Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1112.0437 · Physical Review A

Barycentric measure of quantum entanglement

Wojciech Ganczarek, Marek Kuś, Karol Życzkowski

Published Mar 14, 2012• 48 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Majorana representation of quantum states by a constellation of $n$ ``stars'' (points on the sphere) can be used to describe any pure state of a simple system of dimension $n+1$ or a permutation symmetric pure state of a composite system consisting of $n$ qubits. We analyze the variance of the distribution of the stars, which can serve as a measure of the degree of noncoherence for simple systems or an entanglement measure for composed systems. Dynamics of the Majorana points induced by a unitary dynamics of a pure state is investigated.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.85.032314

Related papers

Symmetric multiqudit states: Stars, entanglement, and rotosensors

Chryssomalis Chryssomalakos, Louis Hanotel, Edgar Guzmán-González +3 more

A constellation of $N=d\ensuremath{-}1$ Majorana stars represents an arbitrary pure quantum state of dimension $d$ or a permutation-symmetric state of a system consisting of $n$ qubits. We generalize the latter construction to represent in a similar way an arbitrary symmetric pure state of $k$ subsystems with $d$ levels each. For $d\ensuremath{\ge}3$, such states are equivalent, as far as rotations are concerned, to a collection of various spin states, with definite relative complex weights. Following Majorana's lead, we introduce a multiconstellation, consisting of the Majorana constellations of the above spin states, augmented by an auxiliary, ``spectator'' constellation, encoding the complex weights. Examples of stellar representations of symmetric states of four qutrits, and two spin-3/2 systems, are presented. We revisit the Hermite and Murnaghan isomorphisms, which relate multipartite states of various spins, number of parties, and even symmetries. We show how the tools introduced can be used to analyze multipartite entanglement and to identify optimal quantum rotosensors, i.e., pure states which are maximally sensitive to rotations around a specified axis, or averaged over all axes.

arXiv:2103.02786•Physical Review A•Jul 6, 2021•11 citations

Majorana Constellations: A Geometric Lens on Multipartite Entanglement and Geometric Phases

Chon-Fai Kam

The Majorana stellar representation maps a pure spin-$S$ state to $2S$ points on a sphere. This review develops it with entanglement as the organising principle, and two objects recur throughout: the constellation, and the permanent of the Gram matrix of its stars. The degeneracy pattern of the constellation is invariant under stochastic local operations and classical communication, so the integer partitions of $N$ label a finite set of families of symmetric $N$-qubit states. That labelling is a coarse-graining rather than a classification, since from four distinct stars onwards each family carries continuous Möbius moduli. The permanent supplies what the pattern omits. Normalised by it, inter-star chordal distances give the concurrence and the three-tangle in closed form, and the same permanent governs the anomalous contribution to the Berry phase acquired under adiabatic cyclic evolution, so that a single quantity links static correlations to dynamical holonomy. We also fix the computational reach of the geometry. Overlaps of symmetric states are permanents of matrices of rank at most two and are polynomially computable, whereas measures defined by an optimisation over the sphere are not reached by that argument. Interest in stellar representations has resurged, but the literature remains dispersed, and no existing treatment develops the link between constellation geometry, multipartite entanglement, and geometric phases within a single framework. The same two objects organise the applications reviewed here, from extremal states in metrology and permutation-invariant codes to collective spin models and photonic constellations, together with extensions to mixed states and to continuous-variable systems through the stellar rank. Whether the anomalous phase admits a bound in terms of any entanglement monotone remains open.

quant-pharXiv:2605.15008•Physica Scripta•May 15, 2026•0 citations

Berry phase and quantum entanglement in Majorana's stellar representation

H. D. Liu, Libin Fu

By presenting the evolution of a quantum state with the trajectories of the Majorana stars on the Bloch sphere, the Majorana's stellar provides an intuitive geometric picture to study a quantum system with high-dimensional Hilbert space. We study the Berry phase and quantum entanglement by distributions and motions of these stars on the Bloch sphere. It is shown that both of these unique characters of quantum state can be perfectly represented by the Majorana stars. The former is expressed by the solid angles of Majorana star loops and the distance between stars. For the latter, the distances between stars are also found to be a tool for measuring and classifying the multiparticle entanglement of a symmetric multiqubit pure state. To demonstrate our theory, we study a typical spin model which is equivalent to an interacting boson model or an interacting multiqubit system. The self-trapping phenomenon within is also discussed via the Majorana stars.

Physical Review A•Aug 31, 2016•34 citations

CLASSIFICATION OF ENTANGLEMENT IN SYMMETRIC STATES

Martin Aulbach

Quantum states that are symmetric with respect to permutations of their subsystems appear in a wide range of physical settings, and they have a variety of promising applications in quantum information science. In this thesis, the entanglement of symmetric multipartite states is categorized, with a particular focus on the pure multi-qubit case and the geometric measure of entanglement. An essential tool for this analysis is the Majorana representation, a generalization of the single-qubit Bloch sphere representation, which allows for a unique representation of symmetric n-qubit states by n points on the surface of a sphere. Here this representation is employed to search for the maximally entangled symmetric states of up to 12 qubits in terms of the geometric measure, and an intuitive visual understanding of the upper bound on the maximal symmetric entanglement is given. Furthermore, it will be seen that the Majorana representation facilitates the characterization of entanglement equivalence classes such as stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) and the degeneracy configuration (DC). It is found that SLOCC operations between symmetric states can be described by the Möbius transformations of complex analysis, which allows for a clear visualization of the SLOCC freedoms and facilitates the understanding of SLOCC invariants and equivalence classes. In particular, explicit forms of representative states for all symmetric SLOCC classes of up to five qubits are derived. Well-known entanglement classification schemes such as the four qubit entanglement families or polynomial invariants are reviewed in the light of the results gathered here, which leads to sometimes surprising connections. Some interesting links and applications of the Majorana representation to related fields of mathematics and physics are also discussed.

arXiv:1110.5200•International Journal of Quantum Information•Oct 1, 2012•37 citations

Majorana decomposition for two-qubit pure states

C Yang, H. D. Liu, Libin Fu

Abstract The Majorana representation (MR), which represents a quantum state and its evolution with the Majorana stars (MSs) on the Bloch sphere, provides us an intuitive way to study symmetric multiqubit pure states physical system with SU (2) symmetry. In this work, we propose a method to extend the MR for generic two-qubit pure states. By adding an additional reference star (RS), which represents the symmetry of the qubits, on the symmetric two qubit state with two base stars, we give a more general MR for both symmetric, anti-symmetric and generic two-qubit states. Using this method, we study the entanglement, Berry phase and their relation by this Majorana decomposition. Furthermore, the symmetries for different type of two-qubit states are also discussed via the RSs and correlation between the two MSs.

Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Jun 3, 2021•2 citations

N-qubit states as points on the Bloch sphere

H. Mäkelä, ANTONINO MESSINA

We show how the Majorana representation can be used to express the pure states of an N -qubit system as points on the Bloch sphere. We compare this geometrical representation of N -qubit states with an alternative one, proposed recently by the present authors.

arXiv:0910.0630•Physica Scripta•Sep 1, 2010•48 citations
Majorana representation of quantum states by a constellation of nnn ``stars'' (points on the sphere) can be used to describe any pure state of a simple system of dimension n+1n+1n+1 or a permutation symmetric pure state of a composite system consisting of nnn qubits. We analyze the variance of the distribution of the stars, which can serve as a measure of the degree of noncoherence for simple systems or an entanglement measure for composed systems. Dynamics of the Majorana points induced by a unitary dynamics of a pure state is investigated.
A constellation of $N=d\ensuremath{-}1$ Majorana stars represents an arbitrary pure quantum state of dimension ddd or a permutation-symmetric state of a system consisting of nnn qubits. We generalize the latter construction to represent in a similar way an arbitrary symmetric pure state of kkk subsystems with ddd levels each. For $d\ensuremath{\ge}3$, such states are equivalent, as far as rotations are concerned, to a collection of various spin states, with definite relative complex weights. Following Majorana's lead, we introduce a multiconstellation, consisting of the Majorana constellations of the above spin states, augmented by an auxiliary, ``spectator'' constellation, encoding the complex weights. Examples of stellar representations of symmetric states of four qutrits, and two spin-3/2 systems, are presented. We revisit the Hermite and Murnaghan isomorphisms, which relate multipartite states of various spins, number of parties, and even symmetries. We show how the tools introduced can be used to analyze multipartite entanglement and to identify optimal quantum rotosensors, i.e., pure states which are maximally sensitive to rotations around a specified axis, or averaged over all axes.
The Majorana stellar representation maps a pure spin-SSS state to 2S2S2S points on a sphere. This review develops it with entanglement as the organising principle, and two objects recur throughout: the constellation, and the permanent of the Gram matrix of its stars. The degeneracy pattern of the constellation is invariant under stochastic local operations and classical communication, so the integer partitions of NNN label a finite set of families of symmetric NNN-qubit states. That labelling is a coarse-graining rather than a classification, since from four distinct stars onwards each family carries continuous Möbius moduli. The permanent supplies what the pattern omits. Normalised by it, inter-star chordal distances give the concurrence and the three-tangle in closed form, and the same permanent governs the anomalous contribution to the Berry phase acquired under adiabatic cyclic evolution, so that a single quantity links static correlations to dynamical holonomy. We also fix the computational reach of the geometry. Overlaps of symmetric states are permanents of matrices of rank at most two and are polynomially computable, whereas measures defined by an optimisation over the sphere are not reached by that argument. Interest in stellar representations has resurged, but the literature remains dispersed, and no existing treatment develops the link between constellation geometry, multipartite entanglement, and geometric phases within a single framework. The same two objects organise the applications reviewed here, from extremal states in metrology and permutation-invariant codes to collective spin models and photonic constellations, together with extensions to mixed states and to continuous-variable systems through the stellar rank. Whether the anomalous phase admits a bound in terms of any entanglement monotone remains open.
By presenting the evolution of a quantum state with the trajectories of the Majorana stars on the Bloch sphere, the Majorana's stellar provides an intuitive geometric picture to study a quantum system with high-dimensional Hilbert space. We study the Berry phase and quantum entanglement by distributions and motions of these stars on the Bloch sphere. It is shown that both of these unique characters of quantum state can be perfectly represented by the Majorana stars. The former is expressed by the solid angles of Majorana star loops and the distance between stars. For the latter, the distances between stars are also found to be a tool for measuring and classifying the multiparticle entanglement of a symmetric multiqubit pure state. To demonstrate our theory, we study a typical spin model which is equivalent to an interacting boson model or an interacting multiqubit system. The self-trapping phenomenon within is also discussed via the Majorana stars.
Quantum states that are symmetric with respect to permutations of their subsystems appear in a wide range of physical settings, and they have a variety of promising applications in quantum information science. In this thesis, the entanglement of symmetric multipartite states is categorized, with a particular focus on the pure multi-qubit case and the geometric measure of entanglement. An essential tool for this analysis is the Majorana representation, a generalization of the single-qubit Bloch sphere representation, which allows for a unique representation of symmetric n-qubit states by n points on the surface of a sphere. Here this representation is employed to search for the maximally entangled symmetric states of up to 12 qubits in terms of the geometric measure, and an intuitive visual understanding of the upper bound on the maximal symmetric entanglement is given. Furthermore, it will be seen that the Majorana representation facilitates the characterization of entanglement equivalence classes such as stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) and the degeneracy configuration (DC). It is found that SLOCC operations between symmetric states can be described by the Möbius transformations of complex analysis, which allows for a clear visualization of the SLOCC freedoms and facilitates the understanding of SLOCC invariants and equivalence classes. In particular, explicit forms of representative states for all symmetric SLOCC classes of up to five qubits are derived. Well-known entanglement classification schemes such as the four qubit entanglement families or polynomial invariants are reviewed in the light of the results gathered here, which leads to sometimes surprising connections. Some interesting links and applications of the Majorana representation to related fields of mathematics and physics are also discussed.
Abstract The Majorana representation (MR), which represents a quantum state and its evolution with the Majorana stars (MSs) on the Bloch sphere, provides us an intuitive way to study symmetric multiqubit pure states physical system with SU (2) symmetry. In this work, we propose a method to extend the MR for generic two-qubit pure states. By adding an additional reference star (RS), which represents the symmetry of the qubits, on the symmetric two qubit state with two base stars, we give a more general MR for both symmetric, anti-symmetric and generic two-qubit states. Using this method, we study the entanglement, Berry phase and their relation by this Majorana decomposition. Furthermore, the symmetries for different type of two-qubit states are also discussed via the RSs and correlation between the two MSs.