Dynamical entanglement transfer for quantum-information networks

A key element in the architecture of a quantum-information processing network is a reliable physical interface between fields and qubits. We study a process of entanglement transfer engineering, where two remote qubits respectively interact with an entangled two-mode continuous-variable (CV) field. We quantify the entanglement induced in the qubit state at the expenses of the loss of entanglement in the CV system. We discuss the range of mixed entangled states which can be obtained with this setup. Furthermore, we suggest a protocol to determine the residual entangling power of the light fields inferring, thus, the entanglement left in the field modes which, after the interaction, are no longer in a Gaussian state. Two different setups are proposed: a cavity-QED system and an interface between superconducting qubits and field modes. We address in detail the practical difficulties inherent in these two proposals, showing that the latter is promising in many aspects.

Entanglement transfer from continuous variables to qubits

We show that two qubits can be entangled by local interactions with an entangled two-mode continuous variable state. This is illustrated by the evolution of two two-level atoms interacting with a two-mode squeezed state. Two modes of the squeezed field are injected respectively into two spatially separate cavities and the atoms are then sent into the cavities to interact resonantly with the cavity field. We find that the atoms may be entangled even by a two-mode squeezed state which has been decohered while penetrating into the cavity.

Entanglement of a two-mode squeezed state in a phase-sensitive Gaussian environment

Some non-classical properties such as squeezing, sub-Poissonian photon statistics or oscillations in photon-number distributions may survive longer in a phase-sensitive environment than in a phase-insensitive environment. We examine if entanglement, which is an inter-mode non-classical feature, can also survive longer in a phase-sensitive environment. Differently from the single-mode case, we find that making the environment phase-sensitive does not aid in prolonging the inter-mode non-classical nature, i.e. entanglement.

Entanglement between collective operators in a linear harmonic chain

We investigate entanglement between collective operators of two blocks of oscillators in an infinite linear harmonic chain. These operators are defined as averages over local operators (individual oscillators) in the blocks. On the one hand, this approach of "physical blocks" meets realistic experimental conditions, where measurement apparatuses do not interact with single oscillators but rather with a whole bunch of them, i.e., where in contrast to usually studied "mathematical blocks" not every possible measurement is allowed. On the other, this formalism naturally allows the generalization to blocks which may consist of several noncontiguous regions. We quantify entanglement between the collective operators by a measure based on the Peres-Horodecki criterion and show how it can be extracted and transferred to two qubits. Entanglement between two blocks is found even in the case where none of the oscillators from one block is entangled with an oscillator from the other, showing genuine bipartite entanglement between collective operators. Allowing the blocks to consist of a periodic sequence of subblocks, we verify that entanglement scales at most with the total boundary region. We also apply the approach of collective operators to scalar quantum field theory.

Characterization of the entanglement of two squeezed states

We study a continuous-variable entangled state composed of two states which are squeezed in two opposite quadratures in phase space. Various entanglement conditions are tested for the entangled squeezed state and we study decoherence models for noise, producing a mixed entangled squeezed state. We briefly describe a probabilistic protocol for entanglement swapping based on the use of this class of entangled states and the main features of a general generation scheme.

Entanglement of mixed macroscopic superpositions: An entangling-power study

We investigate entanglement properties of a recently introduced class of macroscopic quantum superpositions in two-mode mixed states. One of the tools we use in order to infer the entanglement in this non-Gaussian class of states is the power to entangle a qubit system. Our study reveals features which are hidden in a standard approach to entanglement investigation based on the uncertainty principle of the quadrature variables. We briefly describe the experimental setup corresponding to our theoretical scenario and a suitable modification of the protocol which makes our proposal realizable within the current experimental capabilities.

Enhanced dynamical entanglement transfer with multiple qubits

We present two strategies to enhance the dynamical entanglement transfer from continuous-variable (CV) to finite-dimensional systems by employing multiple qubits. First, we consider the entanglement transfer to a composite finite-dimensional system of many qubits simultaneously interacting with a bipartite CV field. We show that, considering realistic conditions in the generation of CV entanglement, a small number of qubits resonantly coupled to the CV system are sufficient for an almost complete dynamical transfer of the entanglement. Our analysis also sheds further light on the transition between the microscopic and macroscopic behaviors of composite finite-dimensional systems coupled to bosonic fields (like atomic clouds interacting with light). Furthermore, we present a protocol based on sequential interactions of the CV system with some ancillary qubit systems and on subsequent measurements, allowing us to probabilistically convert CV entanglement into "almost-perfect" Bell pairs of two qubits. Our proposals are suited for realizations in various experimental settings, ranging from cavity-QED to cavity-integrated superconducting devices.

Complete conditions for entanglement transfer

We investigate the conditions to entangle two qubits interacting with local environments driven by a continuous-variable correlated field. We find the conditions to transfer the entanglement from the driving field to the qubits both in dynamical and steady-state cases. We see how the quantum correlations initially present in the driving field play a critical role in the entanglement-transfer process. The system we treat is general enough to be adapted to different physical setups.

Accumulation of entanglement in a continuous variable memory

We study entanglement accumulation in a memory built out of two continuous variable systems interacting with a qubit that mediates their indirect coupling. We show that, in contrast with the case of bidimensional Hilbert spaces, entanglement superior to one ebit can be accumulated in the memory, even though no entangled resource is used. The protocol is immediately implementable and we assess the role of the main imperfections.

Concentration and purification of entanglement for qubit systems with ancillary cavity fields

We propose schemes for entanglement concentration and purification for qubit systems encoded in flying atomic pairs. We use cavity-quantum electrodynamics as an illustrative setting within which our proposals can be implemented. Maximally entangled pure states of qubits can be produced as a result of our protocols. In particular, the concentration protocol yields Bell states with the largest achievable theoretical probability while the purification scheme produces arbitrarily pure Bell states. The requirements for the implementation of these protocols are modest, within the state of the art, and we address all necessary steps in two specific setups based on experimentally mature microwave technology.