Quantum identical particle indistinguishability: concepts and applications

Remote entanglement distribution in a quantum network via multinode indistinguishability of photons

Quantum networking relies on entanglement distribution between distant nodes, typically realized by swapping procedures. However, entanglement swapping is a demanding task in practice, mainly because of limited effectiveness of entangled photon sources and Bell-state measurements necessary to realize the process. Here we experimentally activate a remote distribution of two-photon polarization entanglement superseding the need for initial entangled pairs and traditional Bell-state measurements. This alternative procedure is accomplished thanks to the controlled spatial indistinguishability of four independent photons in three separated nodes of the network, which enables us to perform locali…

Indistinguishability as a quantum information resource by localized measurements

Quantum networks are typically made of identical subsystems. Exploiting indistinguishability as a direct quantum resource would thus be highly desirable. We show this is achievable by spatially localized measurements, enabling teleportation and entanglement swapping protocols.

Activating remote entanglement in a quantum network by local counting of identical particles

Quantum information and communication processing within quantum networks usually employs identical particles. Despite this, the physical role of quantum statistical nature of particles in large-scale networks remains elusive. Here, we show that just the indistinguishability of fermions makes it possible a new mechanism of entanglement transfer in many-node quantum networks. This process activates remote entanglement among distant sites, which do not share a common past, by only locally counting identical particles and classical communication. These results constitute the key achievement of the present technique and open the way to a more stable multistage transfer of nonlocal quantum correl…

Experimental quantum entanglement and teleportation by tuning remote spatial indistinguishability of independent photons.

Quantitative control of spatial indistinguishability of identical subsystems as a direct quantum resource at distant sites has not yet been experimentally proven. We design a setup capable of tuning remote spatial indistinguishability of two independent photons by individually adjusting their spatial distribution in two distant regions, leading to polarization entanglement from uncorrelated photons. This is achieved by spatially localized operations and classical communication on photons that meet only at the detectors. The amount of entanglement depends uniquely on the degree of spatial indistinguishability, quantified by an entropic measure I , which enables teleportation with fidelities …

Robust entanglement preparation against noise by controlling spatial indistinguishability

Initialization of composite quantum systems into highly entangled states is usually a must to allow their use for quantum technologies. However, the presence of unavoidable noise in the preparation stage makes the system state mixed, thus limiting the possibility of achieving this goal. Here we address this problem in the context of identical particle systems. We define the entanglement of formation for an arbitrary state of two identical qubits within the operational framework of spatially localized operations and classical communication (sLOCC). We then introduce an entropic measure of spatial indistinguishability under sLOCC as an information resource. We show that spatial indistinguisha…

Activation of indistinguishability-based quantum coherence for enhanced metrological applications with particle statistics imprint

Quantum coherence, an essential feature of quantum mechanics allowing quantum superposition of states, is a resource for quantum information processing. Coherence emerges in a fundamentally different way for nonidentical and identical particles. For the latter, a unique contribution exists linked to indistinguishability that cannot occur for nonidentical particles. Here, we experimentally demonstrate this additional contribution to quantum coherence with an optical setup, showing that its amount directly depends on the degree of indistinguishability, and exploiting it in a quantum phase discrimination protocol. Furthermore, the designed setup allows for simulating fermionic particles with p…

Robust entanglement preparation through spatial indistinguishability quantified by entropic measure

Initialization of composite quantum systems into highly entangled states is important to enable their use for quantum technologies. However, unavoidable noise in the preparation stage makes the system state mixed, hindering the achievement of this goal. We address this problem in the context of identical particle systems adopting the operational framework of spatially localized operations and classical communication (sLOCC). After a brief description of the formalism, we define the entanglement of formation for an arbitrary state (pure or mixed) of two identical qubits, valid for both bosons and fermions. We then introduce an entropic measure of spatial indistinguishability as an informatio…

Dealing with indistinguishable particles and their entanglement

Here we discuss a particle-based approach to deal with systems of many identical quantum objects (particles) which never employs labels to mark them. We show that it avoids both methodological problems and drawbacks in the study of quantum correlations associated to the standard quantum mechanical treatment of identical particles. The core of this approach is represented by the multiparticle probability amplitude whose structure in terms of single-particle amplitudes we here derive by first principles. To characterise entanglement among the identical particles, this new method utilises the same notions, such as partial trace, adopted for nonidentical ones. We highlight the connection betwee…

Quantum plasmonics with multi-emitters: application to stimulated Raman adiabatic passage

We construct a mode-selective effective model describing the interaction of the localised surface plasmon polaritons (LSPs) supported by a spherical metal nanoparticle (MNP) with N quantum emitters (QEs) in an arbitrary geometric arrangement. Simplifying previously presented procedures, we develop a formulation in which the field response in the presence of the MNP can be decomposed into orthogonal modes, expanding the Green tensor of the system in the spherical vector harmonics basis and using the generalized global Löwdin orthogonalization algorithm. We investigate the possibility of using the LSPs as mediators of an efficient control of population transfer between two QEs. We show that a…

Effects of Indistinguishability in a System of Three Identical Qubits

Quantum correlations of identical particles are important for quantum-enhanced technologies. The recently introduced non-standard approach to treat identical particles [G. Compagno et al., Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 376, 20170317 (2018)] is here exploited to show the effect of particle indistinguishability on the characterization of entanglement of three identical qubits. We show that, by spatially localized measurements in separated regions, three independently-prepared separated qubits in a pure elementary state behave as distinguishable ones, as expected. On the other hand, delocalized measurements make it emerge a measurement-induced entanglement. We then find that three independently-prepa…

Indistinguishability-enabled coherence for quantum metrology

Quantum coherence plays a fundamental and operational role in different areas of physics. A resource theory has been developed to characterize the coherence of distinguishable particles systems. Here we show that indistinguishability of identical particles is a source of coherence, even when they are independently prepared. In particular, under spatially local operations, states that are incoherent for distinguishable particles, can be coherent for indistinguishable particles under the same procedure. We present a phase discrimination protocol, in which we demonstrate the operational advantage of using two indistinguishable particles rather than distinguishable ones. The coherence due to th…

Dynamics of spatially indistinguishable particles and quantum entanglement protection

We provide a general framework which allows one to obtain the dynamics of $N$ noninteracting spatially indistinguishable particles locally coupled to separated environments. The approach is universal, being valid for both bosons and fermions and for any type of system-environment interaction. It is then applied to study the dynamics of two identical qubits under paradigmatic Markovian noises, such as phase damping, depolarizing and amplitude damping. We find that spatial indistinguishability of identical qubits is a controllable intrinsic property of the system which protects quantum entanglement against detrimental noise.