Photon temporal modes: a complete framework for quantum information science

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive framework using photon temporal modes for quantum information science, enabling high-dimensional encoding, efficient manipulation, and detection with current technology.

Contribution

It introduces a complete set of tools and methods for generating, manipulating, and detecting temporal modes for advanced quantum information applications.

Findings

Temporal modes span a high-dimensional Hilbert space.

Current technology suffices for generating and manipulating temporal modes.

The framework supports diverse quantum information applications.

Abstract

Field-orthogonal temporal modes of photonic quantum states provide a new framework for quantum information science (QIS). They intrinsically span a high-dimensional Hilbert space and lend themselves to integration into existing single-mode fiber communication networks. We show that the three main requirements to construct a valid framework for QIS -- the controlled generation of resource states, the targeted and highly efficient manipulation of temporal modes and their efficient detection -- can be fulfilled with current technology. We suggest implementations of diverse QIS applications based on this complete set of building blocks.