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This paper proposes a Monte Carlo (MC) based angular distribution estimation method of multiply scattered photons for underwater imaging. This method targets on turbid waters. Our method is based on applying typical Monte Carlo ideas to the present problem by combining all the points on a spherical surface. The proposed method is validated with the numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation (RTE). The simulation results based on typical optical parameters of turbid waters show that the proposed method is effective in terms of computational speed and sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quantum key agreement (QKA) protocol by utilizing a four-photon cluster state is proposed in this paper. The proposed QKA protocol extends the two-party QKA protocol with four-qubit cluster state (Shen et al. in Quantum Inf Process 13:2313-2324, ) into a multi-party case. The block transmission technique and decoy photons method are used in the presented protocol. Meanwhile, the qubit efficiency of the presented protocol is also improved by using the dense coding method. Security analysis shows that the proposed protocol is secure against both participant and outside attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient generation and detection of indistinguishable twin photons are at the core of quantum information and communications technology (Q-ICT). These photons are conventionally generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC), which is a probabilistic process, and hence occurs at a limited rate, which restricts wider applications of Q-ICT. To increase the rate, one had to excite SPDC by higher pump power, while it inevitably produced more unwanted multi-photon components, harmfully degrading quantum interference visibility. Here we solve this problem by using recently developed 10 GHz repetition-rate-tunable comb laser, combined with a group-velocity-matched nonlinear crystal, and superconducting nanowire single photon detectors. They operate at telecom wavelengths more efficiently with less noises than conventional schemes, those typically operate at visible and near infrared wavelengths generated by a 76 MHz Ti Sapphire laser and detected by Si detectors. We could show high interference visibilities, which are free from the pump-power induced degradation. Our laser, nonlinear crystal, and detectors constitute a powerful tool box, which will pave a way to implementing quantum photonics circuits with variety of good and low-cost telecom components, and will eventually realize scalable Q-ICT in optical infra-structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): In SPECT, the sinogram contains scatter and lack of attenuated counts that degrade the reconstructed image quality and quantity. Many techniques for attenuation and scatter correction have been proposed. An acceptable method of correction is to incorporate effects into an iterative statistical reconstruction. Here, we propose new Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (MLEM) formula to correct scattering and attenuating photons during reconstruction. Materials and Methods: In this work, scatters are estimated through Klein-Nishina formula in all iterations and CT images are used for accurate attenuation correction. Reconstructed images resulted from different MLEM reconstruction formula have been compared considering profile agreement, contrast, mean square error, signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio and computational time. Results: The proposed formula has a good profile agreement, increased contrast, signal-to-noise (SNR) & contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), computational time and decreased mean square error (MSE) compared with uncorrected images and/or images from conventional formula. Conclusion: In conclusion, by applying the proposed formula we were able to correct attenuation and scatter via MLEM and improve the image quality, which is a necessary step for both qualitative and quantitative SPECT images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spontaneous parametric down-conversion, pairs of photons are known to be created coherently and with equal probability over the entire length of the crystal. Then, there is no particular position in the crystal where a photon pair is created. We make the seemingly contradictory observation that the time delay between the photons in the pair depends on the distance from the crystal to the collection lens, as if the photons were actually collected preferentially from a particular position in the crystal. We resolve this contradiction by showing that the spatio–temporal correlations critically affect the temporal properties of the pair of photons. The theoretical model we present matches all our experimental results. We expect this to have important implications for experiments that require indistinguishable photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]