Qubit-loss-free fusion of W states employing weak cross-Kerr nonlinearities

Abstract: With the assistance of weak cross-Kerr nonlinearities, we introduce an optical scheme to fuse two small-size polarization entangled W states into a large-scale W state without qubit loss, i.e.,$\mathrm{W}_{n+m}$ state can be generated from an $n$-qubit W state and a $m$-qubit W state. To complete the fusion task, two polarization entanglement processes and one spatial entanglement process are applied. The fulfillments of the above processes are contributed by a cross-Kerr nonlinear interaction between the signal photons and a coherent state via Kerr media. We analyze the resource cost and the success probability of the scheme. There is no complete failure output in our fusion mechanism, and all the garbage states are recyclable. In addition, there is no need for any controlled quantum gate and any ancillary photon, so it is simple and feasible under the current experiment technology.