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arXiv:1703.08618 · Forum of Mathematics Pi

THE SET OF QUANTUM CORRELATIONS IS NOT CLOSED

William Slofstra

Published Jan 1, 2019• 177 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We construct a linear system nonlocal game which can be played perfectly using a limit of finite-dimensional quantum strategies, but which cannot be played perfectly on any finite-dimensional Hilbert space, or even with any tensor-product strategy. In particular, this shows that the set of (tensor-product) quantum correlations is not closed. The constructed nonlocal game provides another counterexample to the ‘middle’ Tsirelson problem, with a shorter proof than our previous paper (though at the loss of the universal embedding theorem). We also show that it is undecidable to determine if a linear system game can be played perfectly with a finite-dimensional strategy, or a limit of finite-dimensional quantum strategies.

DOI
10.1017/fmp.2018.3

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We construct a linear system nonlocal game which can be played perfectly using a limit of finite-dimensional quantum strategies, but which cannot be played perfectly on any finite-dimensional Hilbert space, or even with any tensor-product strategy. In particular, this shows that the set of (tensor-product) quantum correlations is not closed. The constructed nonlocal game provides another counterexample to the ‘middle’ Tsirelson problem, with a shorter proof than our previous paper (though at the loss of the universal embedding theorem). We also show that it is undecidable to determine if a linear system game can be played perfectly with a finite-dimensional strategy, or a limit of finite-dimensional quantum strategies.
Tsirelson’s problem asks whether the commuting operator model for two-party quantum correlations is equivalent to the tensor-product model. We give a negative answer to this question by showing that there are non-local games which have perfect commuting-operator strategies, but do not have perfect tensor-product strategies. The weak Tsirelson problem, which is known to be equivalent to the Connes embedding problem, remains open. The examples we construct are instances of (binary) linear system games. For such games, previous results state that the existence of perfect strategies is controlled by the solution group of the linear system. Our main result is that every finitely-presented group embeds in some solution group. As an additional consequence, we show that the problem of determining whether a linear system game has a perfect commuting-operator strategy is undecidable.
We construct an explicit binary linear system game that separates CqaC_{qa}Cqa​, the closure of the set of finite dimensional quantum correlations, from CqcC_{qc}Cqc​, the set of commuting operator correlations. The game admits a perfect commuting operator strategy, while every correlation in CqaC_{qa}Cqa​ has a success probability strictly less than 1. This provides a concrete counterexample to Tsirelson's problem in its approximation form. The defining system has 1417152 equations in 1889684 variables, with exactly three nonzero coefficients per equation and a single nonzero entry on the right hand side. We also compute the classical value exactly. The complete system is specified in Lean 4, and the separation and exact classical value are formalized using Mathlib.
Tsirelson once claimed that the set of quantum correlations, defined by strategies of non-local two-player games, does not depend on which of two possible models is chosen: the tensor product model or the commuting operator model. He later came back from this claim, and the resulting conjecture is now known as Tsirelson’s problem. The problem has since been proven equivalent to notoriously hard problems in operator theory, such as the Connes’ Embedding Problem and the QWEP conjecture. In this master thesis, we look at the finite dimensional case of Tsirelson’s problem, working out all the details of an existing proof and giving a new, shorter proof which also extends to the nuclear case. Moreover, we give an overview of the equivalence of Tsirelson’s problem and two of Kirchberg’s conjectures, including the QWEP conjecture. Finally, we give some results and considerations for the three-player case of Tsirelson’s problem. The appendix contains proofs of many related results used throughout the thesis, and also a beginner’s introduction to quantum mechanics.
One of the longstanding open problems in quantum nonlocality is to determine if maximally entangled states are complete for bipartite pseudo-telepathic games: namely, if every nonlocal game which admits a perfect entangled strategy admits such a strategy which uses a maximally entangled state. We exhibit a counterexample to this in the form of a bipartite nonlocal game with input sets of size 4 and 3 and output sets both of size 6. This game is part of a new class of nonlocal games, which we call inner product games, which could be of independent interest.
Linear system games are a generalization of Mermin’s magic square game introduced by Cleve and Mittal. They show that perfect strategies for linear system games in the tensor-product model of entanglement correspond to finite-dimensional operator solutions of a certain set of non-commutative equations. We investigate linear system games in the commuting-operator model of entanglement, where Alice and Bob’s measurement operators act on a joint Hilbert space, and Alice’s operators must commute with Bob’s operators. We show that perfect strategies in this model correspond to possibly infinite-dimensional operator solutions of the non-commutative equations. The proof is based around a finitely presented group associated with the linear system which arises from the non-commutative equations.
We exhibit non-closedness at perfect play for normal injective hosts: an explicit finite two-player game with 0/1 scoring has a perfect commuting-operator correlation approached by finite-dimensional quantum correlations, while no perfect strategy has a normal marginal on an injective von Neumann algebra of either player. The game has 561 Alice questions, 157 Bob questions, 3,696 sampled pairs and at most 20 answers per question. Perfect play is realized on a matrix amplification of the Bellaterra critical-KMS factor of type III with parameter 1/2. After restricting to the support of the chosen normal marginal, every perfect strategy yields a modular Cuntz pair and six self-similar relations that force the canonical trace on the free product of three groups of order two. The resulting noninjective group von Neumann algebra is an expected subalgebra of that support corner, with a faithful normal state-preserving expectation. A two-sided POVM lift through a matrix ultraproduct proves approximation by finite systems. Consequently correlations admitting normal injective hosts are not closed. Under the explicit hypotheses of Halvorson's Proposition 2.31, locally normal quantum-field-theory strategies cannot win exactly. We also formulate a KMS-face criterion for complete modular presentations. Exact arithmetic certificates check every supported losing event; the forcing proof applies to arbitrary normal strategies.