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arXiv:0906.1259 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Bloch sphere-like construction ofSU(3) Hamiltonians using unitary integration

Sai Vinjanampathy, A R P Rau

Published Sep 30, 2009• 13 citations
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Abstract

The Bloch sphere is a familiar and useful geometrical picture of the dynamics of a single spin or two-level system's quantum evolution. The analogous geometrical picture for three-level systems is presented, with several applications. The relevant SU(3) group and su(3) algebra are eight-dimensional objects and are realized in our picture as two four-dimensional manifolds describing the time evolution operator. The first, called the base manifold, is the counterpart of the S^2 Bloch sphere, whereas the second, called the fiber, generalizes the single U(1) phase of a single spin. Now four-dimensional, it breaks down further into smaller objects depending on alternative representations that we discuss. Geometrical phases are also developed and presented for specific applications. Arbitrary time-dependent couplings between three levels or between two spins (qubits) with SU(3) Hamiltonians can be conveniently handled through these geometrical objects.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/42/42/425303

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The Bloch sphere is a familiar and useful geometrical picture of the dynamics of a single spin or two-level system's quantum evolution. The analogous geometrical picture for three-level systems is presented, with several applications. The relevant SU(3) group and su(3) algebra are eight-dimensional objects and are realized in our picture as two four-dimensional manifolds describing the time evolution operator. The first, called the base manifold, is the counterpart of the S^2 Bloch sphere, whereas the second, called the fiber, generalizes the single U(1) phase of a single spin. Now four-dimensional, it breaks down further into smaller objects depending on alternative representations that we discuss. Geometrical phases are also developed and presented for specific applications. Arbitrary time-dependent couplings between three levels or between two spins (qubits) with SU(3) Hamiltonians can be conveniently handled through these geometrical objects.
A two-sphere (``Bloch'' or ``Poincare'') is familiar for describing the dynamics of a spin-1∕21∕21∕2 particle or light polarization. Analogous objects are derived for unitary groups larger than SU(2) through an iterative procedure that constructs evolution operators for higher-dimensional SU(N)\mathrm{SU}(N)SU(N) in terms of lower-dimensional ones. We focus, in particular, on the SU(4) of two qubits which describes all possible logic gates in quantum computation and entangled states in quantum-information sciences. For a general Hamiltonian of SU(4) with 15 parameters, and for Hamiltonians of its various subgroups so that fewer parameters suffice, we derive Bloch-like rotation of unit vectors analogous to the one familiar for a single spin in a magnetic field. The unitary evolution of a quantal spin pair is thereby expressed as rotations of real, many-dimensional vectors. Correspondingly, the manifolds involved are Bloch two-spheres along with higher dimensional manifolds such as a four-sphere for the SO(5) subgroup and an eight-dimensional Grassmannian manifold for the general SU(4). The latter may also be viewed as two, mutually orthogonal, real six-dimensional unit vectors moving on a five-sphere with an additional phase constraint. This geometrical picture for two spins provides the extension and generalization of the Bloch sphere that has proved invaluable for the understanding of the dynamics of a single spin.
Geometric phases are important in quantum physics and are now central to fault-tolerant quantum computation. For spin 1∕21∕21∕2, the Bloch sphere S2{S}^{2}S2, together with a U(1) phase, provides a complete SU(2) description. We generalize to NNN-level systems and SU(N)\mathrm{SU}(N)SU(N) in terms of a $2(N\ensuremath{-}1)$-dimensional base space and reduction to a $(N\ensuremath{-}1)$-level problem, paralleling closely the two-dimensional case. This iteratively solves the time evolution of an NNN-level system and gives $(N\ensuremath{-}1)$ geometric phases explicitly. A complete analytical construction of an S4{S}^{4}S4 Bloch-like sphere for two qubits is given for the Spin(5) or SO(5) subgroup of SU(4).
Abstract We study an analogous Bloch sphere representation of higher-level quantum systems using the Heisenberg-Weyl operator basis. We introduce a parametrization method that will allow us to identify a real-valued Bloch vector for an arbitrary density operator. Before going into arbitrary d-level (d ≥ 3) quantum systems (qudits), we start our analysis with three-level ones (qutrits). It is well known that we need at least eight real parameters in the Bloch vector to describe arbitrary three-level quantum systems (qutrits). However, using our method we can divide these parameters into four weight, and four angular parameters, and find that the weight parameters are inducing a unit sphere in four-dimension. And, the four angular parameters determine whether a Bloch vector is physical. Therefore, unlike its qubit counterpart, the qutrit Bloch sphere does not exhibit a solid structure. Importantly, this construction allows us to define different properties of qutrits in terms of Bloch vector components. We also examine the two and three-dimensional sections of the sphere, which reveal a non-convex yet closed structure for physical qutrit states. Further, we apply our representation to derive mutually unbiased bases (MUBs), characterize unital maps for qutrits, and assess ensembles using the Hilbert-Schmidt and Bures metrics. Moreover, we extend this construction to qudits, showcasing its potential applicability beyond the qutrit scenario.
We present a novel method to study the Bloch space of the qutrit system by examining the Bloch trajectories in it. Since such system is inherently a three-level quantum system, therefore we use the SU(3) group as the basis group to obtain the Bloch vectors of different configurations of it. The norm of the Bloch space is evaluated from the geometric consideration and also from the dynamics of the Bloch vectors and both results are found to be identical. The analysis of the dynamical evolution of the Bloch vectors reveals an additional feature that, under resonant conditions, the Bloch sphere S7\mathbb{S}^{7}S7 splits into two parts, a four-sphere S4\mathbb{S}^{4}S4 and a two-sphere S2\mathbb{S}^{2}S2. The Bloch trajectories of the two sectors across different configurations exhibit a range of simple to complex curves, highlighting the non-trivial structure of the Bloch space of the qutrit system.
Geometric intuition is a crucial tool to obtain deeper insight into many concepts of physics. A paradigmatic example of its power is the Bloch ball, the geometrical representation for the state space of the simplest possible quantum system, a two-level system (or qubit). However, already for a three-level system (qutrit) the state space has eight dimensions, so that its complexity exceeds the grasp of our three-dimensional space of experience. This is unfortunate, given that the geometric object describing the state space of a qutrit has a much richer structure and is in many ways more representative for a general quantum system than a qubit. In this work we demonstrate that, based on the Bloch representation of quantum states, it is possible to construct a three dimensional model for the qutrit state space that captures most of the essential geometric features of the latter. Besides being of indisputable theoretical value, this opens the door to a new type of representation, thus extending our geometric intuition beyond the simplest quantum systems.