Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics<\/a> has created a physical protocol that can determine if the qubit has been lost at intermediate stations of the quantum transmission.<\/p>\n\u201cIf this is the case, the transmitter can send the qubit again with significantly less delay than if the loss is noticed only at the receiving end\u201d, explains \u00a0Niemietz, who developed the detector for photonic qubits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is essential that we do not destroy the qubit. We are thus only detecting the qubit photon and not measuring it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is crucial because the laws of quantum physics rule out copying a qubit 1 to 1 \u2013 this is what quantum cryptography is based on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using model calculations, the researchers have shown that quantum communication is made more efficient with the detection of photons transporting qubits.<\/p>\n
Pau Farrera, part of the research team, commented: \u201cA detector for photonic qubits can also be useful at shorter distances.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, this detection would have to work even more reliably than it did in the current experiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a fundamental problem but rather only a technical one\u201d, explains Farrera. The efficiency of the detector currently suffers as the resonator reflects only about one third of the incoming photons. Only in the case of a reflection does a photon leave a trace in the atom.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we can increase this efficiency to almost 100% \u00a0by improving the fabrication of the resonators,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
As well as tracking quantum information during transmission, a detector capable of detecting a photonic qubit could also be used to confirm the arrival of quantum post at its destination. This would have useful applications if the information encoded in the photon was to be processed in a complex manner, such as being transferred to entangle atoms. Entanglement is a quantum mechanical phenomenon that can be used to encrypt and process data which involves two spatially widely separated particles becoming a single quantum entity, with changes in one particle directly leading to changes in the other. \u201cCreating entanglement is complex\u201d, said Rempe, who us Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. \u201cYou should use it to process a qubit only if you are sure that this qubit is there\u201d.<\/p>\n
Going forward, Rempe\u2019s group may be working towards demonstrating how quantum post tracking could be used in information processing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to use the detector for quantum communication between our Institute in Garching and a more distant location. For example, to make the step from our laboratory to practical application,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this way, we are once again getting a little closer to our great long-term goal, the quantum internet\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have developed a method for detecting quantum transmissions without destroying the quantum information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":10367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24615],"tags":[24128,793,17008],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Detecting quantum transmissions without destroying \u00a0quantum information<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n