We show that the existing argument on the non-classicality of the continuous variable quantum teleportation (CVQT) experiment by the average fidelity criterion is incomplete therefore so far it is still unclear whether the CVQT experiment(Furusawa et al, Science,282, 706(1998)) is really non-classical.
We derive an experimentally testable criterion for the teleportation of quantum states of continuous variables. This criterion is especially relevant to the recent experiment of Furusawa et al. [Science 282, 706-709 (1998)] where an input-output fidelity of 0.58pm0.02 was achieved for optical coherent states. Our derivation demonstrates that fidelities greater than 1/2 could not have been achieved through the use of a classical channel alone; quantum entanglement was a crucial ingredient in the experiment.
The efficiency of continuous-variable quantum teleportation is typically quantified by fidelity especially in experiment. From the original definition of fidelity in two pure states, we give an expansion of fidelity which is related to the variances of output and input states. With a coherent or a squeezed input state, it is convenient to quantify the quantum teleportation experiment, since the variances of quadrature components of the input and output states are measurable. Furthermore, the fidelity was discussed when the quantum channel lies in the phase- and amplitude-noisy environment, which is unavoidable in experiment, and this showed that the effect of phase noise on teleportation is more sensitive than that of the amplitude-noisy environment. The classical fidelity limit of squeezed state quantum teleportation is also obtained when the entanglement resources do not exist.
Entangled coherent states can be used to determine the entanglement fidelity for a device that is designed to teleport coherent states. This entanglement fidelity is universal in that the calculation is independent of the use of entangled coherent states and applies generally to the teleportation of entanglement using coherent states. The average fidelity is shown to be a poor indicator of the capability of teleporting entanglement; i.e., very high average fidelity for the quantum teleportation apparatus can still result in low entanglement fidelity for one-mode of the two-mode entangled coherent states.