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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Strengthening Weak-Value Amplification With Recycled Photons, Justin Dressel, Kevin Lyons, Andrew N. Jordan, Trent M. Graham, Paul G. Kwiat Aug 2013

Strengthening Weak-Value Amplification With Recycled Photons, Justin Dressel, Kevin Lyons, Andrew N. Jordan, Trent M. Graham, Paul G. Kwiat

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We consider the use of cyclic weak measurements to improve the sensitivity of weak-value amplification precision measurement schemes. Previous weak-value experiments have used only a small fraction of events, while discarding the rest through the process of “postselection.” We extend this idea by considering recycling of events which are typically unused in a weak measurement. Here we treat a sequence of polarized laser pulses effectively trapped inside an interferometer using a Pockels cell and polarization optics. In principle, all photons can be postselected, which will improve the measurement sensitivity. We first provide a qualitative argument for the expected improvements from …


Quantum Instruments As A Foundation For Both States And Observables, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan Aug 2013

Quantum Instruments As A Foundation For Both States And Observables, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We demonstrate that quantum instruments can provide a unified operational foundation for quantum theory. Since these instruments directly correspond to laboratory devices, this foundation provides an alternate, more experimentally grounded, perspective from which to understand the elements of the traditional approach.We first show that in principle all measurable probabilities and correlations can be expressed entirely in terms of quantum instruments without the need for conventional quantum states or observables. We then show how these states and observables reappear as derived quantities by conditioning joint detection probabilities on the first or last measurement in a sequence as a preparation or a …


Null Values And Quantum State Discrimination, Oded Zilberberg, Alessandro Romito, David J. Starling, Gregory A. Howland, Curtis J. Broadbent, John C. Howell, Yuval Gefen Apr 2013

Null Values And Quantum State Discrimination, Oded Zilberberg, Alessandro Romito, David J. Starling, Gregory A. Howland, Curtis J. Broadbent, John C. Howell, Yuval Gefen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We present a measurement protocol for discriminating between two different quantum states of a qubit with high fidelity. The protocol, called null value, is comprised of a projective measurement performed on the system with a small probability (also known as partial collapse), followed by a tuned postselection. We report on an optical experimental implementation of the scheme. We show that our protocol leads to an amplified signal-to-noise ratio (as compared with a straightforward strong measurement) when discerning between the two quantum states.


Point–Counterpoint: Can Anything Be Learned From Surveys On The Interpretations Of Quantum Mechanics?, Matthew S. Leifer, Nathan Harshman Jan 2013

Point–Counterpoint: Can Anything Be Learned From Surveys On The Interpretations Of Quantum Mechanics?, Matthew S. Leifer, Nathan Harshman

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

"In what follows, Matt Leifer and Nathan Harshman present opposing views on the value of surveys on foundational attitudes towards quantum mechanics. Three such surveys were recently published and their results are summarized in Table 1. Matt takes the `point,’ arguing that such surveys are not useful, while Nathan takes the `counterpoint.’ A complete set of references for both is given at the end."


Review Of Computing With Quantum Cats: From Colossus To Qubits And Schrödinger’S Killer App: Race To Build The World’S First Quantum Computer, Matthew S. Leifer Jan 2013

Review Of Computing With Quantum Cats: From Colossus To Qubits And Schrödinger’S Killer App: Race To Build The World’S First Quantum Computer, Matthew S. Leifer

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Book reviews of Computing With Quantum Cats: From Colossus To Qubits by John Gribbin and Schrödinger’s Killer App: Race To Build The World’s First Quantum Computer by John Dowling.


Maximally Epistemic Interpretations Of The Quantum State And Contextuality, Matthew S. Leifer, O. J. E. Maroney Jan 2013

Maximally Epistemic Interpretations Of The Quantum State And Contextuality, Matthew S. Leifer, O. J. E. Maroney

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We examine the relationship between quantum contextuality (in both the standard Kochen-Specker sense and in the generalized sense proposed by Spekkens) and models of quantum theory in which the quantum state is maximally epistemic.We find that preparation noncontextual models must be maximally epistemic, and these in turn must be Kochen-Specker noncontextual. This implies that the Kochen-Specker theorem is sufficient to establish both the impossibility of maximally epistemic models and the impossibility of preparation noncontextual models. The implication from preparation noncontextual to maximally epistemic then also yields a proof of Bell’s theorem from an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-like argument.


Quantum Cheshire Cats, Yakir Aharonov, Sandu Popescu, Daniel Rohrlich, Paul Skrzypczyk Jan 2013

Quantum Cheshire Cats, Yakir Aharonov, Sandu Popescu, Daniel Rohrlich, Paul Skrzypczyk

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper we present a quantum Cheshire Cat. In a pre- and post-selected experiment we find the Cat in one place, and its grin in another. The Cat is a photon, while the grin is its circular polarization.


The Classical Limit Of Quantum Optics: Not What It Seems At First Sight, Yakir Aharonov, Alonso Botero, Shmuel Nussinov, Sandu Popescu, Jeff Tollaksen, Lev Vaidman Jan 2013

The Classical Limit Of Quantum Optics: Not What It Seems At First Sight, Yakir Aharonov, Alonso Botero, Shmuel Nussinov, Sandu Popescu, Jeff Tollaksen, Lev Vaidman

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

What light is and how to describe it has always been a central subject in physics. As our understanding has increased, so have our theories changed: geometrical optics, wave optics and quantum optics are increasingly sophisticated descriptions, each referring to a larger class of phenomena than its predecessor. But how exactly are these theories related? How and when wave optics reduces to geometric optics is a rather simple problem. Similarly, how quantum optics reduces to wave optics has also been considered to be a very simple business. It is not so. As we show here the classical limit of quantum …


Towards A Formulation Of Quantum Theory As A Causally Neutral Theory Of Bayesian Inference, Matthew S. Leifer, Robert W. Spekkens Jan 2013

Towards A Formulation Of Quantum Theory As A Causally Neutral Theory Of Bayesian Inference, Matthew S. Leifer, Robert W. Spekkens

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Quantum theory can be viewed as a generalization of classical probability theory, but the analogy as it has been developed so far is not complete. Whereas themanner in which inferences aremade in classical probability theory is independent of the causal relation that holds between the conditioned variable and the conditioning variable, in the conventional quantum formalism, there is a significant difference between how one treats experiments involving two systems at a single time and those involving a single system at two times. In this article, we develop the formalism of quantum conditional states, which provides a unified description of …


Weak Values Are Universal In Von Neumann Measurements, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan Dec 2012

Weak Values Are Universal In Von Neumann Measurements, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We refute the widely held belief that the quantum weak value necessarily pertains to weak measurements. To accomplish this, we use the transverse position of a beam as the detector for the conditioned von Neumann measurement of a system observable. For any coupling strength, any initial states, and any choice of conditioning, the averages of the detector position and momentum are completely described by the real parts of three generalized weak values in the joint Hilbert space. Higher-order detector moments also have similar weak value expansions. Using the Wigner distribution of the initial detector state, we find compact expressions for …


Quantum Mutual Information Capacity For High-Dimensional Entangled States, P. Ben Dixon, Gregory A. Howland, James Schneeloch, John C. Howell Apr 2012

Quantum Mutual Information Capacity For High-Dimensional Entangled States, P. Ben Dixon, Gregory A. Howland, James Schneeloch, John C. Howell

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

High-dimensional Hilbert spaces used for quantum communication channels offer the possibility of large data transmission capabilities. We propose a method of characterizing the channel capacity of an entangled photonic state in high-dimensional position and momentum bases. We use this method to measure the channel capacity of a parametric down-conversion state by measuring in up to 576 dimensions per detector. We achieve a channel capacity over 7  bits/photon in either the position or momentum basis. Furthermore, we provide a correspondingly high-dimensional separability bound that suggests that the channel performance cannot be replicated classically.


Contextual-Value Approach To The Generalized Measurement Of Observables, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan Feb 2012

Contextual-Value Approach To The Generalized Measurement Of Observables, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We present a detailed motivation for and definition of the contextual values of an observable, which were introduced by Dressel et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 240401 (2011)]. The theory of contextual values is a principled approach to the generalized measurement of observables. It extends the well-established theory of generalized statemeasurements by bridging the gap between partial state collapse and the observables that represent physically relevant information about the system. To emphasize the general utility of the concept, we first construct the full theory of contextual values within an operational formulation of classical probability theory, paying special attention to observable …


Significance Of The Imaginary Part Of The Weak Value, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan Jan 2012

Significance Of The Imaginary Part Of The Weak Value, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Unlike the real part of the generalized weak value of an observable, which can in a restricted sense be operationally interpreted as an idealized conditioned average of that observable in the limit of zero measurement disturbance, the imaginary part of the generalized weak value does not provide information pertaining to the observable being measured.What it does provide is direct information about howthe initial statewould be unitarily disturbed by the observable operator. Specifically, we provide an operational interpretation for the imaginary part of the generalized weak value as the logarithmic directional derivative of the postselection probability along the unitary flow generated …


Measuring Which-Path Information With Coupled Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometers, Justin Dressel, Y. Choi, Andrew N. Jordan Jan 2012

Measuring Which-Path Information With Coupled Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometers, Justin Dressel, Y. Choi, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We theoretically investigate a generalized “which-path” measurement on an electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) implemented via Coulomb coupling to a second electronic MZI acting as a detector. The use of contextual values, or generalized eigenvalues, enables the precise construction of which-path operator averages that are valid for any measurement strength from the available drain currents. The form of the contextual values provides direct physical insight about the measurement being performed, providing information about the correlation strength between system and detector, the measurement inefficiency, and the proper background removal. We find that the detector interferometer must display maximal wavelike behavior to optimally …


Entropy And Information Causality In General Probabilistic Theories (Addendum), Howard Barnum, Jonathan Barrett, Lisa Orloff Clark, Matthew S. Leifer, Robert Spekkens, Nicholas Stepanik, Alex Wilce, Robin Wilke Jan 2012

Entropy And Information Causality In General Probabilistic Theories (Addendum), Howard Barnum, Jonathan Barrett, Lisa Orloff Clark, Matthew S. Leifer, Robert Spekkens, Nicholas Stepanik, Alex Wilce, Robin Wilke

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In this addendum to our paper (2010 New J. Phys. 12 033024), we point out that an elementary consequence of the strong subadditivity inequality allows us to strengthen one of the main conclusions of that paper.


Review Of Elegance And Enigma: The Quantum Interviews, Matthew S. Leifer Jan 2012

Review Of Elegance And Enigma: The Quantum Interviews, Matthew S. Leifer

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Elegance and Enigma: The Quantum Interviews, edited by Maximilian Schlosshauer.


New Invariants For Entangled States, Roman V. Buniy, Thomas W. Kephart Jan 2012

New Invariants For Entangled States, Roman V. Buniy, Thomas W. Kephart

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We propose new algebraic invariants that distinguish and classify entangled states. Considering qubits as well as higher spin systems, we obtained complete entanglement classifications for cases that were either unsolved or only conjectured in the literature.


Teleportation In General Probabilistic Theories, Howard Barnum, Jonathan Barrett, Matthew S. Leifer, Alex Wilce Jan 2012

Teleportation In General Probabilistic Theories, Howard Barnum, Jonathan Barrett, Matthew S. Leifer, Alex Wilce

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In a previous paper, we showed that many important quantum information-theoretic phenomena, including the no-cloning and no-broadcasting theorems, are in fact generic in all non-classical probabilistic theories. An exception is teleportation, which most such theories do not support. In this paper, we investigate which probabilistic theories, and more particularly, which composite systems, do support a teleportation protocol. We isolate a natural class of composite systems that we term regular, and establish necessary and sufficient conditions for a regular tripartite system to support a conclusive, or post-selected, teleportation protocol. We also establish a sufficient condition for deterministic teleportation that yields …


Everything Is Entangled, Roman V. Buniy, Stephen D. H. Hsu Jan 2012

Everything Is Entangled, Roman V. Buniy, Stephen D. H. Hsu

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We show that big bang cosmology implies a high degree of entanglement of particles in the universe. In fact, a typical particle is entangled with many particles far outside our horizon. However, the entanglement is spread nearly uniformly so that two randomly chosen particles are unlikely to be directly entangled with each other - the reduced density matrix describing any pair is likely to be separable.


Pbr, Epr, And All That Jazz, Matthew S. Leifer Jan 2012

Pbr, Epr, And All That Jazz, Matthew S. Leifer

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

"In the past couple of months, the quantum foundations world has been abuzz about a new preprint entitled "The Quantum State Cannot be Interpreted Statistically" by Matt Pusey, Jon Barrett and Terry Rudolph (henceforth known as PBR). Since I wrote a blog post explaining the result, I have been inundated with more correspondence from scientists and more requests for comment from science journalists than at any other point in my career. Reaction to the result amongst quantum researchers has been mixed, with many people reacting negatively to the title, which can be misinterpreted as an attack on the Born rule. …


An Algebraic Classification Of Entangled States, Roman V. Buniy, Thomas W. Kephart Jan 2012

An Algebraic Classification Of Entangled States, Roman V. Buniy, Thomas W. Kephart

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We provide a classification of entangled states that uses new discrete entanglement invariants. The invariants are defined by algebraic properties of linear maps associated with the states. We prove a theorem on a correspondence between the invariants and sets of equivalent classes of entangled states. The new method works for an arbitrary finite number of finite-dimensional state subspaces. As an application of the method, we considered a large selection of cases of three subspaces of various dimensions. We also obtain an entanglement classification of four qubits, where we find 27 fundamental sets of classes.


Response To Griffiths, Matthew S. Leifer Jan 2012

Response To Griffiths, Matthew S. Leifer

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

"First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Griffith for his comments. The exchange has reminded me of the series of letters that appeared in Physics Today following the publication of an article by Chandralekha Singh, Mario Belloni, and Wolfgang Christian on improving the teaching of undergraduate quantum mechanics (see http://ptonline.aip.org/ journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_60/iss_3/8_1.shtml). In those responses, both Griffiths and Travis Norsen argued that students’ understanding of quantum mechanics would be vastly improved if they were taught more about the foundations of quantum theory, and I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. The thing is, Griffiths argued vociferously that this should be …


Review Of The Mathematical Language Of Quantum Theory: From Uncertainty To Entanglement, Matthew S. Leifer Jan 2012

Review Of The Mathematical Language Of Quantum Theory: From Uncertainty To Entanglement, Matthew S. Leifer

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

A book review of The Mathematical Language of Quantum Theory: From Uncertainty to Entanglement by Teiko Heinosaari and Mario Ziman.


Sufficient Conditions For Uniqueness Of The Weak Value, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan Dec 2011

Sufficient Conditions For Uniqueness Of The Weak Value, Justin Dressel, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We review and clarify the sufficient conditions for uniquely defining the generalized weak value as the weak limit of a conditioned average using the contextual values formalism introduced in Dressel, Agarwal and Jordan (2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 240401). We also respond to criticism of our work by Parrott (arXiv:1105.4188v1) concerning a proposed counter-example to the uniqueness of the definition of the generalized weak value. The counter-example does not satisfy our prescription in the case of an underspecified measurement context. We show that when the contextual values formalism is properly applied to this example, a natural interpretation of the …


Theoretical Analysis Of Quantum Ghost Imaging Through Turbulence, Kam Wai Clifford Chan, D. S. Simon, A. V. Sergienko, Nicholas D. Hardy, Jeffrey H. Shapiro, P. Ben Dixon, Gregory A. Howland, John C. Howell, Joseph H. Eberly, Malcolm N. O'Sullivan, Brandon Rodenburg, Robert W. Boyd Oct 2011

Theoretical Analysis Of Quantum Ghost Imaging Through Turbulence, Kam Wai Clifford Chan, D. S. Simon, A. V. Sergienko, Nicholas D. Hardy, Jeffrey H. Shapiro, P. Ben Dixon, Gregory A. Howland, John C. Howell, Joseph H. Eberly, Malcolm N. O'Sullivan, Brandon Rodenburg, Robert W. Boyd

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Atmospheric turbulence generally affects the resolution and visibility of an image in long-distance imaging. In a recent quantum ghost imaging experiment [P. B. Dixon et al., Phys. Rev. A 83, 051803 (2011)], it was found that the effect of the turbulence can nevertheless be mitigated under certain conditions. This paper gives a detailed theoretical analysis to the setup and results reported in the experiment. Entangled photons with a finite correlation area and a turbulence model beyond the phase screen approximation are considered.


Quantum Ghost Imaging Through Turbulence, John C. Howell May 2011

Quantum Ghost Imaging Through Turbulence, John C. Howell

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We investigate the effect of turbulence on quantum ghost imaging. We use entangled photons and demonstrate that for a specific experimental configuration the effect of turbulence can be greatly diminished. By decoupling the entangled photon source from the ghost-imaging central image plane, we are able to dramatically increase the ghost-image quality. When imaging a test pattern through turbulence, this method increases the imaged pattern visibility from V=0.15±0.04 to 0.42±0.04.


Experimental Violation Of Two-Party Leggett-Garg Inequalities With Semiweak Measurements, Justin Dressel, C. J. Broadbent, J. C. Howell, Andrew N. Jordan Jan 2011

Experimental Violation Of Two-Party Leggett-Garg Inequalities With Semiweak Measurements, Justin Dressel, C. J. Broadbent, J. C. Howell, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We generalize the derivation of Leggett-Garg inequalities to systematically treat a larger class of experimental situations by allowing multiparticle correlations, invasive detection, and ambiguous detector results. Furthermore, we show how many such inequalities may be tested simultaneously with a single setup. As a proof of principle, we violate several such two-particle inequalities with data obtained from a polarization-entangled biphoton state and a semiweak polarization measurement based on Fresnel reflection. We also point out a nontrivial connection between specific two-party Leggett-Garg inequality violations and convex sums of strange weak values.


Superluminal Neutrinos At Opera Confront Pion Decay Kinematics, Ramanath Cowsick, Shmuel Nussinov, Utpal Sarkar Jan 2011

Superluminal Neutrinos At Opera Confront Pion Decay Kinematics, Ramanath Cowsick, Shmuel Nussinov, Utpal Sarkar

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Violation of Lorentz invariance (VLI) has been suggested as an explanation of the superluminal velocities of muon neutrinos reported by OPERA. In this Letter, we show that the amount of VLI required to explain this result poses severe difficulties with the kinematics of the pion decay, extending its lifetime and reducing the momentum carried away by the neutrinos. We show that the OPERA experiment limits alpha = (upsilon(v) - c)/c < 4 x 10(-6). We then take recourse to cosmic-ray data on the spectrum of muons and neutrinos generated in Earth's atmosphere to provide a stronger bound on VLI: (upsilon - c)/c < 10(-12).


Dynamical Features Of Interference Phenomena In The Presence Of Entanglement, Tirzah Kaufherr, Yakir Aharonov, Shmuel Nussinov, Sandu Popescu, Jeff Tollaksen Jan 2011

Dynamical Features Of Interference Phenomena In The Presence Of Entanglement, Tirzah Kaufherr, Yakir Aharonov, Shmuel Nussinov, Sandu Popescu, Jeff Tollaksen

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

A strongly interacting, and entangling, heavy nonrecoiling external particle effects a significant change of the environment. Described locally, the corresponding entanglement event is a generalized electric Aharonov-Bohm effect, which differs from the original one in a crucial way. We propose a gedanken interference experiment. The predicted shift of the interference pattern is due to a self-induced or "private" potential difference experienced while the particle is in vacuum. We show that all nontrivial Born-Oppenheimer potentials are "private" potentials. We apply the Born-Oppenheimer approximation to interference states. Using our approach, we calculate the relative phase of the external heavy particle as well …


Interferometric Weak Value Deflections: Quantum And Classical Treatments, John C. Howell, David J. Starling, P. Ben Dixon, Praveen K. Vudyasetu, Andrew N. Jordan Mar 2010

Interferometric Weak Value Deflections: Quantum And Classical Treatments, John C. Howell, David J. Starling, P. Ben Dixon, Praveen K. Vudyasetu, Andrew N. Jordan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We derive the weak value deflection given in an article by Dixon et al. [P. B. Dixon et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 173601 (2009)] both quantum mechanically and classically, including diffraction effects. This article is meant to cover some of the mathematical details omitted in that article owing to space constraints.