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Experimental demonstration of quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory
Abstract
A Bernoulli factory is a model of randomness processing. Recently, the quantum generalization of a Bernoulli factory with a quantum input and classical output offers a clear advantage over classical means in simulating classical randomness. A more “quantum” version of a Bernoulli factory with a quantum input and quantum output has been proposed and shows applications in simulating quantum randomness using quantum resources, the so-called quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory, which simulates probability amplitudes rather than probability. In this paper, we report an experimental implementation of a quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory with linear optics. We implement three elements of a quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory, including inversion, multiplication, and addition, and demonstrate how to compare quantum states via a quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory. Our results provide a thorough understanding of the Bernoulli factory problem in the quantum world and will stimulate the quantum advantages in simulating a wider range of classically infeasible random processes.
... Furthermore, any experimental scheme should aim at the possibility of concatenating different operations in a modular fashion without knowledge of the output state from the prior step. All the previous attempts to experimentally implement QQBFs [30,31] were unable to simultaneously enforce these conditions. Once all the features of the QQBF are verified, the quantum input and output enable its use as a subroutine in quantum algorithms. ...
... When one photon is found in the detector labelled as S, and the other photon is in output modes |0⟩o or |1⟩o, the output state is the sum of the input ones (up to a global phase). [30,31] were limited, as they substantially relied on prior knowledge of the input state (see Supplementary Note 1). This is in stark contrast to the fundamental requirement for a correct implementation of the protocol, i.e. full ignorance of the input state. ...
... After the definition of the building blocks for the presented scheme, we now discuss the possibility of concatenating the field operations. This is an important characteristic feature of our approach, and fundamentally different from previous realizations [30,31]. Our modular scheme allows for a sequential application of the operations. ...
Generation and manipulation of randomness is a relevant task for several applications of information technology. It has been shown that quantum mechanics offers some advantages for this type of task. A promising model for randomness manipulation is provided by the Bernoulli factories, protocols capable of changing the bias of Bernoulli random processes in a controlled way. At first, this framework was proposed and investigated in a fully classical regime. Recent extensions of this model to the quantum case showed the possibility of implementing a wider class of randomness manipulation functions. We propose a Bernoulli factory scheme with quantum states as input and output, using a photonic path-encoding approach. Our scheme is modular, universal, and its functioning is truly oblivious of the input bias, characteristics that were missing in earlier work. We report on experimental implementations using an integrated and fully programmable photonic platform, thus demonstrating the viability of our approach. These results open new paths for randomness manipulation with integrated quantum technologies.
... To demonstrate the feasibility of a generic QQBF using integrated photonics, we will explicitly construct an appropriate scheme to implement the field operations with photons. Previous attempts to experimentally implement the field operations 30,31 were limited, as they substantially relied on prior knowledge of the input state (Supplementary Note 1). This is in stark contrast to the fundamental requirement for a correct implementation of the protocol, that is, full ignorance of the input state. ...
... After the definition of the building blocks for the presented scheme, we now discuss the possibility of concatenating the field operations. This is an important characteristic feature of our approach, and fundamentally different from previous realizations 30,31 . Our modular scheme allows for a sequential application of the operations. ...
Generation and manipulation of randomness is a relevant task for several applications of information technology. It has been shown that quantum mechanics offers some advantages for this type of task. A promising model for randomness manipulation is provided by Bernoulli factories—protocols capable of changing the bias of Bernoulli random processes in a controlled way. At first, this framework was proposed and investigated in a fully classical regime. Recent extensions of this model to the quantum case showed the possibility of implementing a wider class of randomness manipulation functions. We propose a Bernoulli factory scheme with quantum states as the input and output, using a photonic-path-encoding approach. Our scheme is modular and universal and its functioning is truly oblivious of the input bias—characteristics that were missing in earlier work. We report on experimental implementations using an integrated and fully programmable photonic platform, thereby demonstrating the viability of our approach. These results open new paths for randomness manipulation with integrated quantum technologies.
... However, the proposed works of the QBF mainly analyze the advantages that can be obtained by utilizing quantum coherence. Meanwhile, previous efforts only focused on specific cases such as the QBF for the Bernoulli doubling function, or analyzed the range of constructible quantum states in single-qubit cases, while the multi-qubit cases were not sufficiently studied [27,28]. ...
... Our setup employs entangled photons for quantum operations. Recently, a similar experiment was proposed which applied single photons for the realizations of the operations [28]. Compared with our non-unitary realization which directly completes the add operation, they implemented a unitary operation slightly different from the original one from reference [27], and required one more step to complete the add operation. ...
The unremitting pursuit for quantum advantages gives rise to the discovery of a quantum-enhanced randomness processing named quantum Bernoulli factory (QBF). This quantum enhanced process can show its priority over the corresponding classical process through readily available experimental resources, thus in the near term it may be capable of accelerating the applications of classical Bernoulli factories, such as the widely used sampling algorithms. In this work, we provide the framework analysis of the QBF. We thoroughly analyze the quantum state evolution in this process, discovering the field structure of the constructible quantum states. Our framework analysis shows that naturally, the previous works can be described as specific instances of this framework. Then, as a proof of principle, we experimentally demonstrate this framework via an entangled two-photon source along with a reconfigurable photonic logic, and show the advantages of the QBF over the classical model through a classically infeasible instance. These results may stimulate the discovery of advantages of the quantum randomness processing in a wider range of tasks, as well as its potential applications.
A Bernoulli factory is a randomness manipulation routine that takes as input a Bernoulli random variable, outputting another Bernoulli variable whose bias is a function of the input bias. Recently proposed quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory schemes encode both input and output variables in qubit amplitudes. This primitive could be used as a subroutine for more complex quantum algorithms involving Bayesian inference and Monte Carlo methods. Here, we report an experimental implementation of a polarization-encoded photonic quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory. We present and test three interferometric setups implementing the basic operations of an algebraic field (inversion, multiplication, and addition), which, chained together, allow for the implementation of a generic quantum-to-quantum Bernoulli factory. These in-bulk schemes are validated using a quantum dot–based single-photon source featuring high brightness and indistinguishability, paired with a time-to-spatial demultiplexing setup to prepare input resources of up to three single-photon states.
Decoherence is an unavoidable effect of the quantum system coupled to an environment, which leads to the system evolving from a pure state to a mixed one. A critical issue here is that the reduction of purity is quantum or classical, which corresponds to whether or not entanglement is generated between the system and environment. We report a proof-of-principle experimental investigation of such entanglement in a simple but paradigmatic case, in which a qubit system interacts with a pure dephasing channel. The pure dephasing process is realized in a linear photonic system, and the experiment is a validation in a very controlled setting. By adopting previous methods to detect qubit-environment entanglement, we prove that such entanglement can be detected by performing local measurements on only one subsystem, even when the other subsystem in the pair cannot be detected. Our experiment paves the way for investigating features of open quantum system dynamics.
Randomness is important for many information processing applications, including numerical modelling and cryptography1,2. Device-independent quantum random-number generation (DIQRNG)3,4 based on the loophole-free violation of a Bell inequality produces genuine, unpredictable randomness without requiring any assumptions about the inner workings of the devices, and is therefore an ultimate goal in the field of quantum information science5-7. Previously reported experimental demonstrations of DIQRNG8,9 were not provably secure against the most general adversaries or did not close the 'locality' or 'measurement independence' loopholes of the Bell test. Here we present DIQRNG that is secure against quantum and classical adversaries10-12. We use state-of-the-art quantum optical technology to create, modulate and detect entangled photon pairs, achieving an efficiency from creation to detection at a distance of about 200 metres that greatly exceeds the threshold for closing the 'detection' loophole of the Bell test. By independently and randomly choosing the base settings for measuring the entangled photon pairs and by ensuring space-like separation between the measurement events, we also satisfy the no-signalling condition and close the 'freedom-of-choice' and 'locality' loopholes of the Bell test, thus enabling the realization of the loophole-free violation of a Bell inequality. This, along with a high-voltage, high-repetition-rate set-up, allows us to accumulate sufficient data in the experimental time to extract genuine quantum randomness that is secure against the most general adversaries. By applying a large (137.90 gigabits × 62.469 megabits) Toeplitz-matrix hashing technique, we obtain 6.2469 × 107 quantum-certified random bits in 96 hours with a total failure probability (of producing a random number that is not guaranteed to be perfectly secure) of less than 10-5. Our demonstration is a crucial step towards transforming DIQRNG from a concept to a key aspect of practical applications that require high levels of security and thus genuine randomness7. Our work may also help to improve our understanding the origin of randomness from a fundamental perspective.
Given a coin with unknown bias , can we exactly simulate another coin with bias f(p)? The exact set of simulable functions has been well characterized 20 years ago. In this paper, we ask the quantum counterpart of this question: given the quantum coin , can we exactly simulate another quantum coin ? We give the full characterization of simulable quantum state from quantum coin , and present an algorithm to transform it. Surprisingly, we show that what can be simulated in the quantum case and that in the classical case have no inclusion relationship with each other.
Random numbers are a fundamental resource in science and engineering with important applications in simulation and cryptography. The inherent randomness at the core of quantum mechanics makes quantum systems a perfect source of entropy. Quantum random number generation is one of the most mature quantum technologies with many alternative generation methods. We discuss the different technologies in quantum random number generation from the early devices based on radioactive decay to the multiple ways to use the quantum states of light to gather entropy from a quantum origin. We also discuss randomness extraction and amplification and the notable possibility of generating trusted random numbers even with untrusted hardware using device independent generation protocols.
Quantum communication has historically been at the forefront of advancements, from fundamental tests of quantum physics to utilizing the quantum-mechanical properties of physical systems for practical applications. In the field of communication complexity, quantum communication allows the advantage of an exponential reduction in the information transmitted over classical communication to accomplish distributed computational tasks. However, to date, demonstrating this advantage in a practical setting continues to be a central challenge. Here, we report an experimental demonstration of a quantum fingerprinting protocol that for the first time surpasses the ultimate classical limit to transmitted information. Ultra-low noise superconducting single-photon detectors and a stable fibre-based Sagnac interferometer are used to implement a quantum fingerprinting system that is capable of transmitting less information than the classical proven lower bound over 20 km standard telecom fibre for input sizes of up to two Gbits. The results pave the way for experimentally exploring the advanced features of quantum communication and open a new window of opportunity for research in communication complexity and testing the foundations of physics.
State selective protocols, like entanglement purification, lead to an
essentially non-linear quantum evolution, unusual in naturally occurring
quantum processes. Sensitivity to initial states in quantum systems, stemming
from such non-linear dynamics, is a promising perspective for applications.
Here we demonstrate that chaotic behaviour is a rather generic feature in state
selective protocols: exponential sensitivity can exist for all initial states
in an experimentally realisable optical scheme. Moreover, any complex rational
polynomial map, including the example of the Mandelbrot set, can be directly
realised. In state selective protocols, one needs an ensemble of initial
states, the size of which decreases with each iteration. We prove that
exponential sensitivity to initial states in any quantum system have to be
related to downsizing the initial ensemble also exponentially. Our results show
that magnifying initial differences of quantum states (a Schr\"odinger
microscope) is possible, however, there is a strict bound on the number of
copies needed.
An unknown quantum state ‖φ〉 can be disassembled into, then later reconstructed from, purely classical information and purely nonclassical Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations. To do so the sender, ‘‘Alice,’’ and the receiver, ‘‘Bob,’’ must prearrange the sharing of an EPR-correlated pair of particles. Alice makes a joint measurement on her EPR particle and the unknown quantum system, and sends Bob the classical result of this measurement. Knowing this, Bob can convert the state of his EPR particle into an exact replica of the unknown state ‖φ〉 which Alice destroyed.
We experimentally simulate nonunitary quantum dynamics using a single-photon interferometric network and study the information flow between a parity-time- (PT-)symmetric non-Hermitian system and its environment. We observe oscillations of quantum-state distinguishability and complete information retrieval in the PT-symmetry-unbroken regime. We then characterize in detail critical phenomena of the information flow near the exceptional point separating the PT-unbroken and PT-broken regimes, and demonstrate power-law behavior in key quantities such as the distinguishability and the recurrence time. We also reveal how the critical phenomena are affected by symmetry and initial conditions. Finally, introducing an ancilla as an environment and probing quantum entanglement between the system and the environment, we confirm that the observed information retrieval is induced by a finite-dimensional entanglement partner in the environment. Our work constitutes the first experimental characterization of critical phenomena in PT-symmetric nonunitary quantum dynamics.
We experimentally realize a nonlinear quantum protocol for single-photon qubits with linear optical elements and appropriate measurements. Quantum nonlinearity is induced by postselecting the polarization qubit based on a measurement result obtained for the spatial degree of freedom of the single photon which plays the role of a second qubit. Initially, both qubits are prepared in the same quantum state and an appropriate two-qubit unitary transformation entangles them before the measurement of the spatial part. We analyze the result by quantum state tomography of the polarization degree of freedom. We then demonstrate the usefulness of the protocol for quantum state discrimination by iteratively applying it to either of two slightly different quantum states which rapidly converge to different orthogonal states by the iterative dynamics. Our work creates an opportunity to employ effective quantum nonlinear evolution in quantum information processing.
There has been a concerted effort to identify problems computable with quantum technology, which are intractable with classical technology or require far fewer resources to compute. Recently, randomness processing in a Bernoulli factory has been identified as one such task. Here, we report two quantum photonic implementations of a Bernoulli factory, one using quantum coherence and single-qubit measurements and the other one using quantum coherence and entangling measurements of two qubits. We show that the former consumes three orders of magnitude fewer resources than the best-known classical method, while entanglement offers a further fivefold reduction. These concepts may provide a means for quantum-enhanced performance in the simulation of stochastic processes and sampling tasks.
Quantum mechanics provides the means of generating genuine randomness that is impossible with deterministic classical processes. Remarkably, the unpredictability of randomness can be certified in a manner that is independent of implementation devices. Here, we present an experimental study of device-independent quantum random number generation based on a detection-loophole-free Bell test with entangled photons. In the randomness analysis, without the independent identical distribution assumption, we consider the worst case scenario that the adversary launches the most powerful attacks against the quantum adversary. After considering statistical fluctuations and applying an 80 Gb×45.6 Mb Toeplitz matrix hashing, we achieve a final random bit rate of 114 bits/s, with a failure probability less than 10−5. This marks a critical step towards realistic applications in cryptography and fundamental physics tests.
The field of quantum algorithms aims to find ways to speed up the solution of computational problems by using a quantum computer. A key milestone in this field will be when a universal quantum computer performs a computational task that is beyond the capability of any classical computer, an event known as quantum supremacy. This would be easier to achieve experimentally than full-scale quantum computing, but involves new theoretical challenges. Here we present the leading proposals to achieve quantum supremacy, and discuss how we can reliably compare the power of a classical computer to the power of a quantum computer. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.
Coherently manipulating multipartite quantum correlations leads to remarkable advantages in quantum information processing. A fundamental question is whether such quantum advantages persist only by exploiting multipartite correlations, such as entanglement. Recently, Dale, Jennings, and Rudolph negated the question by showing that a randomness processing, quantum Bernoulli factory, using quantum coherence, is strictly more powerful than the one with classical mechanics. In this Letter, focusing on the same scenario, we propose a theoretical protocol that is classically impossible but can be implemented solely using quantum coherence without entanglement. We demonstrate the protocol by exploiting the high-fidelity quantum state preparation and measurement with a superconducting qubit in the circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture and a nearly quantum-limited parametric amplifier. Our experiment shows the advantage of using quantum coherence of a single qubit for information processing even when multipartite correlation is not present.
Quantum advantage is notoriously hard to find and even harder to prove. For example the class of functions computable with classical physics exactly coincides with the class computable quantum mechanically. It is strongly believed, but not proven, that quantum computing provides exponential speed-up for a range of problems, such as factoring. Here we address a computational scenario of randomness processing in which quantum theory provably yields, not only resource reduction over classical stochastic physics, but a strictly larger class of problems which can be solved. Beyond new foundational insights into the nature and malleability of randomness, and the distinction between quantum and classical information, these results also offer the potential of developing classically intractable simulations with currently accessible quantum technologies.
A digital computer is generally believed to be an efficient universal computing device; that is, it is believed able to simulate any physical computing device with an increase in computation time by at most a polynomial factor. This may not be true when quantum mechanics is taken into consideration. This paper considers factoring integers and finding discrete logarithms, two problems which are generally thought to be hard on a classical computer and which have been used as the basis of several proposed cryptosystems. Efficient randomized algorithms are given for these two problems on a hypothetical quantum computer. These algorithms take a number of steps polynomial in the input size, e.g., the number of digits of the integer to be factored.
Necessary and sufficient conditions on a function fp are given for the existence of a simulation procedureto simulate a Bernoulli variable with success probabilityfp from independent Bernoulli variables with successprobability p, with p being constrained to lie in a subsetP of [0,1] but otherwise unknown.—Authors' Abstract
Practical application of the generalized Bell's theorem in the so-called key distribution process in cryptography is reported. The proposed scheme is based on the Bohm's version of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen gedanken experiment and Bell's theorem is used to test for eavesdropping.