Mode-independent quantum entanglement for light

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to construct quantum light states that remain entangled regardless of how optical modes are transformed, ensuring persistent entanglement across different mode bases.

Contribution

It develops a constructive approach to generate and verify mode-independent entangled states, extending from bipartite two-photon systems to multipartite higher-order photon states.

Findings

Constructed states are entangled for any mode decomposition.

Provided bounds on robustness of mode-independent entanglement.

Extended the method to multipartite and mixed states.

Abstract

We address the problem of the persistence of entanglement of quantum light under mode transformations, where orthogonal modes define the parties between which quantum correlations can occur. Since the representation of a fixed photonic quantum state in different optical mode bases can substantially influence the entanglement properties of said state, we devise a constructive method to obtain families of states with the genuine feature of remaining entangled for any choice of mode decomposition. In the first step, we focus on two-photon states in a bipartite system and optimize their entanglement properties with respect to unitary mode transformations. Applying a necessary and sufficient entanglement witness criteria, we are then able to prove that the class of constructed states is entangled for arbitrary mode decompositions. Furthermore, we provide optimal bounds to the robustness of the mode-independent entanglement under general imperfections. In the second step, we demonstrate the power of our technique by showing how it can be straightforwardly extended to higher-order photon numbers in multipartite systems, together with providing a generally applicable and rigorous definition of mode-independent separability and inseparability for mixed states.