Gaussian quantum information

Christian Weedbrook, Stefano Pirandola, Raúl García-Patrón, Nicolas J. Cerf, Timothy C. Ralph, Jeffrey H. Shapiro, and Seth Lloyd
Rev. Mod. Phys. 84, 621 – Published 1 May 2012

Abstract

The science of quantum information has arisen over the last two decades centered on the manipulation of individual quanta of information, known as quantum bits or qubits. Quantum computers, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation are among the most celebrated ideas that have emerged from this new field. It was realized later on that using continuous-variable quantum information carriers, instead of qubits, constitutes an extremely powerful alternative approach to quantum information processing. This review focuses on continuous-variable quantum information processes that rely on any combination of Gaussian states, Gaussian operations, and Gaussian measurements. Interestingly, such a restriction to the Gaussian realm comes with various benefits, since on the theoretical side, simple analytical tools are available and, on the experimental side, optical components effecting Gaussian processes are readily available in the laboratory. Yet, Gaussian quantum information processing opens the way to a wide variety of tasks and applications, including quantum communication, quantum cryptography, quantum computation, quantum teleportation, and quantum state and channel discrimination. This review reports on the state of the art in this field, ranging from the basic theoretical tools and landmark experimental realizations to the most recent successful developments.

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  • Received 9 February 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.84.621

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Christian Weedbrook

  • Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3G4, Canada and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Stefano Pirandola

  • Department of Computer Science, University of York, Deramore Lane, York YO10 5GH, United Kingdom

Raúl García-Patrón

  • Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, Garching, D-85748, Germany and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Nicolas J. Cerf

  • Quantum Information and Communication, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Timothy C. Ralph

  • Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia

Jeffrey H. Shapiro

  • Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

Seth Lloyd

  • Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

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Vol. 84, Iss. 2 — April - June 2012

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