Experimental Catalytic Amplification of Asymmetry

TL;DR

This paper experimentally demonstrates catalytic amplification of quantum asymmetry, showing that quantum resources can be enhanced through catalytic processes while preserving overall system invariance, with potential implications for quantum resource theories.

Contribution

The first experimental demonstration of catalytic amplification of quantum asymmetry using translationally invariant operations.

Findings

Achieved asymmetry amplification of 0.0172±0.0022 in the system.

Confirmed non-increasing asymmetry of the entire system during the process.

Showcased potential of catalytic processes in quantum resource manipulation.

Abstract

The manipulation and transformation of quantum resources are key parts of quantum mechanics. Among them, asymmetry is one of the most useful operational resources, which is widely used in quantum clocks, quantum metrology, and other tasks. Recent studies have shown that the asymmetry of quantum states can be significantly amplified with the assistance of correlating catalysts which are finite-dimensional auxiliaries. In the experiment, we perform translationally invariant operations, ensuring that the asymmetric resources of the entire system remain non-increasing, on a composite system composed of a catalytic system and a quantum system. The experimental results demonstrate an asymmetry amplification of 0.0172\pm0.0022 in the system following the catalytic process. Our work showcases the potential of quantum catalytic processes and is expected to inspire further research in the field of quantum resource theories.