Partial trace is a very important mathematical operation in quantum mechanics. It is not only helpful in studying the subsystems of a composite quantum system but also used in computing a vast majority of quantum entanglement measures. Calculating partial trace becomes computationally very intensive with increasing number of qubits as the Hilbert space dimension increases exponentially. In this paper, we discuss about our new method of partial tracing which is based on set theory and it is more efficient. The proposed method of partial tracing overcomes all the limitations of the other well-known methods such as being computationally intensive and being limited to low dimensional Hilbert spaces. We give a detailed theoretical description of our method and also provide an explicit example of the computation. The merits of the new method and other key ideas are discussed.
Partial trace is a very important mathematical operation in quantum mechanics. It is not only helpful in studying the subsystems of a composite quantum system but also used in computing a vast majority of quantum entanglement measures. Calculating partial trace becomes computationally very intensive with increasing number of qubits as the Hilbert space dimension increases exponentially. In this paper, we discuss about our new method of partial tracing which is based on set theory and it is more efficient. The proposed method of partial tracing overcomes all the limitations of the other well-known methods such as being computationally intensive and being limited to low dimensional Hilbert spaces. We give a detailed theoretical description of our method and also provide an explicit example of the computation. The merits of the new method and other key ideas are discussed.
The partial trace operation is usually considered in composite quantum systems, to reduce the state on a single subsystem. This operation has a key role in the decoherence effect and quantum measurements. However, partial trace operations can be defined in more generic situations. In particular, it can be used to restrict a quantum state (for a single or several quantum entities) on a specific region of space, the rest of the universe being treated as an environment. The reduced state is then interpreted as the state that can be detected by an ideal probe with a limited spatial extent. In this paper, such an operation is investigated for systems defined on a Fock Hilbert space. A generic expression of the reduced density matrix is computed, and it is applied to several case studies: eigenstates of the number operator, coherent states, and thermal states. These states admit very different behaviors. In particular, (i) a decoherence effect happens on eigenstates of the number operator (ii) coherent or thermal states remain coherent or thermal, but with an amplitude/temperature reduced non-trivially by the overlap between the field and the region of interest.
It is not in the scope of this elementary textbook to introduce quantum mechanics in detail or to provide an elaborate mathematical background required for quantum computing. However, we will provide some basic ideas that are essential for us to proceed further. To be precise, here we will briefly describe vector space, different types of operators, Gram-Schmidt procedure, postulates of quantum mechanics, POVM, density operator, entanglement and its measures, partial trace, Schmidt decomposition, Bloch sphere, nocloning theorem, etc. Let us start our journey toward the world of quantum computation by reviewing some simple ideas of algebra.
Mathematical theory of infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces and the theory of operator algebras acting in such spaces (or C algebras in a more abstract approach) provide a standard setting for the formulation of modern quantum mechanics. On the other hand, experimental and theoretical progress achieved in the field of quantum information theory in the last two decades has indicated the practical and technological importance of low-dimensional quantum systems, where only a few basic modes play a significant role. Such modes can often be effectively decoupled from the rest of the system and controlled separately, providing physical realizations of qubits, qutrits and other basic information carriers. Regardless of concrete physical realization, be it photon polarization, electron or nuclear spin, charge in Josephson junctions to name just a few, the mathematical description of such systems requires only finite-dimensional Hilbert space language and finite-dimensional matrix algebras. Such structures are in principle computationally manageable in sharp contrast to the infinite dimensional ones.
A classical simulation of quantum systems demands enormous computational resources. The dimension of underlying Hilbert space scales exponentially with the number of participating elements ( N ), requiring a 2 2N size of calculation matrix for a unitary operation, for example, 2 100 ≈ 10 30 for only N = 50. With the increase of N , the first obstacle to encounter is in fact the deficiency of computer memories. A straightforward resolution is to use a quantum computer, a calculating device that operates with the principle of quantum mechanics. During the last twenty years, quantum computing once considered as theoretical exercise has become an important field of research in modern physics. At the forefront of quantum information technology, quantum computing has emerged as a new engineering field with broad interest not only in physics but also in computer science, electronics engineering, and mathematics.
We present a general approach to quantum entanglement and entropy that is based on algebras of observables and states thereon. In contrast to more standard treatments, Hilbert space is an emergent concept, appearing as a representation space of the observable algebra, once a state is chosen. In this approach, which is based on the Gel'fand-Naimark-Segal construction, the study of subsystems becomes particularly clear. We explicitly show how the problems associated with the partial trace for the study of entanglement of identical particles are readily overcome. In particular, a suitable entanglement measure is proposed that can be applied to systems of particles obeying Fermi, Bose, para-, and even braid-group statistics. The generality of the method is also illustrated by study of the time evolution of subsystems emerging from restriction to subalgebras. Problems related to anomalies and quantum epistemology are also discussed.