James Franson

Professor

PhD., California Institute of Technology, 1977

Research Group Home Page
UMBC Physics Home Page

Contact Information
Room 314, Physics Bldg.
Department of Physics
Univ. Maryland Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250

Phone:	(410) 455-8115
Email:	jfranson@umbc.edu

Research Interests

Quantum information processing is a rapidly growing field of research with fundamental implications as well as potential practical applications. We are actively involved in an optical approach to quantum computing and we have done work in quantum key distribution as well.

Our work in quantum computing includes the development of linear optical approaches for quantum logic gates. In this approach, quantum logic gates are implemented by using the quantum measurement process to project the state of two input qubits into the desired output state, such as a controlled-NOT operation. This avoids the need for a nonlinear medium to produce the required interaction between the two input qubits, but it also gives a large increase in the number of resources required to implement the logic gates. Our more recent work makes use of the quantum Zeno effect to suppress the failure events that would otherwise occur in linear optics logic gates.

We also do research in a variety of other areas of quantum optics, especially topics related to entanglement and violations of Bells inequality. For example, we recently introduced the concept of photon holes in analogy with the holes of semiconductor theory, and showed that the photon holes can be entangled and violate Bells inequality. Entangled photon holes may also be a promising method for secure quantum communications.

Basic issues in the foundations of quantum optics are also being investigated, including the interface between quantum optics and quantum electrodynamics.

Selected Publications

"Bell Inequality for Position and Time", J. D. Franson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 2205 (1989).

"Quantum Cryptography in Free Space", B. C. Jacobs and J. D. Franson, Optics Letters 21, 1854-1856 (1996).

"Coherent Splitting of Single Photons by an Ideal Beam Splitter", J. D. Franson, Physical Review A 53, 3756 (1996).

"Probabilistic Quantum Logic Operations using Polarizing Beam Splitters", T. B. Pittman, B. C. Jacobs, and J. D. Franson, Physical Review A 64, 062311 (2001).

"Perturbation Theory for Quantum-Mechanical Observables", J. D. Franson and M. M. Donegan, Physical Review A 65, 052107 (2002).

"Demonstration of Nondeterministic Quantum Logic Operations Using Linear Optical Elements", T. B. Pittman, B. C. Jacobs, and J. D. Franson, Physical Review Letters 88, 257902 (2002).

"Experimental Controlled-NOT Logic Gate for Single Photons in the Coincidence Basis", T.B. Pittman, M.J. Fitch, B.C. Jacobs, and J.D. Franson, Physical Review A 68, 032316 (2003).

"Quantum Computing using Single Photons and the Zeno Effect", J.D. Franson, B.C. Jacobs, and T.B. Pittman, Phys. Rev. A 70, 062302 (2004).

"Demonstration of quantum error correction using linear optics", T.B. Pittman, B.C. Jacobs, and J.D. Franson, Phys. Rev. A 71, 052332 (2005).

"Entangled Photon Holes", J.D. Franson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 090402 (2006).

"Zeno Logic Gates Using Microcavities", J.D. Franson, B.C. Jacobs, and T.B. Pittman, Journal of the Optical Society of America B 24, 209 (2007).

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