Indistinguishability of elementary systems as resource for quantum information processing

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the indistinguishability of identical quantum particles, when they overlap spatially, can be harnessed as a genuine quantum resource to enable protocols like teleportation.

Contribution

It proves that particle indistinguishability induces physical entanglement that can be exploited for quantum information processing, establishing it as a utilizable quantum feature.

Findings

Indistinguishability leads to operational entanglement upon spatial overlap.

The entanglement can be activated and used in quantum protocols like teleportation.

Particle indistinguishability is a genuine quantum resource for information processing.

Abstract

Typical elements of quantum networks are made by identical systems, which are the basic particles constituting a resource for quantum information processing. Whether the indistinguishability due to particle identity is an exploitable quantum resource remains an open issue. Here we study independently prepared identical particles showing that, when they spatially overlap, an operational entanglement exists which can be made manifest by means of separated localized measurements. We prove this entanglement is physical in that it can be directly exploited to activate quantum information protocols, such as teleportation. These results establish that particle indistinguishability is a utilizable quantum feature and open the way to new quantum-enhanced applications.