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Quantum physics phenomena, entanglement and coherence, are crucial for quantum information protocols, but understanding these in systems with more than two parts is challenging due to increasing complexity. The W state, a multipartite entangled state, is notable for its robustness and benefits in quantum communication. Here, we generate an 8-mode on-demand single photon W states, using nanowire quantum dots and a silicon nitride photonic chip. We demonstrate a reliable, scalable technique for reconstructing W-state in photonic circuits using Fourier and real-space imaging, supported by the Gerchberg-Saxton phase retrieval algorithm. Additionally, we utilize an entanglement witness to distinguish between mixed and entangled states, thereby affirming the entangled nature of our generated state. The study provides a new imaging approach of assessing multipartite entanglement in W-states, paving the way for further progress in image processing and Fourier-space analysis techniques for complex quantum systems.

This study takes fly ash of a coal-fired power plant as the research object, the pulverized and activated fly ash was processed by ball milling process. The difference of physical and chemical properties of fly ash before and after pulverized and activated treatment and its influence mechanism on cement cementitious system were studied by a series of characterization analysis methods. The results show that pulverized fly ash activation significantly reduces the particle size of fly ash, increases its specific surface area, and decreases the crystallinity of crystal minerals and anionic polymerization degree of internal silicon aluminate substance in fly ash, thus reaching the deep activation effect of fly ash activity. Fly ash powder can promote the compressive strength of test block more than fly ash original ash, especially the early compressive strength of test block. The experimental results of water absorption and thermogravimetry show that the effect of fly ash powder on test block is mainly to improve the compactness of test block, reduce its porosity. At the same time, accelerating the secondary hydration reaction of cement is bound to produce more C–S–H gel, thus improving the mechanical properties of test block.

Since the discovery of topological insulators, topological phases have generated considerable attention across the physics community. The superlattices in particular offer a rich system with several degrees of freedom to explore a variety of topological characteristics and control the localization of states. Albeit their importance, characterizing topological invariants in superlattices consisting of a multi-band structure is challenging beyond the basic case of two-bands as in the Su–Schreifer–Heeger model. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the direct measurement of the topological character of chiral superlattices with broken inversion symmetry. Using a CMOS-compatible nanophotonic chip, we probe the state evolving in the system along the propagation direction using novel nanoscattering structures. We employ a two-waveguide bulk excitation scheme to the superlattice, enabling the identification of topological zero-energy modes through measuring the beam displacement. Our measurements reveal quantized beam displacement corresponding to 0.088 and −0.245, in the cases of trivial and nontrivial photonic superlattices, respectively, showing good agreement with the theoretical values of 0 and −0.25. Our results provide direct identification of the quantized topological numbers in superlattices using a single-shot approach, paving the way for direct measurements of topological invariants in complex photonic structures using tailored excitations with Wannier functions.