Zheng-Wei Zhou

Quantum computation with untunable couplings.

Most quantum computer realizations require the ability to apply local fields and tune the couplings between qubits, in order to realize single bit and two bit gates which are necessary for universal quantum computation. We present a scheme to remove the necessity of switching the couplings between qubits for two bit gates, which are more costly in many cases. Our strategy is to compute with encoded qubits in and out of carefully designed interaction free subspaces analogous to decoherence free subspaces. We give two examples to show how universal quantum computation is realized in our scheme with local manipulations to physical qubits only, for both diagonal and off diagonal interactions.

Stable Solitons in Three Dimensional Free Space without the Ground State: Self-Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensates with Spin-Orbit Coupling.

By means of variational methods and systematic numerical analysis, we demonstrate the existence of metastable solitons in three dimensional (3D) free space, in the context of binary atomic condensates combining contact self-attraction and spin-orbit coupling, which can be engineered by available experimental techniques. Depending on the relative strength of the intra- and intercomponent attraction, the stable solitons feature a semivortex or mixed-mode structure. In spite of the fact that the local cubic self-attraction gives rise to the supercritical collapse in 3D, and hence the setting produces no true ground state, the solitons are stable against small perturbations, motion, and collisions.

Demon-like algorithmic quantum cooling and its realization with quantum optics

A universal pseudo-cooling method based on a Maxwell-demon-like swapping sequence is proposed. A controlled Hamiltonian gate is used to identify lower energy states of the system and to drive the system to those states. An experimental implementation using a quantum optical network exhibits a fidelity higher than 0.978.

Decoherence effects on the quantum spin channels

An open ended spin chain can serve as a quantum data bus for the coherent transfer of quantum state information. In this paper, we investigate the efficiency of such quantum spin channels which work in a decoherence environment. Our results show that the decoherence will significantly reduce the fidelity of quantum communication through the spin channels. Generally speaking, as the distance increases, the decoherence effects become more serious, which will put some constraints on the spin chains for long distance quantum state transfer.

Quantum simulation of 2D topological physics in a 1D array of optical cavities

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light is a fundamental optical degree of freedom that has recently motivated much exciting research in diverse fields ranging from optical communication to quantum information. We show for the first time that it is also a unique and valuable resource for quantum simulation, by demonstrating theoretically how 2d topological physics can be simulated in a 1d array of optical cavities using OAM-carrying photons. Remarkably, this newly discovered application of OAM states not only reduces required physical resources but also increases feasible scale of simulation. By showing how important topics such as edge-state transport and topological phase transition can be studied in a small simulator with just a few cavities ready for immediate experimental exploration, we demonstrate the prospect of photonic OAM for quantum simulation which can have a significant impact on the research of topological physics.Orbital angular momentum of light is a fundamental optical degree of freedom characterized by unlimited number of available angular momentum states. Although this unique property has proved invaluable in diverse recent studies ranging from optical communication to quantum information, it has not been considered useful or even relevant for simulating nontrivial physics problems such as topological phenomena. Contrary to this misconception, we demonstrate the incredible value of orbital angular momentum of light for quantum simulation by showing theoretically how it allows to study a variety of important 2D topological physics in a 1D array of optical cavities. This application for orbital angular momentum of light not only reduces required physical resources but also increases feasible scale of simulation, and thus makes it possible to investigate important topics such as edge-state transport and topological phase transition in a small simulator ready for immediate experimental exploration.

Quantum simulation of Heisenberg spin chains with next-nearest-neighbor interactions in coupled cavities

We propose a scheme to simulate one-dimensional

Robust high-fidelity teleportation of an atomic state through the detection of cavity decay

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Decoy states for quantum key distribution based on decoherence-free subspaces

-type Heisenberg spin models with competing interactions between nearest neighbors (NNs) and next NNs in photon-coupled microcavities. Our scheme exploits the rich resources and flexible controls available in such a system to realize arbitrarily adjustable ratios between the effective NN and next-NN coupling strengths. Such a powerful capability allows us to simulate frustration phenomena and disorder behaviors in one-dimensional systems arising from next-NN interactions, a large class of problems of great importance in condensed-matter physics. Our scheme is robust due to the lack of atomic excitations, which suppresses spontaneous emission and cavity decay strongly.

Dispersive manipulation of paired superconducting qubits

We propose a scheme for the quantum teleportation of an atomic state based on the detection of cavity decay. The internal state of an atom trapped in a cavity can be disembodiedly transferred to another atom trapped in a distant cavity by measuring interference of polarized photons through single-photon detectors. In comparison with the original proposal by Bose, Knight, Plenio, and Vedral [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 5158 (1999)], our protocol of teleportation has a high fidelity of almost unity, and inherent robustness, such as the insensitivity of fidelity to randomness in the atoms position, and to detection inefficiency. All these favorable features make the scheme feasible with the current experimental technology.

Permutation-invariant monotones for multipartite entanglement characterization

Quantum key distribution with decoherence-free subspaces has been proposed to overcome the collective noise to the polarization modes of photons flying in quantum channel. Prototype of this scheme have also been achieved with parametric-down conversion source. However, a novel type of photon-number-splitting attack we proposed in this paper will make the practical implementations of this scheme insecure since the parametric-down conversion source may emit multi-photon pairs occasionally. We propose decoy states method to make these implementations immune to this attack. And with this decoy states method, both the security distance and key bit rate will be increased.