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arXiv:0909.5094 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Random Bures mixed states and the distribution of their purity

Vladimir Al. Osipov, H.-J. Sommers, Karol Życzkowski

Published Jan 12, 2010• 89 citations
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Abstract

Ensembles of random density matrices determined by various probability measures are analysed. A simple and efficient algorithm to generate at random density matrices distributed according to the Bures measure is proposed. This procedure may serve as an initial step in performing the Bayesian approach to quantum state estimation based on the Bures prior. We study the distribution of purity of random mixed states. The moments of the distribution of purity are determined for quantum states generated with respect to the Bures measure. This calculation serves as an exemplary application of the ‘deform-and-study’ approach in the theory of integrable systems leading to one of Painlevés transcendents.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/43/5/055302

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Ensembles of random density matrices determined by various probability measures are analysed. A simple and efficient algorithm to generate at random density matrices distributed according to the Bures measure is proposed. This procedure may serve as an initial step in performing the Bayesian approach to quantum state estimation based on the Bures prior. We study the distribution of purity of random mixed states. The moments of the distribution of purity are determined for quantum states generated with respect to the Bures measure. This calculation serves as an exemplary application of the ‘deform-and-study’ approach in the theory of integrable systems leading to one of Painlevés transcendents.
We compute the distribution of the purity for random density matrices (i.e. random mixed states) in a large quantum system, distributed according to the Bures measure. The full distribution of the purity is computed using a mapping to random matrix theory and then a Coulomb gas method. We find three regimes that correspond to two phase transitions in the associated Coulomb gas. The first transition is characterized by an explosion of the third derivative on the left of the transition point. The second transition is of first order, it is characterized by the detachment of a single charge of the Coulomb gas. A key remark in this paper is that the random Bures states are closely related to the O ( n ) model for n = 1. This actually led us to study 'generalized Bures states' by keeping n general instead of specializing to n = 1.
We analyze mean fidelity between random density matrices of size NNN, generated with respect to various probability measures in the space of mixed quantum states: the Hilbert-Schmidt measure, the Bures (statistical) measure, the measure induced by the partial trace, and the natural measure on the space of pure states. In certain cases explicit probability distributions for the fidelity are derived. The results obtained may be used to gauge the quality of quantum-information-processing schemes.
In quantum information geometry, the curvature of von-Neumann entropy and relative entropy induce a natural metric on the space of mixed quantum states. Here we use this information metric to construct a random matrix ensemble for states and investigate its key statistical properties such as the asymptotic eigenvalue density and mean entropy. We present an algorithm for generating these entropy-based random density matrices, thus providing a new recipe for random state generation that differs from the well established Hilbert-Schmidt and Bures-Hall ensemble approaches. We also prove a duality between the entropy-based state ensemble and a random Hamiltonian model constructed from the thermodynamic length over the set of Gibbs states. This Hamiltonian model is found to display Wigner level repulsion, implying that the dual state ensemble can be realised as a random Gibbs state with respect to a class of chaotic Hamiltonians. As an application we use our model to compute the survival probability of a randomly evolved thermofield double state, predicting a ramp and plateau over time that is characteristic of quantum chaos. For other applications, the entropy-based ensemble can be used as an uninformative prior for Bayesian quantum state or Hamiltonian tomography.
We study various methods to generate ensembles of random density matrices of a fixed size N, obtained by partial trace of pure states on composite systems. Structured ensembles of random pure states, invariant with respect to local unitary transformations are introduced. To analyze statistical properties of quantum entanglement in bi-partite systems we analyze the distribution of Schmidt coefficients of random pure states. Such a distribution is derived in the case of a superposition of k random maximally entangled states. For another ensemble, obtained by performing selective measurements in a maximally entangled basis on a multi-partite system, we show that this distribution is given by the Fuss-Catalan law and find the average entanglement entropy. A more general class of structured ensembles proposed, containing also the case of Bures, forms an extension of the standard ensemble of structureless random pure states, described asymptotically, as N → ∞, by the Marchenko-Pastur distribution.
Mixed state ensembles such as the Bures-Hall and Hilbert-Schmidt measure are probability distributions that characterise the statistical properties of random density matrices and can be used to determine the typical features of mixed quantum states. Here we extend this framework by considering the properties of random states with fixed average energy, and the ensemble-averaged density matrix is derived under this additional physical constraint. This gives rise to a type of microcanonical ensemble for random mixed states and we connect its properties to a statistical mechanical entropy and temperature. Our results are illustrated using a variety of simple spin systems, and we find that they can exhibit exotic features such as phase transitions in the absence of energetic interactions and finite relative energy fluctuations in the thermodynamic limit.
The Bures distance holds a special place among various distance measures due to its several distinguishing features and has applications in diverse problems in quantum information theory. It is related to fidelity, and among other things, it serves as a bona fide measure for quantifying the separability of quantum states. In this work, we calculate exact analytical results for the mean root fidelity and mean-square Bures distance between a fixed density matrix and a random density matrix and also between two random density matrices. In the course of derivation, we also obtain the spectral density for the product of the above pairs of density matrices. We corroborate our analytical results using Monte Carlo simulations. Moreover, we compare these results with the mean-square Bures distance between reduced density matrices generated using coupled kicked tops and find very good agreement.