Quantum state discrimination in a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric system of a single trapped ion
Abstract
We experimentally demonstrate an unambiguous quantum state discrimination of two qubit states under a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian with parity-time-reversal () symmetry in a single trapped Ca ion. We show that any two non-orthogonal states can become orthogonal subjected to time evolution of a -symmetric Hamiltonian in both the -symmetry preserving and broken regimes, thus can be discriminated deterministically. For a given pair of candidate states, we show that the parameters of the Hamiltonian must be confined in a proper range, within which there exists an optimal choice to realize quantum brachistochrone for the fastest orthogonalization. Besides, we provide a clear geometric picture and some analytic results to understand the main conclusions. Our work shows a promising application of non-Hermitian physics in quantum information processing.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2502.20717,
title = {Quantum state discrimination in a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric system of a single trapped ion},
author = {Chenhao Zhu and Tingting Shi and Liangyu Ding and Zhiyue Zheng and Xiang Zhang and Wei Zhang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.20717},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
6 pages, 4 figures