How good must single photon sources and detectors be for efficient linear optical quantum computation?

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Quantum Optics
• Photonic Quantum Computing

Background:

• Linear optical quantum computation relies on single photons and efficient detectors.
• Imperfections in sources and detectors limit current quantum computing schemes.
• The cluster state model offers a robust framework for quantum computation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a quantum computation scheme resilient to imperfect single photon sources and detectors.
• To establish a performance threshold for efficient linear optical quantum computation.
• To leverage the cluster state paradigm for enhanced robustness.

Main Methods:

• Developing a theoretical scheme for linear optical quantum computation.
• Analyzing the impact of source and detector efficiencies on computation fidelity.
• Utilizing the cluster state model as the underlying quantum computational resource.

Main Results:

• A scheme for linear optical quantum computation with high robustness is presented.
• A critical threshold is identified: efficient computation is possible if the product of detector and source efficiency is greater than 2/3.
• The proposed scheme achieves this high threshold within the cluster state paradigm.

Conclusions:

• Linear optical quantum computation can be made highly robust to experimental imperfections.
• The identified efficiency threshold ( > 2/3) provides a practical guideline for building quantum computers.
• The cluster state approach is a viable strategy for realizing fault-tolerant photonic quantum computation.