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arXiv:0810.3188

Quantum geometry of the Cartan control problem

Peter Leifer

Published Oct 17, 2008• 0 citations
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Abstract

The Cartan control problem of the quantum circuits discussed from the differential geometry point of view. Abstract unitary transformations of $SU(2^n)$ are realized physically in the projective Hilbert state space $CP(2^n-1)$ of the n-qubit system. Therefore the Cartan decomposition of the algebra $AlgSU(2^n-1)$ into orthogonal subspaces $h$ and $b$ such that $[h,h] \subseteq h, [b,b] \subseteq h, [b,h] \subseteq b$ is state-dependent and thus requires the representation in the local coordinates.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.0810.3188

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We explicitly compute the optimal cost for a class of example problems in geometric quantum control. These problems are defined by a Cartan decomposition of su(2n)\mathrm{su}({2}^{n})su(2n) into orthogonal subspaces l\mathfrak{l}l and p\mathfrak{p}p such that $[\mathfrak{l},\mathfrak{l}]\ensuremath{\subseteq}\mathfrak{p},[\mathfrak{p},\mathfrak{l}]=\mathfrak{p},[\mathfrak{p},\mathfrak{p}]\ensuremath{\subseteq}\mathfrak{l}$. Motion in the l\mathfrak{l}l direction is assumed to have negligible cost, where motion in the p\mathfrak{p}p direction does not. In the special case of two qubits, our results correspond to the minimal interaction cost of a given unitary.
Solving the KPKPKP problem with the Global Cartan Decomposition
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A scheme to perform the Cartan decomposition for the Lie algebra su(N) of arbitrary finite dimensions is introduced. The schme is based on two algebraic structures, the conjugate partition and the quotient algebra, that are easily generated by a Cartan subalgebra and generally exist in su(N). In particular, the Lie algebras su(2^p) and every su(2^{p-1} < N < 2^p) share the isomorphic structure of the quotient algebra. This structure enables an efficient algorithm for the recursive and exhaustive construction of Cartan decompositions. Further with the scheme, a unitary transformation in SU(N) can be recursively decomposed into a product of certain designated operators, e.g., local and nonlocal gates. Such a recursive decomposition of a transformation implies an evolution path on the manifold of the group.
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Recent advances in the physical sciences and engineering have created great hopes for new computational paradigms and substrates. One such new approach is the quantum computer, which holds the promise of enhanced computational power. Analogous to the way a classical computer is built from electrical circuits containing wires and logic gates, a quantum computer is built from quantum circuits containing quantum wires and elementary quantum gates to transport and manipulate quantum information. Therefore, design of quantum gates and quantum circuits is a prerequisite for any real application of quantum computation. In this dissertation we apply geometric control methods from differential geometry and Lie group representation theory to analyze the properties of quantum gates and to design optimal quantum circuits. Using the Cartan decomposition and the Weyl group, we show that the geometric structure of nonlocal two-qubit gates is a 3-Torus. After further reducing the symmetry, the geometric representation of nonlocal gates is seen to be conveniently visualized as a tetrahedron. Each point in this tetrahedron except on the base corresponds to a different equivalent class of nonlocal gates. This geometric representation is one of the cornerstones for the discussion on quantum computation in this dissertation. We investigate the properties of those two-qubit operations that can generate maximal entanglement. It is an astonishing finding that if we randomly choose a two-qubit operation, the probability that we obtain a perfect entangler is exactly one half. We prove that given a two-body interaction Hamiltonian, it is always possible to explicitly construct a quantum circuit for exact simulation of any arbitrary nonlocal two-qubit gate by turning on the two-body interaction for at most three times, together with at most four local gates. We also provide an analytic approach to construct a universal quantum circuit from any entangling gate supplemented with local gates. Closed form solutions have been derived for each step in this explicit construction procedure. Moreover, the minimum upper bound is found to construct a universal quantum circuit from any Controlled-Unitary gate. A near optimal explicit construction of universal quantum circuits from a given Controlled-Unitary is provided. For the Controlled-NOT and Double-CNOT gate, we then develop simple analytic ways to construct universal quantum circuits with exactly three applications, which is the least possible for these gates. We further discover a new quantum gate (named B gate) that achieves the desired universality with minimal number of gates. Optimal implementation of single-qubit quantum gates is also investigated. Finally, as a real physical application, a constructive way to implement any arbitrary two-qubit operation on a spin electronics system is discussed.
We show the applicability of the Cartan decomposition of Lie algebras to quantum circuits. This approach can be used to synthesize circuits that can efficiently implement any desired unitary operation. Our method finds explicit quantum circuit representations of the algebraic generators of the relevant Lie algebras allowing the direct implementation of a Cartan decomposition on a quantum computer. The construction is recursive and allows us to expand any circuit down to generators and rotation matrices on individual qubits, where through our recursive algorithm we find that the generators themselves can be expressed with controlled-not (cnot) and swap gates explicitly. Our approach is independent of the standard cnot implementation and can be easily adapted to other cross-qubit circuit elements. In addition to its versatility, we also achieve near-optimal counts when working with cnot gates, achieving an asymptotic cnot cost of 21164n\frac{21}{16}{4}^{n}1621​4n for nnn qubits.