IX
Preface
The field of quantum information processing has reached a remarkable maturi-
ty in recent years with regard to experimental demonstrations. In particular, to-
wards an extension of optical communications from the classical into the quantum
realm, many proof-of-principle experiments were performed including the genera-
tion and distribution of photonic entangled states over free-space or fiber channels.
As an application, unconditionally secure quantum key distribution systems have
emerged and even developed into a commercially available technology.
Light systems, apart from their obvious usefulness for communication, have now
as well turned out to be a serious contender for approaches to quantum compu-
tation. A breakthrough in this context was the theoretical discovery of so-called
measurement-based models: quantum algorithms no longer depend on sequences
of reversible quantum gates, each enacted through well controlled interactions be-
tween, for instance, two or more qubits; instead, sequences of measurements on
parts of an entangled resource state prepared prior to the computation will do the
trick. In other words, quantum entanglement, already known to be a universal re-
source for quantum communication in conjunction with quantum teleportation,
represents a universal resource for quantum computation too – and again the ex-
ploitation of the entangled resource relies upon quantum teleportation which, in
its ultimate form, achieves arbitrary quantum state manipulation s.
The aim of this book is to give a fairly general introduction to two com-
plementary approaches to quantum information processing: those based upon
discrete-variable “qubit” systems and those utilizing quantum oscill ator systems
(“qumodes”) most naturally represented by continuous quantum variables such
as amplitude and phase. In quantum optics, the corresponding photonic sys-
tems would consist of just a few photons or they would correspond to fields with
extremely high mean photon numbers, respectively. The qubit may then be repre-
sented by the polarization of a single photon, while a qumode state is encoded into
an infinite-dimensional phase space. Entangled states can be defined, formulated,
and experimentally realized in either dimension, including their use for quantum
teleportation. Since either approach encounters somewhat different complications
when it comes to more sophisticated quantum information protocols, a recent
trend in optical quantum information is to combine the two approaches and to
exploit at the same time discrete and continuous degrees of freedom in a so-called
Quantum Teleportation and Entanglement. Akira Furusawa, Peter van Loock
Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
ISBN: 978-3-527-40930-3