We show that a special type of measurements, called symmetric informationally complete positive operator-valued measures (SIC POVMs), provide a stronger entanglement detection criterion than the computable cross-norm or realignment criterion based on local orthogonal observables. As an illustration, we demonstrate the enhanced entanglement detection power in simple systems of qubit and qutrit pairs. This observation highlights the significance of SIC POVMs for entanglement detection.

Characterizing entanglement is central for quantum information science. Special observables which indicate entanglement, so-called entanglement witnesses, are a widely used tool for this task. The construction of these witnesses typically relies on the observation that quantum states with a high fidelity to some entangled target state are entangled, too. We introduce a general method to construct entanglement witnesses based on the Schmidt decomposition of observables. The method works for two-particle and multiparticle systems and is strictly stronger than fidelity-based constructions. The resulting witnesses can also be used to quantify entanglement and to characterize its dimensionality. Finally, we present experimentally relevant examples, where our approach improves entanglement detection significantly.

We describe a set of measurement protocols for performing nonclassicality tests and the verification of entangled superposition states of macroscopic continuous variable systems, such as nanomechanical resonators. Following earlier works, we first consider a setup where a two-level system is used to indirectly probe the motion of the mechanical system via Ramsey measurements and discuss the application of this method for detecting nonclassical mechanical states. We then show that the generalization of this technique to multiple resonator modes allows the conditioned preparation and the detection of entangled mechanical superposition states. The proposed measurement protocols can be implemented in various qubit-resonator systems that are currently under experimental investigation and find applications in future tests of quantum mechanics at a macroscopic scale.

We put forward an experimentally feasible scheme for heralded entanglement generation between two distant macroscopic mechanical resonators. The protocol exploits a hybrid quantum device, a qubit interacting with a mechanical resonator as well as a cavity mode, for each party. The cavity modes interfere on a beam splitter followed by suitable heralding detections, which postselect a hybrid entangled state with success probability 1/2. Subsequently, by local measurements on the qubits, a mechanically entangled coherent state can be achieved. The mechanical entanglement can be further verified via monitoring the entanglement of the qubit pair. The setup is envisioned as a test bed for sensing gravitational effects on the quantum dynamics of gravitationally coupled massive objects. As a concrete example, we illustrate the implementation of our protocol using the current circuit QED architectures.

Producing contextual correlations in sequences of measurements on single quantum systems faces two major problems. One is the experimental difficulty of performing sequences of ideal measurements on high-dimensional quantum systems, a problem that also affects other forms of quantum temporal correlations. The other is the simulability with classical light of existing contextuality experiments with photons. Here, we introduce a scheme that solves both problems. We show that, by encoding quantum information in $n\ge 2$ indistinguishable bosons in $m\ge 2$ modes, targeting observables exploiting the bunching-antibunching of bosons, and performing ideal measurements by dispersively coupling these systems with auxiliary qubits, it is possible to realize sequential quantum measurements on high-dimensional quantum systems and produce contextuality which cannot be simulated by classical light, as it relies on indistinguishability and higher-order interference.

Quantum indistinguishability by path identity generates a new way of optical coherence, called “induced coherence.” The phenomenon, originally uncovered by Zou, Wang, and Mandel's experiment, is an emerging notion in modern quantum experiments with a wide range of implications. However, there has been controversy over its true quantum nature and whether the result can be emulated with classical light. We design a suitable contextuality test that can determine the conditions under which the setting produces distinguishing quantum predictions that cannot be described classically, namely, via the noncontextual hidden variable model.