Vol.3 No.5  September 1, 2003
Researches:
Squeezing quantum information through a classical channel: measuring the “quantumness” of a set of quantum states (pp377-404)
        C.A. Fuchs and M. Sasaki
In this paper we propose a general method to quantify how ``quantum'' a set of quantum states is. The idea is to gauge the quantumness of the set by the worst-case difficulty of transmitting the states through a purely classical communication channel. Potential applications of this notion arise in quantum cryptography, where one might like to use an alphabet of states that promises to be the most sensitive to quantum eavesdropping, and in laboratory demonstrations of quantum teleportation, where it is necessary to check that quantum entanglement has actually been used in the protocol.

Entanglement cost of generalised measurements (pp405-422)
        R. Jozsa, M. Koashi, N. Linden, S. Popescu, S. Presnell, D. Shepherd and A. Winter
Bipartite entanglement is one of the fundamental quantifiable resources of quantum information theory. We propose a new application of this resource to the theory of quantum measurements. According to Naimark's theorem any rank 1 generalised measurement (POVM) M may be represented as a von Neumann measurement in an extended (tensor product) space of the system plus ancilla. By considering a suitable average of the entanglements of these measurement directions and minimising over all Naimark extensions, we define a notion of entanglement cost E_{\min}(M) of M. We give a constructive means of characterising all Naimark extensions of a given POVM. We identify various classes of POVMs with zero and non-zero cost and explicitly characterise all POVMs in 2 dimensions having zero cost. We prove a constant upper bound on the entanglement cost of any POVM in any dimension. Hence the asymptotic entanglement cost (i.e. the large n limit of the cost of n applications of M, divided by n) is zero for all POVMs. The trine measurement is defined by three rank 1 elements, with directions symmetrically placed around a great circle on the Bloch sphere. We give an analytic expression for its entanglement cost. Defining a normalised cost of any $d$-dimensional POVM by E_{\min} (M)/\log_2 d, we show (using a combination of analytic and numerical techniques) that the trine measurement is more costly than any other POVM with d>2, or with d=2 and ancilla dimension 2. This strongly suggests that the trine measurement is the most costly of all POVMs.

Quantum communication protocols using the vacuum (pp423-430)
        S.J. van Enk and T. Rudolph
We speculate what quantum information protocols can be implemented between two accelerating observers using the vacuum. Whether it is in principle possible or not to implement a protocol depends on whether the aim is to end up with classical information or quantum information. Thus, unconditionally secure coin flipping seems possible but not teleportation.

Logical network implementation for graph codes and cluster states (pp431-449)
        D. Schlingemann 
In a previous paper a straight forward construction method for quantum error correcting codes, based on graphs, has been presented. These graph codes are directly related to cluster states which have been introduced by Briegel and Raussendorf. We show that the preparation of a cluster state as well as the coding operation for a graph code, can be implemented by a logical network by only using one type of two-qubit gate, e.g. CNOT or controlled Phase, and one type of one-qubit gate, e.g. the Hadamard transform. Concerning the qubit case each vertex corresponds to an Hadamard gate and each edge corresponds to a controlled not gate.

Tutorial:
Fabrication of micro-magnetic traps for cold neutral atoms (pp450-464)
        B. Lev
Many proposals for quantum information processing require precise control over the motion of neutral atoms, as in the manipulation of coherent matter waves or the confinement and localization of individual atoms. Patterns of micron-sized wires, fabricated lithographically on a flat substrate, can conveniently produce large magnetic-field gradients and curvatures to trap cold atoms and to facilitate the production of Bose-Einstein condensates. The intent of this paper is to provide the researcher who has access to a standard clean-room enough information to design and fabricate such devices.

Book Review:
On “A shortcut through time” by G. Johnson, and “The quest for the quantum computer” by J. Brown (pp465-467)
        N.D. Mermin

Editorial Notes: (pp468-468)

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