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Although perfect copying of unknown quantum systems is forbidden by the laws of quantum mechanics, approximate cloning is possible. A natural way of realizing quantum cloning of photons is by stimulated emission. In this context, the fundamental quantum limit to the quality of the clones is imposed by the unavoidable presence of spontaneous emission. In our experiment, a single input photon stimulates the emission of additional photons from a source on the basis of parametric clown-conversion. This leads to the production of quantum clones with near-optimal fidelity. We also demonstrate universality of the copying procedure by showing that the same fidelity is achieved for arbitrary input states., No device is capable of producing perfect copies of an unknown quantum system. This statement, known as the 'no-cloning theorem' (1, 2), is a direct consequence of the linearity of [...]

Quantum buffers will be an essential part of quantum-information networks. A buffer that can preserve not only a 'quantum bit' but also a 'quantum image' is a major step towards [...]

Digital signal processing, holography, and quantum and classical information processing rely heavily upon recording the amplitude and phase of coherent optical signals. One method for achieving coherent information storage makes use of electromagnetically induced transparency. Storage is achieved by compressing the optical pulse using the steep dispersion of the electromagnetically induced transparency medium and then mapping the electric field to local atomic quantum-state superpositions. Here we show that nonlinear optical processes may enhance pulse compression and storage, and that information about the nonlinear process itself may be stored coherently. We report on a pulse storage scheme in hot atomic rubidium vapour, in which a four-wave-mixing normal mode is stored using a double-Λ configuration. The entire (broadened) waveform of the input signal is recovered after several hundred microseconds (1/e time of about 120 µs), as well as a new optical mode (idler) generated from the four-wave-mixing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the study on how to achieve multicolor entanglement. According to the author, since entanglement of squeezed light beams is critical to quantum optical applications, researchers took time in studying in order to attain results of entanglement with three beams of different colors instead of having it with only two light beams. They also report a restricted loss point for disentanglement of one beam from the other two.

We present a compressive sensing protocol that tracks a moving object by removing static components from a scene. The implementation is carried out on a ghost imaging scheme to minimize both the number of photons and the number of measurements required to form a quantum image of the tracked object. This procedure tracks an object at low light levels with fewer than 3% of the measurements required for a raster scan, permitting us to more effectively use the information content in each photon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We discuss the relationship between entropic Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR)-steering inequalities and their underlying uncertainty relations along with the hypothesis that improved uncertainty relations lead to tighter EPR-steering inequalities. In particular, we discuss how using information about the state of a quantum system affects oneʼs ability to witness EPR-steering. As an example, we consider the recent improvement to the entropic uncertainty relation between pairs of discrete observables (Berta et al., 2010 [10]). By considering the assumptions that enter into the development of a steering inequality, we derive correct steering inequalities from these improved uncertainty relations and find that they are identical to ones already developed (Schneeloch et al., 2013 [9]). In addition, we consider how one can use state information to improve our ability to witness EPR-steering, and develop a new continuous variable symmetric EPR-steering inequality as a result. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We improve the precision of the interferometric weak-value-based beam deflection measurement by introducing a power recycling mirror, creating a resonant cavity. This results in all the light exiting to the detector with a large deflection, thus eliminating the inefficiency of the rare postselection. The signal-to-noise ratio of the deflection is itself magnified by the weak value. We discuss ways to realize this proposal, using a transverse beam filter and different cavity designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The more information a measurement provides about a quantum system's position statistics, the less information a subsequent measurement can provide about the system's momentum statistics. This information trade-off is embodied in the entropic formulation of the uncertainty principle. Traditionally, uncertainly relations correspond to resolution limits; increasing a detector's position sensitivity decreases its momentum sensitivity and vice versa. However, this is not required in general; for example, position information can instead be extracted at the cost of noise in momentum. Using random, partial projections in position followed by strong measurements in momentum, we efficiently determine the transverse-position and transverse-momentum distributions of an unknown optical field with a single set of measurements. The momentum distribution is directly imaged, while the position distribution is recovered using compressive sensing. At no point do we violate uncertainty relations; rather, we economize the use of information we obtain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Letter, we derive an entropic Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering inequality for continuous-variable systems using only experimentally measured discrete probability distributions and details of the measurement apparatus. We use this inequality to witness EPR steering between the positions and momenta of photon pairs generated in spontaneous parametric down-conversion. We examine the asymmetry between parties in this inequality, and show that this asymmetry can be used to reduce the technical requirements of experimental setups intended to demonstrate the EPR paradox. Furthermore, we develop a more stringent steering inequality that is symmetric between parties, and use it to show that the down-converted photon pairs also exhibit symmetric EPR steering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-dimensional Hubert 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a parameter estimation technique based on performing joint measurements of a weak interaction away from the weak-value-amplification approximation. Two detectors are used to collect full statistics of the correlations between two weakly entangled degrees of freedom. Without discarding of data, the protocol resembles the anomalous amplification of an imaginary-weak-value-like response. The amplification is induced in the difference signal of both detectors allowing robustness to different sources of technical noise, and offering in addition the advantages of balanced signals for precision metrology. All of the Fisher information about the parameter of interest is collected. A tunable phase controls the strength of the amplification response. We experimentally demonstrate the proposed technique by measuring polarization rotations in a linearly polarized laser pulse. We show that in the presence of technical noise the effective sensitivity and precision of a split detector is increased when compared to a conventional continuous-wave balanced detection technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]