Open AccessCounterfactual entanglement swapping enables high-efficiency entanglement distribution
Author(s) -
Qi Guo,
Liu-Yong Cheng,
Hong-Fu Wang,
Shou Zhang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.26.027314
Subject(s) - quantum entanglement , counterfactual thinking , repeater (horology) , computer science , quantum key distribution , physics , quantum channel , statistical physics , topology (electrical circuits) , quantum , quantum mechanics , mathematics , encoding (memory) , philosophy , epistemology , combinatorics , artificial intelligence
We propose an alternative entanglement swapping scheme based on the principle of the counterfactual quantum communication, which demonstrates nonlocal entanglement swapping can be achieved by the operations of a third party. During the whole process, it is not needed to transmit any physical particles among the participants. Furthermore, all the entangled particles are not destroyed in the counterfactual entanglement swapping process, which means we can obtain two pairs of nonlocal entanglement at the same time, thus achieve high-efficiency entanglement distribution. The numerical analysis about the performance of the presented scheme shows that this counterfactual protocol can be implemented with high success probability and fidelity in the ideal asymptotic limit. The scheme may be meaningful for large-scale quantum communication network and quantum repeater.