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arXiv:1306.0495 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

A universal set of qubit quantum channels

Daniel Braun, Olivier Giraud, Ion Nechita, Clément Pellegrini, Marko Žnidarič

Published Mar 14, 2014• 36 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the set of quantum channels acting on a single qubit. We provide an alternative, compact generalization of the Fujiwara–Algoet conditions for complete positivity to non-unital qubit channels, which we then use to characterize the possible geometric forms of the pure output of the channel. We provide universal sets of quantum channels for all unital qubit channels as well as for all extremal (not necessarily unital) qubit channels, in the sense that all qubit channels in these sets can be obtained by concatenation of channels in the corresponding universal set. We also show that our universal sets are essentially minimal.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/47/13/135302

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We investigate the set of quantum channels acting on a single qubit. We provide an alternative, compact generalization of the Fujiwara–Algoet conditions for complete positivity to non-unital qubit channels, which we then use to characterize the possible geometric forms of the pure output of the channel. We provide universal sets of quantum channels for all unital qubit channels as well as for all extremal (not necessarily unital) qubit channels, in the sense that all qubit channels in these sets can be obtained by concatenation of channels in the corresponding universal set. We also show that our universal sets are essentially minimal.
A canonical form for unital qubit channels under local unitary transforms is obtained. In particular, it is shown that the eigenvalues of the Choi matrix of a unital quantum channel form a complete set of invariants of the canonical form. It follows immediately that every unital qubit channel is the average of four unitary channels. More generally, a unital qubit channel can be expressed as the convex combination of unitary channels with convex coefficients p1,…,pmp_1, \dots, p_mp1​,…,pm​ as long as 2(p1,…,pm)2(p_1, \dots, p_m)2(p1​,…,pm​) is majorized by the vector of eigenvalues of the Choi matrix of the channel. A unital qubit channel in the canonical form will transform the Bloch sphere onto an ellipsoid. We look into the detailed structure of the natural linear maps sending the Bloch sphere onto a corresponding ellipsoid.
A canonical form for unital qubit channels under local unitary transforms is obtained. In particular, it is shown that the eigenvalues of the Choi matrix of a unital quantum channel form a complete set of invariants of the canonical form. It follows immediately that every unital qubit channel is the average of four unitary channels. More generally, a unital qubit channel can be expressed as the convex combination of unitary channels with convex coefficients p1,…,pmp_1, \dots, p_mp1​,…,pm​ as long as 2(p1,…,pm)2(p_1, \dots, p_m)2(p1​,…,pm​) is majorized by the vector of eigenvalues of the Choi matrix of the channel. A unital qubit channel in the canonical form will transform the Bloch sphere onto an ellipsoid. We look into the detailed structure of the natural linear maps sending the Bloch sphere onto a corresponding ellipsoid.
Degradable quantum channels are among the only channels whose quantum and private classical capacities are known. As such, determining the structure of these channels is a pressing open question in quantum information theory. We give a comprehensive review of what is currently known about the structure of degradable quantum channels, including a number of new results as well as alternate proofs of some known results. In the case of qubits, we provide a complete characterization of all degradable channels with two dimensional output, give a new proof that a qubit channel with two Kraus operators is either degradable or anti-degradable, and present a complete description of anti-degradable unital qubit channels with a new proof. For higher output dimensions we explore the relationship between the output and environment dimensions (dB and dE, respectively) of degradable channels. For several broad classes of channels we show that they can be modeled with an environment that is “small” in the sense of ΦC. Such channels include all those with qubit or qutrit output, those that map some pure state to an output with full rank, and all those which can be represented using simultaneously diagonal Kraus operators, even in a non-orthogonal basis. Perhaps surprisingly, we also present examples of degradable channels with “large” environments, in the sense that the minimal dimension dE>dB. Indeed, one can have dE>14dB2. These examples can also be used to give a negative answer to the question of whether additivity of the coherent information is helpful for establishing additivity for the Holevo capacity of a pair of channels. In the case of channels with diagonal Kraus operators, we describe the subclasses that are complements of entanglement breaking channels. We also obtain a number of results for channels in the convex hull of conjugations with generalized Pauli matrices. However, a number of open questions remain about these channels and the more general case of random unitary channels.
Abstract A class of unital qubit maps displaying diagonal unitary and orthogonal symmetries is analyzed. Such maps have already found a lot applications in quantum information theory. We provide a complete characterization of this class of maps showing intricate relation between positivity, operator Schwarz inequality, and complete positivity. Finally, it is shown how to generalize the entire picture beyond unital case (so called generalized Schwarz maps). Interestingly, the first example of Schwarz but not completely positive map found by Choi belongs to our class. As a case study we provide a full characterization of Pauli maps. Our analysis leads to generalization of seminal Fujiwara–Algoet conditions for Pauli quantum channels.
The Bloch representation of an n-qubit channel provides a way to represent quantum channels as certain affine transformations on [special characters omitted]. In higher dimensions (n > 1), the correspondence between quantum channels and their Bloch representations is not well-understood. Partly motivated by the ability to simplify the calculation of information theoretic quantities of a qubit channel using the Bloch representation, in this thesis we investigate the correspondence between a channel and its Bloch representation with an emphasis on unital n-qubit channels, in which case the Bloch representation is linear. The thesis is divided into three main sections. First we focus our attention on qubit channels. For certain sets of quantum channels, we establish the surprising existence of a special isomorphism into the set of classical channels. We classify the sets of qubit channels with this property and show that information theoretic quantities are preserved by such classical representations. In a natural progression, we prove some well-known facts about SO(3), the proofs of which are either nonexistent or difficult to find in the literature. Some of this work is based on [12, 13]. In the next section, we consider the multi-qubit channels and show that every finite group can be realized as a subgroup of the quantum channels; this approach allows for the construction of a quantum representation for the free affine monoid over any finite group and gives a classical representation for it. We extend some fundamental results from [26, 28] to the multi-qubit case, including that the set of diagonal Bloch matrices is equal to the free affine monoid over the involution group [special characters omitted]. Some of this work appeared in [10]. Lastly, we study the extreme points for the set of n-qubit channels. There are two types of extreme points: invertible and non-invertible; invertible channels are non-singular maps for which the inverse is also a channel. We briefly study the non-invertible extreme points and then parameterize and analyze the invertiblen-qubit Bloch matrices, which form a compact connected Lie group. We calculate the Lie algebra and give an explicit generating set for the invertible Bloch matrices and a maximal torus.