One-step synthesis of multiatom Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states.

A scheme is proposed for generating maximally entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) atomic states for testing quantum nonlocality. In the scheme, three atoms are simultaneously sent through a nonresonant cavity in a vacuum state. They are initially in the same state, and thus there is no energy exchange in the process. The cavity-assisted collision results in a phase-shift which depends upon the collective atomic excitations. In principle, the scheme can be generalized to generate N-atom GHZ states. The scheme is insensitive to cavity decay and requires only one cavity, providing new prospects for testing fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics and for quantum information processing.