Heralded optical entanglement distribution via lossy quantum channels: a comparative study

Abstract

Quantum entanglement serves as a foundational resource for various quantum technologies. In optical systems, entanglement distribution relies on the indistinguishability and spatial overlap of photons. Heralded schemes play a crucial role in ensuring the reliability of entanglement generation by detecting ancillary photons to signal the creation of desired entangled states. However, photon losses in quantum channels remain a significant challenge, limiting the distance and capacity of entanglement distributions. This study suggests three heralded schemes for distributing multipartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states via lossy quantum channels. These schemes differ both qualitatively in their network architecture (centralized or decentralized) and photon source requirements (Bell states or single-photons), and quantitatively in their success probabilities and heralding efficiency. Through comprehensive analysis incorporating both practical implementation considerations and theoretical performance metrics, we find that each scheme offers distinct advantages depending on the number of parties, channel distance, and security requirements. The decentralized scheme proves particularly advantageous for networks requiring balanced information distribution, while centralized schemes may offer better performance for smaller networks. This analysis provides insights into designing resilient heralded circuits for quantum information processing over lossy channels, considering both architectural constraints and performance requirements.