Efficient entanglement concentration for arbitrary less-entangled NOON state assisted by single photons

We put forward two efficient entanglement concentration protocols (ECPs) for arbitrary less-entangled NOON state. Both ECPs only require one pair of less-entangled NOON state and an auxiliary photon. In the first ECP, the auxiliary photon is shared by two parties, while in the second ECP, the auxiliary photon is only possessed by one party, which can increase the practical success probability by avoiding the transmission loss and simplify the operations. Moreover, both ECPs can be used repeatedly to get a high success probability. Based on the above features, our two ECPs, especially the second one, may be useful in the quantum information processing.