Gj Pryde

Measuring entangled qutrits and their use for quantum bit commitment.

We produce and holographically measure entangled qudits encoded in transverse spatial modes of single photons. With the novel use of a quantum state tomography method that only requires two-state superpositions, we achieve the most complete characterization of entangled qutrits to date. Ideally, entangled qutrits provide better security than qubits in quantum bit commitment: we model the sensitivity of this to mixture and show experimentally and theoretically that qutrits with even a small amount of decoherence cannot offer increased security over qubits.

Measuring two-qubit gates

Accurate characterization of two-qubit gates will be critical for any realization of quantum computation. We discuss a range of measurements for characterizing two-qubit gates. These measures are architecture-independent and span a range of complexity from simple measurement routines to full quantum-state and process tomography. Simple indicative measures, which flag but do not quantify gate operation in the quantum regime, include the fringe visibility, parity, Bell-state fidelity, and entanglement witnesses. Quantitative measures of gate output states include linear entropy and tangle; measures of, and error bounds to, whole-gate operation are provided by metrics such as process fidelity, process distance, and average gate fidelity. We discuss which measures are appropriate, given the stage of development of the gate, and highlight connections between them.Accurate characterisation of two-qubit gates will be critical for any realisation of quantum computation. We discuss a range of measurements aimed at characterising a two-qubit gate, specifically the CNOT gate. These measurements are architecture-independent, and range from simple truth table measurements, to single figure measures such as the fringe visibility, parity, fidelity, and entanglement witnesses, through to whole-state and whole-gate measures achieved respectively via quantum state and process tomography. In doing so, we examine critical differences between classical and quantum gate operation.

Quantum gate characterization in an extended Hilbert space

We describe an approach for characterizing optical quantum gates, by constructing models which incorporate mode-matching effects. Quantum process tomography is then performed on the model. The techniques can be generalized to other quantum computing architectures.

Entangling linear optics gates for Bell-state analysis and entangled cluster-state generation

We implement an entangling gate for photonic qubits that relies on a single interference condition, offering significantly improved gate fidelity, and describe its use for investigating optical cluster states and performing fully resolving Bell measurements.

Using photonic entanglement in quantum measurements

The use of entanglement allows a wide variety of quantum measurements outside the usual case of projective measurement. We describe several experimental photonic quantum measurement results relying on entangled measurement, such as weak measurements.

Prydeet al.Reply

In our Letter we proposed a scheme for nondeterministic quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of the polarization of a single photon--a photonic qubit--using linear optics and photodetection. The scheme works with nonunit probability, but success is heralded by the detection of a single photon in the meter output. We provided an experimental demonstration of this scheme and introduced three universally applicable fidelity measures--the measurement fidelity F_M, the quantum state preparation fidelity F_QSP, and the QND fidelity F_QND--to quantify its performance. The claim of Kok and Munro in their Comment [quant-ph/0406120] is that one of our fidelity measures F_M is not appropriate because it relies on coincidence measurements. We show why this claim is wrong from both a fundamental and an operational perspective.

Comment on 'measuring a photonic qubit without destroying it

In our Letter we proposed a scheme for nondeterministic quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of the polarization of a single photon--a photonic qubit--using linear optics and photodetection. The scheme works with nonunit probability, but success is heralded by the detection of a single photon in the meter output. We provided an experimental demonstration of this scheme and introduced three universally applicable fidelity measures--the measurement fidelity F_M, the quantum state preparation fidelity F_QSP, and the QND fidelity F_QND--to quantify its performance. The claim of Kok and Munro in their Comment [quant-ph/0406120] is that one of our fidelity measures F_M is not appropriate because it relies on coincidence measurements. We show why this claim is wrong from both a fundamental and an operational perspective.

Measuring a photonic qubit without destroying it - Response

In our Letter we proposed a scheme for nondeterministic quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of the polarization of a single photon--a photonic qubit--using linear optics and photodetection. The scheme works with nonunit probability, but success is heralded by the detection of a single photon in the meter output. We provided an experimental demonstration of this scheme and introduced three universally applicable fidelity measures--the measurement fidelity F_M, the quantum state preparation fidelity F_QSP, and the QND fidelity F_QND--to quantify its performance. The claim of Kok and Munro in their Comment [quant-ph/0406120] is that one of our fidelity measures F_M is not appropriate because it relies on coincidence measurements. We show why this claim is wrong from both a fundamental and an operational perspective.

Reply to "Comment on 'Measuring a Photonic Qubit without Destroying It'"

In our Letter we proposed a scheme for nondeterministic quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of the polarization of a single photon--a photonic qubit--using linear optics and photodetection. The scheme works with nonunit probability, but success is heralded by the detection of a single photon in the meter output. We provided an experimental demonstration of this scheme and introduced three universally applicable fidelity measures--the measurement fidelity F_M, the quantum state preparation fidelity F_QSP, and the QND fidelity F_QND--to quantify its performance. The claim of Kok and Munro in their Comment [quant-ph/0406120] is that one of our fidelity measures F_M is not appropriate because it relies on coincidence measurements. We show why this claim is wrong from both a fundamental and an operational perspective.

Construction of a non-deterministic 2-photon CNOT gate

Summary form only given. We present progress towards construction of an optical CNOT gate. The gate is predicted to perform all quantum gate operations within the standard coincidence basis paradigm and test the principles of linear optical quantum computation.