Entangling photons via the quantum Zeno effect
Nicolai ten Brinke, Andreas Osterloh, Ralf Schützhold · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2012
The quantum Zeno effect describes the inhibition of quantum evolution by frequent measurements. Here, we propose a scheme for entangling two given photons based on this effect. We consider a linear-optics set-up with an absorber medium whose two-photon absorption rate $ξ_{2γ}$ exceeds the one-photon loss rate $ξ_{1γ}$. In order to reach an error probability $P_{\rm error}$, we need $ξ_{1γ}/ξ_{2γ}<2P_{\rm error}^2/π^2$, which is a factor of 64 better than previous approaches (e.g., by Franson et al). Since typical media have $ξ_{2γ}