Superadditivity of two quantum information resources

Sci Adv. 2017 Sep 22;3(9):e1602485. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1602485. eCollection 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Entanglement is one of the most puzzling features of quantum theory and a principal resource for quantum information processing. It is well known that in classical information theory, the addition of two classical information resources will not lead to any extra advantages. On the contrary, in quantum information, a spectacular phenomenon of the superadditivity of two quantum information resources emerges. It shows that quantum entanglement, which was completely absent in any of the two resources separately, emerges as a result of combining them together. We present the first experimental demonstration of this quantum phenomenon with two photonic three-partite nondistillable entangled states shared between three parties Alice, Bob, and Charlie, where the entanglement was completely absent between Bob and Charlie.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't