Selective filtering of photonic quantum entanglement via anti–parity-time symmetry
Mahmoud A. Selim, Max Ehrhardt, Yuqiang Ding, Hossein T. Dinani, Qi Zhong, Armando Pérez-Leija, Şahin Kaya Özdemir, Matthias Heinrich, Alexander Szameit, Demetrios N. Christodoulides, Mercedeh Khajavikhan
Abstract
Entanglement is a key resource for quantum computing, sensing, and communication, but it is susceptible to decoherence. To address this, research in quantum optics has explored filtering techniques such as photon ancillas and Rydberg atom blockade to restore entangled states. We introduce an approach to entanglement retrieval that exploits the features of non-Hermitian systems. By designing an anti-parity-time two-state guiding configuration, we demonstrate efficient extraction of entanglement from any input state. This filter is implemented on a lossless waveguide network and achieves near-unity fidelity under single- and two-photon excitation and is scalable to higher photon levels, remaining robust against decoherence during propagation. Our results offer an approach to using non-Hermitian symmetries to address central challenges in quantum technologies.