Robust Matter-Light Entanglement Generation and Distribution

一个利用单个光子和被捕获的超冷原子来研究量子信息的产生、存储和分布的计划将继续下去。我们小组的工作先前已经证明了自旋波超精细量子比特与编码在单光子的偏振，空间或频率自由度中的光学量子比特的纠缠，以及两个远程自旋波量子比特的纠缠。最近，量子存储时间已经延长到0.1秒以上，并且实现了电信和可存储领域之间的低噪声、高效率波长转换。这为利用光纤中的光传播实现长距离原子纠缠开辟了道路。然而，迄今为止，在给定的试验中，纠缠产生协议的成功概率总是非常小的，因为光场包含大的真空分量。通过利用里德伯原子相互作用的物理学，成功的概率将增加到一千倍，将创建快速，高效的确定性单光子源，实现被捕获的超冷原子中编码的量子比特之间的量子门，并实现纠缠量子态的存储，其寿命超过1秒。 这项活动将加快开发新一代多量子比特纠缠态的创建、分发和存储能力，并为未来实现长距离量子中继器和分布式量子计算做出贡献。此外，多量子比特纠缠态的有效产生将影响基础物理研究并推进量子增强技术。这项研究将对量子信息处理的未来发展产生重大影响，从而开发出用于光物质纠缠产生和分配的新工具。该项目将涉及广泛的研究生和本科生培训和参与。

A program of investigations of generation, storage, and distribution of quantum information, using individual photons and trapped ultra-cold atoms will be continued. Work in our group has previously demonstrated entanglement of spin-wave hyperfine qubits to optical qubits encoded in the polarization, spatial or frequency degrees of freedom of single photons, as well as entanglement of two remote spin-wave qubits. Most recently, quantum memory times have been extended beyond 0.1 seconds and low-noise, high-efficiency wavelength conversion between telecom and storable fields achieved. This opens a path toward long-distance atomic entanglement using light propagation in optical fibers. However to date, the success probability of the entanglement generation protocols in a given trial is always very small, as the light fields contain a large vacuum component. By exploiting the physics of Rydberg atom interactions the success probability will be increased by a factor of up to one thousand, fast, efficient deterministic single photon sources will be created, quantum gates between qubits encoded in trapped ultra-cold atoms implemented, and storage of entangled quantum states with lifetimes in excess of 1 second achieved. This activity will expedite the development of a new generation of capabilities for creation, distribution and storage of multi-qubit entangled states and contribute to future implementations of long-distance quantum repeaters and distributed quantum computing. Moreover efficient production of multi-qubit entangled states will impact fundamental physics investigations and advance quantum-enhanced technologies. The research will have a significant influence on the future development of quantum information processing, resulting in the development of new tools for light-matter entanglement generation and distribution. The project will involve extensive graduate and undergraduate student training and participation.