ExpandQISE Track 1: Quantum information exchange over spatially-multimode and multi-core optical fibers

非技术描述：量子通信使用物理学的基本定律在不可信的网络上安全地交换私人信息，并在远程网络节点之间建立量子关联，这可用于高性能分布式量子计算和超精确量子传感。量子通信链路的容量受到连接节点的光纤不可避免的损耗的限制，在给定距离上提高量子信息交换速率的唯一方法是增加信息传输的自由度（模式）。虽然偏振和频率/时间模式已经受到了很多关注，但长光纤链路上量子信息交换的一个尚未开发的资源是少模、多模和多芯光纤中光的空间自由度。在这个项目中，研究小组利用光的空间自由度在光纤中传输量子信息。研究了几种类型的高容量量子通信链路，从一组完全独立的空间量子信道到使用空间模式进行高维数据编码的链路。该项目将德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校与西北大学的量子信息科学与技术（QISE）项目配对，后者拥有一个新生的量子信息科学与技术（QISE）项目，该项目在西北大学建立了良好的和充满活力的QISE研究工作。通过联合研究和学生交流，以及与工业和全球合作伙伴的合作，各级学生，包括代表性不足的群体的学生，正在量子科学和光通信的前沿接受培训。这项合作工作和相关的广泛的公众和K-12外展活动，如高中夏令营和工程周的开放实验室参观和演示，旨在建立德克萨斯大学阿灵顿作为一个中心的新兴和富有成效的QISE研究社区在北德克萨斯州。技术描述：该项目的目标是通过利用光纤的空间自由度来增加量子通信容量。它将经典空分复用中使用的方法扩展到量子领域，以开发几种类型的高容量量子通信链路。这些范围从一组完全独立的空间量子通道到在许多光纤模式或芯上保持完全空间相干性的链路，用于传输在高维空间希尔伯特空间中编码的量子信息。该项目采用了一种系统的方法来实时表征和反演光纤的输入-输出传输矩阵，以实现在大尺度距离上传输并行通道或高维量子比特，从而大大提高量子通信容量或速率。这些技术还可以使得能够在多模光纤的公里级长度上传输空间宽带量子态（量子图像），这在量子感测和计量应用中是有用的。这项工作使学生与几个工业合作伙伴一起开发定制的少模和多芯光纤，以及光纤输入/输出耦合器。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Non-technical description:Quantum communication uses fundamental laws of physics to securely exchange private information over untrusted networks and to establish quantum correlations among distant network nodes, which could be used for high-performance distributed quantum computing and ultra-precise quantum sensing. The capacity of quantum communication links is limited by the unavoidable losses of optical fibers connecting the nodes, and the only way to grow the quantum information exchange rate at a given distance is to increase the number of degrees of freedom (modes) over which the information is transmitted. While polarization and frequency / time modes have already received a lot of attention, one untapped resource for quantum information exchange over long fiber links is the spatial degrees of freedom of light in few-mode, multimode, and multi-core optical fibers. In this project, the research team harnesses the spatial degrees of freedom of light for carrying the quantum information over significant distances in optical fibers. Several types of high-capacity quantum communication links are investigated, ranging from a set of totally independent spatial quantum channels to links using spatial modes for high-dimensional data encoding. The project pairs University of Texas at Arlington, which has a nascent Quantum Information Science and Technology (QISE) program, with well-established and vibrant QISE research effort at Northwestern University. Through the joint research and student exchange, as well as collaboration with industrial and worldwide partners, the students of all levels, including those of underrepresented groups, are being trained at the forefronts of quantum science and optical communications. This collaborative work and the associated broad public and K-12 outreach activities, such as high-school summer camps and Engineering Week’s open lab visits and demos, aim to establish University of Texas at Arlington as a center for the emerging and productive QISE research community in North Texas. Technical description:This project’s goal is to increase the quantum communication capacity by exploiting spatial degrees of freedom of optical fibers. It extends the methods used in classical space-division multiplexing to the quantum domain to develop several types of high-capacity quantum communication links. These range from a set of totally independent spatial quantum channels to links maintaining full spatial coherence across many fiber modes or cores for transmission of quantum information encoded in high-dimensional spatial Hilbert space. The project employs a systematic approach to real-time characterization and inversion of the input-output transfer matrix of an optical fiber to enable the delivery of parallel-channel or high-dimensional qubits over metroscale distances, thus dramatically increasing the quantum communication capacity or rate at such reach. These techniques may also enable the transmission of spatially-broadband quantum states (quantum images) over km-scale lengths of multimode fiber, which can be useful in quantum sensing and metrology applications. The work engages the students with several industrial partners on development of customized few-mode and multi-core fibers, as well as fiber in/out couplers. A field-test of the developed methods is to be conducted over installed fibers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.