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arXiv:1106.3515 · Physical Review A

Construction of mutually unbiased bases with cyclic symmetry for qubit systems

Ulrich Seyfarth, Kedar S. Ranade

Published Oct 17, 2011• 17 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

For the complete estimation of arbitrary unknown quantum states by measurements, the use of mutually unbiased bases has been well established in theory and experiment for the past 20 years. However, most constructions of these bases make heavy use of abstract algebra and the mathematical theory of finite rings and fields, and no simple and generally accessible construction is available. This is particularly true in the case of a system composed of several qubits, which is arguably the most important case in quantum information science and quantum computation. In this paper, we close this gap by providing a simple and straightforward method for the construction of mutually unbiased bases in the case of a qubit register. We show that our construction is also accessible to experiments, since only Hadamard and controlled-phase gates are needed, which are available in most practical realizations of a quantum computer. Moreover, our scheme possesses the optimal scaling possible, i.e., the number of gates scales only linearly in the number of qubits.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.042327

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arXiv:quant-ph/0312204•Journal of Mathematical Physics•Feb 1, 2005•83 citations
For the complete estimation of arbitrary unknown quantum states by measurements, the use of mutually unbiased bases has been well established in theory and experiment for the past 20 years. However, most constructions of these bases make heavy use of abstract algebra and the mathematical theory of finite rings and fields, and no simple and generally accessible construction is available. This is particularly true in the case of a system composed of several qubits, which is arguably the most important case in quantum information science and quantum computation. In this paper, we close this gap by providing a simple and straightforward method for the construction of mutually unbiased bases in the case of a qubit register. We show that our construction is also accessible to experiments, since only Hadamard and controlled-phase gates are needed, which are available in most practical realizations of a quantum computer. Moreover, our scheme possesses the optimal scaling possible, i.e., the number of gates scales only linearly in the number of qubits.
The number of measurements necessary to perform the quantum state reconstruction of a system of qubits grows exponentially with the number of constituents, creating a major obstacle for the design of scalable tomographic schemes. We work out a simple and efficient method based on cyclic generation of mutually unbiased bases. The basic generator requires only Hadamard and controlled-phase gates, which are available in most practical realizations of these systems. We show how complete sets of mutually unbiased bases with different entanglement structures can be realized for three and four qubits. We also analyze the quantum circuits implementing the various entanglement classes.
We present a detailed computational and algebraic study of Mutually Unbiased Bases (MUBs) in finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces, with a particular focus on dimensions 2, 3, 4, and the challenging case of 6. Starting from the Hadamard-phase parametrization, we derive explicit analytical conditions for mutual unbiasedness in dimension 4, providing a tractable system of trigonometric constraints on the phase parameters. We then explore a tensor-product construction via Pauli operators, highlighting the algebraic and group-theoretical origin of MUBs in two-qubit systems, and demonstrating how these constructions yield a complete set of 5 MUBs in dimension 4. Extending our approach, we investigate the Fourier-family method in dimension 6, where the absence of a prime-power structure imposes strong rigidity constraints and limits the known constructions to sets of 3 MUBs. We provide a systematic computational framework for testing candidate phase vectors, bridging the gap between analytical insight and numerical exploration. Finally, we generalize the discussion to arbitrary prime-power dimensions, emphasizing the role of finite-field structures, Heisenberg-Weyl operators, and discrete symmetries in generating complete sets of MUBs. Our work offers a transparent, line-by-line verification methodology, highlighting both the geometric and algebraic richness of MUBs, and clarifying why certain dimensions resist full analytical constructions. This study serves as a comprehensive resource for researchers seeking both theoretical understanding and practical construction of MUBs in quantum information science.
An Efficient Quantum Circuit Construction Method for Mutually Unbiased Bases in nnn-Qubit Systems
Mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) play a crucial role in numerous applications within quantum information science, such as quantum state tomography, error correction, entanglement detection, and quantum cryptography. Utilizing 2n+12^n + 12n+1 MUB circuits provides a minimal and optimal measurement strategy for reconstructing all nnn-qubit unknown states. It significantly reduces the number of measurements compared to the traditional 4n4^n4n Pauli observables, also enhancing the robustness of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols. Previous circuit designs that rely on a single generator can result in exponential gate costs for some MUB circuits. In this work, we present an efficient algorithm to generate each of the 2n+12^n + 12n+1 quantum MUB circuits on nnn-qubit systems within O(n3)O(n^3)O(n3) time. The algorithm features a three-stage structure, and we have calculated the average number of different gates for random sampling. Additionally, we have identified two linear properties: the entanglement part can be directly defined into 2n−32n - 32n−3 fixed sub-parts, and the knowledge of nnn special MUB circuits is sufficient to construct all 2n+12^n + 12n+1 MUB circuits. This new efficient and simple circuit construction paves the way for the implementation of a complete set of MUBs in diverse quantum information processing tasks on high-dimensional quantum systems.
Mutually unbiased bases are an important tool in many applications of quantum information theory. We present a new algorithm for finding the mutually unbiased bases for two-qubit systems. We derive a system of four equations in the Galois field GF(4) and show that the solutions of this system are sufficient for obtaining the most general set of mutually unbiased bases. Further, our algorithm is applied to an example and we show that there are three possible solutions of the system of four equations, each solution leading to a different set of mutually unbiased bases.
In a quantum system having a finite number N of orthogonal states, two orthonormal bases {ai} and {bj} are called mutually unbiased if all inner products ⟨ai∣bj⟩ have the same modulus 1∕N. This concept appears in several quantum information problems. The number of pairwise mutually unbiased bases is at most N+1 and various constructions of such N+1 bases have been found when N is a power of a prime number. We study families of formulas that generalize these constructions to arbitrary dimensions using finite rings. We then prove that there exists a set of N+1 mutually unbiased bases described by such formulas, if and only if N is a power of a prime number.