We develop an extension of the process matrix (PM) framework for correlations between quantum operations with no causal order that allows multiple rounds of information exchange for each party compatibly with the assumption of well-defined causal order of events locally. We characterise the higher-order process describing such correlations, which we name the multi-round process matrix (MPM), and formulate a notion of causal nonseparability for it that extends the one for standard PMs. We show that in the multi-round case there are novel manifestations of causal nonseparability that are not captured by a naive application of the standard PM formalism: we exhibit an instance of an operator that is both a valid PM and a valid MPM, but is causally separable in the first case and can violate causal inequalities in the second case due to the possibility of using a side channel.
We develop an extension of the process matrix (PM) framework for correlations between quantum operations with no causal order that allows multiple rounds of information exchange for each party compatibly with the assumption of well-defined causal order of events locally. We characterise the higher-order process describing such correlations, which we name the multi-round process matrix (MPM), and formulate a notion of causal nonseparability for it that extends the one for standard PMs. We show that in the multi-round case there are novel manifestations of causal nonseparability that are not captured by a naive application of the standard PM formalism: we exhibit an instance of an operator that is both a valid PM and a valid MPM, but is causally separable in the first case and can violate causal inequalities in the second case due to the possibility of using a side channel.
The idea that events are equipped with a partial causal order is central to our understanding of physics in the tested regimes: given two pointlike events A and B , either A is in the causal past of B , B is in the causal past of A , or A and B are space-like separated. Operationally, the meaning of these order relations corresponds to constraints on the possible correlations between experiments performed in the vicinities of the respective events: if A is in the causal past of B , an experimenter at A could signal to an experimenter at B but not the other way around, while if A and B are space-like separated, no signaling is possible in either direction. In the context of a concrete physical theory, the correlations compatible with a given causal configuration may obey further constraints. For instance, space-like correlations in quantum mechanics arise from local measurements on joint quantum states, while time-like correlations are established via quantum channels. Similarly to other variables, however, the causal order of a set of events could be random, and little is understood about the constraints that causality implies in this case. A main difficulty concerns the fact that the order of events can now generally depend on the operations performed at the locations of these events, since, for instance, an operation at A could influence the order in which B and C occur in A ’s future. So far, no formal theory of causality compatible with such dynamical causal order has been developed. Apart from being of fundamental interest in the context of inferring causal relations, such a theory is imperative for understanding recent suggestions that the causal order of events in quantum mechanics can be indefinite. Here, we develop such a theory in the general multipartite case. Starting from a background-independent definition of causality, we derive an iteratively formulated canonical decomposition of multipartite causal correlations. For a fixed number of settings and outcomes for each party, these correlations form a polytope whose facets define causal inequalities. The case of quantum correlations in this paradigm is captured by the process matrix formalism. We investigate the link between causality and the closely related notion of causal separability of quantum processes, which we here define rigorously in analogy with the link between Bell locality and separability of quantum states. We show that causality and causal separability are not equivalent in general by giving an example of a physically admissible tripartite quantum process that is causal but not causally separable. We also show that there are causally separable quantum processes that become non-causal if extended by supplying the parties with entangled ancillas. This motivates the concepts of extensibly causal and extensibly causally separable (ECS) processes, for which the respective property remains invariant under extension. We characterize the class of ECS quantum processes in the tripartite case via simple conditions on the form of the process matrix. We show that the processes realizable by classically controlled quantum circuits are ECS and conjecture that the reverse also holds.
In recent years, the investigation of causal relations in quantum theory has attracted a lot of interest. In particular, it has been found that it is possible to conceive of scenarios where some parties perform operations that are compatible with quantum theory locally, but that cannot be embedded into a global background causal structure. Such indefinite causal structures are of interest from a fundamental point of view, but also from the perspective of quantum information processing, since they do not fit into the usual paradigm of quantum circuits, which assumes a definite causal order. The main aim of this thesis is to study indefinite quantum causal relations involving more than two parties. Compared to the bipartite case, there are many new aspects and complications that arise in multipartite situations, which need to be clarified in order to fundamentally understand quantum causal structures, and to shed light on their implications and potential usefulness for quantum information processing.A suitable mathematical framework for the investigation of quantum causal relations is the process matrix formalism. In this framework, the notion of causal nonseparability was introduced in order to qualify scenarios that are incompatible with a definite causal order. In Chapter 2, we study how to generalise this concept to the multipartite case, how to characterise multipartite causally (non)separable quantum processes, and how to certify multipartite causal nonseparability. Another important topic is to determine which quantum scenarios with indefinite causal order are physically implementable, and how they can be realised concretely. In Chapter 3, we introduce two new classes of physically realisable multipartite quantum processes, and characterise them in terms of their process matrix descriptions. In particular, we define the class of quantum circuits with quantum control of causal order. The simplest example of such a circuit is the quantum switch, a protocol in which the order between two operations is controlled by a qubit in a superposition state, and which defines a causally nonseparable process. The class we introduce also contains more general examples of causally nonseparable processes with new features. We then show how the process matrix characterisation of this class allows us to search for new quantum information processing applications of causal nonseparability. In Chapter 4, we investigate a particular quantum communication effect in a scenario involving coherent control between two quantum channels. This leads us to a more general analysis of the notion of a coherently controlled channel, which involves certain subtilities. In Chapter 5, we turn to another problem that arises in multipartite scenarios, namely whether a given phenomenon is genuinely multipartite or not. More particularly, we study genuinely multipartite (non)causal correlations. In Chapter 6, we show that anomalous weak values are possible without post-selection. In Chapter 7, we show that certain tripartite process matrices, namely those that are unitarily extensible, have a realisation on so-called time-delocalised subsystems, i.e., quantum subsystems that are not associated with a definite time. The class of unitarily extensible tripartite process matrices is larger than the class of quantum circuits with quantum control, and in particular contains processes that violate so-called causal inequalities.
While the standard formulation of quantum theory assumes a fixed background causal structure, one can relax this assumption within the so-called process matrix framework. Remarkably, some processes, termed causally nonseparable, are incompatible with a definite causal order. We explore a form of certification of causal nonseparability in a semi-device-independent scenario where the involved parties receive trusted quantum inputs, but whose operations are otherwise uncharacterized. Defining the notion of causally nonseparable distributed measurements, we show that certain causally nonseparable processes that cannot violate any causal inequality, including the canonical example of the quantum switch, can generate noncausal correlations in such a scenario. Moreover, by imposing some further natural structure to the untrusted operations, we show that all bipartite causally nonseparable process matrices can be certified with trusted quantum inputs.
A recent framework of quantum theory with no global causal order predicts the existence of 'causally nonseparable' processes. Some of these processes produce correlations incompatible with any causal order (they violate so-called 'causal inequalities' analogous to Bell inequalities ) while others do not (they admit a 'causal model' analogous to a local model ). Here we show for the first time that bipartite causally nonseparable processes with a causal model exist, and give evidence that they have no clear physical interpretation. We also provide an algorithm to generate processes of this kind and show that they have nonzero measure in the set of all processes. We demonstrate the existence of processes which stop violating causal inequalities but are still causally nonseparable when mixed with a certain amount of 'white noise'. This is reminiscent of the behavior of Werner states in the context of entanglement and nonlocality. Finally, we provide numerical evidence for the existence of causally nonseparable processes which have a causal model even when extended with an entangled state shared among the parties.
Standard quantum mechanics assumes that events are embedded in a global causal structure such that, for every pair of events, the causal order between them is always fixed. The process matrix framework keeps the local validity of standard quantum mechanics while relaxing the assumption on the global causal structure. This allows to describe situations in which the order of events is not fixed, i.e. there are processes where it is not possible to specify whether A causes B or B causes A. Such processes are called causally nonseparable. So far, the formalism has been developed only for finite-dimensional systems and a straightforward generalization to infinite dimensions leads to singularities. Here we develop such generalization, and derive the correlations arising from a causally nonseparable process - the quantum switch - in infinite dimensions. The correlations exhibit interference which is due to superposition of processes in which A is before B and B is before A.
Causal nonseparability refers to processes where events take place in a coherent superposition of different causal orders.These may be the key resource for experimental violations of causal inequalities and have been recently identified as resources for concrete information-theoretic tasks.Here, we take a step forward by deriving a complete operational framework for causal nonseparability as a resource.Our first contribution is a formal definition for the specific notion of quantum control of causal orders, a stronger form of causal nonseparability-with the celebrated quantum switch as best-known example-where the causal orders of events for a target system are coherently controlled by a control system.We then build a resource theory-for both generic causal nonseparability as well as quantum control of causal orders-with a physically motivated class of free operations, based on process-matrix concatenations.We present the framework explicitly in the mindset with a control register.However, our machinery is totally versatile, being directly applicable also to scenarios with a target register alone.Moreover, an important subclass of our operations is free not only with respect to causal nonseparability and quantum control of causal orders but it also preserves the very causal structure of causal processes.Hence, our treatment contains, as a built-in feature, the basis of a resource theory of quantum causal networks too.As applications, first, we establish a simple sufficient condition for pure-process free convertibility.This imposes a hierarchy of quantum control of causal orders with the quantum switch at the top.Second, we prove that causal-nonseparability distillation exists.More precisely, we show how to convert multiple copies of a process with arbitrarily little causal nonseparability into fewer copies of a quantum switch.Our findings reveal conceptually new, unexpected phenomena, with both fundamental and practical implications.