Requirement of optical coherence for continuous-variable quantum teleportation

Abstract

We show that the sender (Alice) and the receiver (Bob) each require coherent devices in order to achieve unconditional continuous variable quantum teleportation (CVQT), and this requirement cannot be achieved with conventional laser sources, even in principle. The appearance of successful CVQT in recent experiments is due to interpreting the measurement record fallaciously in terms of one preferred ensemble (or decomposition) of the correct density matrix describing the state. Our analysis is unrelated to technical problems such as laser phase drift or finite squeezing bandwidth.