Many existing genuine multipartite entanglement (GME) witnesses for continuous-variable (CV) quantum systems typically rely on quadrature measurements, which is challenging to implement in platforms where the CV degrees of freedom can be indirectly accessed only through qubit readouts. In this work, we propose methods to implement GME witnesses through phase-space measurements in state-of-the-art experimental platforms, leveraging controlled Gaussian unitaries readily available in qubit-CV architectures. Based on two theoretical results showing that sufficient Wigner negativity can certify GME, we present five concrete implementation schemes using controlled parity, displacement, and beamsplitter operations. Our witnesses can detect paradigmatic GME states like the Dicke and multipartite N00N states, which include the W states as a special case, and GHZ-type entangled cat states. We analyze the performance of these witnesses under realistic noise conditions and finite measurement resolution, showing their robustness to experimental imperfections. Crucially, our implementations require exponentially fewer measurement settings than full tomography, with one scheme requiring only a single measurement on auxiliary modes. The methods are readily applicable to circuit/cavity quantum electrodynamics, circuit quantum acoustodynamics, as well as trapped ions and atoms systems, where such dichotomic phase-space measurements are already routinely performed as native readouts.

A noteworthy discovery is that the minimal evolution time is smaller for parity-time ($${\mathcal{PT}}$$)-symmetric systems compared to Hermitian setups. Moreover, there is a significant acceleration of two-qubit quantum entanglement preparation near an exceptional point (EP), or spectral coalescence, within such a system. Nevertheless, an important problem often overlooked for quantum EP-based devices is their fidelity, greatly affected by the process of dissipation. We identify an inherent trade-off relation between the degree of entanglement and fidelity, and demonstrate that this limitation can be effectively overcome by harnessing an active $${\mathcal{PT}}$$-symmetric system, which possesses balanced gain and loss, enabling maximal entanglement with rapid speed, high fidelity, and greater resilience to non-resonant and coupling strength errors. Two- to six-partite entanglement is prepared as the concrete example to show (i) how to break this inherent fidelity-entanglement trade-off even with non-balanced gain and loss, and its resilience against non-resonant errors, in contrast to passive $${\mathcal{PT}}$$-symmetric dynamics; (ii) achieving speedups of many orders of magnitude, in contrast to conventional Hermitian dynamics. We use this approach to prepare 10-qubit entanglement to show the generality of this method. These findings highlight the potential of truly $${\mathcal{PT}}$$-symmetric devices as a versatile platform for generating and manipulating diverse quantum resources, with implications for advancing quantum information technologies.

Quantum criticality is a resource for quantum-enhanced metrology, but existing schemes face intrinsic limitations. These arise because using criticality directly in the encoding dynamics restricts the accessible parameters to those explicitly supported by the critical Hamiltonian, and the requirement for critical conditions narrows the effective estimation range. To solve this, we introduce a general framework termed criticality-assisted noncommutative preparation (CANP). In this approach, critical evolution is employed as a state-preparation resource. We establish the underlying algebraic conditions and show that the intrinsic noncommutativity between the preparation and encoding operations leads to a genuine enhancement of the quantum Fisher information (QFI). Remarkably, this enhancement may be achieved at fixed total sensing time and energy cost. The effect is quantified by the Wigner-Yanase skew information, which measures noncommutativity and exhibits the same critical scaling as the QFI. We demonstrate effective use of CANP in the quantum Rabi and Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick models. Our results establish CANP as a robust technique to effectively implement criticality-enhanced quantum metrology.

Cold atom systems in optical lattices have long been recognized as an ideal platform for bridging condense matter physics and quantum optics. Here, we investigate the one-dimensional (1D) fermionic superradiance in an optical lattice, and uncover tricritical phenomena and multistability in finite-temperature cases. As a starting point, we compare the 1D and 2D Fermi gases in zero-temperature limit. It turns out that the tricritical point originates from the higher-order Fermi surface nesting and the infrared divergence in 1D systems, which is absent in 2D cases. For dissipative cavities, we obtain the stable phase diagram and observe a hysteresis-type evolution under quench dynamics. When extending to finite-temperature cases, we derive analytical expressions for the secosecond-and fourfourth-order Landau coefficients, matching the numerical phase diagrams well, and reveal two different trcritical behaviors, named as quantum-and classic-type tricritical points, respectively. In addition, we construct the dependence between the susceptibility and the temperature, giving a nontrivial scaling law lim(Delta T -> 0) Delta B-c similar to Delta T degrees with v > 1. This work provides an approach to understanding tricritical phenomena, multistability, and scaling rate of self-organized cold atoms.

Wigner function learning is a central tool for characterizing continuous variable quantum systems. A fundamental challenge in this setting is to infer a continuous phase-space function from sparse pointwise measurement data, a task that becomes increasingly demanding as the effective dimension enlarges. Here, we develop a general machine learning framework to reconstruct Wigner functions directly as continuous functions from sparse phase-space data. For states with sparse Fock-space or coherent-state representations, such as binomial code states and cat states, we devise provably efficient regression models whose measurement complexity scales only logarithmically with the effective Hilbert-space dimension. For more general states, such as the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states, we design a deep learning model that reconstructs the Wigner function from sparse measurements and generalizes to arbitrary phase-space resolution. We demonstrate the broad applicability of our framework on both simulated data and experimental data from a circuit quantum electrodynamic (circuit-QED) system. Interestingly, on experimental data, we find that our model reconstructs Wigner functions of GKP code states across multiple rounds of quantum error correction and identifies the dominant error process using significantly fewer measurements than conventional estimation techniques.

Characterizing entanglement of systems composed of multiple particles is a very complex problem that is attracting increasing attention across different disciplines related to quantum physics. The task becomes even more complex when the particles have many accessible levels, i.e., they are of high dimension, which leads to a potentially high-dimensional multipartite entangled state. These are important resources for an ever-increasing number of tasks, especially when a network of parties needs to share highly entangled states, e.g., for communicating more efficiently and securely. For these applications, as well as for purely theoretical arguments, it is important to be able to certify both the high-dimensional and the genuine multipartite nature of entangled states, possibly based on simple measurements. Here we derive a novel method that achieves this and improves over typical entanglement witnesses like the fidelity with respect to states of a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) form, without needing more complex measurements. We test our condition on paradigmatic classes of high-dimensional multipartite entangled states like imperfect GHZ states with random noise, as well as on purely randomly chosen ones and find that, in comparison with other available criteria our method provides a significant advantage and is often also simpler to evaluate.

Additional state evolutions performed before measurement, also called measurement-after-interactions (MAI) protocols, have shown a great potential for increasing the sensitivity of metrological scenarios. Here, we go beyond this result and show that MAI techniques can significantly enhance the detection capability of witnesses for quantum correlations. In particular, we show the possibility of detecting Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering and mode entanglement of non-Gaussian states from linear measurements only. Moreover, we show that such approach allows for a significantly higher noise robustness.

Entanglement certification is often performed on states that have already undergone noisy transmission or processing. Noise can reduce the surviving entanglement and can also cause a given criterion to fail even when entanglement remains. In this context, the quantum switch, a paradigmatic realization of indefinite causal order (ICO), coherently controls the orders in which two channels act and has been shown to offer advantages across a range of quantum information-processing tasks. Here we ask whether this coherent control enlarges the noise-parameter region in which entanglement remains certifiable. We regard the two order branches as the arms of a causal-order interferometer and insert a local unitary between the channel uses to tune their interference. For stochastic Pauli noise, a postselected ICO output can exhibit greater entanglement negativity than any classical mixture of the two definite orders; in particular, we identify regimes where its negativity remains nonzero while that of every classical mixture vanishes. A suitable local Pauli unitary substantially enlarges this ICO-only region, while an input-dependent path-difference indicator qualitatively links operator noncommutativity to the postselected negativity gain. Numerical examples extend the advantage to local amplitude-damping noise and two-qutrit Weyl noise. At a representative Weyl-noise point for the 3× 3 positive-partial-transpose (PPT) Tiles bound-entangled state, a nondecomposable witness detects the postselected ICO output, whereas an analytic bound excludes detection of the definite-order outputs and their mixtures by the entire locally rotated witness family. These results identify causal-order interferometry as a strategy for enhancing entanglement certification across distinct noise models and dimensions.

Exceptional points (EPs) are non-Hermitian spectral singularities exhibiting fractional-power responses, yet their implications for multipartite entanglement of interacting quantum many-body systems remain largely unexplored. Here we develop a general framework that links higher-order non-Hermitian degeneracies to the scaling behavior of genuine multipartite entanglement in interacting identical-qubit systems. Permutation symmetry of the identical qubits decomposes the exponentially large Hilbert space into independent irreducible-representation sectors, thereby constraining the maximal EP order of N qubits to N+1 rather than 2^N. Near an nth-order EP, genuine multipartite entanglement inherits the spectral response and generically exhibits a fractional-power scaling under weak perturbations. Explicit examples show that conventional two-body interactions support third- and fourth-order EPs with the corresponding entanglement responses, whereas higher-order EPs with genuine multipartite-entangled coalesced states require additional independent interaction channels, such as three-body interactions. Our results establish a fundamental connection among non-Hermitian degeneracies, multipartite entanglement, and symmetry, extending higher-order EP physics from spectral singularities to genuine many-body quantum correlations.

Squeezed states of light and entangled photon source are fundamental resources for quantum science and technology, enabling advances in quantum communication, computation, and precision metrology. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of ultrabright squeezed vacuum and entangled photon pairs via type-I high-gain parametric down-conversion. Using femtosecond pump pulses at 1,030 nm, we produce ultrabright squeezed vacuum with pulses energies on the order of 10 μJ at a central wavelength of 2,060 nm, corresponding to a photon number exceeding 1014. By implementing SU(1,1) interferometric configuration, we achieve flexible control over the mode structure, allowing the transition between multimode entangled photon pairs and nearly single-mode squeezed states. This results provide a high-intensity quantum light source that facilitates the study of nonclassical ultrafast dynamics.

Critical quantum metrology exploits the hypersensitivity of quantum systems near phase transitions to achieve enhanced precision in parameter estimation. While single-parameter estimation near critical points is well established, the simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters, which is essential for practical sensing applications, remains challenging. This difficulty arises from sloppiness, a phenomenon that typically renders the QFIM singular or nearly singular. In this work, we demonstrate that multiparameter critical metrology is not only feasible but can also retain divergent precision scaling, provided one accepts a trade-off in the scaling exponent. Using the GS of the single-cavity DM, we show that two Hamiltonian parameters can be simultaneously estimated with a scalar variance bound scaling as the square root of the critical parameter. This overcomes the inherent sloppiness by leveraging higher-order contributions to the QFIM. To recover the optimal quadratic scaling, we introduce the DD with photon hopping. In this model, a triple point in the phase diagram enables the simultaneous closure of two excitation gaps, which effectively increases the rank of the QFIM and restores the ideal single-parameter scaling for specific parameter pairs. Furthermore, we extend our to a lossy scenario. We prove that the SSs of both the DM and the DD still support multiparameter estimation with diverging precision, exhibiting linear scaling in the DM and quadratic scaling near the triple point in the DD. Finally, we establish a connection between the derived critical scalings and the fundamental state preparation time, providing a unified framework to operationally compare different sensing strategies. Our results demonstrate that critical quantum metrology can be made robust against dissipation, paving the way for practical quantum sensors operating near phase transitions.

Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) has emerged as a powerful paradigm for controlling classical and quantum light, and has been demonstrated across a broad range of physical platforms. CPA realized in optomechanics relies on interference between the input field and the mechanically scattered field, but is intrinsically confined to the weak-cooperativity regime, resulting in a narrow absorption bandwidth and the mechanical mode remains thermally occupied. Here, we experimentally demonstrate collective interference-induced CPA in a synthetic photon–phonon lattice. By harnessing cavity-reservoir-mediated interactions among Floquet lattice sites, collective interference shifts the CPA condition deep into the high-cooperativity regime. This enables CPA to coexist with ground-state cooling of the mechanical oscillator, together with a broadened non-Lorentzian absorption lineshape and a singular group-delay response. Our results identify collective interference as a route to quantum-compatible perfect absorption and long-lived quantum storage.

Entanglement is widely regarded as an essential resource for a number of tasks and can in some cases be quantified by figures of merit related to those tasks. In quantum metrology, this is showcased by the connections between the quantum Fisher information (QFI), providing a bound to the precision, and multipartite entanglement quantifiers such as the entanglement depth. However, a connection between the QFI and entanglement monotones, i.e., functions that do not increase under Local Operations and Classical Communications, has so far remained elusive. In this Letter, we fill this gap by introducing a family of uncertainty relations that bound bipartite entanglement monotones from below via elements of a quantum Fisher information matrix. To further emphasize the significance of our results, we connect these relations to the achievable precision in multiparameter estimation. Considering a system split into two parts with arbitrary dimension, we also show that, while two-dimensional entanglement is sufficient to estimate a single parameter with maximal precision, genuine high-dimensional entanglement is required for multiparameter estimation. We conclude by illustrating how our method extends naturally to a multipartite splitting.

Non-Gaussian entanglement is a promising resource in various quantum tasks. A recently defined class identifies entanglement that cannot be generated by applying Gaussian operations to separable inputs. To further explore the entanglement in this context, we introduce a quantitative witness $E_{\rm NG}$ in bipartite bosonic systems, which satisfies $E_{\rm NG}=1$ for all Gaussian-entanglable states, while $E_{\rm NG}>1$ certifies non-Gaussian entanglement. Its ceiling $d=\lceil E_{\rm NG}\rceil$ provides a lower bound on the Schmidt number irreducible by Gaussian transformations, thereby defining a natural hierarchy of non-Gaussian entanglement. For pure states, the condition is sharp and the hierarchy reflects the complexity of state learning. We benchmark the framework with some paradigmatic non-Gaussian states, such as NOON states and squeezed Kerr states, and analyze its robustness against loss. Moreover, we construct an experimentally economical NOON-type witness requiring only four projective measurements, where an analytical Gaussian-entanglable threshold is derived. These results establish an operationally meaningful and experimentally accessible framework for identifying non-Gaussian entanglement resources in continuous-variable quantum platforms.

Harnessing a beam of slow free electrons in artificial photonic structures offers a tunable platform for studying quantum optics without the need for heavy physical equipment. Here, we present a theory of nonclassical lasing, demonstrating how incoherent electrons in photonic crystal cavities can coherently emit photons through electronic collective dynamics. When the photon emission rate exceeds cavity losses, nonclassical lasing with sub-Poissonian photon statistics emerges, driven by multiphoton Rabi oscillations. At specific coupling strengths, the quantum state trapping effect emerges, producing high-fidelity Fock states at room temperature (e.g., nearly 90% fidelity of four-photon Fock state). Notably, the frequency of the emitted photons can be readily tuned via the velocity of the injected electrons to match cavity modes. This approach supports photonic integration and offers a scalable, energy-efficient platform for room-temperature quantum light sources and advanced studies in quantum electrodynamics.

Wigner negativity and genuine multipartite entanglement (GME) are key nonclassical resources that enable computational advantages and broader quantum-information tasks. In this Letter, we prove two theorems for multimode continuous-variable systems that relate these nonclassical resources. Both theorems show that sufficient Wigner negativity-either a sufficiently-large Wigner negativity volume along a suitably chosen two-dimensional slice, or a sufficiently large nonclassicality depth of the center-of-mass mode of a system-certifies the presence of GME. Moreover, violations of the latter inequality provide lower bounds of the trace distance to the set of non-GME states. Our results also provide sufficient conditions for generating GME by interfering a state with the vacuum through a multiport interferometer, complementing long-known necessary conditions. Beyond these fundamental connections, our methods have practical advantages for systems with native phase-space measurements: they require only measuring the Wigner function over a finite region, or measuring a finite number of characteristic function points. Such measurements are frequently performed with readouts common in circuit and cavity quantum electrodynamic systems, trapped ions and atoms, and circuit quantum acoustodynamic systems. As such, our GME criteria are readily implementable in these platforms.

Quantum metrology harnesses entanglement to improve measurement precision beyond classical limits. While standard protocols rely on two-level qubits to estimate a single parameter, extending them to entangled multi-level qudits enables the optimal simultaneous estimation of multiple parameters within a single probe. However, generating such multi-level entanglement and harnessing it for joint multi-parameter estimation in atomic clocks has remained an outstanding challenge. Here, we experimentally demonstrate genuine qutrit entanglement and joint multi-parameter estimation in an optical clock platform. Leveraging control over the ground state and two fine-structure clock states of ^88Sr atoms trapped in triple-magic optical tweezers, we generate a maximally entangled two-qutrit state with a loss-postselected fidelity of F = 0.85(1), certifying genuine multi-level entanglement. Taking advantage of this high-dimensional entanglement, we theoretically construct and experimentally realize an optimal two-qutrit metrological probe state and noise-robust readout circuit to simultaneously estimate injected phases on two optical clock transitions. We observe a joint estimation variance below the ideal individual two-level sensing threshold, and show theoretically that this advantage persists at state-of-the-art atom numbers under circuit-level noise. These results demonstrate the key building blocks towards quantum information science with high-dimensional states encoded in the internal energy levels of neutral atoms.

Dynamical instability in parametrically driven bosonic systems is generally associated with diverging occupations and the absence of a stationary state, but its implications for long-time entanglement remain unclear. We investigate this question in a dissipative bosonic dimer with beam-splitter and two-mode-squeezing interactions, local loss, and a tunable common bath. The non-Hermitian dynamical spectrum governing the Gaussian moments partitions the parameter space into distinct regimes and provides a unified description of population and entanglement dynamics across both stable and unstable regions. We find that dynamical instability does not imply unbounded entanglement growth: although the bosonic population diverges, the logarithmic negativity remains bounded and approaches a finite asymptotic value. We further characterize the finite asymptotic entanglement and show that asymmetric local dissipation shifts both the stability boundary and the threshold for nonzero asymptotic entanglement. For identical local dissipation, the presence of a common bath leaves the dynamical-region boundaries unchanged while qualitatively reshaping the long-time entanglement landscape, producing broad enhancement regions within the stable regimes and a narrow enhancement region within the unstable regime. In the common-bath-only limit, this enhancement is attributed to an exact dark-mode (bound-state-in-the-continuum, BIC) protection mechanism, which reduces to a quasi-BIC remnant under independent dissipation. Our results establish the non-Hermitian dynamical spectrum as a framework for connecting stability, nonequilibrium dynamics, and asymptotic entanglement in open quadratic bosonic systems.

Squeezed states of light and entangled photon source are fundamental resources for quantum science and technology, enabling advances in quantum communication, computation, and precision metrology. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the generation of ultrabright squeezed vacuum and entangled photon pairs via type-I high-gain parametric down-conversion. Using femtosecond pump pulses at 1,030 nm, we produce ultrabright squeezed vacuum with pulses energies on the order of 10 μJ at a central wavelength of 2,060 nm, corresponding to a photon number exceeding 10 14 . By implementing SU(1,1) interferometric configuration, we achieve flexible control over the mode structure, allowing the transition between multimode entangled photon pairs and nearly single-mode squeezed states. This results provide a high-intensity quantum light source that facilitates the study of nonclassical ultrafast dynamics.