The laws of physics do not prohibit counterfactual communication

Hatim Salih; Will McCutcheon; Jonte Hance; John Rarity

doi:10.1038/s41534-022-00564-w

The laws of physics do not prohibit counterfactual communication

Hatim Salih^*, Will McCutcheon, Jonte Hance, John Rarity

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

92 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

It has been conjectured that counterfactual communication is impossible, even for post-selected quantum particles. We strongly challenge this by proposing exactly such a counterfactual scheme where, unambiguously, none of Alice's photons that make it has been to Bob. We demonstrate counterfactuality experimentally by means of weak measurements, as well as conceptually using consistent histories. Importantly, the accuracy of Alice learning Bob's bit can be made arbitrarily close to unity with no trace left by Bob on Alice's photon.

Original language	English
Article number	60
Journal	npj Quantum Information
Volume	8
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-022-00564-w
Publication status	Published - 18 May 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
H.S. thanks Li Yu-Huai for useful feedback on the basic concept, received in autumn 2016. The authors thank Paul Skrzypczyk for useful discussions on the issue, David Lowndes for experimental components and advice, Gary F Sinclair for help with fast Fourier transform code, and Huxley Sessa for help with experimental prototyping. This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grants EP/P510269/1, EP/R513386/1, EP/L024020/1 and the UK Quantum Communications Hub funded by EP/M013472/1 and EP/T001011/1).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Research Groups and Themes

QETLabs
Bristol Quantum Information Institute
Photonics and Quantum

Keywords

quant-ph
cs.IT
math.IT

Access to Document

10.1038/s41534-022-00564-w

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https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.01257

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15 Citations
1 Other contribution

Data for "Do the Laws of Physics Prohibit Counterfactual Communication"
Hance, J., 10 Nov 2021, Zenodo.
Research output: Other contribution

Open Access

1 Finished

QComms2: 8031 EP/T001011/1 Quantum Communication Hub via York
Rarity, J. G. (Principal Investigator), Nejabati, R. (Co-Investigator), Simeonidou, D. (Co-Investigator), Sahin, D. (Co-Investigator), Kanellos, G. (Co-Investigator), Aktas, D. V. C. (Researcher), Joshi, S. K. (Researcher), Lowndes, D. L. D. (Researcher), Venkatachalam, N. (Researcher), Hugues Salas, E. (Researcher), Woodland, E. M. (Manager), Erven, C. (Co-Investigator), Zhang, P. (Student), Hance, J. R. (Student), Clark, M. J. H. (Student), Rosenfeld, L. M. (Researcher), Hastings, E. M. J. (Student), Johlinger, F. B. (Student), Wang, R. (Researcher), Stange Tessinari, R. (Researcher), Solomons, N. R. (Student), Fasoulakis, T. (Student) & Alia, O. (Researcher)
1/12/19 → 30/11/24
Project: Research

The interplay between quantum foundations and quantum technologies: Counterfactual communication, and extensions of quantum mechanics
Hance, J. R. (Author), Ladyman, J. (Supervisor) & Rarity, J. (Supervisor), 21 Mar 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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Cite this

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abstract = "It has been conjectured that counterfactual communication is impossible, even for post-selected quantum particles. We strongly challenge this by proposing exactly such a counterfactual scheme where, unambiguously, none of Alice's photons that make it has been to Bob. We demonstrate counterfactuality experimentally by means of weak measurements, as well as conceptually using consistent histories. Importantly, the accuracy of Alice learning Bob's bit can be made arbitrarily close to unity with no trace left by Bob on Alice's photon. ",

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N2 - It has been conjectured that counterfactual communication is impossible, even for post-selected quantum particles. We strongly challenge this by proposing exactly such a counterfactual scheme where, unambiguously, none of Alice's photons that make it has been to Bob. We demonstrate counterfactuality experimentally by means of weak measurements, as well as conceptually using consistent histories. Importantly, the accuracy of Alice learning Bob's bit can be made arbitrarily close to unity with no trace left by Bob on Alice's photon.

AB - It has been conjectured that counterfactual communication is impossible, even for post-selected quantum particles. We strongly challenge this by proposing exactly such a counterfactual scheme where, unambiguously, none of Alice's photons that make it has been to Bob. We demonstrate counterfactuality experimentally by means of weak measurements, as well as conceptually using consistent histories. Importantly, the accuracy of Alice learning Bob's bit can be made arbitrarily close to unity with no trace left by Bob on Alice's photon.

KW - quant-ph

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KW - math.IT

U2 - 10.1038/s41534-022-00564-w

DO - 10.1038/s41534-022-00564-w

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ER -

The laws of physics do not prohibit counterfactual communication

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

Access to Document

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Embargoed Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Data for "Do the Laws of Physics Prohibit Counterfactual Communication"

Projects

QComms2: 8031 EP/T001011/1 Quantum Communication Hub via York

Student theses

The interplay between quantum foundations and quantum technologies: Counterfactual communication, and extensions of quantum mechanics

Cite this