Quantum communication and computation in quantum optics

Summary form only given. In the quantum optics group at Caltech, we are attempting to lay the foundations for quantum information science by way of advances on several fronts in optical physics. Within the setting of cavity QED, single atoms are strongly coupled to the field of a high finesse optical cavity at the single photon level, with current work directed toward trapping and localization of atoms inside the cavity. Although there are daunting technical problems to overcome, a principal scientific objective is the creation of quantum networks to implement fundamental quantum communication protocols and for distributed quantum computation. Beyond quantum information processing with internal atomic states and photons serving as qubits, we are also investigating algorithms for continuous quantum variables. A recent example is our realization of quantum teleportation for the quadrature amplitudes of a beam of light. The experiment utilizes squeezed-state entanglement to achieve unconditional quantum teleportation.