Experimental test of error-disturbance uncertainty relation with continuous variables Download: 590次
1. INTRODUCTION
As one of the cornerstones of quantum mechanics, the uncertainty relation describes the measurement limitation on two incompatible observables. The uncertainty relation has a huge impact on areas of quantum information technology such as entanglement verification [1], quantum key distribution [2], quantum dense coding [35" target="_self" style="display: inline;">–
There are two kinds of uncertainty relations, the preparation and the measurement uncertainty relations, depending on whether one is talking about average measurement or one-shot measurement in the understanding of Heisenberg’s spirit. The preparation uncertainty relation studies the minimal dispersion of two quantum observables before measurement [810" target="_self" style="display: inline;">–
Heisenberg’s EDR is generally expressed as where
In the original thought experiment proposed by Heisenberg, two continuous variables, position and momentum of a particle, are used to describe the measurement uncertainty relation. Thus, the experimental test of EDR based on a continuous-variable system reflects Heisenberg’s original idea more precisely, and will make the test of the uncertainty relation more complete. Very recently, an experimental test of the error-tradeoff uncertainty relation with continuous variables was demonstrated using an Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) entangled state [38].
In this paper, we report an experimental test of EDR with continuous variables using a heterodyne measurement system. An advantage of our experiment is that we can test the EDR with continuous variables for different signal states by changing the input state of the heterodyne measurement system. In our experiment, we test the EDR for three different Gaussian states: coherent, squeezed, and thermal states. A vacuum mode is used as meter mode in the measurement system. Our experimental results demonstrate that Heisenberg’s EDR with continuous variables is violated, while Ozawa’s and Branciard’s EDRs with continuous variables are validated.
2. PRINCIPLE AND EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The amplitude and phase quadratures of an optical mode are incompatible continuous-variable observables, and cannot be measured simultaneously. A heterodyne measurement system, which is a joint measurement apparatus, can be used to measure the approximations of
Fig. 1. (a) Principle of the test of EDR with continuous variables. A joint measurement apparatus implements the approximations of incompatible observables and with the compatible observables and by coupling the signal and meter modes via a beam-splitter. Coherent state (CS), squeezed state (SS), and thermal state (TS) serve as signal modes, and a vacuum state serves as meter mode. (b) Schematic of the experimental setup. Signal state is prepared by a NOPA. The measurement apparatus is composed by a BS, which is a combination of PBS–HWP–PBS, and two HDs. Two output modes of the BS are detected by HD1 and HD2, respectively. NOPA, nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier; BS, beam-splitter; HWP, half-waveplate; PBS, polarization beam-splitter; HD, homodyne detector; LO, local oscillator.
The signal mode is prepared as coherent, squeezed, and thermal states, and a vacuum state
The experimental setup for test of EDR is illustrated in Fig.
3. RESULTS
A coherent state is prepared when the pump field of the NOPA is blocked and only the injected field passes through the NOPA. The variances of amplitude and phase quadratures of the coherent and vacuum states (meter mode) are
The amplitude quadrature
The dependence of error of the amplitude quadrature
Fig. 2. Experimental results. (a), (b) and (c) Dependence of error (black curve) and disturbance (red curve) on the transmission efficiency of BS (T ) for coherent, squeezed, and thermal states, respectively. (d), (e) and (f) Lefthand sides of the EDRs with continuous variables for coherent, squeezed, and thermal states, respectively. Green curve, Heisenberg’s EDR; red curve, Ozawa’s EDR; blue curve, Branciard’s EDR. Black line, righthand side of the EDR. All experimental data agree well with the theoretical predictions. The error bars are obtained by RMS of measurements repeated ten times.
The dependence of the lefthand side of Ozawa’s (red curve), Branciard’s (blue curve), and Heisenberg’s (green curve) EDRs on the transmission efficiency of BS for three Gaussian states is shown in Figs.
The comparison of the lower bounds of EDRs for three Gaussian states in the error-disturbance plot is shown in Fig.
Fig. 3. Comparison of the lower bounds of EDRs for three Gaussian states. (a) Coherent state as signal mode. (b) Squeezed state as signal mode. (c) Thermal state as signal mode. Blue curve, Heisenberg bound; orange curve, Ozawa bound; green curve, Branciard bound. Black circles show experimental data. Black dotted curve shows the theoretical prediction for the experimental parameters.
4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Comparing the experimental tests of EDR with discrete and continuous variables, the main difference is that the quantum states (quantum observables) used in the experiments are different. In the presented paper, amplitude and phase quadratures of Gaussian states are applied. The main results of the experimental tests of EDR with discrete and continuous variables are the same, which confirms that the Heisenberg’s EDR can be violated in some cases, while the improved Ozawa and Branciard EDRs are valid [25
Comparing this experiment with the test of error-tradeoff uncertainty relation reported in Ref. [38], there are two differences. First, the quantum states used to demonstrate the error-disturbance relation with continuous variables are different. In Ref. [38], an EPR entangled state is used in the experiment, while in this paper, three different Gaussian states are used in the experiment: coherent, squeezed, and thermal states. The results for non-zero error and disturbance of these three Gaussian states are presented. Second, the measurement schemes used in these two experiments are different. In Ref. [38], the amplitude and phase quadratures of two EPR beams are measured by two homodyne detectors simultaneously. One of the EPR beams plays the role of the meter field. In this paper, the heterodyne measurement system is used to measure the amplitude and phase quadratures of an optical mode simultaneously. The vacuum is used as the meter field. This scheme is a general test of EDR with continuous variables for an optical mode.
In summary, we experimentally test the Heisenberg, Ozawa, and Branciard EDRs with continuous variables using a heterodyne measurement system. Three different Gaussian states, i.e., coherent, squeezed, and thermal states, are used as signal mode to test the EDRs. All the experimental results demonstrate that Heisenberg’s EDR is violated, yet Ozawa’s and Branciard’s EDRs are validated. Our work represents an important advance in understanding the fundamentals of physical measurement, and sheds light on the development of quantum information technology.
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Article Outline
Yang Liu, Haijun Kang, Dongmei Han, Xiaolong Su, Kunchi Peng. Experimental test of error-disturbance uncertainty relation with continuous variables[J]. Photonics Research, 2019, 7(11): 11000A56.