We introduce two generalizations of Kochen-Specker (KS) sets: projective KS sets and generalized KS sets. We then use projective KS sets to characterize all graphs for which the chromatic number is strictly larger than the quantum chromatic number. Here, the quantum chromatic number is defined via a nonlocal game based on graph coloring. We further show that from any graph with separation between these two quantities, one can construct a classical channel for which entanglement assistance increases the one-shot zero-error capacity. As an example, we exhibit a new family of classical channels with an exponential increase.
We introduce two generalizations of Kochen-Specker (KS) sets: projective KS sets and generalized KS sets. We then use projective KS sets to characterize all graphs for which the chromatic number is strictly larger than the quantum chromatic number. Here, the quantum chromatic number is defined via a nonlocal game based on graph coloring. We further show that from any graph with separation between these two quantities, one can construct a classical channel for which entanglement assistance increases the one-shot zero-error capacity. As an example, we exhibit a new family of classical channels with an exponential increase.
We study quantum entanglement and some of its applications in graph theory and zero-error information theory. In Chapter 1 we introduce entanglement and other fundamental concepts of quantum theory. In Chapter 2 we address the question of how much quantum correlations generated by entanglement can deviate from classical predictions. We focus on non-local games: experiments in which two players are separated and forbidden to communicate, and have to collaborate to accomplish a task. We give two games exhibiting quantum-classical separations close to optimal. Remarkably, our results in theoretical physics are inspired by theoretical computer science. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the study of quantum graph parameters. Well-known quantities such as the chromatic number and the independence number of a graph can be interpreted as parameters for non-local games. A definition of quantum graph parameters follows from this fact. We contribute to the field in a number of ways. Among other results, we find a surprising characterization of the quantum chromatic number that relates to the Kochen-Specker theorem, a result in the foundations of quantum mechanics. In Chapter 4, we move to zero-error information theory. We study the zero error capacity of a classical noisy channel when the sender and the receiver can use quantum entanglement. We initiate the study of the source problem and source-channel problem with entanglement and we find channels and sources that exhibit a strong divergence in quantum and classical behaviours. To do that, we use results in combinatorics, linear algebra, optimization and number theory.
The quantum chromatic number of a graph G is sandwiched between its chromatic number and its clique number, which are well known NP-hard quantities. We restrict our attention to the rank-1 quantum chromatic number χq(1)(G), which upper bounds the quantum chromatic number, but is defined under stronger constraints. We study its relation with the chromatic number χ(G) and the minimum dimension of orthogonal representations ξ(G). It is known that ξ(G)≤χq(1)(G)≤χ(G). We answer three open questions about these relations: we give a necessary and sufficient condition to have ξ(G)=χq(1)(G), we exhibit a class of graphs such that ξ(G)<χq(1)(G), and we give a necessary and sufficient condition to have χq(1)(G)<χ(G). Our main tools are Kochen-Specker sets, collections of vectors with a traditionally important role in the study of noncontextuality of physical theories, and more recently in the quantification of quantum zero-error capacities. Finally, as a corollary of our results and a result by Avis, Hasegawa, Kikuchi, and Sasaki on the quantum chromatic number, we give a family of Kochen-Specker sets of growing dimension.
The quantum chromatic number of a graph G is sandwiched between its chromatic number and its clique number, which are well-known NP-hard quantities. We restrict our attention to the rank-1 quantum chromatic number χq(1)(G), which upper bounds the quantum chromatic number, but is defined under stronger constraints. We study its relation with the chromatic number χ(G) and the minimum dimension of orthogonal representations ξ(G). It is known that ξ(G) ≤ χq(1)(G) ≤ χ(G). We answer three open questions about these relations: we give a necessary and sufficient condition to have ξ(G) = χq(1)(G), we exhibit a class of graphs such that ξ(G) ≤ χq(1)(G), and we give a necessary and sufficient condition to have χq(1)(G) ≤ χ(G). Our main tools are Kochen-Specker sets, collections of vectors with a traditionally important role in the study of contextuality of physical theories and, more recently, in the quantification of quantum zero-error capacities. Finally, as a corollary of our results and a result by Avis et al on the quantum chromatic number, we give a family of Kochen-Specker sets of growing dimension.
We consider the problem of entanglement-assisted one-shot classical communication. In the zero-error regime, entanglement can increase the one-shot zero-error capacity of a family of classical channels following the strategy of Cubitt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 230503 (2010). This strategy uses the Kochen-Specker theorem which is applicable only to projective measurements. As such, in the regime of noisy states and/or measurements, this strategy cannot increase the capacity. To accommodate generically noisy situations, we examine the one-shot success probability of sending a fixed number of classical messages. We show that preparation contextuality powers the quantum advantage in this task, increasing the one-shot success probability beyond its classical maximum. Our treatment extends beyond Cubitt et al. and includes, for example, the experimentally implemented protocol of Prevedel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 110505 (2011). We then show a mapping between this communication task and a corresponding nonlocal game. This mapping generalizes the connection with pseudotelepathy games previously noted in the zero-error case. Finally, after motivating a constraint we term context-independent guessing , we show that contextuality witnessed by noise-robust noncontextuality inequalities obtained in R. Kunjwal, Quantum 4, 219 (2020), is sufficient for enhancing the one-shot success probability. This provides an operational meaning to these inequalities and the associated hypergraph invariant, the weighted max-predictability, introduced in R. Kunjwal, Quantum 3, 184 (2019). Our results show that the task of entanglement-assisted one-shot classical communication provides a fertile ground to study the interplay of the Kochen-Specker theorem, Spekkens contextuality, and Bell nonlocality.
We demonstrate superadditivity of one-shot zero-error classical capacity in an asymmetric communication setting where a noisy classical channel is used in parallel with a perfect quantum channel. Each channel individually supports only a fixed number of perfectly distinguishable messages. Their joint use enables transmission of strictly more messages than permitted by the product of the individual capacities. We present explicit constructions achieving this enhancement and establish that replacing the perfect quantum channel with a perfect classical channel eliminates the effect. Finally, we identify a structural criterion on the noisy channel governing this effect and show that the quantum advantage is rooted in Kochen-Specker contextuality.
We construct a new graph on 120 vertices whose quantum and classical independence numbers are different. At the same time, we construct an infinite family of graphs whose quantum chromatic numbers are smaller than the classical chromatic numbers. Furthermore, we discover the relation to Kochen-Specker sets that characterizes quantum cocliques that are strictly bigger than classical ones. Finally, we prove that for graphs with independence number is two, quantum and classical independence numbers coincide.