Sandu Popescu's research while affiliated with University of Bristol and other places
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Publications (163)
Here we report a type of dynamic effect that is at the core of the so called “counterfactual computation” and especially “counterfactual communication” quantum effects that have generated a lot of interest recently. The basic feature of these counterfactual setups is the fact that particles seem to be affected by actions that take place in location...
Even in the presence of conservation laws, one can perform arbitrary transformations on a system if given access to a suitable reference frame, since conserved quantities may be exchanged between the system and the frame. Here we explore whether these quantities can be separated into different parts of the reference frame, with each part acting as...
Steering is usually described as a quantum phenomenon. In this article, we show that steering is not restricted to quantum theory, it is also present in more general, no-signalling theories. We present two main results: first, we show that quantum steering involves a collection of different aspects, which need to be separated when considering steer...
The possibility of Bell inequality violations in quantum theory had a profound impact on our understanding of the correlations that can be shared by distant parties. Generalizing the concept of Bell nonlocality to networks leads to novel forms of correlations, the characterization of which is, however, challenging. Here, we investigate constraints...
Even in the presence of conservation laws, one can perform arbitrary transformations on a system given access to an appropriate reference frame. During this process, conserved quantities will generally be exchanged between the system and the reference frame. Here we explore whether these quantities can be separated into different parts of the refer...
Generalising the concept of Bell nonlocality to networks leads to novel forms of correlations, the characterization of which is however challenging. Here we investigate constraints on correlations in networks under the two natural assumptions of no-signaling and independence of the sources. We consider the ``triangle network'', and derive strong co...
We construct a quantum reference frame, which can be used to approximately implement arbitrary unitary transformations on a system in the presence of any number of extensive conserved quantities, by absorbing any back action provided by the conservation laws. Thus, the reference frame at the same time acts as a battery for the conserved quantities....
Recently, the possible existence of quantum processes with indefinite causal order has been extensively discussed, in particular using the formalism of process matrices. Here we give a new perspective on this question, by establishing a direct connection to the theory of multi-time quantum states. Specifically, we show that process matrices are equ...
We present an operational and model-independent framework to investigate the concept of no-backwards-in-time signalling. We define no-backwards-in-time signalling conditions, closely related to spatial no-signalling conditions. These allow for theoretical possibilities in which the future affects the past, nevertheless without signalling backwards...
Significance
Conservation laws are one of the most important aspects of nature. As such, they have been intensively studied and extensively applied, and are considered to be perfectly well established. We, however, raise fundamental question about the very meaning of conservation laws in quantum mechanics. We argue that, although the standard way i...
Supplementary Figures 1-3, Supplementary Notes 1-4 and Supplementary References.
"In our paper in PNAS (1), we describe a quantum violation of the pigeonhole principle. We describe a situation (involving pre- and postselection) in which we put three particles in two boxes and we never find two particles in the same box. We presented both a 'strong measurement' analysis and a 'weak measurement' one. In his comment, Svensson (2)...
We consider a generalisation of thermodynamics that deals with multiple
conserved quantities at the level of individual quantum systems. Each conserved
quantity, which, importantly, need not commute with the rest, can be extracted
and stored in its own battery. Unlike in standard thermodynamics, where the
second law places a constraint on how much...
Recently it was demonstrated, both theoretically and experimentally, how to
separate a particle from its spin, or any other property, a phenomenon known as
the "Quantum Cheshire Cat". We present two novel gedanken experiments, based on
the quantum Zeno effect, suggesting a dynamical process thorough which this
curious phenomenon occurs. We analyze,...
We investigate the trade-off between information gain and disturbance for von Neumann measurements on spin-1/2 particles, and derive the measurement pointer state that saturates this trade-off, which turns out to be highly unusual. We apply this result to the question of whether the nonlocality of a single particle from an entangled pair can be sha...
We investigate the trade-off between information gain and disturbance for a
class of weak von Neumann measurements on spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles, and
derive the unusual measurement pointer state that saturates this trade-off. We
then consider the fundamental question of sharing the non-locality of a single
particle of an entangled pair among mult...
Introduction In this chapter, we will focus on the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. Entanglement is a special property that some states of two or more quantum particles may possess. When particles are in an entangled state they are correlated. But entanglement is far more than mere correlation. Entanglement is a type of correlation that macrosco...
The pigeonhole principle: "If you put three pigeons in two pigeonholes at
least two of the pigeons end up in the same hole" is an obvious yet fundamental
principle of Nature as it captures the very essence of counting. Here however
we show that in quantum mechanics this is not true! We find instances when
three quantum particles are put in two boxe...
Thermodynamics is traditionally concerned with systems comprised of a large number of particles. Here we present a framework for extending thermodynamics to individual quantum systems, including explicitly a thermal bath and work-storage device (essentially a 'weight' that can be raised or lowered). We prove that the second law of thermodynamics ho...
Nonlocality is the most characteristic feature of quantum mechanics, but recent research seems to suggest the possible existence of nonlocal correlations stronger than those predicted by theory. This raises the question of whether nature is in fact more nonlocal than expected from quantum theory or, alternatively, whether there could be an as yet u...
Small self-contained quantum thermal machines function without external source of work or control but using only incoherent interactions with thermal baths. Here we investigate the role of entanglement in a small self-contained quantum refrigerator. We first show that entanglement is detrimental as far as efficiency is concerned-fridges operating a...
We present a general formalism for characterizing 2-time quantum states, describing pre- and postselected quantum systems. The most general 2-time state is characterized by a "density vector" that is independent of measurements performed between the preparation and postselection. We provide a method for performing tomography of an unknown 2-time de...
In this paper we present a quantum Cheshire cat. In a pre- and post-selected
experiment we find the cat in one place, and the smile in another. The cat is a
photon, while the smile is it's circular polarisation.
What is light and how to describe it has always been a central subject in
physics. As our understanding has increased, so have our theories changed:
Geometrical optics, wave optics and quantum optics are increasingly
sophisticated descriptions, each referring to a larger class of phenomena than
its predecessor. But how exactly are these theories re...
We present an alternative view of quantum evolution in which each moment of
time is viewed as a new "universe" and time evolution is given by correlations
between them.
We show that from a communication-complexity perspective, the primitive called oblivious transfer—which was introduced in a cryptographic context—can be seen as the classical analogue to a quantum channel in the same sense as non-local boxes are of maximally entangled qubits. More explicitly, one realization of non-cryptographic oblivious transfer...
We consider the task of extracting work from quantum systems in the resource
theory perspective of thermodynamics, where free states are arbitrary thermal
states, and allowed operations are energy conserving unitary transformations.
Taking as our work storage system a 'weight' we prove the second law and then
present simple protocols which extract...
We consider quantum systems in entangled states post-selected in
non-entangled states. Such systems exhibit unusual behavior, in particular when
weak measurements are performed at intermediate times.
Delaying Quantum Choice
Photons can display wavelike or particle-like behavior, depending on the experimental technique used to measure them. Understanding this duality lies at the heart of quantum mechanics. In two reports, Peruzzo et al. (p. 634 ) and Kaiser et al. (p. 637 ; see the Perspective on both papers by Lloyd ) perform an entangled versi...
We revisit critically the recent claims, inspired by quantum optics and quantum information, that there is entanglement in the biological pigment-protein complexes, and that it is responsible for the high transport efficiency. While unexpectedly long coherence times were experimentally demonstrated, the existence of entanglement is, at the moment,...
![Conformational changes of a bio-molecule [29], induced e.g. by the...](publication/254500389/figure/fig1/AS:1132202431647748@1646949503237/Conformational-changes-of-a-bio-molecule-29-induced-eg-by-the-interaction-with-some_Q320.jpg)
Very recently (Cai et al 2010 Phys. Rev. E 82 021921), a simple mechanism was presented by which a molecule subjected to forced oscillations, out of thermal equilibrium, can maintain quantum entanglement between two of its quantum degrees of freedom. Crucially, entanglement can be maintained even in the presence of very intense noise, so intense th...
We show that a physical property can be entirely separated from the object it
belongs to, hence realizing a complete quantum Cheshire cat. Our setup makes
use of a type of quantum state of particular interest, namely an entangled pre-
and post-selected state, in which the pre- and post-selections are entangled
with each other. Finally we propose a...
In theories of spin-dependent radical pair reactions, the time evolution of the radical pair, including the effect of the chemical kinetics, is described by a master equation in the Liouville formalism. For the description of the chemical kinetics, a number of possible reaction operators have been formulated in the literature. In this work, we pres...
Two separated observers, by applying local operations to a supply of not-too-impure entangled states ({\em e.g.} singlets shared through a noisy channel), can prepare a smaller number of entangled pairs of arbitrarily high purity ({\em e.g.} near-perfect singlets). These can then be used to faithfully teleport unknown quantum states from one observ...
In analogy with the usual quantum state-estimation problem, we introduce the problem of state estimation for a pre- and postselected ensemble. The problem has fundamental physical significance since, as argued by Y. Aharonov and collaborators, pre- and postselected ensembles are the most basic quantum ensembles. Two new features are shown to appear...
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We argue that thermal machines can be understood from the perspective of
`virtual qubits' at `virtual temperatures': The relevant way to view the two
heat baths which drive a thermal machine is as a composite system. Virtual
qubits are two-level subsystems of this composite, and their virtual
temperatures can take on any value, positive or negative...
In analogy with the usual state estimation problem, we introduce the problem
of state estimation for a pre- and post-selected ensemble. The problem has
fundamental physical significance since, as argued by Y. Aharonov and
collaborators, pre- and post-selected ensembles are the most basic quantum
ensembles. Two new features are shown to appear: 1) i...
A "strongly" interacting, and entangling, heavy, non recoiling, external
particle effects a significant change of the environment. Described locally,
the corresponding entanglement event is a generalized electric Aharonov Bohm
effect, that differs from the original one in a crucial way. We propose a
gedanken interference experiment. The predicted s...
We address the question of when quantum entanglement is a useful resource for information processing tasks by presenting a new class of nonlocal games that are simple, direct, generalizations of the Clauser Horne Shimony Holt game. For some ranges of the parameters that specify the games, quantum mechanics offers an advantage, while, surprisingly,...
That quantum mechanics is a probabilistic theory was, by 1964, an old but still troubling story. The fact that identical measurements of identically prepared systems can yield different outcomes seems to challenge a basic tenet of science and philosophy. Frustration with the indeterminacy intrinsic to quantum mechanics was famously expressed in Alb...
We construct the smallest possible self contained heat engines; one composed of only two qubits, the other of only a single qutrit. The engines are self-contained as they do not require external sources of work and/or control. They are able to produce work which is used to continuously lift a weight. Despite the dimension of the engine being small,...
We investigate whether size imposes a fundamental constraint on the
efficiency of small thermal machines. We analyse in detail a model of a small
self-contained refrigerator consisting of three qubits. We show analytically
that this system can reach the Carnot efficiency, thus demonstrating that there
exists no complementarity between size and effi...
We investigate the fundamental dimensional limits to thermodynamic machines. In particular, we show that it is possible to construct self-contained refrigerators (i.e., not requiring external sources of work) consisting of only a small number of qubits and/or qutrits. We present three different models, consisting of two qubits, a qubit and a qutrit...
This special issue celebrates the discovery of two of the most important aspects of quantum mechanics: the Aharonov–Bohm effect and the Berry phase. The issue includes work presented at two conferences, 50 Years of the Aharonov–Bohm Effect, 11–14 October 2009, Tel Aviv University, Israel, and the Aharonov–Bohm Effect and Berry Phase 50/25 Anniversa...
![Figure 1(Color online) Conformational changes of a biomolecule [23],...](profile/Jianming-Cai-2/publication/46423389/figure/fig6/AS:285128476643346@1444991334264/Color-online-Conformational-changes-of-a-biomolecule-23-induced-eg-by-the_Q320.jpg)
We demonstrate that entanglement can persistently recur in an oscillating two-spin molecule that is coupled to a hot and noisy environment, in which no static entanglement can survive. The system represents a nonequilibrium quantum system which, driven through the oscillatory motion, is prevented from reaching its (separable) thermal equilibrium st...
We investigate the physics of quantum reference frames. Specifically, we
study several simple scenarios involving a small number of quantum particles,
whereby we promote one of these particles to the role of a quantum observer and
ask what is the description of the rest of the system, as seen by this
observer? We highlight the interesting aspects o...
Energy transfer plays a vital role in many natural and technological processes. In this work, we study the effects of mechanical motion on the excitation transfer through a chain of interacting molecules with application to biological scenarios of transfer processes. Our investigation demonstrates that, for various types of mechanical oscillations,...
We study the speed of fluctuation of a quantum system around its
thermodynamic equilibrium state, and show that the speed will be extremely
small for almost all times in typical thermodynamic cases. The setting
considered here is that of a quantum system couples to a bath, both jointly
described as a closed system. This setting, is the same as the...
During the 50 years since its discovery, the Aharonov–Bohm effect has had a significant impact on the development of physics. Its arguably deepest implication, however, has been virtually ignored.
This is a call for contributions to a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical dedicated to the subject of quantum phases and highlighting the impact of the discovery of the Aharonov--Bohm effect and of the Berry phase across physics. Researchers working in the area are invited to submit papers of original research to thi...
We present a simple mechanism for intra-molecular refrigeration, where parts of a molecule are actively cooled below the environmental temperature. We discuss the potential role and applications of such a mechanism in biology, in particular in enzymatic reactions. Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures
We present a fundamental concept—closed sets of correlations—for studying nonlocal correlations. We argue that sets of correlations corresponding to information-theoretic principles, or more generally to consistent physical theories, must be closed under a natural set of operations. Hence, studying the closure of sets of correlations gives insight...
This paper has been withdrawn by the author.
The circumstances under which a system reaches thermal equilibrium, and how to derive this from basic dynamical laws, has been a major question from the very beginning of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Despite considerable progress, it remains an open problem. Motivated by this issue, we address the more general question of equilibration...
By studying generalized nonsignaling theories, the hope is to find out what makes quantum mechanics so special. In the present Letter, we revisit the paradigmatic model of nonsignaling boxes and introduce the concept of a genuine box. This will allow us to present the first generalized nonsignaling model featuring quantumlike dynamics. In particula...
To date, most efforts to demonstrate quantum nonlocality have concentrated on systems of two (or very few) particles. It is, however, difficult in many experiments to address individual particles, making it hard to highlight the presence of nonlocality. We show how a natural setup with no access to individual particles allows one to violate the Cla...
We discuss the role of non-locality in the problem of determining the state of a quantum system, one of the most basic problems
in quantum mechanics.
We discuss the possibility of existence of entanglement in biological systems. Our arguments centre on the fact that biological systems are thermodynamic open driven systems far from equilibrium. In such systems error correction can occur which may maintain entanglement despite high levels of de-coherence. We also discuss the possibility of cooling...
With the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of quantum non-locality, we decompose quantum correlations into more elementary non-local correlations. We show that the correlations of all pure entangled states of two qubits can be simulated without communication, hence using only non-signaling resources. Our simulation model works in two steps. Fi...
We show that the Knill Lafllame Milburn method of quantum computation with linear optics gates can be interpreted as a one-way, measurement-based quantum computation of the type introduced by Briegel and Raussendorf. We also show that the permanent state of n n-dimensional systems is a universal state for quantum computation.
We discuss experimental situations that consist of multiple preparation and
measurement stages. This leads us to a new approach to quantum mechanics. In
particular, we introduce the idea of multi-time quantum states which are the
appropriate tools for describing these experimental situations. We also
describe multi-time measurements and discuss the...
We address the problem of "nonlocal computation," in which separated parties must compute a function without any individual learning anything about the inputs. Surprisingly, entanglement provides no benefit over local classical strategies for such tasks, yet stronger nonlocal correlations allow perfect success. This provides intriguing insights int...
A Knill-Laflamme-Milburn (KLM) type quantum computation with bosonic neutral atoms or bosonic ions is suggested. Crucially, as opposite to other quantum computation schemes involving atoms (ions), no controlled interactions between atoms (ions) involving their internal levels are required. Versus photonic KLM computation, this scheme has the advant...
The notion of weak measurement provides a formalism for extracting information from a quantum system in the limit of vanishing disturbance to its state. Here we extend this formalism to the measurement of sequences of observables. When these observables do not commute, we may obtain information about joint properties of a quantum system that would...
One of the fundamental limitations to high bit rate, long distance, telecommunication in optical fibers is Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD). Here we introduce a conceptually new method to reduce PMD in optical fibers by carrying out controlled rotations of polarization at predetermined locations along the fiber. The distance between these control...
An analysis of errors in measurement yields new insight into classically forbidden quantum processes. In addition to "physical" values, a realistic measurement can yield "unphysical" values; we show that in {\it sequences} of measurements, the "unphysical" values can form a consistent pattern. An experiment to isolate a particle in a classically fo...
We investigate the problem of "nonlocal" computation, in which separated parties must compute a function with nonlocally encoded inputs and output, such that each party individually learns nothing, yet together they compute the correct function output. We show that the best that can be done classically is a trivial linear approximation. Surprisingl...
Statistical mechanics is one of the most successful areas of physics. Yet, almost 150 years since its inception, its foundations and basic postulates are still the subject of debate. Here we suggest that the main postulate of statistical mechanics, the equal a priori probability postulate, should be abandoned as misleading and unnecessary. We argue...
Given a bipartite quantum state (in arbitrary dimension) and a decomposition of it as a superposition of two others, we find bounds on the entanglement of the superposition state in terms of the entanglement of the states being superposed. In the case that the two states being superposed are biorthogonal, the answer is simple, and, for example, the...
We show here that the recent work of Wolf and Wullschleger (quant-ph/0502030) on oblivious transfer apparently opens the possibility that non-local correlations which are stronger than those in quantum mechanics could be used for bit-commitment. This is surprising, because it is the very existence of non-local correlations which in quantum mechanic...
We consider an analog of entanglement-swapping for a set of black boxes with the most general nonlocal correlations consistent with relativity (including correlations which are stronger than any attainable in quantum theory). In an attempt to incorporate this phenomenon, we consider expanding the space of objects to include not only correlated boxe...
We consider an alternative approach to the foundations of statistical mechanics, in which subjective randomness, ensemble-averaging or time-averaging are not required. Instead, the universe (i.e. the system together with a sufficiently large environment) is in a quantum pure state subject to a global constraint, and thermalisation results from enta...
We present an excerpt of the document “Quantum
Information Processing and Communication: Strategic report on current
status, visions and goals for research in Europe”, which has been recently
published in electronic form at the website of FET (the Future and Emerging
Technologies Unit of the Directorate General Information Society of the
Europ...
The question of finding a lower bound on the number of Toffoli gates in a classical reversible circuit is addressed. A method based on quantum information concepts is proposed. The method involves solely concepts from quantum information--there is no need for an actual physical quantum computer. The method is illustrated in the example of classical...
We investigate the concentration of multi-party entanglement by focusing on simple family of three-partite pure states, superpositions of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states and singlets. Despite the simplicity of the states, we show that they cannot be reversibly concentrated by the standard entanglement concentration procedure, to which they seem...
Communicating a physical quantity cannot be done using information only\char22{}i.e., using abstract cbits and∕or qubits. Rather one needs appropriate physical realizations of cbits and∕or qubits. We illustrate this by considering the problem of communicating chirality. We discuss in detail the physical resources this necessitates and introduce the...
It is known that all causal correlations between two parties which output each 1 bit, a and b, when receiving each 1 bit, x and y, can be expressed as convex combinations of local correlations (i.e., correlations that can be simulated with local random variables) and nonlocal correlations of the form a+b=xy mod 2. We show that a single instance of...
It is well known that measurements performed on spatially separated entangled quantum systems can give rise to correlations that are nonlocal, in the sense that a Bell inequality is violated. They cannot, however, be used for superluminal signaling. It is also known that it is possible to write down sets of “superquantum” correlations that are more...
Given only a finite ensemble of identically prepared particles, how precisely can one determine their states? We describe optimal measurement procedures in the case of spin-1/2 particles. Furthermore, we prove that optimal measurement procedures must necessarily view the ensemble as a single composite system rather than as the sum of its components...
We consider the situation in which an observer internal to an isolated system wants to measure the total energy of the isolated system (this includes his own energy, that of the measuring device and clocks used, etc...). We show that he can do this in an arbitrarily short time, as measured by his own clock. This measurement is not subjected to a ti...
The notion of genuine three-particle nonlocality introduced by Svetlichny Phys. Rev. D 35 10, 3066 (1987)] is discussed. Svetlichny’s inequality, which can distinguish between genuine three-particle and three-particle nonlocality that is based on underlying two-particle nonlocality, is analyzed by reinterpreting it as a frustrated network of correl...
We give an operational definition of the quantum, classical and total amount of correlations in a bipartite quantum state. We argue that these quantities can be defined via the amount of work (noise) that is required to erase (destroy) the correlations: for the total correlation, we have to erase completely, for the quantum correlation one has to e...
The key realisation which lead to the emergence of the new field of quantum information processing is that quantum mechanics, the theory that describes microscopic particles, allows the processing of information in fundamentally new ways. But just as in classical information processing, errors occur in quantum information processing, and these have...
We present a proposal for the experimental observation of energy-time entanglement of quasiparticles in mesoscopic physics. This type of entanglement arises whenever correlated particles are produced at the same time and this time is uncertain in the sense of quantum uncertainty, as has been largely used in photonics. We discuss its feasibility for...
"Information is physical", and here we consider the physical directional information of a particle with spin. We ask whether, in the presence of a classical frame of reference, such a particle contains any intrinsic directional information, ie. information above that which can be transmitted by a classical bit. We show that when sending a large num...
The two main features of the Aharonov-Bohm effect are the topological dependence of accumulated phase on the winding number around the magnetic fluxon, and nonlocality-local observations at any intermediate point along the trajectories are not affected by the fluxon. The latter property is usually regarded as exclusive to quantum mechanics. Here we...
Bipartite entanglement is one of the fundamental quantifiable resources of quantum information theory. We propose a new application of this resource to the theory of quantum measurements. According to Naimark's theorem any rank 1 generalised measurement (POVM) M may be represented as a von Neumann measurement in an extended (tensor product) space o...
In a system of n quantum particles, we define a measure of the degree of irreducible n-way correlation, by which we mean the correlation that cannot be accounted for by looking at the states of n-1 particles. In the case of almost all pure states of three qubits, we show that there is no such correlation: almost every pure state of three qubits is...
In the analysis of experiments designed to reveal violation of Bell-type inequalities, it is usually assumed that any hidden variables associated with the nth particle pair would be independent of measurement choices and outcomes for the first (n-1) pairs. Models which violate this assumption exploit what we call the memory loophole. We focus on th...