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arXiv:0906.1761 · Journal of Mathematical Physics

Unique decompositions, faces, and automorphisms of separable states

Erik Alfsen, Fred Shultz

Published May 1, 2010• 45 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Let Sk be the set of separable states on B(Cm⊗Cn) admitting a representation as a convex combination of k pure product states, or fewer. If m>1, n>1, and k⩽max(m,n), we show that Sk admits a subset Vk such that Vk is dense and open in Sk, and such that each state in Vk has a unique decomposition as a convex combination of pure product states, and we describe all possible convex decompositions for a set of separable states that properly contains Vk. In both cases we describe the associated faces of the space of separable states, which in the first case are simplexes, and in the second case are direct convex sums of faces that are isomorphic to state spaces of full matrix algebras. As an application of these results, we characterize all affine automorphisms of the convex set of separable states and all automorphisms of the state space of B(Cm⊗Cn) that preserve entanglement and separability.

DOI
10.1063/1.3399808

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Let Sk be the set of separable states on B(Cm⊗Cn) admitting a representation as a convex combination of k pure product states, or fewer. If m>1, n>1, and k⩽max(m,n), we show that Sk admits a subset Vk such that Vk is dense and open in Sk, and such that each state in Vk has a unique decomposition as a convex combination of pure product states, and we describe all possible convex decompositions for a set of separable states that properly contains Vk. In both cases we describe the associated faces of the space of separable states, which in the first case are simplexes, and in the second case are direct convex sums of faces that are isomorphic to state spaces of full matrix algebras. As an application of these results, we characterize all affine automorphisms of the convex set of separable states and all automorphisms of the state space of B(Cm⊗Cn) that preserve entanglement and separability.
We investigate conditions on a finite set of multi-partite product vectors for which separable states with corresponding product states have unique decompositions, and show that this is true in most cases if the number of product vectors is sufficiently small. In the three-qubit case, generic five-dimensional spaces give rise to faces of the convex set consisting of all separable states, which are affinely isomorphic to the five-dimensional simplex with six vertices. We construct, as a byproduct, three-qubit entangled positive partial transpose edge states of rank 4 with explicit formulas. This covers those entanglements which cannot be constructed from an unextendible product basis.
We construct faces of the convex set of all $2\ensuremath{\bigotimes}4$ bipartite separable states, which are affinely isomorphic to the simplex ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{9}$ with 10 extreme points. Every interior point of these faces is a separable state which has a unique decomposition into 10 product states, even though the ranks of the state and its partial transpose are 5 and 7, respectively. We also note that the number 10 is greater than $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}4$, to disprove a conjecture on the lengths of qubit-qudit separable states. This face is inscribed in the corresponding face of the convex set of all PPT states so that subsimplices ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{k}$ of ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{9}$ share the boundary if and only if $k\ensuremath{\le}5$. This enables us to find a large class of $2\ensuremath{\bigotimes}4$ PPT entangled edge states with rank 5.
Motivated by the separability problem in quantum systems 2⊗4, 3⊗3 and 2⊗2⊗2, we study the maximal (proper) faces of the convex body, S 1 , of normalized separable states in an arbitrary quantum system with finite-dimensional Hilbert space H = H 1 ⊗ H 2 ⊗ ⋯ ⊗ H n . To any subspace V ⊆ H , we associate a face F V of S 1 consisting of all states ρ ∈ S 1 whose range is contained in V . We prove that F V is a maximal face if and only if V is a hyperplane. If V =| ψ 〉 ⊥ , where | ψ 〉 is a product vector, we prove that Dim F V = d 2 − 1 − ∏ ( 2 d i − 1 ) , where d i = Dim H i and d = ∏ d i . We classify the maximal faces of S 1 in the cases 2⊗2 and 2⊗3. In particular, we show that the minimum and the maximum dimension of maximal faces is 6 and 8 for 2⊗2, and 20 and 24 for 2⊗3. The boundary, ∂ S 1 , of S 1 is the union of all maximal faces. When d >6, it is easy to show that there exist full states on ∂ S 1
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A density operator (state) on a tensor product H ⊗ K of Hilbert spaces is separable if it is in the convex closure of the subset of all tensor product states. Non-separable states are called entangled. These concepts are of great importance in quantum information theory, but they have been studied in depth only in the finite-dimensional context [1]. In this note we give a general integral representation for separable states and provide the first example of separable states that are not countably decomposable. We also prove a structure theorem for quantum communication channels that are entanglement-breaking, generalizing the finite-dimensional result of [2]. In the finite-dimensional case such channels can be characterized as having a Stinespring–Kraus representation (3) with operators Vj of rank 1. The above example implies the existence of infinite-dimensional entanglement-breaking channels having no such representation. In what follows, H, K ,... are separable Hilbert spaces, T(H) is the Banach space of trace-class operators and S(H) is the convex subset of all density operators on H. For brevity we shall also call them states, having in mind that a density operator ρ uniquely determines a normal state on the algebra B(H) of all bounded operators on H. Equipped with the trace-norm topology, S(H) is a complete separable metric space. If π is a Borel probability measure on S(H), then the Bochner integral