Deterministic linear-optical quantum control gates utilizing path and polarization degrees of freedom

We present a general scheme for a family of linear-optical quantum control gates, including controlled-NOT and controlled-SWAP gates for two or three qubits. Our approach utilizes polarization-path-entangled pairs of photons and encodes qubits in mixed degrees of freedom with the control qubit specifically occupying the polarization degree of freedom. By exploiting multiple degrees of freedom and initial state entanglement of the two photons, the proposed control gates do not require any ancilla photons or measurement-induced nonlinearities. Since our gates are purely linear and we implicitly use nonlinearities in a standard manner to create entanglement via parametric nonlinear process, our work demonstrates that a need to have nonlinearities in the photonic gates can be shifted to the state preparation stage; the cost of such shift is that the construction of a certain class of single-qubit operations, such as Hadamard, needs to be probabilistic. In particular, we focus on a deterministic linear-optical quantum Fredkin (controlled-SWAP) gate and perform a full characterization of the gate performance with a high fidelity typically well above 99% under realistic conditions. The proposed control gates rely on simple linear-optical elements and polarization-entangled photon pairs readily generated from ubiquitous sources, making the gates experimentally feasible with current technologies.

Automated summary

A general scheme for linear-optical quantum control gates, including controlled-NOT and controlled-SWAP gates, is presented. The scheme utilizes polarization-path-entangled photon pairs to encode and control qubits, eliminating the need for ancilla photons or nonlinear operations, and achieving high fidelity under realistic conditions.