Papers 2020

• From Quantum Source Compression to Quantum Thermodynamics

  Zahra Baghali Khanian

  arXiv:2012.14143 · December 28, 2020 · quant-ph

  Abstract

  This thesis addresses problems in the field of quantum information theory. The first part of the thesis is opened with concrete definitions of general quantum source models and their compression, and each subsequent chapter addresses the compression of a specific source model as a special case of the initially defined general models. First, we find the optimal compression rate of a general mixed state source which includes as special cases all the previously studied models such as Schumacher's pure and ensemble sources and other mixed state ensemble models. For an interpolation between the visible and blind Schumacher's ensemble model, we find the optimal compression rate region for the entanglement and quantum rates. Later, we study the classical-quantum variation of the celebrated Slepian-Wolf problem and the ensemble model of quantum state redistribution for which we find the optimal compression rate considering per-copy fidelity and single-letter achievable and converse bounds matching up to continuity of functions which appear in the corresponding bounds. The second part of the thesis revolves around information theoretical perspective of quantum thermodynamics. We start with a resource theory point of view of a quantum system with multiple non-commuting charges. Subsequently, we apply this resource theory framework to study a traditional thermodynamics setup with multiple non-commuting conserved quantities consisting of a main system, a thermal bath and batteries to store various conserved quantities of the system. We state the laws of the thermodynamics for this system, and show that a purely quantum effect happens in some transformations of the system, that is, some transformations are feasible only if there are quantum correlations between the final state of the system and the thermal bath.

• Superresolution in interferometric imaging of strong thermal sources

  Yunkai Wang, Yujie Zhang, Virginia O. Lorenz

  arXiv:2012.14026 · December 27, 2020 · quant-ph · Phys. Rev. A 104, 022613 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  Imaging using interferometer arrays based on the Van Cittert-Zernike theorem has been widely used in astronomical observation. Recently it was shown that superresolution can be achieved in this system for imaging two weak thermal point sources. Using quantum estimation theory, we consider the fundamental quantum limit of resolving the transverse separation of two strong thermal point sources using interferometer arrays, and show that the resolution is not limited by the longest baseline. We propose measurement techniques using linear beam splitters and photon-number-resolving detection to achieve our bound. Our results demonstrate that superresolution for resolving two thermal point sources of any strength can be achieved in interferometer arrays.

• Telecom C-Band Photon-Pair Generation using Standard SMF-28 Fiber

  Kyungdeuk Park, Dongjin Lee, Robert W. Boyd, Heedeuk Shin

  arXiv:2012.12464 · December 23, 2020 · quant-ph · Opt. Commun., 484, 2021, 116692 · doi

  Abstract

  Photon-pair generation must satisfy both the energy conservation and phase-matching conditions with a specific pump wavelength and dispersion of nonlinear optical medium, but finding a photon-pair, which has a desired specific wavelength, generation medium is challenging. Here, we present a method to create photon pairs that functions efficiently even the pump wavelength is much larger than the zero GVD wavelength of medium. In this study, we employ short SMF-28 fibers having ~1310 nm zero GVD wavelength and C-band pump (1552.52 nm) to generate C-band photon pairs. The measured pair generation rate and coincidence-to-accidental ratios are comparable to those from a long dispersion-shifted fiber. Polarization-entangled states are prepared, and an S value of 2.659 +- 0.094 is achieved from Bell inequality measurements. Our results indicate that the use of a short SFWM medium yields adequate photon-pair generation rates regardless of its dispersion properties in almost any material at any pump wavelength.

• Interpolating between multi-boundary wormholes and single-boundary geometries in holography

  Alex May, Mark Van Raamsdonk

  arXiv:2011.14258 · November 29, 2020 · hep-th · doi

  Abstract

  The recent paper 1809.01197 described how states of a holographic CFT can be approximated by states of a large collection of non-interacting BCFTs, such that the dual of the new system accurately approximates an arbitrarily large causal patch of the original geometry. In this paper, we first describe in more detail the geometries dual to such discrete BCFT systems, emphasizing that they are multi-boundary wormholes in which it is not possible to move causally between different asymptotic regions. By reintroducing couplings between the BCFTs in various ways, we show that the wormholes can be made traversable, giving an intermediate class of geometries that interpolate between the multi-boundary wormhole and the original geometry that it approximates.

• Reducing the CNOT count for Clifford+T circuits on NISQ architectures

  Vlad Gheorghiu, Jiaxin Huang, Sarah Meng Li, Michele Mosca, Priyanka Mukhopadhyay

  arXiv:2011.12191 · November 24, 2020 · quant-ph · doi

  Abstract

  While mapping a quantum circuit to the physical layer one has to consider the numerous constraints imposed by the underlying hardware architecture. Connectivity of the physical qubits is one such constraint that restricts two-qubit operations, such as CNOT, to "connected" qubits. SWAP gates can be used to place the logical qubits on admissible physical qubits, but they entail a significant increase in CNOT-count. In this paper we consider the problem of reducing the CNOT-count in Clifford+T circuits on connectivity constrained architectures, like noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computing devices. We "slice" the circuit at the position of Hadamard gates and "build" the intermediate {CNOT,T} sub-circuits using Steiner trees, significantly improving on previous methods. We compared the performance of our algorithms while mapping different benchmark and random circuits to some well-known architectures such as 9-qubit square grid, 16-qubit square grid, Rigetti 16-qubit Aspen, 16-qubit IBM QX5 and 20-qubit IBM Tokyo. Our methods give less CNOT-count compared to Qiskit and TKET transpiler as well as using SWAP gates. Assuming most of the errors in a NISQ circuit implementation are due to CNOT errors, then our method would allow circuits with few times more CNOT gates be reliably implemented than the previous methods would permit.

• Resource theory of heat and work with non-commuting charges

  Zahra Baghali Khanian, Manabendra Nath Bera, Arnau Riera, Maciej Lewenstein, Andreas Winter

  arXiv:2011.08020 · November 16, 2020 · quant-ph · Ann. Henri Poincaré 24(5):1725-1777, 2023 · doi

  Abstract

  We consider a theory of quantum thermodynamics with multiple conserved quantities (or charges). To this end, we generalize the seminal results of Sparaciari et al. [PRA 96:052112, 2017] to the case of multiple, in general non-commuting charges, for which we formulate a resource theory of thermodynamics of asymptotically many non-interacting systems. To every state we associate the vector of its expected charge values and its entropy, forming the phase diagram of the system. Our fundamental result is the Asymptotic Equivalence Theorem (AET), which allows us to identify the equivalence classes of states under asymptotic approximately charge-conserving unitaries with the points of the phase diagram. Using the phase diagram of a system and its bath, we analyze the first and the second laws of thermodynamics. In particular, we show that to attain the second law, an asymptotically large bath is necessary. In the case that the bath is composed of several identical copies of the same elementary bath, we quantify exactly how large the bath has to be to permit a specified work transformation of a given system, in terms of the number of copies of the elementary bath systems per work system (bath rate). If the bath is relatively small, we show that the analysis requires an extended phase diagram exhibiting negative entropies. This corresponds to the purely quantum effect that at the end of the process, system and bath are entangled, thus permitting classically impossible transformations. For a large bath, system and bath may be left uncorrelated and we show that the optimal bath rate, as a function of how tightly the second law is attained, can be expressed in terms of the heat capacity of the bath. Our approach solves a problem from earlier investigations about how to store the different charges under optimal work extraction protocols in physically separate batteries.

• Distributing bipartite quantum systems under timing constraints

  Kfir Dolev, Alex May, Kianna Wan

  arXiv:2011.00936 · November 2, 2020 · quant-ph · J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 54 145301 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  In many quantum information processing protocols, entangled states shared among parties are an important resource. In this article, we study how bipartite states may be distributed in the context of a quantum network limited by timing constraints. We explore various tasks that plausibly arise in this context, and characterize the achievability of several of these in settings where only one-way communication is allowed. We provide partial results in the case where two-way communication is allowed. This builds on earlier work on summoning single and bipartite systems.

• Holographic and Localization Calculations of Boundary F for ${\cal N} = 4$ SUSY Yang-Mills Theory

  Mark Van Raamsdonk, Christopher Waddell

  arXiv:2010.14520 · October 27, 2020 · hep-th · doi

  Abstract

  ${\cal N} = 4$ Supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory can be defined on a half-space with a variety of boundary conditions preserving scale invariance and half of the original supersymmetry; more general theories with the same symmetry can be obtained by coupling to a 3D SCFT at the boundary. Each of these theories is characterized by a quantity called "boundary $F$", conjectured to decrease under boundary renormalization group flows. In this paper, we calculate boundary $F$ for $U(N)$ ${\cal N} = 4$ SYM theory with the most general half-supersymmetric boundary conditions arising from string theory constructions with D3-branes ending on collections of D5-branes and/or NS5-branes. We first perform the calculation holographically by evaluating the entanglement entropy for a half-ball centered on the boundary using the Ryu-Takayanagi formula in the dual type IIB supergravity solutions. For boundary conditions associated with D3-branes ending on D5 branes only or NS5-branes only, we also calculate boundary $F$ exactly by evaluating the hemisphere partition function using supersymmetric localization. The leading term at large $N$ in the supergravity and localization results agree exactly as a function of the t' Hooft coupling $λ$.

• A measurement-based variational quantum eigensolver

  Ryan R. Ferguson, Luca Dellantonio, Karl Jansen, Abdulrahim Al Balushi, Wolfgang Dür, Christine A. Muschik

  arXiv:2010.13940 · October 26, 2020 · quant-ph · Physical Review Letters 2021 · doi

  Abstract

  Variational quantum eigensolvers (VQEs) combine classical optimization with efficient cost function evaluations on quantum computers. We propose a new approach to VQEs using the principles of measurement-based quantum computation. This strategy uses entagled resource states and local measurements. We present two measurement-based VQE schemes. The first introduces a new approach for constructing variational families. The second provides a translation of circuit-based to measurement-based schemes. Both schemes offer problem-specific advantages in terms of the required resources and coherence times.

• Penalty methods for variational quantum eigensolver

  Kohdai Kuroiwa, Yuya O. Nakagawa

  arXiv:2010.13951 · October 26, 2020 · quant-ph · Phys. Rev. Research 3, 013197 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  The variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) is a promising algorithm to compute eigenstates and eigenenergies of a given quantum system that can be performed on a near-term quantum computer. Obtaining eigenstates and eigenenergies in a specific symmetry sector of the system is often necessary for practical applications of the VQE in various fields ranging from high energy physics to quantum chemistry. It is common to add a penalty term in the cost function of the VQE to calculate such a symmetry-resolving energy spectrum, but systematic analysis on the effect of the penalty term has been lacking, and the use of the penalty term in the VQE has not been justified rigorously. In this work, we investigate two major types of penalty terms for the VQE that were proposed in the previous studies. We show a penalty term in one of the two types works properly in that eigenstates obtained by the VQE with the penalty term reside in the desired symmetry sector. We further give a convenient formula to determine the magnitude of the penalty term, which may lead to the faster convergence of the VQE. Meanwhile, we prove that the other type of penalty terms does not work for obtaining the target state with the desired symmetry in a rigorous sense and even gives completely wrong results in some cases. We finally provide numerical simulations to validate our analysis. Our results apply to general quantum systems and lay the theoretical foundation for the use of the VQE with the penalty terms to obtain the symmetry-resolving energy spectrum of the system, which fuels the application of a near-term quantum computer.

• Continuous-variable graph states for quantum metrology

  Yunkai Wang, Kejie Fang

  arXiv:2010.10704 · October 21, 2020 · quant-ph · Phys. Rev. A 102, 052601 (2020) · doi

  Abstract

  Graph states are a unique resource for quantum information processing, such as measurement-based quantum computation. Here, we theoretically investigate using continuous-variable graph states for single-parameter quantum metrology, including both phase and displacement sensing. We identified the optimal graph states for the two sensing modalities and showed that Heisenberg scaling of the accuracy for both phase and displacement sensing can be achieved with local homodyne measurements.

• Adaptive Circuit Learning for Quantum Metrology

  Ziqi Ma, Pranav Gokhale, Tian-Xing Zheng, Sisi Zhou, Xiaofei Yu, Liang Jiang, Peter Maurer, Frederic T. Chong

  arXiv:2010.08702 · October 17, 2020 · quant-ph · 2021 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE), 2021, pp. 419-430 · doi

  Abstract

  Quantum sensing is an important application of emerging quantum technologies. We explore whether a hybrid system of quantum sensors and quantum circuits can surpass the classical limit of sensing. In particular, we use optimization techniques to search for encoder and decoder circuits that scalably improve sensitivity under given application and noise characteristics. Our approach uses a variational algorithm that can learn a quantum sensing circuit based on platform-specific control capacity, noise, and signal distribution. The quantum circuit is composed of an encoder which prepares the optimal sensing state and a decoder which gives an output distribution containing information of the signal. We optimize the full circuit to maximize the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Furthermore, this learning algorithm can be run on real hardware scalably by using the "parameter-shift" rule which enables gradient evaluation on noisy quantum circuits, avoiding the exponential cost of quantum system simulation. We demonstrate up to 13.12x SNR improvement over existing fixed protocol (GHZ), and 3.19x Classical Fisher Information (CFI) improvement over the classical limit on 15 qubits using IBM quantum computer. More notably, our algorithm overcomes the decreasing performance of existing entanglement-based protocols with increased system sizes.

• Generalized symmetries and 2-groups via electromagnetic duality in AdS/CFT

  Oliver DeWolfe, Kenneth Higginbotham

  arXiv:2010.06594 · October 13, 2020 · hep-th · Phys. Rev. D 103, 026011 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  We discuss how electromagnetically dualizing a 1-form to a 2-form in AdS$_5$ exchanges regular and alternate boundary conditions, and thus gauges the originally global $U(1)$ symmetry in the dual field theory. The generalized symmetry current dual to the 2-form in the bulk is identified as the dual field strength of the gauged $U(1)$, and the associated double-trace operator with a logarithmically running coupling is just the gauged $U(1)$ Maxwell action. Applying this dualization to an AdS Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory dual to a global $U(1) \times U(1)$ model with an 't Hooft anomaly results in a theory with a modified field strength that holographically realizes a 2-group symmetry. We explicitly carry out the holographic renormalization to verify this, and discuss the generalization to other rank fields in other dimensions.

• Unboxing Quantum Black Box Models: Learning Non-Markovian Dynamics

  Stefan Krastanov, Kade Head-Marsden, Sisi Zhou, Steven T. Flammia, Liang Jiang, Prineha Narang

  arXiv:2009.03902 · September 8, 2020 · quant-ph

  Abstract

  Characterizing the memory properties of the environment has become critical for the high-fidelity control of qubits and other advanced quantum systems. However, current non-Markovian tomography techniques are either limited to discrete superoperators, or they employ machine learning methods, neither of which provide physical insight into the dynamics of the quantum system. To circumvent this limitation, we design learning architectures that explicitly encode physical constraints like the properties of completely-positive trace-preserving maps in a differential form. This method preserves the versatility of the machine learning approach without sacrificing the efficiency and fidelity of traditional parameter estimation methods. Our approach provides the physical interpretability that machine learning and opaque superoperators lack. Moreover, it is aware of the underlying continuous dynamics typically disregarded by superoperator-based tomography. This paradigm paves the way to noise-aware optimal quantum control and opens a path to exploiting the bath as a control and error mitigation resource.

• Fast simulation of planar Clifford circuits

  David Gosset, Daniel Grier, Alex Kerzner, Luke Schaeffer

  arXiv:2009.03218 · September 7, 2020 · quant-ph · Quantum 8, 1251 (2024) · doi

  Abstract

  A general quantum circuit can be simulated classically in exponential time. If it has a planar layout, then a tensor-network contraction algorithm due to Markov and Shi has a runtime exponential in the square root of its size, or more generally exponential in the treewidth of the underlying graph. Separately, Gottesman and Knill showed that if all gates are restricted to be Clifford, then there is a polynomial time simulation. We combine these two ideas and show that treewidth and planarity can be exploited to improve Clifford circuit simulation. Our main result is a classical algorithm with runtime scaling asymptotically as $n^{ω/2}<n^{1.19}$ which samples from the output distribution obtained by measuring all $n$ qubits of a planar graph state in given Pauli bases. Here $ω$ is the matrix multiplication exponent. We also provide a classical algorithm with the same asymptotic runtime which samples from the output distribution of any constant-depth Clifford circuit in a planar geometry. Our work improves known classical algorithms with cubic runtime. A key ingredient is a mapping which, given a tree decomposition of some graph $G$, produces a Clifford circuit with a structure that mirrors the tree decomposition and which emulates measurement of the corresponding graph state. We provide a classical simulation of this circuit with the runtime stated above for planar graphs and otherwise $nt^{ω-1}$ where $t$ is the width of the tree decomposition. Our algorithm incorporates two subroutines which may be of independent interest. The first is a matrix-multiplication-time version of the Gottesman-Knill simulation of multi-qubit measurement on stabilizer states. The second is a new classical algorithm for solving symmetric linear systems over $\mathbb{F}_2$ in a planar geometry, extending previous works which only applied to non-singular linear systems in the analogous setting.

• The asymptotic behaviour and a near linear time algorithm for isometry invariants of periodic sets

  Daniel Widdowson, Marco Mosca, Angeles Pulido, Vitaliy Kurlin, Andrew I Cooper

  arXiv:2009.02488 · September 5, 2020 · cond-mat.mtrl-sci

  Abstract

  The fundamental model of a periodic structure is a periodic point set up to rigid motion or isometry. Our recent paper in SoCG 2021 defined isometry invariants (density functions), which are complete in general position and continuous under perturbations. This work introduces much faster isometry invariants (average minimum distances), which are also continuous and distinguish some sets that have identical density functions. We explicitly describe the asymptotic behaviour of the new invariants for a wide class of sets including non-periodic. The proposed near linear time algorithm processed a dataset of hundreds of thousands of real structures in a few hours on a modest desktop.

• Quantum limits of superresolution in a noisy environment

  Changhun Oh, Sisi Zhou, Yat Wong, Liang Jiang

  arXiv:2008.11339 · August 26, 2020 · quant-ph · Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 120502 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  We analyze the ultimate quantum limit of resolving two identical sources in a noisy environment. We prove that in the presence of noise causing false excitation, such as thermal noise, the quantum Fisher information of arbitrary quantum states for the separation of the objects, which quantifies the resolution, always converges to zero as the separation goes to zero. Noisy cases contrast with a noiseless case where it has been shown to be nonzero for a small distance in various circumstances, revealing the superresolution. In addition, we show that false excitation on an arbitrary measurement, such as dark counts, also makes the classical Fisher information of the measurement approach to zero as the separation goes to zero. Finally, a practically relevant situation resolving two identical thermal sources, is quantitatively investigated by using the quantum and classical Fisher information of finite spatial mode multiplexing, showing that the amount of noise poses a limit on the resolution in a noisy system.

• Towards simulating 2D effects in lattice gauge theories on a quantum computer

  Danny Paulson, Luca Dellantonio, Jan F. Haase, Alessio Celi, Angus Kan, Andrew Jena, Christian Kokail, Rick van Bijnen, Karl Jansen, Peter Zoller, Christine A. Muschik

  arXiv:2008.09252 · August 21, 2020 · quant-ph · PRX Quantum 2, 030334 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  Gauge theories are the most successful theories for describing nature at its fundamental level, but obtaining analytical or numerical solutions often remains a challenge. We propose an experimental quantum simulation scheme to study ground state properties in two-dimensional quantum electrodynamics (2D QED) using existing quantum technology. The proposal builds on a formulation of lattice gauge theories as effective spin models in arXiv:2006.14160, which reduces the number of qubits needed by eliminating redundant degrees of freedom and by using an efficient truncation scheme for the gauge fields. The latter endows our proposal with the perspective to take a well-controlled continuum limit. Our protocols allow in principle scaling up to large lattices and offer the perspective to connect the lattice simulation to low energy observable quantities, e.g. the hadron spectrum, in the continuum theory. By including both dynamical matter and a non-minimal gauge field truncation, we provide the novel opportunity to observe 2D effects on present-day quantum hardware. More specifically, we present two Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) based protocols for the study of magnetic field effects, and for taking an important first step towards computing the running coupling of QED. For both instances, we include variational quantum circuits for qubit-based hardware, which we explicitly apply to trapped ion quantum computers. We simulate the proposed VQE experiments classically to calculate the required measurement budget under realistic conditions. While this feasibility analysis is done for trapped ions, our approach can be easily adapted to other platforms. The techniques presented here, combined with advancements in quantum hardware pave the way for reaching beyond the capabilities of classical simulations by extending our framework to include fermionic potentials or topological terms.

• A resource efficient approach for quantum and classical simulations of gauge theories in particle physics

  Jan F. Haase, Luca Dellantonio, Alessio Celi, Danny Paulson, Angus Kan, Karl Jansen, Christine A. Muschik

  arXiv:2006.14160 · June 25, 2020 · quant-ph · Quantum 5, 393 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  Gauge theories establish the standard model of particle physics, and lattice gauge theory (LGT) calculations employing Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods have been pivotal in our understanding of fundamental interactions. The present limitations of MCMC techniques may be overcome by Hamiltonian-based simulations on classical or quantum devices, which further provide the potential to address questions that lay beyond the capabilities of the current approaches. However, for continuous gauge groups, Hamiltonian-based formulations involve infinite-dimensional gauge degrees of freedom that can solely be handled by truncation. Current truncation schemes require dramatically increasing computational resources at small values of the bare couplings, where magnetic field effects become important. Such limitation precludes one from `taking the continuous limit' while working with finite resources. To overcome this limitation, we provide a resource-efficient protocol to simulate LGTs with continuous gauge groups in the Hamiltonian formulation. Our new method allows for calculations at arbitrary values of the bare coupling and lattice spacing. The approach consists of the combination of a Hilbert space truncation with a regularization of the gauge group, which permits an efficient description of the magnetically-dominated regime. We focus here on Abelian gauge theories and use $2+1$ dimensional quantum electrodynamics as a benchmark example to demonstrate this efficient framework to achieve the continuum limit in LGTs. This possibility is a key requirement to make quantitative predictions at the field theory level and offers the long-term perspective to utilise quantum simulations to compute physically meaningful quantities in regimes that are precluded to quantum Monte Carlo.

• A polynomial time and space heuristic algorithm for T-count

  Michele Mosca, Priyanka Mukhopadhyay

  arXiv:2006.12440 · June 22, 2020 · quant-ph · Quantum Science and Technology 7(1), 2021 · doi

  Abstract

  This work focuses on reducing the physical cost of implementing quantum algorithms when using the state-of-the-art fault-tolerant quantum error correcting codes, in particular, those for which implementing the T gate consumes vastly more resources than the other gates in the gate set. More specifically, we consider the group of unitaries that can be exactly implemented by a quantum circuit consisting of the Clifford+T gate set, a universal gate set. Our primary interest is to compute a circuit for a given $n$-qubit unitary $U$, using the minimum possible number of T gates (called the T-count of unitary $U$). We consider the problem COUNT-T, the optimization version of which aims to find the T-count of $U$. In its decision version the goal is to decide if the T-count is at most some positive integer $m$. Given an oracle for COUNT-T, we can compute a T-count-optimal circuit in time polynomial in the T-count and dimension of $U$. We give a provable classical algorithm that solves COUNT-T (decision) in time $O\left(N^{2(c-1)\lceil\frac{m}{c}\rceil}\text{poly}(m,N)\right)$ and space $O\left(N^{2\lceil\frac{m}{c}\rceil}\text{poly}(m,N)\right)$, where $N=2^n$ and $c\geq 2$. This gives a space-time trade-off for solving this problem with variants of meet-in-the-middle techniques. We also introduce an asymptotically faster multiplication method that shaves a factor of $N^{0.7457}$ off of the overall complexity. Lastly, beyond our improvements to the rigorous algorithm, we give a heuristic algorithm that outputs a T-count-optimal circuit and has space and time complexity $\text{poly}(m,N)$, under some assumptions. While our heuristic method still scales exponentially with the number of qubits (though with a lower exponent, there is a large improvement by going from exponential to polynomial scaling with $m$.

• Fault-tolerant quantum error correction using error weight parities

  Theerapat Tansuwannont, Debbie Leung

  arXiv:2006.03068 · June 4, 2020 · quant-ph · Phys. Rev. A 104, 042410 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  In quantum error correction using imperfect primitives, errors of high weight arising from a few faults are major concerns since they might not be correctable by the quantum error correcting code. Fortunately, some errors of different weights are logically equivalent and the same correction procedure is applicable to all equivalent errors, thus correcting high-weight errors is sometimes possible. In this work, we introduce a technique called weight parity error correction (WPEC) which can correct Pauli error of any weight in some stabilizer codes provided that the parity of the weight of the error is known. We show that the technique is applicable to concatenated codes constructed from the [[7,1,3]] Steane code or the [[23,1,7]] Golay code. We also provide a fault-tolerant error correction protocol using WPEC for the [[49,1,9]] concatenated Steane code which can correct up to 3 faults and requires only 2 ancillas.

• Remarks on Black Hole Complexity Puzzle

  Beni Yoshida

  arXiv:2005.12491 · May 26, 2020 · hep-th · JHEP 10 (2020) 103 · doi

  Abstract

  Recently a certain conceptual puzzle in the AdS/CFT correspondence, concerning the growth of quantum circuit complexity and the wormhole volume, has been identified by Bouland-Fefferman-Vazirani and Susskind. In this note, we propose a resolution of the puzzle and save the quantum Extended Church-Turing thesis by arguing that there is no computational shortcut in measuring the volume due to gravitational backreaction from bulk observers. A certain strengthening of the firewall puzzle from the computational complexity perspective, as well as its potential resolution, is also presented.

• New perspectives on covariant quantum error correction

  Sisi Zhou, Zi-Wen Liu, Liang Jiang

  arXiv:2005.11918 · May 25, 2020 · quant-ph · Quantum 5, 521 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  Covariant codes are quantum codes such that a symmetry transformation on the logical system could be realized by a symmetry transformation on the physical system, usually with limited capability of performing quantum error correction (an important case being the Eastin--Knill theorem). The need for understanding the limits of covariant quantum error correction arises in various realms of physics including fault-tolerant quantum computation, condensed matter physics and quantum gravity. Here, we explore covariant quantum error correction with respect to continuous symmetries from the perspectives of quantum metrology and quantum resource theory, establishing solid connections between these formerly disparate fields. We prove new and powerful lower bounds on the infidelity of covariant quantum error correction, which not only extend the scope of previous no-go results but also provide a substantial improvement over existing bounds. Explicit lower bounds are derived for both erasure and depolarizing noises. We also present a type of covariant codes which nearly saturates these lower bounds.

• Beyond product state approximations for a quantum analogue of Max Cut

  Anurag Anshu, David Gosset, Karen Morenz

  arXiv:2003.14394 · March 31, 2020 · quant-ph · In proceedings of 15th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication and Cryptography (TQC 2020) · doi

  Abstract

  We consider a computational problem where the goal is to approximate the maximum eigenvalue of a two-local Hamiltonian that describes Heisenberg interactions between qubits located at the vertices of a graph. Previous work has shed light on this problem's approximability by product states. For any instance of this problem the maximum energy attained by a product state is lower bounded by the Max Cut of the graph and upper bounded by the standard Goemans-Williamson semidefinite programming relaxation of it. Gharibian and Parekh described an efficient classical approximation algorithm for this problem which outputs a product state with energy at least 0.498 times the maximum eigenvalue in the worst case, and observe that there exist instances where the best product state has energy 1/2 of optimal. We investigate approximation algorithms with performance exceeding this limitation which are based on optimizing over tensor products of few-qubit states and shallow quantum circuits. We provide an efficient classical algorithm which achieves an approximation ratio of at least 0.53 in the worst case. We also show that for any instance defined by a 3- or 4-regular graph, there is an efficiently computable shallow quantum circuit that prepares a state with energy larger than the best product state (larger even than its semidefinite programming relaxation).

• On the mixed-unitary rank of quantum channels

  Mark Girard, Debbie Leung, Jeremy Levick, Chi-Kwong Li, Vern Paulsen, Yiu Tung Poon, John Watrous

  arXiv:2003.14405 · March 31, 2020 · quant-ph · doi

  Abstract

  In the theory of quantum information, the mixed-unitary quantum channels, for any positive integer dimension $n$, are those linear maps that can be expressed as a convex combination of conjugations by $n\times n$ complex unitary matrices. We consider the mixed-unitary rank of any such channel, which is the minimum number of distinct unitary conjugations required for an expression of this form. We identify several new relationships between the mixed-unitary rank~$N$ and the Choi rank~$r$ of mixed-unitary channels, the Choi rank being equal to the minimum number of nonzero terms required for a Kraus representation of that channel. Most notably, we prove that the inequality $N\leq r^2-r+1$ is satisfied for every mixed-unitary channel (as is the equality $N=2$ when $r=2$), and we exhibit the first known examples of mixed-unitary channels for which $N>r$. Specifically, we prove that there exist mixed-unitary channels having Choi rank $d+1$ and mixed-unitary rank $2d$ for infinitely many positive integers $d$, including every prime power $d$. We also examine the mixed-unitary ranks of the mixed-unitary Werner--Holevo channels.

• Asymptotic theory of quantum channel estimation

  Sisi Zhou, Liang Jiang

  arXiv:2003.10559 · March 23, 2020 · quant-ph · PRX Quantum 2, 010343 (2021) · doi

  Abstract

  The quantum Fisher information (QFI), as a function of quantum states, measures the amount of information that a quantum state carries about an unknown parameter. The (entanglement-assisted) QFI of a quantum channel is defined to be the maximum QFI of the output state assuming an entangled input state over a single probe and an ancilla. In quantum metrology, people are interested in calculating the QFI of $N$ identical copies of a quantum channel when $N \rightarrow \infty$, which is called the asymptotic QFI. Over the years, researchers found various types of upper bounds of the asymptotic QFI, but they were proven achievable only in several specific situations. It was known that the asymptotic QFI of an arbitrary quantum channel grows either linearly or quadratically with $N$. Here we show that a simple criterion can determine whether the scaling is linear or quadratic. In both cases, the asymptotic QFI and a quantum error correction protocol to achieve it are computable via a semidefinite program. When the scaling is quadratic, the Heisenberg limit, a feature of noiseless quantum channels, is recovered. When the scaling is linear, we show the asymptotic QFI is still in general larger than $N$ times the single-channel QFI and furthermore, sequential estimation strategies provide no advantage over parallel ones.

• General Quantum Resource Theories: Distillation, Formation and Consistent Resource Measures

  Kohdai Kuroiwa, Hayata Yamasaki

  arXiv:2002.02458 · February 6, 2020 · quant-ph · Quantum 4, 355 (2020) · doi

  Abstract

  Quantum resource theories (QRTs) provide a unified theoretical framework for understanding inherent quantum-mechanical properties that serve as resources in quantum information processing, but resources motivated by physics may possess intractable mathematical structure to analyze, such as non-uniqueness of maximally resourceful states, lack of convexity, and infinite dimension. We investigate state conversion and resource measures in general QRTs under minimal assumptions to figure out universal properties of physically motivated quantum resources that may have such intractable mathematical structure. In the general setting, we prove the existence of maximally resourceful states in one-shot state conversion. Also analyzing asymptotic state conversion, we discover catalytic replication of quantum resources, where a resource state is infinitely replicable by free operations. In QRTs without assuming uniqueness of maximally resourceful states, we formulate the tasks of distillation and formation of quantum resources, and introduce distillable resource and resource cost based on the distillation and the formation, respectively. Furthermore, we introduce consistent resource measures that quantify the amount of quantum resources without contradicting the rate of state conversion even in QRTs with non-unique maximally resourceful states. Progressing beyond the previous work showing a uniqueness theorem for additive resource measures, we prove the corresponding uniqueness inequality for the consistent resource measures; that is, consistent resource measures of a quantum state take values between the distillable resource and the resource cost of the state. These formulations and results establish a foundation of QRTs applicable to mathematically intractable but physically motivated quantum resources in a unified way.

• Capacity Approaching Coding for Low Noise Interactive Quantum Communication, Part I: Large Alphabets

  Debbie Leung, Ashwin Nayak, Ala Shayeghi, Dave Touchette, Penghui Yao, Nengkun Yu

  arXiv:2001.02818 · January 9, 2020 · quant-ph

  Abstract

  We consider the problem of implementing two-party interactive quantum communication over noisy channels, a necessary endeavor if we wish to fully reap quantum advantages for communication. For an arbitrary protocol with $n$ messages, designed for a noiseless qudit channel over a $\mathrm{poly}(n)$ size alphabet, our main result is a simulation method that fails with probability less than $2^{-Θ(nε)}$ and uses a qudit channel over the same alphabet $n\left(1+Θ\left(\sqrtε\right)\right)$ times, of which an $ε$ fraction can be corrupted adversarially. The simulation is thus capacity achieving to leading order, and we conjecture that it is optimal up to a constant factor in the $\sqrtε$ term. Furthermore, the simulation is in a model that does not require pre-shared resources such as randomness or entanglement between the communicating parties. Our work improves over the best previously known quantum result where the overhead is a non-explicit large constant [Brassard et al., FOCS'14] for low $ε$.