Structured leakage in OAM-encoded qubits revealed by distributed quantum feature extraction

Abstract:Orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes have emerged as an important platform for high-dimensional quantum communication but remain vulnerable to environmental noise and channel imperfections. Here we introduce a logical-qubit representation of OAM propagation in which modes evolve as qubits through noisy quantum channels. In this representation, turbulence manifests as leakage from the logical OAM subspace into turbulence-induced leakage components, providing a unified description of degradation in both single-photon and coherent-beam regimes. We show that turbulence-induced leakage exhibits systematic dependence on turbulence strength and OAM order, revealing structured signatures of information redistribution beyond the logical subspace. Leveraging this insight, we develop a distributed quantum feature-extraction scheme that encodes high-dimensional OAM states into quantum representations and employs quantum convolutional operations to extract turbulence-robust features. Simulations and experimental measurements demonstrate robust extraction of these features across a broad range of turbulence strengths, OAM orders, and propagation conditions. Our results establish a direct link between OAM-channel dynamics, structured leakage, and quantum learning, providing a physics-informed framework for characterizing turbulence-degraded high-dimensional optical states and extracting robust signatures of turbulence-induced information redistribution.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Optics (physics.optics)

arXiv:2610.11001 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2610.11001v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.11001 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.