The role of entanglement and quantum correlations in complex physical systems and quantum information processing devices has become a topic of intense study in the past two decades. In this work we present tools for learning about entanglement and quantum correlations in dynamical systems where the quantum states are mixed and the eigenvalue spectrum is highly degenerate. We apply these results to the deterministic quantum computing with one qubit (DQC1) computation model and show that the states generated in a DQC1 circuit have an eigenvalue structure that makes them difficult to entangle, even when they are relatively far from the completely mixed state. Our results strengthen the conjecture that it may be possible to find quantum algorithms that do not generate entanglement and yet still have an exponential advantage over their classical counterparts.
The role of entanglement and quantum correlations in complex physical systems and quantum information processing devices has become a topic of intense study in the past two decades. In this work we present tools for learning about entanglement and quantum correlations in dynamical systems where the quantum states are mixed and the eigenvalue spectrum is highly degenerate. We apply these results to the deterministic quantum computing with one qubit (DQC1) computation model and show that the states generated in a DQC1 circuit have an eigenvalue structure that makes them difficult to entangle, even when they are relatively far from the completely mixed state. Our results strengthen the conjecture that it may be possible to find quantum algorithms that do not generate entanglement and yet still have an exponential advantage over their classical counterparts.
In a quantum computation with pure states, the generation of large amounts of entanglement is known to be necessary for a speedup with respect to classical computations. However, examples of quantum computations with mixed states are known, such as the deterministic computation with one quantum qubit (DQC1) model [Knill and Laflamme, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5672 (1998)], in which entanglement is at most marginally present, and yet a computational speedup is believed to occur. Correlations, and not entanglement, have been identified as a necessary ingredient for mixed-state quantum computation speedups. Here we show that correlations, as measured through the operator Schmidt rank, are indeed present in large amounts in the DQC1 circuit. This provides evidence for the preclusion of efficient classical simulation of DQC1 by means of a whole class of classical simulation algorithms, thereby reinforcing the conjecture that DQC1 leads to a genuine quantum computational speedup.
The deterministic quantum computation with one qubit (DQC1) model is a restricted model of quantum computing able to calculate efficiently the normalized trace of a unitary matrix. In this work, we analyze the quantum correlations called entanglement, Bell's nonlocality, quantum discord, and coherence generated by the DQC1 circuit considering only two qubits (auxiliary and control). For the standard DQC1 model, only quantum discord and coherence appear. By introducing a filter in the circuit we purify the auxiliary qubit, taking it out from the totally mixed state and consequently promoting other quantum correlations between the qubits, such as entanglement and Bell's nonlocality. Through the optimization of the purification process, we conclude that even a small purification is enough to generate entanglement and Bell's nonlocality. We obtain, that by applying the purification process repeatedly an average of 12 times, the auxiliary qubit becomes 99 pure. In this situation, almost maximally entangled states are achieved, which almost maximally violate Bell's inequality. This result suggests that with a simple modification, the DQC1 model can be promoted to a universal model of quantum computing.
In this thesis, I look at the role of quantum entanglement in mixed-state quantum computation. The model we consider is the DQC1 or `power of one qubit' model. I show that there is minimal bipartite entanglement in a typical instance of the DQC1 circuit and even put an upper bound on the possible amount of entanglement. This limited amount of entanglement, however, does not imply that the system is classically simulatable. A matrix product state (MPS) algorithm for a typical instance of the DQC1 system requires exponential classical resources. This exposes a gap between the amount of entanglement and the amount of purely nonclassical correlations in a quantum system. This gap, I suggest, can be filled by quantum discord. I calculate it in a typical instance of the DQC1 circuit and find that the amount of discord is a constant fraction of the maximum possible discord for a system of that size. This allows an interpretation of quantum discord as the resource that drives mixed-state quantum computation. I also study quantum discord as a quantity of independent interest. Its role in the phenomenon of entanglement distribution is studied through an easily comprehensible example. This thesis also contains discussions on the relation between the complexity classes P, BQP and DQC1. Additional material is presented on the connections between the DQC1 model, Jones polynomials and statistical mechanics. The thesis concludes with a discussion of a few open problems related to the DQC1 model, the quantum discord and their scope in quantum information science.
Mixed state quantum computation can perform certain tasks which are believed to be efficiently intractable on a classical computer. For a specific model of mixed state quantum computation, namely, deterministic quantum computation with a single qubit (DQC1), recent investigations suggest that quantum correlations other than entanglement might be responsible for the power of DQC1 model. However, strictly speaking, the role of entanglement in this model of computation was not entirely clear. We provide conclusive evidence that there are instances where quantum entanglement is not present in any part of this model, nevertheless we have advantage over classical computation. This establishes the fact that quantum dissonance (a kind of quantum correlations) present in fully separable (FS) states provide power to DQC1 model.
Deterministic quantum computation with one pure qubit (DQC1) is an efficient model of computation that uses highly mixed states. Unlike pure-state models, its power is not derived from the generation of a large amount of entanglement. Instead it has been proposed that other nonclassical correlations are responsible for the computational speedup, and that these can be captured by the quantum discord. In this Letter we implement DQC1 in an all-optical architecture, and experimentally observe the generated correlations. We find no entanglement, but large amounts of quantum discord-except in three cases where an efficient classical simulation is always possible. Our results show that even fully separable, highly mixed, states can contain intrinsically quantum mechanical correlations and that these could offer a valuable resource for quantum information technologies.
Deterministic quantum computing with one qubit (DQC1) is a mixed-state quantum computation algorithm that evaluates the normalized trace of a unitary matrix and is more powerful than the classical counterpart. We find that the normalized trace of the unitary matrix can be directly described by the entangling power of the quantum circuit of DQC1, so the nontrivial DQC1 is always accompanied by nonvanishing entangling power. In addition, it is shown that the entangling power also determines the intrinsic complexity of this quantum computation algorithm, i.e., larger entangling power corresponds to higher complexity. In addition, it is also shown that nonvanishing entangling power always exists in other similar tasks of DQC1.