compas

In the recent years, continuous variables (CV) have emerged as a viable and very promising alternative to the traditional quantum bit-based approaches to quantum information processing. Encoding CV information onto mesoscopic carriers such as the quadratures of light modes or the collective spin of atoms offers several distinct advantages, such as the deterministic generation and manipulation of entangled states of light and atomic ensembles, or the interface between light and atoms allowing the implementation of a quantum memory. This toolbox of available operations has recently been significantly extended by conditional photon subtraction, which allows the generation of highly nonclassical states with negative Wigner functions. This opens access to the realm of non-Gaussian operations, which are essential to several critical applications such as CV entanglement distillation or CV quantum computing.

By building on these recent spectacular achievements, the project COMPAS aims at carrying out exploratory research on mesoscopic CV quantum information systems, with the ambitious ultimate objective of designing the first small-scale quantum processor using this CV toolbox. In an interplay between theory and experimental research, the consortium consisting of several leading European groups in the field of CV QIPC will investigate the hitherto unexplored potential of CV quantum computing and will address all necessary steps on the way to mesoscopic CV processors. This includes the engineering of non-Gaussian operations on photonic and atomic states exploiting the measurement-induced or actual nonlinearities between light and atoms, CV quantum computing with cat states or cluster states, CV entanglement distillation, error correction, and quantum repeaters. It is anticipated that the present project will have a strong impact on the future of ICT-related technologies and further strengthen the pan-European cooperation in a research area where Europe has started to establish itself at the leading edge.


Home Project Consortium Publications Open positions Highlights Intranet	Computing with Mesoscopic Photonic and Atomic States In the recent years, continuous variables (CV) have emerged as a viable and very promising alternative to the traditional quantum bit-based approaches to quantum information processing. Encoding CV information onto mesoscopic carriers such as the quadratures of light modes or the collective spin of atoms offers several distinct advantages, such as the deterministic generation and manipulation of entangled states of light and atomic ensembles, or the interface between light and atoms allowing the implementation of a quantum memory. This toolbox of available operations has recently been significantly extended by conditional photon subtraction, which allows the generation of highly nonclassical states with negative Wigner functions. This opens access to the realm of non-Gaussian operations, which are essential to several critical applications such as CV entanglement distillation or CV quantum computing. By building on these recent spectacular achievements, the project COMPAS aims at carrying out exploratory research on mesoscopic CV quantum information systems, with the ambitious ultimate objective of designing the first small-scale quantum processor using this CV toolbox. In an interplay between theory and experimental research, the consortium consisting of several leading European groups in the field of CV QIPC will investigate the hitherto unexplored potential of CV quantum computing and will address all necessary steps on the way to mesoscopic CV processors. This includes the engineering of non-Gaussian operations on photonic and atomic states exploiting the measurement-induced or actual nonlinearities between light and atoms, CV quantum computing with cat states or cluster states, CV entanglement distillation, error correction, and quantum repeaters. It is anticipated that the present project will have a strong impact on the future of ICT-related technologies and further strengthen the pan-European cooperation in a research area where Europe has started to establish itself at the leading edge.	News & Highlights >> CV-QIP'10: 7th Workshop on Continuous Variable Quantum Information Processing will take place in Haus der Bayerischen Landwirtschaft, Herrsching (Ammersee), Germany, from June 11 - June 14, 2010. >> First version of the CV QIP roadmap prepared by the COMPAS consortium is available on-line. >> Project COMPAS officially started on 1st of April, 2008
We acknowledge the financial support of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Commission, under the FET-Open grant agreement COMPAS, number 212008.