We present a nonlocal entanglement concentration scheme for reconstructing some maximally entangled multipartite states from partially entangled ones by exploiting cross-Kerr nonlinearities to distinguish the parity of two polarization photons. Compared with entanglement concentration schemes based on two-particle collective unitary evolution, this scheme does not require the parties to know accurately information about the partially entangled states—i.e., their coefficients. Moreover, it does not require the parties to possess sophisticated single-photon detectors, which makes this protocol feasible with present techniques. By iteration of entanglement concentration processes, this scheme has a higher efficiency and yield than those with linear optical elements. All these advantages make this scheme more efficient and more convenient than others in practical applications.

• Received 25 March 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.77.062325