Entanglement swapping is a fundamental operation in quantum repeaters for establishing entanglement between distant parties. The positive partial transpose (PPT) squared conjecture asks whether two PPT entangled links can generate terminal entanglement through entanglement swapping, or equivalently, whether the composition of two PPT maps is always entanglement breaking. Motivated by this conjecture, we investigate the map-composition problem beyond the PPT setting. For qutrit completely positive (CP) maps, we prove that the composition of any CP map whose Choi matrix is $1$ -undistillable with any CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in either order. Moreover, we show that the cone of $1$ -undistillable CP maps is exactly the largest qutrit cone of CP maps whose composition with every CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in both orders. Finally, although map composition captures only the standard maximally entangled outcome in entanglement swapping, we prove that any $1$ -undistillable two-qutrit state and any state of Schmidt number at most two cannot generate terminal entanglement under an arbitrary selective measurement on the intermediate systems.Entanglement swapping is a fundamental operation in quantum repeaters for establishing entanglement between distant parties. The positive partial transpose (PPT) squared conjecture asks whether two PPT entangled links can generate terminal entanglement through entanglement swapping, or equivalently, whether the composition of two PPT maps is always entanglement breaking. Motivated by this conjecture, we investigate the map-composition problem beyond the PPT setting. For qutrit completely positive (CP) maps, we prove that the composition of any CP map whose Choi matrix is $1$-undistillable with any CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in either order. Moreover, we show that the cone of $1$-undistillable CP maps is exactly the largest qutrit cone of CP maps whose composition with every CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in both orders. Finally, although map composition captures only the standard maximally entangled outcome in entanglement swapping, we prove that any $1$-undistillable two-qutrit state and any state of Schmidt number at most two cannot generate terminal entanglement under an arbitrary selective measurement on the intermediate systems.

quant-pharXiv:2607.15947Jul 20, 20260 citations

Interpolations of entanglement breaking channels and equivalent conditions for completely positive maps

Yuan Li, Hong-Ke Du

Journal of Functional AnalysisJan 22, 201523 citations

Annihilating and breaking Lorentz cone entanglement

Francesca La Piana, Alexander Müller‐Hermes

Linear maps between finite-dimensional ordered vector spaces with orders induced by proper cones C A and C B are called entanglement breaking if their partial application sends the maximal tensor product K ⊗ max C A into the minimal tensor product K ⊗ min C B for any proper cone K . We study the larger class of Lorentz-entanglement breaking maps where K is restricted to be a Lorentz cone of any dimension, i.e., any cone over a Euclidean ball. This class of maps appeared recently in the study of asymptotic entanglement annihilation and it is dual to the linear maps factoring through Lorentz cones. Our main results establish connections between these classes of maps and operator ideals studied in the theory of Banach spaces. For operators u : X → Y between finite-dimensional normed spaces X and Y we consider so-called central maps which are positive with respect to the cones C A = C X and C B = C Y . We show how to characterize when such a map factors through a Lorentz cone and when it is Lorentz-entanglement breaking by using the Hilbert-space factorization norm γ 2 and its dual ⁎ γ 2 ⁎ . We also study the class of Lorentz-entanglement annihilating maps whose local application sends the Lorentzian tensor product C A ⊗ L C A into the minimal tensor product C B ⊗ min C B . When C A is a cone over a finite-dimensional normed space and C B is a Lorentz cone itself, the central maps of this kind can be characterized by the 2-summing norm π 2 . Finally, we prove interesting connections between these classes of maps for general cones, and we identify examples with particular properties, e.g., cones with an analogue of the 2-summing property.Linear maps between finite-dimensional ordered vector spaces with orders induced by proper cones C A and C B are called entanglement breaking if their partial application sends the maximal tensor product K ⊗ max C A into the minimal tensor product K ⊗ min C B for any proper cone K . We study the larger class of Lorentz-entanglement breaking maps where K is restricted to be a Lorentz cone of any dimension, i.e., any cone over a Euclidean ball. This class of maps appeared recently in the study of asymptotic entanglement annihilation and it is dual to the linear maps factoring through Lorentz cones. Our main results establish connections between these classes of maps and operator ideals studied in the theory of Banach spaces. For operators u : X → Y between finite-dimensional normed spaces X and Y we consider so-called central maps which are positive with respect to the cones C A = C X and C B = C Y . We show how to characterize when such a map factors through a Lorentz cone and when it is Lorentz-entanglement breaking by using the Hilbert-space factorization norm γ 2 and its dual ⁎ γ 2 ⁎ . We also study the class of Lorentz-entanglement annihilating maps whose local application sends the Lorentzian tensor product C A ⊗ L C A into the minimal tensor product C B ⊗ min C B . When C A is a cone over a finite-dimensional normed space and C B is a Lorentz cone itself, the central maps of this kind can be characterized by the 2-summing norm π 2 . Finally, we prove interesting connections between these classes of maps for general cones, and we identify examples with particular properties, e.g., cones with an analogue of the 2-summing property.

arXiv:2506.14480Linear Algebra and its ApplicationsMar 12, 20260 citations

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-undistillable with any CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in either order. Moreover, we show that the cone of

1

-undistillable CP maps is exactly the largest qutrit cone of CP maps whose composition with every CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in both orders. Finally, although map composition captures only the standard maximally entangled outcome in entanglement swapping, we prove that any

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-undistillable two-qutrit state and any state of Schmidt number at most two cannot generate terminal entanglement under an arbitrary selective measurement on the intermediate systems.