We examine the SLOCC classification of the (non-normalized) pure states of four qubits obtained by F. Verstraete et al. The rigorous proofs of their basic results are provided and necessary corrections implemented. We use Invariant Theory to solve the problem of equivalence of pure states under SLOCC transformations of determinant 1 and qubit permutations. As a byproduct, we produce a new set of generators for the invariants of the Weyl group of type F_4. We complete the determination of the tensor ranks of 4-qubit pure states initiated by J.-L. Brylinski. As a result we obtain a simple algorithm for computing these ranks. We obtain also a very simple classification of pure states of rank at most 3.
We propose a new approach to the geometry of the four-qubit entanglement classes depending on parameters. More precisely, we use invariant theory and algebraic geometry to describe various stratifications of the Hilbert space by Stochastic Local Operations with Classical Communication (SLOCC) invariant algebraic varieties. The normal forms of the four-qubit classification of Verstraete et al. are interpreted as dense subsets of components of the dual variety of the set of separable states and an algorithm based on the invariants/covariants of the four-qubit quantum states is proposed to identify a state with a SLOCC equivalent normal form (up to qubits permutation).
The embedding of the
n-qubit space into the
n-fermion space with
2n modes is a widely used method in studying various aspects of these systems. This simple mapping raises a crucial question: Does the embedding preserve the entanglement structure? It is known that the answer is affirmative for
n=2 and
n=3. That is, under either local unitary (LU) operations or with respect to stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC), there is a one-to-one correspondence between the two- (or three)-qubit orbits and the two- (or three)-fermion orbits with four (or six) modes. However, these results do not generalize as the mapping from the
n-qubit orbits to the
n-fermion orbits with
2n modes is no longer surjective for
n>3. Here we consider the case of
n=4. We show that, surprisingly, the mapping of orbits from qubits to fermions is injective under SLOCC, and a similar result holds under LU for generic orbits. As a by-product, we obtain a complete answer to the problem of SLOCC equivalence of pure four-qubit states.