Enhanced communication through quantum hyper-entanglement
James F. Smith · 2018
Theory and related designs for enhancing communications and more generally information transfer by using quantum hyper-entanglement are discussed. Quantum hyper-entanglement refers to entanglement in more than one quantum mechanical degree of freedom, e.g. polarization, energy-time, orbital angular momentum, radial quantum number and frequency. Each extra degree of freedom increases the dimensionality d of the underlying Hilbert space. The hyperentangled signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) are d times the related classical quantity due to the enhancement born of hyper-entanglement. Communication time can be reduced by a factor d or d ⋅ M, where M is the number of message photons used. Errors in parameter estimation related to information stored in the signal experience a factor of d ⋅ M reduction. This paper considers the use of generalized Bell states and discusses circuitry for their transmission, analysis and detection. Holevo bounds and Von-Neumann entropies are calculated for both the hyper-entangled case and non-entangled case. It is shown that hyper-entanglement can increase the maximum information transferrable by more than log2 (d) bits. The Holevo bound results are discussed in the context of the types of generalized Bell states. Generalized measures of effectiveness (MOEs) are introduced that hold for linear combinations of generalized Bell states. Different sets of complete orthogonal projection operators and their applications are discussed. Loss mechanisms due to transmission hardware such as orbital angular moment polarization rotation, and polarizing beam splitter cross-talk are calculated. Propagation and detection loss as well as noise are considered.