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arXiv:0805.3466 · Physical Review A

Extrema of discrete Wigner functions and applications

Andrea Casaccino, Ernesto F. Galvão, Simone Severini B

Published Aug 7, 2008• 35 citations
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Abstract

We study the class of discrete Wigner functions proposed by Gibbons et al. [Phys. Rev. A 70, 062101 (2004)] to describe quantum states using a discrete phase space based on finite fields. We find the extrema of such functions for small Hilbert-space dimensions and present a quantum-information application: a construction of quantum random-access codes. These are constructed using the complete set of phase-space point operators to find encoding states and to obtain the codes' average success rates for Hilbert-space dimensions 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.022310

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We study the class of discrete Wigner functions proposed by Gibbons et al. [Phys. Rev. A 70, 062101 (2004)] to describe quantum states using a discrete phase space based on finite fields. We find the extrema of such functions for small Hilbert-space dimensions and present a quantum-information application: a construction of quantum random-access codes. These are constructed using the complete set of phase-space point operators to find encoding states and to obtain the codes' average success rates for Hilbert-space dimensions 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8.
Gibbons et al. [Phys. Rev. A 70, 062101 (2004)] have recently defined a class of discrete Wigner functions WWW to represent quantum states in a finite Hilbert space dimension ddd. I characterize the set Cd{C}_{d}Cd​ of states having non-negative WWW simultaneously in all definitions of WWW in this class. For $d\ensuremath{\leqslant}5$ I show Cd{C}_{d}Cd​ is the convex hull of stabilizer states. This supports the conjecture that negativity of WWW is necessary for exponential speedup in pure-state quantum computation.
Gibbons et al., [Phys. Rev. A 70, 062101 (2004)] have recently defined discrete Wigner functions WWW to represent quantum states in a Hilbert space with finite dimension. We show that such a class of Wigner functions WWW can be defined so that the only pure states having non-negative WWW for all such functions are stabilizer states, as conjectured by Galv\~ao, [Phys. Rev. A 71, 042302 (2005)]. We also show that the unitaries preserving non-negativity of WWW for all definitions of WWW in the class form a subgroup of the Clifford group. This means pure states with non-negative WWW and their associated unitary dynamics are classical in the sense of admitting an efficient classical simulation scheme using the stabilizer formalism.
The original Wigner function provides a way of representing in phase space the quantum states of systems with continuous degrees of freedom. Wigner functions have also been developed for discrete quantum systems, one popular version being defined on a $2N\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2N$ discrete phase space for a system with NNN orthogonal states. Here we investigate an alternative class of discrete Wigner functions, in which the field of real numbers that labels the axes of continuous phase space is replaced by a finite field having NNN elements. There exists such a field if and only if NNN is a power of a prime; so our formulation can be applied directly only to systems for which the state-space dimension takes such a value. Though this condition may seem limiting, we note that any quantum computer based on qubits meets the condition and can thus be accommodated within our scheme. The geometry of our $N\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}N$ phase space also leads naturally to a method of constructing a complete set of N+1N+1N+1 mutually unbiased bases for the state space.
We analyze some features of the class of discrete Wigner functions that was recently introduced by Gibbons et al. [Phys. Rev. A 70, 062101 (2004)] to represent quantum states of systems with power-of-prime dimensional Hilbert spaces. We consider ``cat'' states obtained as coherent superpositions of states with positive Wigner function; for such states we show that the oscillations of the discrete Wigner function typically spread over the entire discrete phase space (including the regions where the two interfering states are localized). This is a generic property, which is in sharp contrast with the usual attributes of Wigner functions that make them useful candidates to display the existence of quantum coherence through oscillations. However, it is possible to find subsets of cat states with a natural phase-space representation, in which the oscillatory regions remain localized. We show that this can be done for interesting families of stabilizer states used in quantum error-correcting codes, and illustrate this by analyzing the phase-space representation of the five-qubit error-correcting code.
We analyze and further develop a method to represent the quantum state of a system of nnn qubits in a phase-space grid of $N\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}N$ points (where N=2nN={2}^{n}N=2n). The method, which was recently proposed by Wootters and co-workers (Gibbons et al., Phys. Rev. A 70, 062101 (2004).), is based on the use of the elements of the finite field GF(2n)\mathrm{GF}({2}^{n})GF(2n) to label the phase-space axes. We present a self-contained overview of the method, we give insights into some of its features, and we apply it to investigate problems which are of interest for quantum-information theory: We analyze the phase-space representation of stabilizer states and quantum error-correction codes and present a phase-space solution to the so-called mean king problem.
A phase-space approach to finite-dimensional systems is developed from basic principles. For a system describable by a Hilbert space of dimension d we define a one-to-one correspondence between operators and functions on a discrete and finite phase space with points valid for any dimension d . The properties fulfilled by this correspondence and its uniqueness are examined. This formalism is applied to the number difference and phase difference of a two-mode field. This case is compared with the marginal distribution for these variables arising from a two-mode Wigner function for number and phase.