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Classical optical analogue of quantum discord

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Abstract

Quantum discord has been shown to be a resource for quantum advantage in addition to quantum entanglement. While many experiments have demonstrated classical analogies of entanglement, none have done so for discord. We present a proof-of-concept demonstration for creating a classical analogue of quantum discord using classical light that takes advantage of the analogy between the state of two qubits and the spatial modes of a Laguerre-Gauss beam. We demonstrate the validity of this approach by comparing the intensity profiles of theoretical simulations to experimental results for different values of discord. Such a classical analogue of quantum discord may provide further insight in understanding and development of quantum information technologies that make use of discord.

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Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This material is based upon research supported by, or in part by, the U. S. Office of Naval Research under Award Number N000141912374. This work was also supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grant Number D19AP00043 under the mentorship of Dr. Joseph Altepeter. D.I.B. is also supported by the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) under Grant W911NF-23-1-0288. J. M. L. was supported by the Louisiana Board of Regents’ Graduate Fellowship Program. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of DARPA, ONR, ARO, or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein.

Funding

U. S. Office of Naval Research (N000141912374); Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D19AP00043); U.S. Army Research Office (W911NF-23-1-0288).

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Author notes

  1. Jacob M. Leamer, Wenlei Zhang and Nicholas J. Savino contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Jacob M. Leamer, Wenlei Zhang, Nicholas J. Savino, Ryan T. Glasser & Denys I. Bondar

  2. Directed Energy Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Ravi K. Saripalli

  3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois - Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Sanjaya Lohani

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  1. Jacob M. Leamer
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The original online version of this article was revised: “On page 2, 3, and 4 of the pdf of this article, the term “—E)(E—” should have read “|E)(E|”. The typesetter apologizes for the mistake.

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Leamer, J.M., Zhang, W., Savino, N.J. et al. Classical optical analogue of quantum discord. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 232, 3345–3351 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-00988-1

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