Genuine Multipartite Entanglement without Multipartite Correlations.

Nonclassical correlations between measurement results make entanglement the essence of quantum physics and the main resource for quantum information applications. Surprisingly, there are n-particle states which do not exhibit n-partite correlations at all but still are genuinely n-partite entangled. We introduce a general construction principle for such states, implement them in a multiphoton experiment and analyze their properties in detail. Remarkably, even without multipartite correlations, these states do violate Bell inequalities showing that there is no classical, i.e., local realistic model describing their properties.

Experimental Schmidt decomposition and state independent entanglement detection.

We introduce an experimental procedure for the detection of quantum entanglement of an unknown quantum state with a small number of measurements. The method requires neither a priori knowledge of the state nor a shared reference frame between the observers and can thus be regarded as a perfectly state-independent entanglement witness. The scheme starts with local measurements, possibly supplemented with suitable filtering, which essentially establishes the Schmidt decomposition for pure states. Alternatively we develop a decision tree that reveals entanglement within few steps. These methods are illustrated and verified experimentally for various entangled states of two and three qubits.

Transition from order to chaos in reduced quantum dynamics.

We study a damped kicked top dynamics of a large number of qubits (N→∞) and focus on an evolution of a reduced single-qubit subsystem. Each subsystem is subjected to the amplitude damping channel controlled by the damping constant r∈[0,1], which plays the role of the single control parameter. In the parameter range for which the classical dynamics is chaotic, while varying r we find the universal period-doubling behavior characteristic to one-dimensional maps: period-2 dynamics starts at r_{1}≈0.3181, while the next bifurcation occurs at r_{2}≈0.5387. In parallel with period-4 oscillations observed for r≤r_{3}≈0.5672, we identify a secondary bifurcation diagram around r≈0.544, responsible for a small-scale chaotic dynamics inside the attractor. The doubling of the principal bifurcation tree continues until r≤r_{∞}∼0.578, which marks the onset of the full scale chaos interrupted by the windows of the oscillatory dynamics corresponding to the Sharkovsky order. Finally, for r=1 the model reduces to the standard undamped chaotic kicked top.

Simultaneous estimation of multiple phases in generalised Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

In this work we investigate the problem of simultaneous estimation of phases using generalised three- and four-mode Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In our setup, we assume that the phases are placed in each of the modes in the interferometer, which introduces correlations between estimators of the phases. These correlations prevent simultaneous estimation of all these phases, however we show that we can still obtain the Heisenberg-like scaling of precision of joint estimation of any subset of [Formula: see text] phases, d being the number of modes, within completely fixed experimental setup, namely with the same initial state and set of measurements. Our estimation scheme can be applied to the task of quantum-enhanced sensing in three-dimensional interferometric configurations.

Experimentally friendly geometrical criteria for entanglement.

A simple geometrical criterion gives experimentally friendly sufficient conditions for entanglement. Its generalization gives a necessary and sufficient condition. It is linked with a family of entanglement identifiers, which is strictly richer than the family of entanglement witnesses.

Discriminating multipartite entangled states.

The variety of multipartite entangled states enables numerous applications in novel quantum information tasks. In order to compare the suitability of different states from a theoretical point of view, classifications have been introduced. Accordingly, here we derive criteria and demonstrate how to experimentally discriminate an observed state against the ones of certain other classes of multipartite entangled states. Our method, originating in Bell inequalities, adds an important tool for the characterization of multiparty entanglement.

Tight multipartite Bell's inequalities involving many measurement settings.

We derive tight Bell's inequalities for N>2 observers involving more than two alternative measurement settings. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a general quantum state to violate the new inequalities. The inequalities are violated by some classes of states, for which all standard Bell's inequalities with two measurement settings per observer are satisfied.

Rotational invariance as an additional constraint on local realism.

Rotational invariance of physical laws is a generally accepted principle. We show that it leads to an additional external constraint on local realistic models of physical phenomena involving measurements of multiparticle spin 1/2 correlations. This new constraint rules out such models even in some situations in which standard Bell inequalities allow for explicit construction of such models. The whole analysis is performed without any additional assumptions on the form of local realistic models.

Do all pure entangled states violate Bell's inequalities for correlation functions?

Any pure entangled state of two particles violates a Bell inequality for two-particle correlation functions (Gisin's theorem). We show that there exist pure entangled N>2 qubit states that do not violate any Bell inequality for N particle correlation functions for experiments involving two dichotomic observables per local measuring station. We also find that Mermin-Ardehali-Belinskii-Klyshko inequalities may not always be optimal for refutation of local realistic description.