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Abstract:

We improve previously proposed conditions each measure of entanglement has to satisfy. We present a class of entanglement measures that satisfy these conditions and show that the quantum relative entropy and Bures metric generate two measures of this class. We calculate the measures of entanglement for a number of mixed two spin-1/2 systems using the quantum relative entropy, and provide an efficient numerical method to obtain the measures of entanglement in this case. In addition, we prove a number of properties of our entanglement measure that have important physical implications. We briefly explain the statistical basis of our measure of entanglement in the case of the quantum relative entropy. We then argue that our entanglement measure determines an upper bound to the number of singlets that can be obtained by any purification procedure. © 1998 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

All existing quantum-gravity proposals are extremely hard to test in practice. Quantum effects in the gravitational field are exceptionally small, unlike those in the electromagnetic field. The fundamental reason is that the gravitational coupling constant is about 43 orders of magnitude smaller than the fine structure constant, which governs light-matter interactions. For example, detecting gravitons—the hypothetical quanta of the gravitational field predicted by certain quantum-gravity proposals—is deemed to be practically impossible. Here we adopt a radically different, quantum-information-theoretic approach to testing quantum gravity. We propose witnessing quantumlike features in the gravitational field, by probing it with two masses each in a superposition of two locations. First, we prove that any system (e.g., a field) mediating entanglement between two quantum systems must be quantum. This argument is general and does not rely on any specific dynamics. Then, we propose an experiment to detect the entanglement generated between two masses via gravitational interaction. By our argument, the degree of entanglement between the masses is a witness of the field quantization. This experiment does not require any quantum control over gravity. It is also closer to realization than detecting gravitons or detecting quantum gravitational vacuum fluctuations.

Abstract:

We propose a thermodynamic refrigeration cycle which uses indefinite causal orders to achieve nonclassical cooling. The cycle cools a cold reservoir while consuming purity in a control qubit. We first show that the application to an input state of two identical thermalizing channels of temperature T in an indefinite causal order can result in an output state with a temperature not equal to T. We investigate the properties of the refrigeration cycle and show that thermodynamically, the result is compatible with unitary quantum mechanics in the circuit model but could not be achieved classically. We believe that this cycle could be implemented experimentally using tabletop photonics. Our result suggests the development of a new class of thermodynamic resource theories in which operations are allowed to be performed in an indefinite causal order.

Abstract:

Noise fundamentally limits quantum communication capacity, completely preventing information transmission in fully depolarizing environments. While indefinite causal order theoretically circumvents this limitation, experimentally realizing multi-channel configurations for genuine quantum transmission remains challenging. Here we show the activation of quantum communication through completely depolarizing channels using a programmable silicon photonic chip. By implementing a superposition of cyclic orders across four completely depolarizing channels, we achieve an output state fidelity of 0.712 ± 0.013, which strictly exceeds the classical threshold of 2/3. This mechanism provides a powerful tool for overcoming extreme noise, offering broad potential for building robust quantum networks in highly decoherent environments.

Abstract:

It is known that an entanglement-based witness of nonclassicality can be applied to testing quantum effects in gravity. Specifically, if a system can create entanglement between two quantum probes by local means only, then it must be nonclassical. Recently, claims have been made that collapse-based models of classical gravity, i.e., Diósi-Penrose model, can predict gravitationally induced entanglement between quantum objects, resulting in gravitationally induced entanglement is insufficient to conclude that gravity is fundamentally quantum, contrary to the witness statement. Here, we vindicate the witness. We analyze the underlying physics of collapse-based models for gravity and show that these models have nonlocal features, violating the assumption of locality. We suggest that the entanglement can be generated through quantumlike hidden detectors without interaction with the gravitational field.