 |
Center for Nonlinear Studies |
As with classical information, error-correcting codes enable reliable transmission of quantum information through noisy or lossy channels. The capacity of a communication channel is the ultimate bound on error-correction, quantifying the amount of information that could in principle be protected by any code whatsoever. Contrasting the classical theory, I showed with Smith (Science, 2008) that imperfect quantum channels can exhibit a strong kind of synergy: pairs of quantum channels exist, each of zero quantum capacity, which acquire positive quantum capacity when used together. In this talk, I will present recent work with Smith and Smolin (Nature Photonics, 2011), showing that this ‘superactivation’ phenomenon also occurs in the more realistic setting of optical channels with attenuation and Gaussian noise. This paves the way for its experimental realization and application in real-world communications systems.
Host: Kipton Barros, T-4 and CNLS