Algebraic number theory relates SIC-POVMs in dimension d > 3 to those in dimension d(d − 2). We define a SIC in dimension d(d − 2) to be aligned to a SIC in dimension d if and only if the squares of the overlap phases in dimension d appear as a subset of the overlap phases in dimension d(d − 2) in a specified way. We give 19 (mostly numerical) examples of aligned SICs. We conjecture that given any SIC in dimension d, there exists an aligned SIC in dimension d(d − 2). In all our examples, the aligned SIC has lower dimensional equiangular tight frames embedded in it. If d is odd so that a natural tensor product structure exists, we prove that the individual vectors in the aligned SIC have a very special entanglement structure, and the existence of the embedded tight frames follows as a theorem. If d − 2 is an odd prime number, we prove that a complete set of mutually unbiased bases can be obtained by reducing an aligned SIC to this dimension.
Abstract A SIC is a maximal equiangular tight frame in a finite dimensional Hilbert space. Given a SIC in dimension d, there is good evidence that there always exists an aligned SIC in dimension d(d − 2), having predictable symmetries and smaller equiangular tight frames embedded in them. We provide a recipe for how to calculate sets of vectors in dimension d(d − 2) that share these properties. They consist of maximally entangled vectors in certain subspaces defined by the numbers entering the d dimensional SIC. However, the construction contains free parameters and we have not proven that they can always be chosen so that one of these sets of vectors is a SIC. We give some worked examples that, we hope, may suggest to the reader how our construction can be improved. For simplicity we restrict ourselves to the case of odd dimensions.
Abstract We show that naturally associated to a SIC (symmetric informationally complete positive operator valued measure or SIC-POVM) in dimension d there are a number of higher dimensional structures: specifically a projector and complex Hadamard matrix in dimension d 2 , and a pair of ETFs (equiangular tight frames) in dimensions . We also show that a WH (Weyl–Heisenberg covariant) SIC in odd dimension d is naturally associated to a pair of symmetric tight fusion frames in dimension d . We deduce two relaxations of the WH SIC existence problem. We also find a reformulation of the problem in which the number of equations is fewer than the number of variables. Finally, we show that in at least four cases the structures associated to a SIC lie on continuous manifolds of such structures. In two of these cases the manifolds are non-linear. Restricted defect calculations are consistent with this being true for the structures associated to every known SIC with d between 3 and 16, suggesting it may be true for all .
We prove a structure theorem for the dimension towers~
{dk(D)}k≥0 which arise in the number-theoretic formulation of Zauner's SIC-POVM conjecture over a real quadratic field~$K=\Q(\qD)$. If~$\eps$ denotes the first totally positive power of a fundamental unit of~
K and $t_k = \eps^k + \eps^{-k}$ the trace of its
k-th power, then the SIC dimension tower~
{dk=1+tk}k≥0 is the level~
m=3 row of an infinite two-dimensional cyclotomic array~
{Ψm(tk)}m≥1,k≥0 attached to~
K, while the auxiliary factors~
(dk+1) and
(dk−3) are its ramified levels
m=2 and
m=1. Here~
Ψm denotes the minimal polynomial of~
ζm+ζm−1=2cos2π/m. This construction arose initially from an attempt to formulate relations among SIC dimensions in
q-algebraic terms.
The central object is a single closed composite norm relation for the two-parameter family $c_{m,k}=1-ζ_m\eps^k$ over the cyclotomic field tower
{K(μm)}m≥1. This framework sheds new light on the mod-
p analogue of Leopoldt's conjecture, by placing the central 3-symmetry of Zauner's conjecture within a broader arithmetic context. Away from the primes dividing~
2mD, the valuations
vp(Ψm(tk)) at every fixed level~
m are described exactly in terms of a single local unit valuation, which is then related, through the~
p-adic class number formula, to the corresponding
p-adic
L-value.
Abstract Alignment is a geometric relation between pairs of Weyl–Heisenberg SICs, one in dimension d and another in dimension , manifesting a well-founded conjecture about a number-theoretical connection between the SICs. In this paper, we prove that if d is even, the SIC in dimension of an aligned pair can be partitioned into (d − 2)2 tight d 2-frames of rank and, alternatively, into d 2 tight (d − 2)2-frames of rank . The corresponding result for odd d is already known, but the proof for odd d relies on results which are not available for even d. We develop methods that allow us to overcome this issue. In addition, we provide a relatively detailed study of parity operators in the Clifford group, emphasizing differences in the theory of parity operators in even and odd dimensions and discussing consequences due to such differences. In a final section, we study implications of alignment for the symmetry of the SIC.
Abstract A symmetric informationally complete positive-operator-valued measure (SIC-POVM) is a special type of generalized quantum measurements that possesses a high degree of symmetry. It plays an important role in quantum tomography, quantum cryptography and foundations of quantum mechanics. The most important and difficult problem about SIC-POVM is to show its existence in every dimension n, which is suggested by many numerical evidences. In this paper, this existence problem of SIC-POVMs is investigated by considering their overlap phases. Specifically, the symmetric requirements of SIC-POVMs are encoded into the overlap phases between the fiducial project and the n 2 displacement operators. In this way, an equivalent condition of the existence of Weyl-Heisenberg group covariant SIC-POVMs is obtained in terms of these phases, so that a set of complex equations is established, which enables one to study the existence problem in a more explicit and direct fashion. In particular, we show that all the numbers appearing in the overlap phases have to be algebraic numbers. The significance of Zauner’s conjecture in our equivalent condition is also discussed, and therefore the SIC-POVMs in dimension four is constructed explicitly. Actually, our system of equations always admits a solution, the real difficulty lies in how to ensure these complex number solutions are of norm one, and therefore indeed phases. Our result shows that constructing SIC-POVMs from the overlap phases is possible, and symmetries can be applied directly to reduce the number of equations, so that it provide new insights into the difficult problem of SIC-POVMs, especially about the algebraic properties of these overlap phases.
It has been observed that the mutual scalar products of the vectors in a SIC-POVM are given by algebraic units, and at least in some cases by square roots of Stark units. The full picture is somewhat more complicated, especially if non-minimal SIC-POVMs are considered. We present a mixture of exact and numerical evidence suggesting that the overlap units are always products of integral powers of square roots of Stark units from ray class fields all of which are attached to the maximal ring of integers in the base field. In the non-minimal case a lattice of such ray class fields is involved. In every second dimension (counted in a certain way) some of the overlap units equal
±1, and we show that this follows from a special property of the ray class fields. Our observations are complementary to but consistent with the claim that the overlap units can be calculated directly from the Shintani--Faddeev modular cocycle.