Wigner function description of entanglement swapping using parametric down conversion: the role of vacuum fluctuations in teleportation

Abstract: We apply the Wigner formalism of quantum optics to study the role of the zeropoint field fluctuations in entanglement swapping produced via parametric down conversion. It is shown that the generation of mode entanglement between two initially non interacting photons is related to the quadruple correlation properties of the electromagnetic field, through the stochastic properties of the vacuum. The relationship between the process of transferring entanglement and the different zeropoint inputs at the nonlinear crystal and the Bell-state analyser is emphasized.