Superdense coding using the quantum superposition principle

Abstract

By sending a classical two-level system, one can transfer information about only \emph{two} distinguishable outcomes. Here we show that in quantum mechanics, using both the spin and path degrees of freedom of a spin-1/2 particle, and a Mach-Zehnder type interferometric arrangement with two suitable Stern-Gerlach detectors, it is possible to transfer information about \emph{four} distinguishable outcomes. This procedure does \emph{not} require using quantum entanglement as a resource as in the well-known protocol of dense coding, but instead hinges entirely on the quantum superposition principle. We also study probabilistic dense coding using our set-up and show that the dense coding scheme using quantum superposition cannot be optimized any further by extending the interferometric arrangement with more beam splitters.