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We introduce the challenges of multi-party quantum entanglement and explain a recent success in learning to take its measure. Given the widely accepted reputation of entanglement as a counter-intuitive feature of quantum theory, we first describe pure-state entanglement itself. We restrict attention to multi-party qubit states. Then we introduce the features that have made it challenging for several decades to extend an entanglement measure beyond the 2-qubit case of Bell states. We finish with a description of the current understanding that solves the 3-qubit entanglement challenge. This necessarily takes into account the fundamental division of the 3-qubit state space into two completely independent sectors identified with the so-called GHZ and $W$ states., Comment: 16 pages and 3 figures

Entanglement freezing has been demonstrated existing in various noisy decoherence mechanisms. Here we explore its universality by investigating freezing behavior in a lossless multiparty system, i.e., an $N$-site optical lattice (or equivalently spin-chain) system. Interesting phenomenon of permanent entanglement freezing is found for the infinite-size case ($N\rightarrow\infty$). As the multiparty system size reduces to finite $N$, the interesting behavior of dynamical entanglement "thawing" start to emerge. Especifically, alternative appearances of "freezing" and "thawing" can be identified as time evolves. Our results may provide useful guidance to entanglement control in quantum tasks., Comment: 6 pages

We introduce a quantification of genuine three-party pure-state coherence for wave fields, classical and quantum, by borrowing concepts from classical optics. The tensor structure of a classical paraxial light beam composed of three principle degrees of freedom is shown to be equivalent to that of a three-qubit quantum state. The traditional basis-independent optical coherence quantity called degree of polarization is then determined to be the desired quantitative two-party coherence measure. When appropriately generalized, a set of fundamental constraint relations is derived among three two-party coherences. The constraint relations can be geometrically interpreted and visualized as tetrahedra nested within a coherence cube. A measure of three-party coherence is defined based on the constraints. We are reporting completed experimental tests and confirmations of the constraints as well as measurement of three-party coherence in the optical context. Our approach based on classical optics also opens an alternative way to analyze quantum coherence., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 table

We experimentally observe that quantum duality of a single photon is controlled by its self-entanglement through a three-way quantum coherence identity $V^2+D^2+C^2=1$. Here V, D, C represent waveness, particleness, and self-entanglement respectively.

We provide the first experimental confirmation of a three-way quantum coherence identity possessed by single pure-state photons. Our experimental results demonstrate that traditional wave-particle duality is specifically limited by this identity. As a new consequence, we show that quantum duality itself can be amplified, attenuated, or turned completely off. In the Young double-slit context this quantum coherence identity is found to be directly relevant, and it supplies a rare quantitative backup for one of Bohr's philosophical pronouncements., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

Ninety years ago in 1927, at an international congress in Como, Italy, Niels Bohr gave an address which is recognized as the first instance in which the term "complementarity", as a physical concept, was spoken publicly [1], revealing Bohr's own thinking about Louis de Broglie's "duality". Bohr had very slowly accepted duality as a principle of physics: close observation of any quantum object will reveal either wave-like or particle-like behavior, one or the other of two fundamental and complementary features. Little disagreement exists today about complementarity's importance and broad applicability in quantum science. Book-length scholarly examinations even provide speculations about the relevance of complementarity in fields as different from physics as biology, psychology and social anthropology, connections which were apparently of interest to Bohr himself (see Jammer [2], Murdoch [3] and Whitaker [4]). Confusion evident in Como following his talk was not eliminated by Bohr's article [1], and complementarity has been subjected to nine decades of repeated examination ever since with no agreed resolution. Semi-popular treatments [5] as well as expert examinations [6-9] show that the topic cannot be avoided, and complementarity retains its central place in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. However, recent approaches by our group [10-13] and others [14-20] to the underlying notion of coherence now allow us to present a universal formulation of complementarity that may signal the end to the confusion. We demonstrate a new relationship that constrains the behavior of an electromagnetic field (quantum or classical) in the fundamental context of two-slit experiments. We show that entanglement is the ingredient needed to complete Bohr's formulation of complementarity, debated for decades because of its incompleteness., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures

Visibility $V$ and distinguishability $D$ quantify wave-ray duality: $V^2 + D^2 \le 1$. We join them to polarization $P$ via the Polarization Coherence Theorem, a tight equality: $P^2 = V^2 + D^2$., Comment: Optica Memorandum, 2 pages

We provide a graphical description of the entanglement of pure-state multiparty systems based on an analogy between a bipartite purity analysis and the centroid of a collection of point masses. This description applies to quantum systems with $N$ parties, each with an arbitrary number of (discrete) states. The case of $N$ qubits is highlighted for simplicity. This geometric description illustrates some of the restrictions in the form of inequalities that apply to entanglement in multiparty systems., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Entanglement is a key resource of quantum science for tasks that require it to be shared among participants. Within atomic, condensed matter and photonic many-body systems the distribution and sharing of entanglement is of particular importance for information processing by progressively larger and larger quantum networks. Here we report a singly-bipartitioned qubit entanglement inequality that applies to any N-party qubit pure state and is completely tight. It provides the first prescription for a direct calculation of the amount of entanglement sharing that is possible among N qubit parties. A geometric representation of the measure is easily visualized via polytopes within entanglement hypercubes., Comment: 5pages, 4 figures

The growing recognition that entanglement is not exclusively a quantum property, and does not even originate with Schr\"odinger's famous remark about it [Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 31, 555 (1935)], prompts examination of its role in marking the quantum-classical boundary. We have done this by subjecting correlations of classical optical fields to new Bell-analysis experiments, and report here values of the Bell parameter greater than ${\cal B} = 2.54$. This is many standard deviations outside the limit ${\cal B} = 2$ established by the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality [Phys. Rev. Lett. 23, 880 (1969)], in agreement with our theoretical classical prediction, and not far from the Tsirelson limit ${\cal B} = 2.828...$. These results cast a new light on the standard quantum-classical boundary description, and suggest a reinterpretation of it., Comment: Comments and Remarks are warmly welcome! arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1406.3338

Quantum entanglement between an arbitrary number of remote qubits is examined analytically. We show that there is a non-probabilistic way to address in one context the management of entanglement of an arbitrary number of mixed-state qubits by engaging quantitative measures of entanglement and a specific external control mechanism. Both all-party entanglement and weak inseparability are considered. We show that for $N\ge4$, the death of all-party entanglement is permanent after an initial collapse. In contrast, weak inseparability can be deterministically managed for an arbitrarily large number of qubits almost indefinitely. Our result suggests a picture of the path that the system traverses in the Hilbert space.

For many decades the word "entanglement" has been firmly attached to the world of quantum mechanics, as is the phrase "Bell violation". Here we introduce Shimony-Wolf fields, entirely classical non-deterministic states, as a basis for entanglement and Bell analyses. Such fields are well known in coherence optics and are open to test. We present experimental results showing that Shimony-Wolf states exhibit strong classical Bell violation, in effect opening a way of examining a new sector of the boundary between quantum and classical physics., Comment: 15 pages

We introduce a new measure for the genuinely N-partite (all-party) entanglement of N-qubit states using the trace distance metric, and find an algebraic formula for the GHZ-diagonal states. We then use this formula to show how the all-party entanglement of experimentally produced GHZ states of an arbitrary number of qubits may be bounded with only four measurements.

For many decades the word "entanglement" has been firmly attached to the world of quantum mechanics. So is the phrase "Bell violation". Here we show, without contradicting quantum mechanics, that classical non-deterministic fields also provide a natural basis for entanglement and Bell analyses. Surprisingly, such fields are not eliminated by the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell violation test as viable alternatives to quantum theory. An experimental setup for verification is proposed., Comment: 5 pages

We describe a new Bell test for two-particle entangled systems that engages an unbounded continuous variable. The continuous variable state is allowed to be arbitrary and inaccessible to direct measurements. A systematic method is introduced to perform the required measurements indirectly. Our results provide new perspectives on both the study of local realistic theory for continuous-variable systems and on the nonlocal control theory of quantum information., Comment: 8 pages, published version

We investigate the effects of error correction on non-local quantum coherence as a function of time, extending the study by Sainz and Bj\"ork. We consider error correction of amplitude damping, pure phase damping and combinations of amplitude and phase damping as they affect both fidelity and quantum entanglement. Initial two-qubit entanglement is encoded in arbitrary real superpositions of both \Phi-type and \Psi-type Bell states. Our main focus is on the possibility of delay or prevention of ESD (early stage decoherence, or entanglement sudden death). We obtain the onset times for ESD as a function of the state-superposition mixing angle. Error correction affects entanglement and fidelity differently, and we exhibit initial entangled states for which error correction increases fidelity but decreases entanglement, and vice versa., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures; references added; journal reference added

We report results bearing on the behavior of non-local decoherence and its potential for being managed or even controlled. The decoherence process known as entanglement sudden death (ESD) can drive prepared entanglement to zero at the same time that local coherences and fidelity remain non-zero. For a generic ESD-susceptible Bell superposition state, we provide rules restricting the occurrence and timing of ESD, amounting to management tools over a continuous variation of initial conditions. These depend on only three parameters: initial purity, entanglement and excitation. Knowledge or control of initial phases is not needed., Comment: 5 pages

We find an algebraic formula for the N-partite concurrence of N qubits in an X-matrix. X- matricies are density matrices whose only non-zero elements are diagonal or anti-diagonal when written in an orthonormal basis. We use our formula to study the dynamics of the N-partite entanglement of N remote qubits in generalized N-party Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. We study the case when each qubit interacts with a partner harmonic oscillator. It is shown that only one type of GHZ state is prone to entanglement sudden death; for the rest, N-partite entanglement dies out momentarily. Algebraic formulas for the entanglement dynamics are given in both cases.

We propose a new witness operation for the non-classical character of a harmonic oscillator state. The method does not require state reconstruction. For all harmonic oscillator states that are classical, a bound is established for the evolution of a qubit which is coupled to the oscillator. Any violation of the bound can be rigorously attributed to the non-classical character of the initial oscillator state., Comment: Figures have been updated and some new references are added

The Tavis-Cummings model for more than one qubit interacting with a common oscillator mode is extended beyond the rotating wave approximation (RWA). We explore the parameter regime in which the frequencies of the qubits are much smaller than the oscillator frequency and the coupling strength is allowed to be ultra-strong. The application of the adiabatic approximation, introduced by Irish, et al. (Phys. Rev. B \textbf{72}, 195410 (2005)), for a single qubit system is extended to the multi-qubit case. For a two-qubit system, we identify three-state manifolds of close-lying dressed energy levels and obtain results for the dynamics of intra-manifold transitions that are incompatible with results from the familiar regime of the RWA. We exhibit features of two-qubit dynamics that are different from the single qubit case, including calculations of qubit-qubit entanglement. Both number state and coherent state preparations are considered, and we derive analytical formulas that simplify the interpretation of numerical calculations. Expressions for individual collapse and revival signals of both population and entanglement are derived., Comment: 12 Pages, 8 Figures. Comparison to the rotating wave approximation added

We study the dynamics of two qubits interacting with a single mode of a harmonic oscillator beyond the rotating wave approximation in the ideally degenerate regime. Exact analytic expressions are obtained for state properties of interest, including qubit entanglement for a certain class of initial states of the oscillator and the qubits. Qualitative differences and similarities in the evolution of the qubits in the degenerate regime when the oscillator is treated quantum mechanically and classically are discussed.

The entanglement dynamics of two remote qubits is examined analytically. The qubits interact arbitrarily strongly with separate harmonic oscillators in the idealized degenerate limit of the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. In contrast to well known non-degenerate RWA results, it is shown that ideally degenerate qubits cannot induce bipartite entanglement between their partner oscillators., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

The non-conservation of entanglement, when two or more particles interact, sets it apart from other dynamical quantities like energy and momentum. It does not allow the interpretation of the subtle dynamics of entanglement as a flow of this quantity between the constituents of the system. Here we show that adding a third party to a two-particle system may lead to a conservation law that relates the quantities characterizing the bipartite entanglement between each of the parties and the other two. We provide an experimental demonstration of this idea using entangled photons, and generalize it to N-partite GHZ states.

We formulate the classical polarization theory for light by using entanglement analysis. We demonstrate a route to a systematic and consistent measure of ordinary light polarization that extends automatically to a new understanding of the degree of polarization at a point, when a distinct beam direction is absent. We have drawn on recent work [Qian and Eberly, arXiv 1009.5622] dealing with the conservation of quantum information.

We report an approach to quantum open system dynamics that leads to novel nonlinear constant relations governing information flow among the participants. Our treatment is for mixed state systems entangled in a pure state fashion with an unspecified party that was involved in preparing the system for an experimental test, but no longer interacts after $t=0$. Evolution due to subsequent interaction with another party is treated as an amplitude flow channel and uses Schmidt-type bipartite decomposition of the evolving state. We illustrate this with three examples, including both reversible and irreversible information flows, and give formulas for the new nonlinear constraints in each case., Comment: 9 pages

A new development in the dynamical behavior of elementary quantum systems is the surprising discovery that correlation between two quantum units of information called qubits can be degraded by environmental noise in a way not seen previously in studies of dissipation. This new route for dissipation attacks quantum entanglement, the essential resource for quantum information as well as the central feature in the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen so-called paradox and in discussions of the fate of Schr\"{o}inger's cat. The effect has been labeled ESD, which stands for early-stage disentanglement or, more frequently, entanglement sudden death. We review recent progress in studies focused on this phenomenon., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

We extend recent theoretical studies of entanglement dynamics in the presence of environmental noise, following the long-time interest of Krzysztof Wodkiewicz in the effects of stochastic models of noise on quantum optical coherences. We investigate the quantum entanglement dynamics of two spins in the presence of classical Ornstein-Uhlenbeck noise, obtaining exact solutions for evolution dynamics. We consider how entanglement can be affected by non-Markovian noise, and discuss several limiting cases., Comment: REVTeX, 6 pages, 4 figures. Submission for a Special Issue of Optics Communications in Memory of Krzystof Wodkiewicz

The prospect of self-consistent propagation of more than two pulses contemporaneously through multi-resonant media raises open questions: whether soliton solutions exist, and whether a useful generalization of two-level pulse Area can be found. We answer these questions positively for the case of four pulses interacting in combined V and Lambda fashion with an idealized pair of atomic D-lines., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

We analyze the effects of partial coherence of ground state preparation on two-pulse propagation in a three-level $\Lambda$ medium, in contrast to previous treastments that have considered the cases of media whose ground states are characterized by probabilities (level populations) or by probability amplitudes (coherent pure states). We present analytic solutions of the Maxwell-Bloch equations, and we extend our analysis with numerical solutions to the same equations. We interpret these solutions in the bright/dark dressed state basis, and show that they describe a population transfer between the bright and dark state. For mixed-state $\Lambda$ media with partial ground state phase coherence the dark state can never be fully populated. This has implications for phase-coherent effects such as pulse matching, coherent population trapping, and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We show that for partially phase-coherent three-level media, self induced transparency (SIT) dominates EIT and our results suggest a corresponding three-level area theorem., Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. A

We analyze the separability of the joint state of a collection of two-level systems at finite temperature T. The fact that only separable states are found in the neighborhood of their thermal equilibrium state guarantees that decoherence will destroy any initially arranged entanglement in a finite time., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

We examine fully coherent two-pulse propagation in a lambda-type medium, under two-photon resonance conditions and including inhomogeneous broadening. We examine both the effects of short pulse preparation and the effects of medium preparation. We contrast cases in which the two pulses have matched envelopes or not, and contrast cases in which ground state coherence is present or not. We find that an extended interpretation of the Area Theorem for single-pulse self-induced transparency (SIT) is able to unify two-pulse propagation scenarios, including some aspects of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). We present numerical solutions of both three-level and adiabatically reduced two-level density matrix equations and Maxwell's equations, and show that many features of the solutions are quickly interpreted with the aid of analytic solutions that we also provide for restricted cases of pulse shapes and preparation of the medium. In the limit of large one-photon detuning, we show that the two-level equations commonly used are not reliable for pulse Areas in the 2$\pi$ range, which allows puzzling features of previous numerical work to be understood., Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures. Replaced with version accepted in PRA

In this paper, we extract from concurrence its variable part, denoted $\Lambda$, and use $\Lambda$ as a time-dependent measure of "distance", either postive or negative, from the separability boundary. We use it to investigate entanglement dynamics of two isolated but initially entangled qubits, each coupled to its own environment., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Special Issue in Journal of Modern Optics in honor of Peter Knight

We examine entanglement dynamics via concurrence among four two-state systems labeled $A, ~a, ~B, ~b$. The four systems are arranged on an addressable "lattice" in such a way that $A$ and $a$ at one location labeled $Aa$ can interact with each other via excitation exchange, and the same for $B$ and $b$ at location $Bb$. The $Aa$ location is prepared entangled with the $Bb$ location, but their mutual complete isolation prevents interaction in the interval between actions of an external addressing agent. There are six pairwise concurrences on the lattice, and we follow their evolution in the interval between external actions. We show how entanglement evolves and may exhibit the non-analytic effect termed entanglement sudden death (ESD), with periodic recovery. These loss and gain processes may be interpreted as entanglement transfer between the subsystems., Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, v3 with minor changes

We treat theoretically the two-pulse plane-wave propagation problem associated with the stimulated Raman process. A strong pump pulse and a weak probe pulse interact self-consistently during mutual propagation through a medium in the three-level lambda configuration. We treat the pulse interaction fully coherently, but take initially incoherent mixed ground states to describe the medium. We present analytic pulse envelope solutions to the nonlinear evolution equations, and then test them numerically. We show that the entire process can be interpreted consistently as a three-regime evolution, in which the first and last regimes display behavior quantitatively the same as self-induced transparency. They are connected through a Raman transfer process in the intermediate regime., Comment: Submitted in honor of G.S. Agarwal. 11 pages 4 figues

We investigate theoretically the phenomenon of so-called fast light in an unconventional regime, using pulses sufficiently short that relaxation effects in a gain medium can be ignored completely. We show that previously recognized gain instabilities, including superfluorescence, can be tolerated in achieving a pulse peak advance of one full peak width., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures; Replaced with revised version accepted by JOSA B

We show that, although the amount of mutual entanglement of photons propagating in free space is fixed, the type of correlations between the photons that determine the entanglement can dramatically change during propagation. We show that this amounts to a migration of entanglement in Hilbert space, rather than real space. For the case of spontaneous parametric down conversion, the migration of entanglement in transverse coordinates takes place from modulus to phase of the bi-photon state and back again. We propose an experiment to observe this migration in Hilbert space and to determine the full entanglement., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

We analyze the propagation of fast-light pulses through a finite-length resonant gain medium both analytically and numerically. We find that intrinsic instabilities can be avoided in attaining a substantial peak advance with an ultra-short rather than a long or adiabatic probe., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with revised version submitted to Optics Letters

We demonstrate in straightforward calculations that even under ideally weak noise the relaxation of bipartite open quantum systems contains elements not previously encountered in quantum noise physics. While additivity of decay rates is known to be generic for decoherence of a single system, we demonstrate that it breaks down for bipartite coherence of even the simplest composite systems., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, revised version

We investigate entanglement dynamics of two isolated atoms, each in its own Jaynes-Cummings cavity. We show analytically that initial entanglement has an interesting subsequent time evolution, including the so-called sudden death effect., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures

When a composite quantum state interacts with its surroundings, both quantum coherence of individual particles and quantum entanglement will decay. We have shown that under vacuum noise, i.e., during spontaneous emission, two-qubit entanglement may terminate abruptly in a finite time [T. Yu and J. H. Eberly, \prl {93}, 140404 (2004)], a phenomenon termed entanglement sudden death (ESD). An open issue is the behavior of mixed-state entanglement under the influence of classical noise. In this paper we investigate entanglement sudden death as it arises from the influence of classical phase noise on two qubits that are initially entangled but have no further mutual interaction., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

We examine the application of Schmidt-mode analysis to pure state entanglement. Several examples permitting exact analytic calculation of Schmidt eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are included, as well as evaluation of the associated degree of entanglement., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, for C.M. Bowden memorial

We examine a class of bipartite mixed states which we call X states and report several analytic results related to the occurrence of so-called entanglement sudden death (ESD) under time evolution in the presence of common types of environmental noise. Avoidance of sudden death by application of purely local operations is shown to be feasible in some cases., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, version 3, some minor changes have been made

Spontaneous emission of a photon by an atom is described theoretically in three dimensions with the initial wave function of a finite-mass atom taken in the form of a finite-size wave packet. Recoil and wave-packet spreading are taken into account. The total atom-photon wave function is found in the momentum and coordinate representations as the solution of an initial-value problem. The atom-photon entanglement arising in such a process is shown to be closely related to the structure of atom and photon wave packets which can be measured in the coincidence and single-particle schemes of measurements. Two predicted effects, arising under the conditions of high entanglement, are anomalous narrowing of the coincidence wave packets and, under different conditions, anomalous broadening of the single-particle wave packets. Fundamental symmetry relations between the photon and atom single-particle and coincidence wave packet widths are established. The relationship with the famous scenario of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen is discussed., Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures, Phys. Rev. A

We show that under the influence of pure vacuum noise two entangled qubits become completely disentangled in a finite time, and in a specific example we find the time to be given by $\ln \Big(\frac{2 +\sqrt 2}{2}\Big)$ times the usual spontaneous lifetime., Comment: revtex, 4 pages, 2 figures

Quantum entanglement can manifest itself in the narrowing of wavepackets. We define the phenomenon of phase entanglement and describe its effect on the interpretation of spatial localization experiments., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, REVTeX

The narrowing of electron and ion wave packets in the process of photoionization is investigated, with the electron-ion recoil fully taken into account. Packet localization of this type is directly related to entanglement in the joint quantum state of electron and ion, and to Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen localization. Experimental observation of such packet-narrowing effects is suggested via coincidence registration by two detectors, with a fixed position of one and varying position of the other. A similar effect, typically with an enhanced degree of entanglement, is shown to occur in the case of photodissociation of molecules.

Quantum entanglement associated with transverse wave vectors of down conversion photons is investigated based on the Schmidt decomposition method. We show that transverse entanglement involves two variables: orbital angular momentum and transverse frequency. We show that in the monochromatic limit high values of entanglement are closely controlled by a single parameter resulting from the competition between (transverse) momentum conservation and longitudinal phase matching. We examine the features of the Schmidt eigenmodes, and indicate how entanglement can be enhanced by suitable mode selection methods., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We consider whether quantum coherence in the form of mutual entanglement between a pair of qubits is susceptible to decay that may be more rapid than the decay of the coherence of either qubit individually. An instance of potential importance for solid state quantum computing arises if embedded qubits (spins, quantum dots, Cooper pair boxes, etc.) are exposed to global and local noise at the same time. Here we allow separate phase-noisy channels to affect local and non-local measures of system coherence. We find that the time for decay of the qubit entanglement can be significantly shorter than the time for local dephasing of the individual qubits., Comment: REVTeX, 9 pages, 1 figure, v2 with minor changes, reference added

We study the robustness and fragility of entanglement of open quantum systems in some exactly solvable models in which the decoherence is caused by a pure dephasing process. In particular, for the toy models presented in this paper, we identify two different time scales, one is responsible for local dephasing, while the other is for entanglement decay. For a class of fragile entangled states defined in this paper, we find that the entanglement of two qubits, as measured by concurrence, decays faster asymptotically than the quantum dephasing of an individual qubit., Comment: 11 pages, revtex, no figures

Accounting for resources is the central issue in computational efficiency. We point out physical constraints implicit in information readout that have been overlooked in classical computing. The basic particle-counting mode of read-out sets a lower bound on the resources needed to implement a quantum computer. As a consequence, computers based on classical waves are as efficient as those based on single quantum particles., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure