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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Single-photon nonlocality in quantum networks

Paolo Abiuso1,*, Tamás Kriváchy1,2,3,4,*, Emanuel-Cristian Boghiu1, Marc-Olivier Renou1, Alejandro Pozas-Kerstjens5,6, and Antonio Acín1,7

  • 1ICFO - Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain
  • 2Department of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
  • 3Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information - IQOQI Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3, 1090 Vienna, Austria
  • 4Atominstitut, Technische Universität Wien, 1020 Vienna, Austria
  • 5Departamento de Análisis Matemático, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
  • 6Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas (CSIC-UAM-UC3M-UCM), 28049 Madrid, Spain
  • 7ICREA - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L012041 – Published 29 March, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.L012041

Abstract

A single-photon maximally entangled state is obtained when a photon impinges on a balanced beamsplitter. Its nonlocal properties have been intensively debated in the quantum optics and foundations communities. It is however clear that a standard Bell test made only of passive optical elements cannot reveal the nonlocality of this state. We show that the nonlocality of single-photon entangled states can nevertheless be revealed in a quantum network made only of beamsplitters and photodetectors. In our protocol, three single-photon entangled states are distributed in a triangle network, introducing indeterminacy in the photons' paths and creating nonlocal correlations without the need for measurements choices. We discuss a concrete experimental realization and provide numerical evidence of the tolerance of our protocol to standard noise sources. Our results show that single-photon entanglement may constitute a promising solution to generate genuine network-nonlocal correlations useful for Bell-based quantum information protocols.

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Phys. Rev. Research 4, L012041– Published 29 March, 2022
  • Received 31 August 2021
  • Accepted 10 March 2022
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