Complete experimental toolbox for alignment-free quantum communication

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Author(s)
D'Ambrosio, Vincenzo
Nagali, Eleonora
Walborn, Stephen P
Aolita, Leandro
Slussarenko, Sergei
Marrucci, Lorenzo
Sciarrino, Fabio
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2012
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Quantum communication employs the counter-intuitive features of quantum physics for tasks that are impossible in the classical world. It is crucial for testing the foundations of quantum theory and promises to revolutionize information and communication technologies. However, to execute even the simplest quantum transmission, one must establish, and maintain, a shared reference frame. This introduces a considerable overhead in resources, particularly if the parties are in motion or rotating relative to each other. Here we experimentally show how to circumvent this problem with the transmission of quantum information encoded ...
View more >Quantum communication employs the counter-intuitive features of quantum physics for tasks that are impossible in the classical world. It is crucial for testing the foundations of quantum theory and promises to revolutionize information and communication technologies. However, to execute even the simplest quantum transmission, one must establish, and maintain, a shared reference frame. This introduces a considerable overhead in resources, particularly if the parties are in motion or rotating relative to each other. Here we experimentally show how to circumvent this problem with the transmission of quantum information encoded in rotationally invariant states of single photons. By developing a complete toolbox for the efficient encoding and decoding of quantum information in such photonic qubits, we demonstrate the feasibility of alignment-free quantum key-distribution, and perform proof-of-principle demonstrations of alignment-free entanglement distribution and Bell-inequality violation. The scheme should find applications in fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and satellite-based quantum communication.
View less >
View more >Quantum communication employs the counter-intuitive features of quantum physics for tasks that are impossible in the classical world. It is crucial for testing the foundations of quantum theory and promises to revolutionize information and communication technologies. However, to execute even the simplest quantum transmission, one must establish, and maintain, a shared reference frame. This introduces a considerable overhead in resources, particularly if the parties are in motion or rotating relative to each other. Here we experimentally show how to circumvent this problem with the transmission of quantum information encoded in rotationally invariant states of single photons. By developing a complete toolbox for the efficient encoding and decoding of quantum information in such photonic qubits, we demonstrate the feasibility of alignment-free quantum key-distribution, and perform proof-of-principle demonstrations of alignment-free entanglement distribution and Bell-inequality violation. The scheme should find applications in fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and satellite-based quantum communication.
View less >
Journal Title
Nature Communications
Volume
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2012. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Subject
Atomic, molecular and optical physics not elsewhere classified
Quantum information, computation and communication
Quantum optics and quantum optomechanics