G. Alber

Perfect excitation of a matter qubit by a single photon in free space

We propose a scheme for perfect excitation of a single two-level atom by a single photon in free space. The photon state has to match the time reversed photon state originating from spontaneous decay of a two-level system. Here, we discuss its experimental preparation. The state is characterized by a particular asymmetric exponentially shaped temporal profile. Any deviations from this ideal state limit the maximum absorption. Although perfect excitation requires an infinite amount of time, we demonstrate that there is a class of initial one-photon quantum states which can achieve almost perfect absorption even for a finite interaction time. Our results pave the way for realizing perfect coupling between flying and stationary qubits in free space thus opening a possibility for building scalable quantum networks.

Hastening, delaying, or averting sudden death of quantum entanglement

The finite time end of entanglement between two decohering qubits can be modified by local, unitary actions performed during the decoherence process. Depending on the time when such action is taken, the end can be speeded up or slowed down, or even averted all together. This phenomenon offers practical applications for the stabilization of entangled quantum states. Details concerning hastening or delaying the finite-time end of entanglement are presented for two qubits which decay spontaneously into statistically independent reservoirs.

Manipulating entanglement sudden death of two-qubit X-states in zero- and finite-temperature reservoirs

Manipulation of sudden death of entanglement (ESD) of two qubits interacting with statistically uncorrelated thermal reservoirs is investigated. It is shown that for initially prepared X-states of the two qubits a simple (necessary and sufficient) criterion for ESD can be derived with the help of the Peres–Horodecki criterion. It is shown analytically that, in contrast to the zero-temperature case, at finite temperature of at least one of the reservoirs all initially prepared two-qubit X-states exhibit ESD. General conditions are derived under which ESD can be hastened, delayed or averted.Manipulation of sudden death of entanglement (ESD) of two qubits interacting with statistically uncorrelated thermal reservoirs is investigated. It is shown that for initially prepared X-states of the two qubits a simple (necessary and sufficient) criterion for ESD can be derived with the help of the Peres-Horodecki criterion. It is shown analytically that, in contrast to the zero-temperature case, at finite temperature of at least one of the reservoirs all initially prepared two-qubit X-states exhibit ESD. General conditions are derived under which ESD can be hastened, delayed, or averted.

Stabilizing Distinguishable Qubits against Spontaneous Decay by Detected-Jump Correcting Quantum Codes

A new class of error-correcting quantum codes is introduced capable of stabilizing qubits against spontaneous decay arising from couplings to statistically independent reservoirs. These quantum codes are based on the idea of using an embedded quantum code and exploiting the classical information available about which qubit has been affected by the environment. They are immediately relevant for quantum computation and information processing using arrays of trapped ions or nuclear spins. Interesting relations between these quantum codes and basic notions of design theory are established.

Efficient bipartite quantum state purification in arbitrary dimensional Hilbert spaces

A new purification scheme is proposed which applies to arbitrary dimensional bipartite quantum systems. It is based on the repeated application of a special class of nonlinear quantum maps and a single, local unitary operation. This special class of nonlinear quantum maps is generated in a natural way by a Hermitian generalized XOR-gate. The proposed purification scheme offers two major advantages, namely it does not require local depolarization operations at each step of the purification procedure and it purifies more efficiently than other known purification schemes.

Controlling quantum systems by embedded dynamical decoupling schemes

A dynamical decoupling method is presented which is based on embedding a deterministic decoupling scheme into a stochastic one. This way it is possible to combine the advantages of both methods and to increase the suppression of undesired perturbations of quantum systems significantly even for long interaction times. As a first application the stabilization of a quantum memory is discussed which is perturbed by one- and two-qubit interactions.

Error tolerance of two-basis quantum key-distribution protocols using qudits and two-way classical communication

We investigate the error tolerance of quantum cryptographic protocols using d-level systems. In particular, we focus on prepare-and-measure schemes that use two mutually unbiased bases and a key-distillation procedure with two-way classical communication. For arbitrary quantum channels, we obtain a sufficient condition for secret-key distillation which, in the case of isotropic quantum channels, yields an analytic expression for the maximally tolerable error rate of the cryptographic protocols under consideration. The difference between the tolerable error rate and its theoretical upper bound tends slowly to zero for sufficiently large dimensions of the information carriers.

Security bound of two-basis quantum-key-distribution protocols using qudits

We investigate the security bounds of quantum-cryptographic protocols using d-level systems. In particular, we focus on schemes that use two mutually unbiased bases, thus extending the Bennett-Brassard 1984 quantum-key-distribution scheme to higher dimensions. Under the assumption of general coherent attacks, we derive an analytic expression for the ultimate upper security bound of such quantum-cryptography schemes. This bound is well below the predictions of optimal cloning machines. The possibility of extraction of a secret key beyond entanglement distillation is discussed. In the case of qutrits we argue that any eavesdropping strategy is equivalent to a symmetric one. For higher dimensions such an equivalence is generally no longer valid.

A New Class of Designs Which Protect against Quantum Jumps

We present the theory and construction of a new class of designs, which we call SEEDs (spontaneous emission error designs), arising in the study of decay processes of certain quantum systems used in the newly emerging field of quantum computing. We show that there is a simple and surprising connection between subspaces of the system Hilbert space, stable against these quantum jumps and the incidence matrices of SEEDs.

Quantum error correction of coherent errors by randomization

A general error correction method is presented which is capable of correcting coherent errors originating from static residual inter-qubit couplings in a quantum computer. It is based on a randomization of static imperfections in a many-qubit system by the repeated application of Pauli operators which change the computational basis. This Pauli-Random-Error-Correction (PAREC)-method eliminates coherent errors produced by static imperfections and increases significantly the maximum time over which realistic quantum computations can be performed reliably. Furthermore, it does not require redundancy so that all physical qubits involved can be used for logical purposes.