We present a protocol for large-alphabet quantum key distribution (QKD) using energy-time entangled biphotons. Binned, high-resolution timing measurements are used to generate a large-alphabet key with over 10 bits of information per photon pair, albeit with large noise. QKD with 5% bit error rate is demonstrated with 4 bits of information per photon pair, where the security of the quantum channel is determined by the visibility of Franson interference fringes. The protocol is easily generalizable to even larger alphabets, and utilizes energy-time entanglement which is robust to transmission over large distances in fiber.

We investigate the quantum phase transitions of bosonic polar molecules in a two-dimensional double layer system. We show that an interlayer bound state of dipoles (dimers) can be formed when the dipole strength is above a critical value, leading to a zero-energy resonance in the interlayer $s$-wave scattering channel. In the positive detuning side of the resonance, the strong repulsive interlayer pseudopotential can drive the system into a maximally entangled state, where the wave function is a superposition of two states that have all molecules in one layer and none in the other. We discuss how the zero-energy resonance, dimer states, and the maximally entangled state can be measured in time-of-flight experiments.

Long-distance quantum communication via distant pairs of entangled quantum bits (qubits) is the first step towards secure message transmission and distributed quantum computing. To date, the most promising proposals require quantum repeaters to mitigate the exponential decrease in communication rate due to optical fiber losses. However, these are exquisitely sensitive to the lifetimes of their memory elements. We propose a multiplexing of quantum nodes that should enable the construction of quantum networks that are largely insensitive to the coherence times of the quantum memory elements.

We present analytic and numerical calculations on the bipartite entanglement entropy in fractional quantum Hall states of the fermionic Laughlin sequence. The partitioning of the system is done both by dividing Landau-level orbitals and by grouping the fermions themselves. For the case of orbital partitioning, our results can be related to spatial partitioning, enabling us to extract a topological quantity (the “total quantum dimension”) characterizing the Laughlin states. For particle partitioning we prove a very close upper bound for the entanglement entropy of a subset of the particles with the rest, and provide an interpretation in terms of exclusion statistics.

An analytical expression for the von Neumann entropy of the Laughlin wave function is obtained for any possible bipartition between the particles described by this wave function, for a filling fraction $\nu =1$. Also, for a filling fraction $\nu =1/m$, where $m$ is an odd integer, an upper bound on this entropy is exhibited. These results yield a bound on the smallest possible size of the matrices for an exact representation of the Laughlin ansatz in terms of a matrix-product state. An analytical matrix-product state representation of this state is proposed in terms of representations of the Clifford algebra. For $\nu =1$, this representation is shown to be asymptotically optimal in the limit of a large number of particles.

We show that higher order intergroup covariances involving even number of qubits are necessarily positive semidefinite for $N$-qubit separable states, which are completely symmetric under permutations of the qubits. This identification leads to a family of sufficient conditions of inseparability based on the negativity of $2k$th order intergroup covariance matrices ($2k\le N$) of symmetric $N$-qubit systems. These conditions have a simple structure and detect entanglement in all even partitions of the symmetric multiqubit system. The observables involved are feasible experimental quantities and do not demand full state determination through quantum state tomography.

The adiabatic approximation is an important concept in quantum mechanics. In linear systems, the adiabatic condition is derived with the help of the instantaneous eigenvalues and eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, a procedure that breaks down in the presence of nonlinearity. Using an explicit example relevant to photoassociation of atoms into diatomic molecules, we demonstrate that the proper way to derive the adiabatic condition for nonlinear mean-field (or classical) systems is through a linearization procedure, using which an analytic adiabatic condition is obtained for the nonlinear model under study.

Storage and distribution of quantum information are key elements of quantum information processing and future quantum communication networks. Here, using atom-photon entanglement as the main physical resource, we experimentally demonstrate the preparation of a distant atomic quantum memory. Applying a quantum teleportation protocol on a locally prepared state of a photonic qubit, we realized this so-called remote state preparation on a single, optically trapped ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atom. We evaluated the performance of this scheme by the full tomography of the prepared atomic state, reaching an average fidelity of 82%.

The stochastic transport of suspended particles through a periodic pattern of obstacles in microfluidic devices is investigated by means of the Fokker-Planck equation and numerical simulations. Asymmetric arrays of obstacles have been shown to induce the continuous separation of DNA molecules, with particles of different size migrating in different directions within the microdevice (vector separation). We show that the separation of tracer particles only occurs in the presence of a permeating driving force with a nonzero normal component at the surface of the solid obstacles, and arises from differences in the local Peclet number of the particles. On the other hand, finite-size particles also exhibit nonzero, but small, migration angles in the case of nonpermeating fields. Monte Carlo simulations for different driving fields agree with the solutions to the Fokker-Planck equation.

We study the expansion of a rotating, superfluid Fermi gas. The presence and absence of vortices in the rotating gas are used to distinguish the superfluid and normal parts of the expanding cloud. We find that the superfluid pairs survive during the expansion until the density decreases below a critical value. Our observation of superfluid flow in the expanding gas at $1/k_{F}a=0$ extends the range where fermionic superfluidity has been studied to densities of $1.2\times {10}^{11}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$, about an order of magnitude lower than any previous study.

In this Letter we pose the question of whether a many-body quantum system with a full set of conserved quantities can relax to an equilibrium state, and, if it can, what the properties of such a state are. We confirm the relaxation hypothesis through an ab initio numerical investigation of the dynamics of hard-core bosons on a one-dimensional lattice. Further, a natural extension of the Gibbs ensemble to integrable systems results in a theory that is able to predict the mean values of physical observables after relaxation. Finally, we show that our generalized equilibrium carries more memory of the initial conditions than the usual thermodynamic one. This effect may have many experimental consequences, some of which have already been observed in the recent experiment on the nonequilibrium dynamics of one-dimensional hard-core bosons in a harmonic potential [T. Kinoshita et al., Nature (London) 440, 900 (2006)].

We show that for all $n$-mode Gaussian states of continuous variable systems, the entanglement shared among $n$ parties exhibits the fundamental monogamy property. The monogamy inequality is proven by introducing the Gaussian tangle, an entanglement monotone under Gaussian local operations and classical communication, which is defined in terms of the squared negativity in complete analogy with the case of $n$-qubit systems. Our results elucidate the structure of quantum correlations in many-body harmonic lattice systems.

The quadratic contact process is implemented on a square lattice as a model with random adsorption and correlated desorption requiring empty pairs of diagonal neighbors. The model exhibits a discontinuous phase transition between an active state and an absorbing state, but equistability between these states depends on the orientation of the separating interface. Correspondingly, for a generalized class of models, we find phase coexistence over a finite region of their two-dimensional parameter space. This is in stark contrast to behavior in equilibrium systems.

The analysis of all Casimir force experiments using a sphere-plate geometry requires the use of the proximity-force approximation (PFA) to relate the Casimir force between a sphere and a flat plate to the Casimir energy between two parallel plates. Because it has been difficult to assess the PFA’s range of applicability theoretically, we have conducted an experimental search for corrections to the PFA by measuring the Casimir force and force gradient between a gold-coated plate and five gold-coated spheres with different radii using a microelectromechanical torsion oscillator. For separations $z<300\mathrm{nm}$, we find that the magnitude of the fractional deviation from the PFA in the force gradient measurement is, at the 95% confidence level, less than $0.4z/R$, where $R$ is the radius of the sphere.

We propose a set of universal gate operations for the singlet-triplet qubit realized by two-electron spins in a double quantum dot, in the presence of a fixed inhomogeneous magnetic field. All gate operations are achieved by switching the potential offset between the two dots with an electrical bias, and do not require time-dependent control of the tunnel coupling between the dots. We analyze the two-electron dynamics and calculate the effective qubit rotation angle as a function of the applied electric bias. We present explicit gate sequences for single-qubit rotations about two orthogonal axes, and a CNOT gate sequence, completing the universal gate set.

We propose a new scheme for the optical frequency standard based on the phase-matching effect of the nonadiabatic interaction of two quasimonochromatic fields with the states ${}^{1}S_0$, ${}^{1}P_1$, and ${}^{3}P_0$ of atoms ${}^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$, which are trapped in an optical lattice with magic wavelength. After establishing the phase correlation between two laser fields by the nonadiabatic process, the final linewidth for the difference frequency field, which can be generated by a nonlinear optical crystal, is about 1 mHz.

We report measurements of the curvature of Lagrangian trajectories in an intensely turbulent laboratory water flow measured with a high-speed particle-tracking system. The probability density function (PDF) of the instantaneous curvature is shown to have robust power-law tails. We propose a model for the instantaneous curvature PDF, assuming that the acceleration and velocity are uncorrelated Gaussian random variables, and show that our model reproduces the tails of our measured PDFs. We also predict the scaling of the most probable vorticity magnitude in turbulence, assuming Heisenberg-Yaglom scaling. Finally, we average the curvature along trajectories and show that, by removing the effects of large-scale flow reversals, the filtered curvature reveals the turbulent features.

The PVLAS experiment has recently claimed evidence for an axionlike particle in the milli-electron-volt mass range with a coupling to two photons that appears to be in contradiction with the negative results of the CAST experiment searching for solar axions. The simple axion interpretation of these two experimental results is therefore untenable and it has posed a challenge for theory. We propose a possible way to reconcile these two results by postulating the existence of an ultralight pseudoscalar particle interacting with two photons and a scalar boson and the existence of a low scale phase transition in the theory.

We investigate the nonlinear dynamics of two coupled annular Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). For certain values of the coupling strength the nonrotating state with uniform density is unstable with respect to fluctuations in the higher angular momentum modes. The Bogoliubov spectrum possesses two branches, one of which exhibits distinct regions of instability enabling one to selectively occupy certain angular momentum modes. For sufficiently long evolution times, angular momentum Josephson oscillations spontaneously appear, breaking the initial chiral symmetry of the BECs.

We propose a simple approach for suppressing decoherence of a wave packet excited in an anharmonic oscillator. We show that when a resonant external field forces the oscillator to follow the driving force, motion around the resonant trajectory inside a stable resonant island can be made almost completely immune to the environment. As an example, we study suppression of decoherence due to coupling to thermally populated rotations in vibrational wave packets in a ${\mathrm{Na}}_2$ molecule.