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Saturday 1 November

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Quantum-coherent optical isolation and circulation using frequency conversion on a chip

Breaking optical reciprocity enables new regimes of light–matter interaction with broad implications for fundamental physics and emerging quantum technologies. Although various approaches have been explored to achieve optical nonreciprocity, realizing it at the single-photon level has remained a major challenge. Here, we demonstrate nonmagnetic optical nonreciprocity – including both isolation and circulation – in the quantum regime, enabled by efficient and noiseless all-optical frequency conversion on an integrated III-V photonic chip. Our device preserves the quantum coherence and entanglement of the input photons while delivering exceptional performance parameters, including a high extinction ratio of 34 dB, low insertion loss of 0.8 dB, broad bandwidth of 44 GHz, high operational fidelity of 97%, and widely tunable operation wavelength. This realization of quantum optical nonreciprocity in a scalable photonic platform opens a pathway toward directional quantum communication and noise-resilient quantum networks.
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All authors Jierui Hu, Hao Yuan, Joshua Akin, Shanhui Fan, Kejie Fang

Quantum Physics

Quantum Field Theory and the Measurement Problem in Quantum Mechanics

We propose a novel solution to the measurement problem based on quantum field theory and Haag's theorem. According to our proposal in elementary interactions where the particles content is changed, the temporal evolution is non unitary. These interactions which are almost instantaneous lead to a genuine stochastic selection of an outcome subspace that has a distinct particles content but can be a superposition of momentum states, spin states, etc.
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Quantum Physics

Hierarchical QAOA for the Vehicle Routing Problem via Clustered Decomposition and Local Feasibility Repair

We propose a hierarchical quantum approximate optimization framework for solving large-scale Vehicle Routing Problems (VRP) using Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA). The method decomposes a VRP instance into balanced clusters of customer nodes. We formulate intra-cluster routing as Open loop Traveling Salesman Problems (OTSPs), and inter-cluster routing as a reduced VRP over the cluster representatives and depot. We then map the sub-problems to Ising Hamiltonians and solve with both standard and multi-angle QAOA variants at fixed depth p=3, and merge them to produce a routing path for the original VRP. Additionally, to improve solution feasibility and success probability, we introduce a polynomial-time post-processing protocol that samples candidate bit-strings from the QAOA output using a probability threshold and performs exhaustive local 1 and 2 bit-flip searches around these candidates. Benchmarking on 100 randomly generated 13-node, two-vehicle VRP instances, we show that the post-processed standard-QAOA implementation achieves high success rates and approximation ratios within 1.2-1.5 compared to classical optimizer (Gurobi) solutions, while requiring only 12 logical qubits per subproblem instead of 156 qubits for a direct edge-based encoding. These results provide a proof-of-concept demonstration that hierarchical decomposition, shallow QAOA, and local bit-flip repair can offer a scalable and resource-efficient pathway toward larger VRP instances on near-term quantum devices.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.stat-mech

Short-time dynamics in phase-ordering kinetics

Short-time dynamics in the $2D$ Blume-Capel model, with a non-conserved order-parameter and short-ranged interactions, is analysed. For non-equilibrium dynamics, both at a critical point in the $2D$ Ising universality class and at the tricritical point, we reproduce the values $\Theta=0.190({5})$ and $\Theta=-0.542({5})$, respectively, of the critical initial slip exponent. These agree with more early estimates and with the Janssen-Schaub-Schmittmann scaling relation. In phase-ordering kinetics, after a quench into the ordered phase, we establish the validity of short-time dynamics. In the $2D$ Ising universality class, we find $\Theta=0.39({1})$ in agreement with the scaling relation $\lambda=d-2\Theta$.
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Quantum Physics

Lost and found charge in quantum batteries

Quantum batteries are prone to losing their stored charge, when interacting with a thermal environment. However, getting a limited assistance from the thermal environment, is it possible to recover the charge back, in a reusable form? Here, we answer this question, by involving an assistance of a suitable measurement performed on the environment. This framework resembles the structure of quantum instruments in the thermodynamic scenario. Our proposed framework involves two different kind of assistance from thermal environment - one by accessing only the thermal particle, actively participating in the interaction, providing a weak retrieval of charge, while the other involves local assistance from an additional quantum system purifying the thermal environment, resulting in the strong retrieval of the lost charges. By setting the upper-bound on the amount of charges retrieved in each of these two situations, we report that their difference characterizes the amount of entanglement generated between the quantum battery and the reference system due to the thermal interaction. Finally, we exemplify the extreme instances of the difference between the weak and the strongly retrieved charges for qubit batteries.
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All authors Debanjan Dey Sarkar, Mallika Mondal, Preeti Parashar, Tamal Guha

Quantum Physics

Free-space multi-user quantum network with high key rate

Emergent quantum networks are the essential ingredient for securely connecting multiple users worldwide, extensively deployed in both fibre and free-space. An essential element is the multiplexing of entanglement to multiple users, overcoming the peer-to-peer restriction of quantum key distribution (QKD), so far successfully shown in fibre-based architectures. Here, we demonstrate a free-space quantum space division multiplexing architecture using just one entanglement source to realise a fully connected twelve-channel quantum network for seamless QKD connections between six users. The network achieves record coincidence rates exceeding $3 \times 10^{4}$ s$^{-1}$ between any pair of nodes on the network, for sifted key rate of over 400 kbps. Our approach overcomes the active switching hurdle that has hindered the free-space deployment of quantum multiplexing, is fully passive, easily scalable to more nodes and compatible with fibre-based integration, thus opening a new path to scalable and resource-efficient quantum networks that utilise free-space links.
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Quantum Physics

Quantum Qomrades: Catalysts in Resource Theories and Memories in Dynamic Programming

Quantum information theory explores the limits of manipulating quantum states. While auxiliary systems often enhance information processing, a systematic explanation for their power has been lacking. This thesis addresses this gap by investigating the underlying sources of strength in using auxiliary systems. We then apply these insights to practical problems in quantum computing and devise an algorithmic paradigm leveraging auxiliary systems. The first part examines catalysts – auxiliary systems that remain unaltered – and identifies three advantages: a memory effect, the ability to fine-tune catalyst states, and their role as seed states for resource distribution. The second part presents a strategy for solving recursive problems in quantum algorithms by employing auxiliary states as memories, achieving an exponential reduction in circuit depth at the cost of increased width. The findings in this thesis would facilitate future research into fundamental problems like resource interconversion and practical ones like optimal quantum circuit synthesis.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.quant-gas

Connected correlations in cold atom experiments

The recent development of single-atom-resolved probes has made full counting statistics measurements accessible in quantum gas experiments. This capability provides access to high-order moments of physical observables, from which cumulants, or equivalently connected correlations, can be precisely determined. Through a selection of recent cold atom experiments, this article illustrates the significance of connected correlations in characterizing ensembles of interacting quantum particles. First, non-zero connected correlations of order n > 2 unambiguously identify non-Gaussian quantum states. Second, connected correlations of order n identify clusters made of n elements whose statistical properties are irreducible to combinations of smaller clusters. The ability to identify such multi-particle clusters offers a an interesting perspective on strongly correlated quantum states of matter at the microscopic scale.
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All authors Thomas Chalopin, Igor Ferrier-Barbut, Thierry Lahaye, Antoine Browaeys, David Clément

Quantum Physics

Quantum Machine Unlearning: Foundations, Mechanisms, and Taxonomy

Quantum Machine Unlearning has emerged as a foundational challenge at the intersection of quantum information theory privacypreserving computation and trustworthy artificial intelligence This paper advances QMU by establishing a formal framework that unifies physical constraints algorithmic mechanisms and ethical governance within a verifiable paradigm We define forgetting as a contraction of distinguishability between pre and postunlearning models under completely positive trace-preserving dynamics grounding data removal in the physics of quantum irreversibility Building on this foundation we present a fiveaxis taxonomy spanning scope guarantees mechanisms system context and hardware realization linking theoretical constructs to implementable strategies Within this structure we incorporate influence and quantum Fisher information weighted updates parameter reinitialization and kernel alignment as practical mechanisms compatible with noisy intermediatescale quantum NISQ devices The framework extends naturally to federated and privacyaware settings via quantum differential privacy homomorphic encryption and verifiable delegation enabling scalable auditable deletion across distributed quantum systems Beyond technical design we outline a forwardlooking research roadmap emphasizing formal proofs of forgetting scalable and secure architectures postunlearning interpretability and ethically auditable governance Together these contributions elevate QMU from a conceptual notion to a rigorously defined and ethically aligned discipline bridging physical feasibility algorithmic verifiability and societal accountability in the emerging era of quantum intelligence.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.atom-ph

Universality in Ionic Three-body Systems Near an Ion-atom Feshbach Resonance

We calculate bound and scattering properties of a system of two neutral atoms and an ion near an atom-ion Feshbach resonance. Our results indicate that long-range atom-ion interactions lead to significant deviations from universal behavior derived from contact or van der Waals potentials. We find that ionic systems display an overall suppression of inelastic transitions leading to recombination rates and lifetimes of Efimov state orders of magnitude smaller with respect to those for neutral atoms. We further characterize the dense spectra of triatomic molecular ions with extended lifetimes. Our results provide a deeper insight on the universality and structure of three-body ionic systems and establishing them as a promising platform for exploring novel few- and many-body phenomena with long-range interactions.
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Friday 31 October

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.mes-hall

Resolving the phase of a Dirac topological state via interferometric photoemission

The electronic wavefunction is at the heart of physical phenomena, defining the frontiers of quantum materials research. While the amplitude of the electron wavefunction in crystals can be measured with state-of-the-art probes in unprecedented resolution, its phase has remained largely inaccessible, obscuring rich electronic information. Here we develop a quantum-path electron interferometer based on time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, that enables the reconstruction of phase information associated with electronic states, as encoded in the photoemission transition amplitudes - with energy and momentum resolution. We demonstrate the scheme by resolving the phase along the Dirac electronic band of a prototypical topological insulator and observe a resonance-associated phase jump as well as a momentum and phase synchronized inversion revealing the helicity of the Dirac cone. We show the interferometer can be optically controlled by the polarization of the absorbed light, allowing a differential measurement of the phase - a crucial component for extracting phase information from an interferogram. This photo-electron-interferometer provides direct experimental access to the phase of electronic transition amplitudes. Its implementation relies on experimentally accessible conditions - such as the presence of a suitable intermediate state and polarization-selective coupling - and can therefore be extended to a wide class of materials.
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All authors Shiri Gvishi, Ittai Sidilkover, Yun Yen, Shaked Rosenstein, Nir Hen Levin, Adi Perelmuter, Omer Pasternak, Costel R. Rotundu, Ido Biran, Semën Gorfman, Naaman Amer, Michael Sentef, Hadas Soifer

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.chem-ph

Resolving the Marcus-Rehm-Weller Paradox in Electron Transfer

Marcus theory famously predicts that electron-transfer rates decrease once the thermodynamic driving force exceeds the reorganization energy. Yet many systems instead exhibit Rehm-Weller kinetics characterized by rate saturation rather than decrease. Here we show that these apparently contradictory phenomenologies emerge as opposite physical limits of the same two-state quantum Hamiltonian. In the normal region, the model recovers both Marcus and Rehm-Weller behavior. In the inverted region, however, it predicts Marcus's decreasing rate in the nonadiabatic limit but Rehm-Weller saturation in the adiabatic limit. Using physically realistic reorganization energies and electronic coupling values, we show that Rehm-Weller's data can be quantitatively reproduced within a microscopic quantum model without invoking phenomenological corrections.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.chem-ph

Benchmarking Proton Tunneling Splittings with a Wavefunction-Based Double-Well Model: Application to the Formic Acid Dimer

Proton tunneling across hydrogen bonds is a fundamental quantum effect with implications for spectroscopy, catalysis, and biomolecular stability. While state-of-the-art instanton and path-integral methods provide accurate multidimensional tunneling splittings, simplified one-dimensional models remain valuable as conceptual and benchmarking tools. Here we develop a wavefunction-based framework for tunneling splittings using a Cornell-type double-well potential and apply it as a benchmark for hydrogen-bond tunneling. Analytical WKB estimates and numerical finite-difference solutions are compared across a range of barrier parameters, showing consistent agreement. As a test case, we map the formic acid dimer (FAD) barrier onto a quartic double-well model parameterized to reproduce the reported barrier height of $V_b \\approx 2848~\\text{cm}^{-1}$. The resulting tunneling splitting of about $0.037~\\text{cm}^{-1}$ matches the reduced-dimensional calculations of Qu and Bowman. The close agreement between numerical and semiclassical results highlights the pedagogical and diagnostic value of one-dimensional models, while comparison with molecular benchmarks clarifies their limitations relative to full multidimensional quantum treatments.
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Quantum Physics

Optimal transfer of entanglement in oscillator chains in non-Markovian open systems

We considered the transfer of continuous-variable entangled states in coupled oscillator chains embedded in a generic environment. We demonstrate high-fidelity transfer via optimal control in two configurations - a linear chain and an X-shaped chain. More specifically, we use the Krotov optimization algorithm to design control fields that achieve the desired state transfer. Under the environmental memory effects, the Krotov algorithm needs to be modified, since the dissipative terms in non-Markovian dynamics are generally governed by the time-dependent system Hamiltonian. Remarkably, we can achieve high-fidelity transfer by simply tuning the frequencies of the oscillators while keeping the coupling strength constant, even in the presence of open-system effects. For the system under consideration, we find that quantum memory effects can aid in the transfer of entanglement and show improvement over the memoryless case. In addition, it is possible to target a range of entangled states, making it unnecessary to know the parameters of the initial state beforehand.
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Quantum Physics

Local perception operators and classicality: new tools for old tests

Quantum nonlocality is often judged by violations of Bell-type inequalities for a given state. The computation of such violations is a global task, requiring evaluation of global correlations and subsequent testing against a Bell functional. We ask instead: when is a given state local (classical)? We formalize this question via local perception operators (LPOs) that compress global observables into locally accessible statistics, and we derive two complementary witnesses – one implementable by a single party with classical side information, one intrinsically two-sided. These tools revisit familiar Bell scenarios from a new operational angle. We show how the witness leads to state-aware constraints that depend on local marginals and measurement geometry, with natural specializations to canonical scenarios. The resulting criteria are built from first moments and standard projective measurements and provide a way to certify compatibility with local hidden variable explanations for the LPO-processed data in regimes where conventional Bell violations may be inconclusive.
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Quantum Physics

Quantum-dot single photon source performance with off-resonant pulse preparation schemes

The preparation of photonic qubits in the excited state is an integral part of the performance of an on-demand single photon source (SPS). Conventional resonant excitation, an excellent approach to maximize the coherence and indistinguishability of the SPS, often requires polarization filtering to remove the pump signal and isolate the qubit emission, but this results in an inherent 50% hit to the efficiency. Recent excitation schemes strategically try to exploit pulses that excite the qubit while avoiding spectral overlap to bypass this required filtering. In this work, we compare three such pumping schemes to quantify the important SPS figures-of-merit for off-resonant quantum dot schemes, using: (i) a symmetrically detuned dichromatic pulse, (ii) a notch-filtered adiabatic rapid passage (NARP) pulse, and (iii) a swing up of the quantum emitter population (SUPER) pulse. Due to large instantaneous pulse strengths, the dichromatic pulse suffers from phonon-induced dephasing which can lower the SPS performance by up to 50%. In contrast, the NARP and SUPER pulses are shielded from phonon coupling to differing degrees but both maintain excellent SPS performance. The SUPER pulse can lose significant efficiency if there is variance in its constituent pulses' amplitude, pulse width, or frequency, while the NARP pulse, though potentially more difficult to realize in experiments, is robust against variance in the pulse preparation.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Magnetic field in vacuum of quantum spinor matter induced by a cosmic string in three-dimensional space

A linear magnetic topological defect (cosmic string) is modeled as a magnetic flux-carrying tube that is impenetrable to external spinor matter. The matter field is quantized in the background of this tube, with the most general set of boundary conditions ensuring both the tube's impenetrability and the self-adjointness of the Dirac Hamiltonian operator. We compute the induced vacuum magnetic flux along the tube in (3+1)-dimensional space-time. It was shown that the requirement for the total induced vacuum magnetic flux to be finite restricts the admissible boundary conditions to only one choice: the MIT quark bag boundary condition. The dependence of the effect on the transverse size of the tube and the flux inside the tube was also analyzed.
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All authors Yu.I. Pylypchuk, P.O. Nakaznyi, O.V. Barabash, A.O. Zaporozhchenko, V.M. Gorkavenko

Quantum Physics

Closed-loop calculations of electronic structure on a quantum processor and a classical supercomputer at full scale

Quantum computers must operate in concert with classical computers to deliver on the promise of quantum advantage for practical problems. To achieve that, it is important to understand how quantum and classical computing can interact together, and how one can characterize the scalability and efficiency of hybrid quantum-classical workflows. So far, early experiments with quantum-centric supercomputing workflows have been limited in scale and complexity. Here, we use a Heron quantum processor deployed on premises with the entire supercomputer Fugaku to perform the largest computation of electronic structure involving quantum and classical high-performance computing. We design a closed-loop workflow between the quantum processors and 152,064 classical nodes of Fugaku, to approximate the electronic structure of chemistry models beyond the reach of exact diagonalization, with accuracy comparable to some all-classical approximation methods. Our work pushes the limits of the integration of quantum and classical high-performance computing, showcasing computational resource orchestration at the largest scale possible for current classical supercomputers.
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All authors Tomonori Shirakawa, Javier Robledo-Moreno, Toshinari Itoko, Vinay Tripathi, Kento Ueda, Yukio Kawashima, Lukas Broers, William Kirby, Himadri Pathak, Hanhee Paik, Miwako Tsuji, Yuetsu Kodama, Mitsuhisa Sato, Constantinos Evangelinos, Seetharami Seelam, Robert Walkup, Seiji Yunoki, Mario Motta, Petar Jurcevic, Hiroshi Horii, Antonio Mezzacapo

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-lat

Hadronic scattering in (1+1)D SU(2) lattice gauge theory from tensor networks

We present a first real-time study of hadronic scattering in a (1+1)-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory with fundamental fermions using tensor-network techniques. Working in the gaugeless Hamiltonian formulation – where the gauge field is exactly integrated out and no truncation of the electric flux is required – we investigate scattering processes across sectors of fixed global baryon number $B = 0, 1, 2$. These correspond respectively to meson-meson, meson-baryon, and baryon-baryon collisions. At strong coupling, the $B = 0$ and $B = 2$ channels exhibit predominantly elastic dynamics closely resembling those of the U(1) Schwinger model. In contrast, the mixed $B = 1$ sector shows qualitatively new behavior: meson and baryon wave packets become entangled during the collision, and depending on their initial kinematics, the slower state becomes spatially delocalized while the faster one propagates ballistically. We characterize these processes through local observables, entanglement entropy, and the information-lattice, which together reveal how correlations build up and relax during the interaction. Our results establish a first benchmark for non-Abelian real-time scattering from first principles and open the path toward quantum-simulation studies of baryon-number dynamics and inelastic processes in gauge theories.
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All authors João Barata, Juan Hormaza, Zhong-Bo Kang, Wenyang Qian

Quantum Physics

Simulated outperforms quantum reverse annealing in mean-field models

Adiabatic reverse annealing (ARA) has been proposed as an improvement to conventional quantum annealing for solving optimization problems, in which one takes advantage of an initial guess at the solution to suppress problematic phase transitions. Here we interpret the performance of ARA through its effects on the free energy landscape, and use the intuition gained to introduce a classical analogue to ARA termed “simulated reverse annealing” (SRA). This makes it more difficult to claim that ARA provides a quantum advantage in solving a given problem, as not only must ARA succeed but the corresponding SRA must fail. As a solvable example, we analyze how both protocols behave in the infinite-range (non-disordered) $p$-spin model. Through both the thermodynamic phase diagrams and explicit dynamical behavior, we establish that the quantum algorithm has no advantage over its classical counterpart: SRA succeeds not only in every case where ARA does but even in a narrow range of parameters where ARA fails.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.supr-con

Chimeric states of matter: Meissner effect without superconductivity

Symmetry is central to how we classify phases of matter: solids break spatial translations, superfluids break particle-number conservation, and superconductors "break" gauge symmetry. Mixed anomalies involving higher-form symmetries, however, present a generalization of spontaneous symmetry breaking that admits a wider and more versatile set of possibilities. We introduce chimeric states of matter, in which aspects of broken and unbroken phases coexist. We find that the Meissner effect – usually regarded as the defining hallmark of superconductivity – can occur in media that are resistive or even insulating when probed by electric fields. We demonstrate this by constructing an effective field theory of "symmetry chimerization" and propose that Josephson junction networks could provide a laboratory realization. These results broaden the landscape of possible phases of matter, showing that physical media can mix features of symmetry-restored and symmetry-broken states in a single substrate.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-ph

Rydberg Single Photon Detection for Probing 0.1-10 meV Dark Matter with BREAD

We introduce a Rydberg-based single photon detector (SPD) for probing dark matter in the 0.1-10 meV mass range (20 GHz-2 THz). The Rydberg SPD absorbs photons produced and focused by the BREAD dish antenna and trades them for free, detectable electrons. At the lower end of the mass range, photons drive Rydberg-Rydberg transitions, which are read out via state-selective ionization. At higher masses, they directly ionize the Rydberg atoms.
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Quantum Physics

Quantum waste management: Utilizing residual states in quantum information processing

Quantum resource theories use distillation protocols to convert less resourceful states into fully resourceful ones. However, these protocols often also generate an additional, unused output-referred to as a residual. We propose a framework for the quantum residual management, in which states discarded after a resource distillation protocol are repurposed as inputs for subsequent quantum information tasks. This approach extends conventional quantum resource theories by incorporating secondary resource extraction from residual states, thereby enhancing overall resource utility. As a concrete example, we investigate the distillation of private randomness from the residual states remaining after quantum key distribution (QKD). More specifically, we quantitatively show that after performing a well-known coherent Devetak-Winter protocol, one can locally extract private randomness from its residual. We further consider the Gottesman-Lo QKD protocol and provide the achievable rate of private randomness from the discarded states that are left after its performance. We also provide a formal framework that highlights a general principle for improving quantum resource utilization across sequential information processing tasks.
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All authors Karol Horodecki, Chirag Srivastava, Leonard Sikorski, Siddhartha Das

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-lat

Scalable quantum computation of Quantum Electrodynamics beyond one spatial dimension

In the Hamiltonian formulation, Quantum Field Theory calculations scale exponentially with spatial volume, making real-time simulations intractable on classical computers and motivating quantum computation approaches. In Hamiltonian quantisation, bosonic fields introduce the additional challenge of an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. We present a scalable quantum algorithm for Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), an Abelian gauge field theory in higher than one spatial dimensions, designed to address this limit while preserving gauge invariance. In our formulation, Gauss's law is automatically satisfied when the implementation remains fully gauge invariant. We demonstrate how gauge invariance is maintained throughout the lattice discretisation, digitisation, and qubitisation procedures, and identify the most efficient representation for extending to large Hilbert space dimensions. Within this framework, we benchmark several quantum error mitigation techniques and find the calibration method to perform most effectively. The approach scales naturally to larger lattices, and we implement and test the 2+1 and 3+1 dimensional setups on current quantum hardware. Our results indicate that next-generation quantum platforms could enable reliable, fully quantum simulations of large-scale QED dynamics.
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Quantum Physics

Teleportation-based squeezer for bosonic cluster states

The one-way quantum computation utilizing bosonic modes of light offers unmatched scalability of light modes, and it has seen rapid experimental development recently. Scalability requires robust and low-error gates and measurements. Squeezing gate is one of the necessary Gaussian operations. We find the optimal squeezing gate in cluster state architecture. Our approach newly uses amplitude transmission coefficients of unbalanced beam splitters and homodyne detection with subsequent unity-gain feed-forward to squeeze the input state. The approach outperforms the current method based on optimally rotated homodyne detection, but with fixed balanced beam splitters. The performance of both cluster state squeezers is evaluated for Gaussian and non-Gaussian input states. We use different metrics to benchmark the quality of squeezed output states. The result opens a road to low-noise squeezing gates in experimentally achievable cluster states.
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Quantum Physics

Probing non-equilibrium physics through the two-body Bell correlator

Identifying equilibrium criticalities and phases from the dynamics of a system, known as a dynamical quantum phase transition (DQPT), is a challenging task when relying solely on local observables. We exhibit that the experimentally accessible two-body Bell operator, originally designed to detect nonlocal correlations in quantum states, serves as an effective witness of DQPTs in a long-range (LR) XY spin chain subjected to a magnetic field, where the interaction strength decays as a power law. Following a sudden quench of the system parameters, the Bell operator between nearest-neighbor spins exhibits a distinct drop at the critical boundaries. In this study, we consider two quenching protocols, namely sudden quenches of the magnetic field strength and the interaction fall-off rate. This pronounced behavior defines a threshold, distinguishing intra-phase from inter-phase quenches, remaining valid regardless of the strength of long-range interactions, anisotropy, and system sizes. Comparative analyses further demonstrate that conventional classical and quantum correlators, including entanglement, fail to capture this transition during dynamics.
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All authors Abhishek Muhuri, Tanoy Kanti Konar, Leela Ganesh Chandra Lakkaraju, Aditi Sen De

Quantum Physics

Directional quantum scattering transducer in cooperative Rydberg metasurfaces

We present a single-photon transduction scheme using 4-wave-mixing and quantum scattering in planar, cooperative Rydberg arrays that is both efficient and highly directional and may allow for terahertz-to-optical transduction. In the 4-wave-mixing scheme, two lasers drive the system, coherently trapping the system in a dark ground-state and coupling a signal transition, that may be in the terahertz, to an idler transition that may be in the optical. The photon-mediated dipole-dipole interactions between emitters generate collective super-/subradiant dipolar modes, both on the signal and the idler transition. As the array is cooperative with respect to the signal transition, an incident signal photon can efficiently couple into the array and is admixed into dipolar idler modes by the drive. Under specific criticality conditions, this admixture is into a superradiant idler mode which primarily decays into a specific, highly directional optical photon that propagates within the array plane. Outside of the array, this photon may then be coupled into existing quantum devices for further processing. Using a scattering-operator formalism we derive resonance and criticality conditions that govern this two-step process and obtain analytic transduction efficiencies. For infinite lattices, we predict transduction efficiencies into specific spatial directions of up to 50%, while the overall, undirected transduction efficiency can be higher. An analysis for finite arrays of $N^2$ emitters, shows that the output is collimated into lobes that narrow as $1/\sqrt{N}$. Our scheme combines the broadband acceptance of free-space 4-wave mixing with the efficiency, directionality and tunability of cooperative metasurfaces, offering a route towards quantum-coherent THz detection and processing for astronomical spectroscopy, quantum-networked sparse-aperture imaging and other quantum-sensing applications.
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Quantum Physics

Quantum interference effects in two-photon scattering by a macroscopic lossy sphere

We investigate the quantum optical scattering of two-photon wavepackets by a macroscopic lossy sphere by means of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics in the form of modified Langevin noise formalism. The two ingoing photons with arbitrary frequency-polarization spectrum impinge onto the sphere along two different directions and, as consequence of matter losses, their scattering involves the three independent processes where two, one and zero outgoing photons survive. Non-collinearity of ingoing photons causes the existence of two different quantum paths they can follow upon scattering, this producing interference effects in the detection of the above three processes which is governed by the wavepacket spectral symmetry. By exploiting rotational invariance, we show that different classes of scattering geometries exist such that the coincidence detection of the scattered photons shows perfect constructive or destructive (Hong-Ou-Mandel) interference, both for symmetric and antisymmetric wavepackets. To assess the impact of matter dispersion/losses on quantum interference effects accompanying photons detection, we analyze the scattering of narrow band two-photon wavepackets by high-index dielectric lossy spheres. We show that classical Mie resonance peaks, due to their Fano-like traits, yield very strong constructive and destructive interference effects, occurring when the wavepacket carrier frequency matches the resonance frequency and side Fano dip frequency, respectively. In addition we consider the overall scattering probabilities of two, one and zero photons and we prove that, at the Mie resonance frequencies, they exhibit quantum interference effects which are extremely sensitive to the spectral symmetry of the input wavepacket, thus suggesting an efficient spectral technique assisted by matter losses to identify entanglement.
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Quantum Physics

Entanglement in the energy-constrained prepare-and-measure scenario: applications to randomness certification and channel discrimination

Quantum information tasks are often analyzed under varying trust assumptions about the devices involved. The semi-device-independent (SDI) framework offers a balance between needed assumptions and experimental feasibility. In this work, we study the energy-constrained SDI scenario, where the only assumption in a prepare-and-measure setup is an upper bound on the energy of the prepared quantum states. In contrast to previous studies that restricted the preparation and measurement devices to be classically correlated, we show that allowing entanglement strictly enlarges the set of achievable correlations. We identify two operational consequences of this result. The first concerns randomness certification, where we show that allowing the adversary to employ entangled strategies may significantly reduce the amount of certifiable randomness. This includes situations where the amount of randomness drops to zero in the presence of entanglement, while it remains positive when entanglement is excluded. Second, for the task of distinguishing an arbitrary quantum channel from the identity, we show that the known dimension-independent bound on the advantage conferred by entanglement is violated under an energy constraint.
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All authors Raffaele D'Avino, Gabriel Senno, Mir Alimuddin, Antonio Acín

Quantum Physics

Experimental Quantum Channel Purification

Quantum networks, which integrate multiple quantum computers and the channels connecting them, are crucial for distributed quantum information processing but remain inherently susceptible to channel noise. Channel purification emerges as a promising technique for suppressing noise in quantum channels without complex encoding and decoding operations, making it particularly suitable for remote quantum information transmission in optical systems. In this work, we introduce an experimental setup for efficient channel purification, harnessing the spatial and polarization properties of photons. Our design employs two Fredkin gates to enable coherent interference between independent noise channels, achieving effective noise suppression across a wide range of noise levels and types. Through application to entanglement distribution, our protocol demonstrates a superior capability to preserve entanglement against channel noise compared to conventional entanglement purification methods.
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All authors Yue-Yang Fei, Zhenhuan Liu, Rui Zhang, Zhenyu Cai, Xu-Fei Yin, Yingqiu Mao, Li Li, Nai-Le Liu, Yu-Ao Chen, Jian-Wei Pan