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

Science Advances

Realization of photon correlations beyond the linear optics limit

Geobae Park, Issei Matsumoto, Takayuki Kiyohara, Holger Friedrich Hofmann, Ryo Okamoto, Shigeki Takeuchi

Published Dec 22, 2023• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Linear optical transformations of multiple single-photon inputs are fundamental for the development of photonic quantum technologies. Various nonclassical correlations can already be observed directly in states generated using only single-photon inputs and linear optics transformations. However, some quantum correlations require additional operations, and states that exhibit such correlations are classified as non-Fock states. Here, we demonstrate the generation of a two-photon three-mode non-Fock state that exhibits conditional quantum coherences that can only be achieved by non-Fock states. We determine the fidelity of the non-Fock state based on experimentally observed conditional visibilities that characterize the state and compare the result to the fidelity bounds for different classes of Fock and non-Fock states. Our experimental verification of the non-Fock character of the state provides insights into the technological requirements needed to achieve nonclassical correlations in multiphoton quantum optics.

DOI
10.1126/sciadv.adj8146

Related papers

Experimental preparation of multiphoton-added coherent states of light

Jiří Fadrný, Michal Neset, Martin Bielak +3 more

Conditional addition of photons represents a crucial tool for optical quantum state engineering and it forms a fundamental building block of advanced quantum photonic devices. Here we report on experimental implementation of the conditional addition of several photons. We demonstrate the addition of one, two, and three photons to input coherent states with various amplitudes. The resulting highly nonclassical photon-added states are completely characterized with time-domain homodyne tomography, and the nonclassicality of the prepared states is witnessed by the negativity of their Wigner functions. We experimentally demonstrate that the conditional addition of photons realizes approximate noiseless quantum amplification of coherent states with sufficiently large amplitude. We also investigate certification of the stellar rank of the generated multiphoton-added coherent states, which quantifies the non-Gaussian resources required for their preparation. Our results pave the way towards the experimental realization of complex optical quantum operations based on combination of multiple photon additions and subtractions.

arXiv:2405.10403•npj Quantum Information•Sep 14, 2024•47 citations

Direct and efficient verification of entanglement between two multimode–multiphoton systems

Takayuki Kiyohara, Naoki Yamashiro, Ryo Okamoto +4 more

Linear-optic photonic networks with multiple single-photon inputs are attracting attention due to their great potential for quantum computation, quantum communication, and quantum sensing. They are also essential for verifying quantum advantages via boson sampling schemes. The quantum coherence of generated multimode–multiphoton states is crucial for various applications. However, the coherence is invisible in the normally obtained photon number distributions, which strictly limits the efficiency of entanglement verification between multimode–multiphoton systems since the required resources for quantum state tomography increase exponentially as the number of photons/modes increases. In this paper, we report the experimental demonstration of direct and efficient verification of entanglement between two multimode–multiphoton systems (one photon in three modes and two photons in three modes) using just two sets of classical correlation tables with and without a discrete Fourier transformation of the optical modes, clearly demonstrating a dramatic reduction in the resources required for entanglement verification. Our experimental demonstration paves the way to understanding the coherence and entanglement of multi-partite systems, not only for photons but for other quantum resources with high-dimensional degrees of freedom.

Optica•Sep 30, 2020•7 citations

Experimental Fock-State Capability of Non-Ideal Single-Photon States

Petr Zapletal, Tom Darras, Hanna Le Jeannic +4 more

Advanced quantum technologies, as well as fundamental tests of quantum physics, crucially require the interference of multiple single photons in linear-optics circuits. This interference can result in the bunching of photons into higher Fock states, leading to a complex bosonic behaviour. These challenging tasks timely require to develop collective criteria to benchmark many independent initial resources. Here we determine whether n independent imperfect single photons can ultimately bunch into the Fock state $|n\rangle$. We thereby introduce an experimental Fock-state capability for single-photon sources, which uses phase-space interference for extreme bunching events as a quantifier. In contrast to autocorrelation functions, this operational approach takes into account not only residual multi-photon components but also vacuum admixture and the dispersion of the individual photon statistics. We apply this approach to high-purity single photons generated from an optical parametric oscillator and show that they can lead to a Fock-state capability of at least 14. Our work demonstrates a novel collective benchmark for single-photon sources and their use in subsequent stringent applications.

•Dec 15, 2020•1 citation

Generation and evaluation of entanglement between two multi-photon systems using single photon sources and linear optics

Jun-Yi Wu, Holger Friedrich Hofmann

Single photon sources can be used to generate and control highly non-classical states of light. Here, we consider the possibility of generating bi-partite entanglement between two separate multi-photon states by splitting the input modes of the single photon sources into a mode distributed to $A$ and a mode distributed to $B$. If multiple photons are combined at $A$ and at $B$, the large variety of photon patterns observed after linear optics transformations of the local multi-mode systems can be used to characterize the non-classical correlation of this entangled state. However, the transformation between different photon number states in linear optics is a complicated problem, and further analysis is needed to understand the possible applications of this scalable quantum system. To obtain maximal complementarity between two measurements, we consider the unbiased interference of all input modes represented by a discrete Fourier transform of the multi-mode field. We identify characteristic patterns that can be used to identify non-classical correlations between the two multi-photon systems at $A$ and $B$ and derive a quantitative criterion for entanglement verification. Our results indicate that the large scale quantum operations can be achieved by a comparatively simple quantum network interfering the outputs of multiple single photons, where the size of the system mainly depends on the number of available single photon sources.

•Sep 8, 2016•0 citations

Experimental Fock-state bunching capability of non-ideal single-photon states

Petr Zapletal, Tom Darras, Hanna Le Jeannic +4 more

Advanced quantum technologies, as well as fundamental tests of quantum physics, crucially require the interference of multiple single photons in linear-optics circuits. This interference can result in the bunching of photons into higher Fock states, leading to a complex bosonic behavior. These challenging tasks timely require to develop collective criteria to benchmark many independent initial resources. Here we determine whether n independent imperfect single photons can ultimately bunch into the Fock state | n ⟩ . We thereby introduce an experimental Fock-state bunching capability for single-photon sources, which uses phase-space interference for extreme bunching events as a quantifier. In contrast to autocorrelation functions, this operational approach takes into account not only residual multi-photon components but also a vacuum admixture and the dispersion of individual photon statistics. We apply this approach to high-purity single photons generated from an optical parametric oscillator and show that they can lead to a Fock-state capability of at least 14. Our work demonstrates a novel collective benchmark for single-photon sources and their use in subsequent stringent applications.

arXiv:2012.08544•Optica•Mar 30, 2021•11 citations

Quantum non-Gaussian multiphoton light

Lukáš Lachman, Ivo Straka, Josef Hloušek +2 more

We propose an experimental method of recognizing quantum non-Gaussian multiphoton states.This is a native quantum property of Fock states, the fundamental quantum states with a constant number of particles.Our method allows experimental development and characterization of higher Fock states of light, reaching even beyond the current technical limits of their generation.We experimentally demonstrate that it is capable of distinguishing realistic quantum non-Gaussian light with the mean number of photons up to 5 despite detection efficiency of 50 %.We also provide evidence that our method can help to distinguish the number of single-photon emitters based only on their collective emission.

Quantum Information and Measurement (QIM)•Jan 1, 2019•3 citations
Linear optical transformations of multiple single-photon inputs are fundamental for the development of photonic quantum technologies. Various nonclassical correlations can already be observed directly in states generated using only single-photon inputs and linear optics transformations. However, some quantum correlations require additional operations, and states that exhibit such correlations are classified as non-Fock states. Here, we demonstrate the generation of a two-photon three-mode non-Fock state that exhibits conditional quantum coherences that can only be achieved by non-Fock states. We determine the fidelity of the non-Fock state based on experimentally observed conditional visibilities that characterize the state and compare the result to the fidelity bounds for different classes of Fock and non-Fock states. Our experimental verification of the non-Fock character of the state provides insights into the technological requirements needed to achieve nonclassical correlations in multiphoton quantum optics.
Conditional addition of photons represents a crucial tool for optical quantum state engineering and it forms a fundamental building block of advanced quantum photonic devices. Here we report on experimental implementation of the conditional addition of several photons. We demonstrate the addition of one, two, and three photons to input coherent states with various amplitudes. The resulting highly nonclassical photon-added states are completely characterized with time-domain homodyne tomography, and the nonclassicality of the prepared states is witnessed by the negativity of their Wigner functions. We experimentally demonstrate that the conditional addition of photons realizes approximate noiseless quantum amplification of coherent states with sufficiently large amplitude. We also investigate certification of the stellar rank of the generated multiphoton-added coherent states, which quantifies the non-Gaussian resources required for their preparation. Our results pave the way towards the experimental realization of complex optical quantum operations based on combination of multiple photon additions and subtractions.
Linear-optic photonic networks with multiple single-photon inputs are attracting attention due to their great potential for quantum computation, quantum communication, and quantum sensing. They are also essential for verifying quantum advantages via boson sampling schemes. The quantum coherence of generated multimode–multiphoton states is crucial for various applications. However, the coherence is invisible in the normally obtained photon number distributions, which strictly limits the efficiency of entanglement verification between multimode–multiphoton systems since the required resources for quantum state tomography increase exponentially as the number of photons/modes increases. In this paper, we report the experimental demonstration of direct and efficient verification of entanglement between two multimode–multiphoton systems (one photon in three modes and two photons in three modes) using just two sets of classical correlation tables with and without a discrete Fourier transformation of the optical modes, clearly demonstrating a dramatic reduction in the resources required for entanglement verification. Our experimental demonstration paves the way to understanding the coherence and entanglement of multi-partite systems, not only for photons but for other quantum resources with high-dimensional degrees of freedom.
Advanced quantum technologies, as well as fundamental tests of quantum physics, crucially require the interference of multiple single photons in linear-optics circuits. This interference can result in the bunching of photons into higher Fock states, leading to a complex bosonic behaviour. These challenging tasks timely require to develop collective criteria to benchmark many independent initial resources. Here we determine whether n independent imperfect single photons can ultimately bunch into the Fock state ∣n⟩|n\rangle∣n⟩. We thereby introduce an experimental Fock-state capability for single-photon sources, which uses phase-space interference for extreme bunching events as a quantifier. In contrast to autocorrelation functions, this operational approach takes into account not only residual multi-photon components but also vacuum admixture and the dispersion of the individual photon statistics. We apply this approach to high-purity single photons generated from an optical parametric oscillator and show that they can lead to a Fock-state capability of at least 14. Our work demonstrates a novel collective benchmark for single-photon sources and their use in subsequent stringent applications.
Single photon sources can be used to generate and control highly non-classical states of light. Here, we consider the possibility of generating bi-partite entanglement between two separate multi-photon states by splitting the input modes of the single photon sources into a mode distributed to AAA and a mode distributed to BBB. If multiple photons are combined at AAA and at BBB, the large variety of photon patterns observed after linear optics transformations of the local multi-mode systems can be used to characterize the non-classical correlation of this entangled state. However, the transformation between different photon number states in linear optics is a complicated problem, and further analysis is needed to understand the possible applications of this scalable quantum system. To obtain maximal complementarity between two measurements, we consider the unbiased interference of all input modes represented by a discrete Fourier transform of the multi-mode field. We identify characteristic patterns that can be used to identify non-classical correlations between the two multi-photon systems at AAA and BBB and derive a quantitative criterion for entanglement verification. Our results indicate that the large scale quantum operations can be achieved by a comparatively simple quantum network interfering the outputs of multiple single photons, where the size of the system mainly depends on the number of available single photon sources.
Advanced quantum technologies, as well as fundamental tests of quantum physics, crucially require the interference of multiple single photons in linear-optics circuits. This interference can result in the bunching of photons into higher Fock states, leading to a complex bosonic behavior. These challenging tasks timely require to develop collective criteria to benchmark many independent initial resources. Here we determine whether n independent imperfect single photons can ultimately bunch into the Fock state | n ⟩ . We thereby introduce an experimental Fock-state bunching capability for single-photon sources, which uses phase-space interference for extreme bunching events as a quantifier. In contrast to autocorrelation functions, this operational approach takes into account not only residual multi-photon components but also a vacuum admixture and the dispersion of individual photon statistics. We apply this approach to high-purity single photons generated from an optical parametric oscillator and show that they can lead to a Fock-state capability of at least 14. Our work demonstrates a novel collective benchmark for single-photon sources and their use in subsequent stringent applications.
We propose an experimental method of recognizing quantum non-Gaussian multiphoton states.This is a native quantum property of Fock states, the fundamental quantum states with a constant number of particles.Our method allows experimental development and characterization of higher Fock states of light, reaching even beyond the current technical limits of their generation.We experimentally demonstrate that it is capable of distinguishing realistic quantum non-Gaussian light with the mean number of photons up to 5 despite detection efficiency of 50 %.We also provide evidence that our method can help to distinguish the number of single-photon emitters based only on their collective emission.