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arXiv:1010.4840 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Categorical quantum circuits

Ville Bergholm, Jacob Biamonte

Published May 13, 2011• 29 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this paper, we extend previous work carried out on the application of the mathematics of category theory to quantum information science.Specifically, we present a realization of a dagger-compact category that can model finitedimensional quantum systems and explicitly allows for the interaction of systems of arbitrary, possibly unequal, dimensions.Hence, our framework can handle generic tensor network states, including matrix product states.Our categorical model subsumes the traditional quantum circuit model while remaining directly and easily applicable to problems stated in the language of quantum information science.The circuit diagrams themselves now become morphisms in a category, making quantum circuits a special case of a much more general mathematical framework.We introduce the key algebraic properties of our tensor calculus diagrammatically and show how they can be applied to solve problems in the field of quantum information.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/44/24/245304

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In this paper, we extend previous work carried out on the application of the mathematics of category theory to quantum information science.Specifically, we present a realization of a dagger-compact category that can model finitedimensional quantum systems and explicitly allows for the interaction of systems of arbitrary, possibly unequal, dimensions.Hence, our framework can handle generic tensor network states, including matrix product states.Our categorical model subsumes the traditional quantum circuit model while remaining directly and easily applicable to problems stated in the language of quantum information science.The circuit diagrams themselves now become morphisms in a category, making quantum circuits a special case of a much more general mathematical framework.We introduce the key algebraic properties of our tensor calculus diagrammatically and show how they can be applied to solve problems in the field of quantum information.
This paper explores the application of category theory to provide a semantic framework for quantum vector spaces, which are fundamental to quantum mechanics and quantum information. We move beyond the traditional algebraic and analytical descriptions of Hilbert spaces to adopt a more abstract, compositional, and graphical approach rooted in monoidal categories. This categorical perspective allows for a unified understanding of quantum phenomena, including superposition, entanglement, and measurement, by representing quantum systems as objects and processes as morphisms. We delve into the concept of compact closed categories and dagger symmetric monoidal categories as the appropriate mathematical structures to capture the essential features of quantum theory, such as duality, adjoints, and the tensor product for composite systems. Furthermore, the paper discusses how graphical calculi, arising from these categorical structures, offer an intuitive and rigorous method for reasoning about quantum protocols and computations, facilitating the design and verification of quantum algorithms. By providing a high-level, axiomatic framework, categorical semantics clarifies the foundational principles of quantum mechanics and opens new avenues for developing quantum programming languages and understanding the interplay between quantum information and computation.
We examine the use of string diagrams and the mathematics of category theory in the description of quantum states by tensor networks. This approach lead to a unification of several ideas, as well as several results and methods that have not previously appeared in either side of the literature. Our approach enabled the development of a tensor network framework allowing a solution to the quantum decomposition problem which has several appealing features. Specifically, given an n-body quantum state |ψ〉, we present a new and general method to factor |ψ〉 into a tensor network of clearly defined building blocks. We use the solution to expose a previously unknown and large class of quantum states which we prove can be sampled efficiently and exactly. This general framework of categorical tensor network states, where a combination of generic and algebraically defined tensors appear, enhances the theory of tensor network states.
This is the first paper in a series where we generalize the Categorical Quantum Mechanics program (due to Abramsky, Coecke, et al) to braided systems. In our view a uniform description of quantum information for braided systems has not yet emerged. The picture is complicated by a diversity of examples that lacks a unifying framework for proving theorems and discovering new protocols. We use category theory to construct a high-level language that abstracts the quantum mechanical properties of braided systems. We exploit this framework to propose an axiomatic description of braided quantum information intended for topological quantum computation. In this installment we first generalize the primordial Abramsky-Coecke "quantum information flow" paradigm from compact closed categories to right-rigid strict monoidal categories. We then study dagger structures for rigid and/or braided categories and formulate a graphical dagger calculus. We then propose two generalizations of strongly compact closed categories. Finally we study partial traces in the context of dagger categories.
Categorical quantum mechanics exploits the dagger compact closed structure of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces, and uses the graphical calculus of string diagrams to facilitate reasoning about finite dimensional processes. A significant portion of quantum physics, however, involves reasoning about infinite dimensional processes, and it is well-known that the category of all Hilbert spaces is not compact closed. Thus, a limitation of using dagger compact closed categories is that one cannot directly accommodate reasoning about infinite dimensional processes. A natural categorical generalization of compact closed categories, in which infinite dimensional spaces can be modelled, is *-autonomous categories and, more generally, linearly distributive categories. This article starts the development of this direction of generalizing categorical quantum mechanics. An important first step is to establish the behaviour of the dagger in these more general settings. Thus, these notes simultaneously develop the categorical semantics of multiplicative dagger linear logic. The notes end with the definition of a mixed unitary category. It is this structure which is subsequently used to extend the key features of categorical quantum mechanics.
With the development of topological field theory, the mathematical tool of the tensor category was also introduced into physics. Traditional group theory corresponds to a special category,group category. Tensor categories can describe higher-order interactions and symmetric relations, while group theory can only describe first-order interactions. In fact, the quantum circuit itself constitutes a category. However, at present, the field of quantum computing mainly uses group theory as a mathematical tool. If category theory is introduced into the field of quantum simulation, the application scope of quantum computers can be greatly expanded. This paper propose a new dynamic simulation method,categorical quantum simulation. In our paradigm quantum simulation is no longer based on the structure of the group theory, but based on the structure of the tensor category. This could enable many systems that could not be efficiently quantum simulated before.In this article we give an concrete example of the categorical simulation of SU(3)SU(3)SU(3) Yang-Mills theory. It shows that categorical quantum simulation provides a new encoding method,emergenism encoding, which saves more qubits resources than reductionism quantum encoding. In addition, many domains can be described in the language of category theory, which allows quantum circuits to directly encode and simulate these domains.
This paper has two tightly intertwined aims: (i) to introduce an intuitive and universal graphical calculus for multi-qubit systems, the ZX -calculus, which greatly simplifies derivations in the area of quantum computation and information. (ii) To axiomatize complementarity of quantum observables within a general framework for physical theories in terms of dagger symmetric monoidal categories. We also axiomatize phase shifts within this framework. Using the well-studied canonical correspondence between graphical calculi and dagger symmetric monoidal categories, our results provide a purely graphical formalisation of complementarity for quantum observables. Each individual observable, represented by a commutative special dagger Frobenius algebra, gives rise to an Abelian group of phase shifts, which we call the phase group. We also identify a strong form of complementarity, satisfied by the Z - and X -spin observables, which yields a scaled variant of a bialgebra.