Hilbert spaces. For this reason, it is worth devoting efforts to find more efficient methods for complex qudit-state generation. One-dimensional quantum walks have proved to be efficient and versatile platforms for the engineering of such complex states. Hitherto, however, using their two-dimensional counterpart for this task has remained unexplored. In this paper, we consider two-dimensional quantum walk evolution as a tool for the generation of high-dimensional qudit states. We theoretically prove that a suitable change of the coin operators at each step permits the generation of a subset of qudit states by using less resources with respect to the one-dimensional counterpart. Then, we successfully generate qudit states by exploiting two-dimensional quantum walks on an experimental photonic platform. The walker position is encoded on discrete sets of optical modes carrying quantized amounts of transverse momentum and the mode couplings are actively controlled via liquid-crystal devices. The obtained results provide insight into qudit generation for applications in quantum communication and quantum cryptography.

DOI
10.1103/physrevresearch.5.043025

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The preparation of high-dimensional quan- tum states is of great significance in quantum information sci- ence and technology. Compared to qubits, qudit states – de- scribing quantum systems in d-dimensional spaces – enable stronger foundational tests of quantum mechanics [1–3] and better-performing applications in secure quantum communi- cations [4–9], quantum emulation [10, 11], quantum error cor- rection [12–14], fault-tolerant quantum computation [15–19], and quantum machine learning [20–22]. Needless to say, protocols performed on systems living in Hilbert spaces of large dimension require an increasing degree of control, in light of the large number of parameters required to describe states and operations. Nonetheless, the endeav- our of preparing arbitrary qudit states has been successfully achieved in various physical platforms [11, 23–32]. However, most of these works rely on ad hoc strategies, whose specific dependence on the underpinning dynamics makes their trans- lation across different physical platforms very difficult. A very promising way to achieve the desired full inde- pendence of the physical platform, and thus a higher degree of universality, is the use of the rich dynamics offered by Quantum Walks (QWs) [33–35]. QWs, which can be thought of as the quantum counterparts of classical random walks, describe in their discrete version a high-dimensional qudit, named walker, embedded with an internal two-dimensional degree of freedom, conventionally dubbed coin. At every time step, the walker’s state moves coherently to the neighbouring sites in the lattice, conditionally to its coin state [36]. QWs have been successfully implemented [37] in systems as di- verse as trapped atoms [38] and ions [39, 40], photonic cir- cuits [41–50], and optical lattices [51]. Hence, an approach for state engineering based on their dynamics offers hope of being applicable effectively in a variety of different systems, independently of the details of the physical implementation. While the QW dynamics was previously shown to allow the engineering of specific walker’s states [52, 53], in Ref. [54] a scheme was proposed to use discrete-time QWs on a line to prepare arbitrary qudit states. This is achieved by enhanc- ing the degree of control over the walk’s dynamics through the arrangement of suitable step-dependent coin operations, which affect the coin-walker quantum correlations by de facto steering the state of the walker towards the desired final state, and finally projecting in the coin space. This last operation removes the correlations between walker and coin, thus pro- ducing a pure walker state with the desired features. In light of the large parameter space that characterizes the problem at hand, a systematic approach to the identification of the right set of coin operations and final projection is necessary. Such an analysis was presented in Ref. [54], in which a set of an- alytic conditions, together with suitable numerical optimiza- tions, was shown to guarantee the reaching of arbitrary target states with high probability. In this paper, we make use of the scheme of Ref. [54] to give the first demonstration of a state-engineering protocol based on the controlled dynamics generated by QWs. We use the orbital angular momentum (OAM) degree of freedom of single-photon states as a convenient embodiment of the walker [48, 55, 56]. OAM-based experiments offer the pos- sibility to cover Hilbert spaces of large dimensions in light of the favourable (linear) scaling of the number of optical ele- ments with the size of the walk. Moreover, the scheme al- lows for the full control of the coin operation that is key to the implementation of the walk. In order to demonstrate the ver- satility of our scheme, we focus on the interesting classes of cat-like states and spin-coherent states [57, 58]. Those classes play a critical role in the exploration of the boundaries be- tween quantum and classical physics and whose implementa- tion is, in general, still a challenging task. Furthermore, we show experimentally the capability of engineering arbitrary states. The quality of the states synthesized in our endeavours, and the relative simplicity of the experimental protocol that we have put in place, demonstrate the effectiveness of a hybrid platform for quantum state engineering. Such platform holds together a programmable quantum system, the photonic QW in the angular momentum, and classical optimization al- gorithms for finding the best evolution to reach a certain quantum target. [1] T. Ve ́rtesi, S. Pironio, and N. 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Complex Light and Optical Forces•Mar 8, 2019•0 citations
Several quantum protocols, with applications ranging from fundamental studies to cryptographic scenarios, can be enhanced through the generation and manipulation of quantum states that belong to high-dimensional Hilbert spaces. For this reason, it is worth devoting efforts to find more efficient methods for complex qudit-state generation. One-dimensional quantum walks have proved to be efficient and versatile platforms for the engineering of such complex states. Hitherto, however, using their two-dimensional counterpart for this task has remained unexplored. In this paper, we consider two-dimensional quantum walk evolution as a tool for the generation of high-dimensional qudit states. We theoretically prove that a suitable change of the coin operators at each step permits the generation of a subset of qudit states by using less resources with respect to the one-dimensional counterpart. Then, we successfully generate qudit states by exploiting two-dimensional quantum walks on an experimental photonic platform. The walker position is encoded on discrete sets of optical modes carrying quantized amounts of transverse momentum and the mode couplings are actively controlled via liquid-crystal devices. The obtained results provide insight into qudit generation for applications in quantum communication and quantum cryptography.
The capability to generate and manipulate quantum states in high-dimensional Hilbert spaces is a crucial step for the development of quantum technologies, from quantum communication to quantum computation. One-dimensional quantum walk dynamics represents a valid tool in the task of engineering arbitrary quantum states. Here we affirm such potential in a linear-optics platform that realizes discrete-time quantum walks in the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom of photons. Different classes of relevant qudit states in a six-dimensional space are prepared and measured, confirming the feasibility of the protocol. Our results represent a further investigation of quantum walk dynamics in photonics platforms, paving the way for the use of such a quantum state-engineering toolbox for a large range of applications.
The generation and control of quantum correlations in high-dimensional systems is a major challenge in the present landscape of quantum technologies. Achieving such non-classical high-dimensional resources will potentially unlock enhanced capabilities for quantum cryptography, communication and computation. We propose a protocol that is able to attain entangled states of d-dimensional systems through a quantum-walk (QW)-based transfer & accumulate mechanism involving coin and walker degrees of freedom. The choice of investigating QW is motivated by their generality and versatility, complemented by their successful implementation in several physical systems. Hence, given the cross-cutting role of QW across quantum information, our protocol potentially represents a versatile general tool to control high-dimensional entanglement generation in various experimental platforms. In particular, we illustrate a possible photonic implementation where the information is encoded in the orbital angular momentum and polarization degrees of freedom of single photons.
Abstract The generation and control of quantum correlations in high-dimensional systems is a major challenge in the present landscape of quantum technologies. Achieving such non-classical high-dimensional resources will potentially unlock enhanced capabilities for quantum cryptography, communication and computation. We propose a protocol that is able to attain entangled states of d-dimensional systems through a quantum-walk (QW)-based transfer & accumulate mechanism involving coin and walker degrees of freedom. The choice of investigating QW is motivated by their generality and versatility, complemented by their successful implementation in several physical systems. Hence, given the cross-cutting role of QW across quantum information, our protocol potentially represents a versatile general tool to control high-dimensional entanglement generation in various experimental platforms. In particular, we illustrate a possible photonic implementation where the information is encoded in the orbital angular momentum and polarization degrees of freedom of single photons.
Abstract Quantum walks represent paradigmatic quantum evolutions, enabling powerful applications in the context of topological physics and quantum computation. They have been implemented in diverse photonic architectures, but the realization of two-particle dynamics on a multidimensional lattice has hitherto been limited to continuous-time evolutions. To fully exploit the computational capabilities of quantum interference it is crucial to develop platforms handling multiple photons that propagate across multidimensional lattices. Here, we report a discrete-time quantum walk of two correlated photons in a two-dimensional lattice, synthetically engineered by manipulating a set of optical modes carrying quantized amounts of transverse momentum. Mode-couplings are introduced via the polarization-controlled diffractive action of thin geometric-phase optical elements. The entire platform is compact, efficient, scalable, and represents a versatile tool to simulate quantum evolutions on complex lattices. We expect that it will have a strong impact on diverse fields such as quantum state engineering, topological quantum photonics, and Boson Sampling.
Quantum state engineering, namely, the generation and control of arbitrary quantum states, is drawing more and more attention due to its wide applications in quantum information and computation. However, there is no general method in theory, and the existing schemes also depend heavily on the selected experimental platform. In this article, we give two schemes for the generating task of arbitrary quantum state in ccc-partite ddd-dimensional system, both of which are based on a discrete-time quantum walk with a 2c{2}^{c}2c-dimensional time- and position-dependent coin. The first procedure is a ddd-step quantum walk where all the ddd coins are nonidentity, while the second procedure is an O(d)O(d)O(d)-step quantum walk where only O(logd)O(logd)O(logd) coins are nonidentity. A concrete example of preparing generalized Bell states is given to demonstrate the first scheme we proposed. Furthermore, the first scheme can be applied to give an alternative approach to the quantum state preparation problem which is one of the fundamental tasks of quantum information processing. We design circuits for quantum state preparation with the help of our quantum state engineering scheme that match the best current result in both size and depth of the circuit asymptotically.
The preparation of high-dimensional quan- tum states is of great significance in quantum information sci- ence and technology. Compared to qubits, qudit states – de- scribing quantum systems in d-dimensional spaces – enable stronger foundational tests of quantum mechanics [1–3] and better-performing applications in secure quantum communi- cations [4–9], quantum emulation [10, 11], quantum error cor- rection [12–14], fault-tolerant quantum computation [15–19], and quantum machine learning [20–22]. Needless to say, protocols performed on systems living in Hilbert spaces of large dimension require an increasing degree of control, in light of the large number of parameters required to describe states and operations. Nonetheless, the endeav- our of preparing arbitrary qudit states has been successfully achieved in various physical platforms [11, 23–32]. However, most of these works rely on ad hoc strategies, whose specific dependence on the underpinning dynamics makes their trans- lation across different physical platforms very difficult. A very promising way to achieve the desired full inde- pendence of the physical platform, and thus a higher degree of universality, is the use of the rich dynamics offered by Quantum Walks (QWs) [33–35]. QWs, which can be thought of as the quantum counterparts of classical random walks, describe in their discrete version a high-dimensional qudit, named walker, embedded with an internal two-dimensional degree of freedom, conventionally dubbed coin. At every time step, the walker’s state moves coherently to the neighbouring sites in the lattice, conditionally to its coin state [36]. QWs have been successfully implemented [37] in systems as di- verse as trapped atoms [38] and ions [39, 40], photonic cir- cuits [41–50], and optical lattices [51]. Hence, an approach for state engineering based on their dynamics offers hope of being applicable effectively in a variety of different systems, independently of the details of the physical implementation. While the QW dynamics was previously shown to allow the engineering of specific walker’s states [52, 53], in Ref. [54] a scheme was proposed to use discrete-time QWs on a line to prepare arbitrary qudit states. This is achieved by enhanc- ing the degree of control over the walk’s dynamics through the arrangement of suitable step-dependent coin operations, which affect the coin-walker quantum correlations by de facto steering the state of the walker towards the desired final state, and finally projecting in the coin space. This last operation removes the correlations between walker and coin, thus pro- ducing a pure walker state with the desired features. In light of the large parameter space that characterizes the problem at hand, a systematic approach to the identification of the right set of coin operations and final projection is necessary. Such an analysis was presented in Ref. [54], in which a set of an- alytic conditions, together with suitable numerical optimiza- tions, was shown to guarantee the reaching of arbitrary target states with high probability. In this paper, we make use of the scheme of Ref. [54] to give the first demonstration of a state-engineering protocol based on the controlled dynamics generated by QWs. We use the orbital angular momentum (OAM) degree of freedom of single-photon states as a convenient embodiment of the walker [48, 55, 56]. OAM-based experiments offer the pos- sibility to cover Hilbert spaces of large dimensions in light of the favourable (linear) scaling of the number of optical ele- ments with the size of the walk. 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