Universal non-Markovianity detection in hybrid open quantum systems.

A universal characterization of non-Markovianity for any open hybrid quantum systems is presented. This formulation is based on the negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function, which serves as an indicator of the quantum correlations in any composite quantum systems. It is shown, that the proposed measure can be utilized for any single or multi-partite quantum system, containing any discrete or continuous variables. To demonstrate its power in revealing non-Markovianity in such quantum systems, we additionally consider a few illustrative examples.

Temperature-Controlled Entangled-Photon Absorption Spectroscopy.

Entangled two-photon absorption spectroscopy (TPA) has been widely recognized as a powerful tool for revealing relevant information about the structure of complex molecular systems. However, to date, the experimental implementation of this technique has remained elusive, mainly because of two major difficulties: first, the need to perform multiple experiments with two-photon states bearing different temporal correlations, which translates into the necessity to have at the experimenter's disposal tens, if not hundreds, of sources of entangled photons; second, the need to have a priori knowledge of the absorbing medium's lowest-lying intermediate energy level. In this work, we put forward a simple experimental scheme that successfully overcomes these two limitations. By making use of a temperature-controlled entangled-photon source, which allows the tuning of the central frequencies of the absorbed photons, we show that the TPA signal, measured as a function of the temperature of the nonlinear crystal that generates the paired photons, and a controllable delay between them, carries all information about the electronic level structure of the absorbing medium, which can be revealed by a simple Fourier transformation.

Negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function as an entanglement witness for hybrid bipartite states.

In a recent paper, Tilma, Everitt et al. derived a generalized Wigner function that can characterize both the discrete and continuous variable states, i.e., hybrid states. As such, one can expect that the negativity of the generalized Wigner function applied to the hybrid states can reveal their nonclassicality, in analogy with the well-known Wigner function defined for the continuous variable states. In this work, we demonstrate that, indeed, the negativity volume of the generalized Wigner function of the hybrid bipartite states can be used as an entanglement witness for such states, provided that it exceeds a certain critical value. In particular, we study hybrid bipartite qubit-bosonic states and provide a qubit-Schrödinger cat state as an example. Since the detection of the generalized Wigner function of hybrid bipartite states in phase space can be experimentally simpler than the tomographic reconstruction of the corresponding density matrix, our results, therefore, present a convenient tool in the entanglement identification of such states.

Localizable entanglement as a necessary resource of controlled quantum teleportation.

We analyze the controlled teleportation protocol through three-qubit mixed states. In particular, we investigate the relation between the faithfulness of the controlled teleportation scheme and entanglement. While our knowledge concerning controlled teleportation and entanglement in pure states is well established, for mixed states it is considerably much harder task and very little has been done in this field. Here, we present counterintuitive results that provide a new light on controlled teleportation protocol. It is shown that even mixed biseparable states are useful for this protocol along with genuine entangled three-qubit states.

Implementation and characterization of a controllable dephasing channel based on coupling polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of light.

We present the experimental implementation and theoretical model of a controllable dephasing quantum channel using photonic systems. The channel is implemented by coupling the polarization and the spatial distribution of light that play, in the perspective of open quantum systems, the role of quantum system and environment, respectively. The capability of controlling our channel allows us to visualize its effects in a quantum system. Different from standard dephasing channels, our channel presents an exotic behavior in the sense that the evolution of a state, from a pure to a mixed state, shows an oscillatory behavior if tracked in the Bloch sphere. Additionally, we report the evolution of the purity and perform a quantum process tomography to obtain the χ matrix associated to our channel.

Nonclassicality Invariant of General Two-Mode Gaussian States.

We introduce a new quantity for describing nonclassicality of an arbitrary optical two-mode Gaussian state which remains invariant under any global photon-number preserving unitary transformation of the covariance matrix of the state. The invariant naturally splits into an entanglement monotone and local-nonclassicality quantifiers applied to the reduced states. This shows how entanglement can be converted into local squeezing and vice versa. Twin beams and their transformations at a beam splitter are analyzed as an example providing squeezed light. An extension of this approach to pure three-mode Gaussian states is given.

Revealing Hidden Coherence in Partially Coherent Light.

Coherence and correlations represent two related properties of a compound system. The system can be, for instance, the polarization of a photon, which forms part of a polarization-entangled two-photon state, or the spatial shape of a coherent beam, where each spatial mode bears different polarizations. Whereas a local unitary transformation of the system does not affect its coherence, global unitary transformations modifying both the system and its surroundings can enhance its coherence, transforming mutual correlations into coherence. The question naturally arises of what is the best measure that quantifies the correlations that can be turned into coherence, and how much coherence can be extracted. We answer both questions, and illustrate its application for some typical simple systems, with the aim at illuminating the general concept of enhancing coherence by modifying correlations.

Bragg reflection waveguide as a source of wavelength-multiplexed polarization-entangled photon pairs.

We put forward a new highly efficient source of paired photons entangled in polarization with an ultra-large bandwidth. The photons are generated by means of a conveniently designed spontaneous parametric down-conversion process in a semiconductor type-II Bragg reflection waveguide. The proposed scheme aims at being a key element of an integrated source of polarization-entangled photon pairs highly suitable for its use in a multi-user quantum-key-distribution system.

Generation of paired photons in a quantum separable state in Bragg reflection waveguides.

This work proposes and analyses a novel approach for the generation of separable (quantum uncorrelated) photon pairs based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion in Bragg reflection waveguides composed of semiconductor AlGaN layers. This platform allows the removal of any spectral correlation between paired photons that propagate in different spatial modes. The photons can be designed to show equal or different spectra by tuning the structural parameters and hence the dispersion of the waveguide.

Intense ultra-broadband down-conversion from randomly poled nonlinear crystals.

Randomly poled nonlinear crystals are shown to be able to emit intense ultra-broadband photon-pair fields with properties comparable to those coming from chirped periodically-poled crystals. Their intensities scale linearly with the number of domains. Also photon pairs extending over intervals with durations comparable to one optical cycle can be generated in these crystals.