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arXiv:2205.06035 · Journal of Physics Communications

On orthogonal bases in the Hilbert-Schmidt space of matrices

Jens Siewert

Published May 1, 2022• 15 citations
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Abstract

Abstract Decomposition of (finite-dimensional) operators in terms of orthogonal bases of matrices has been a standard method in quantum physics for decades. In recent years, it has become increasingly popular because of various methodologies applied in quantum information, such as the graph state formalism and the theory of quantum error correcting codes, but also due to the intensified research on the Bloch representation of quantum states. In this contribution we collect various interesting facts and identities that hold for finite-dimensional orthogonal matrix bases.

DOI
10.1088/2399-6528/ac6f43

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Abstract Decomposition of (finite-dimensional) operators in terms of orthogonal bases of matrices has been a standard method in quantum physics for decades. In recent years, it has become increasingly popular because of various methodologies applied in quantum information, such as the graph state formalism and the theory of quantum error correcting codes, but also due to the intensified research on the Bloch representation of quantum states. In this contribution we collect various interesting facts and identities that hold for finite-dimensional orthogonal matrix bases.
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We present three different matrix bases that can be used to decompose density matrices of d -dimensional quantum systems, so-called qudits: the generalized Gell–Mann matrix basis , the polarization operator basis and the Weyl operator basis . Such a decomposition can be identified with a vector—the Bloch vector, i.e. a generalization of the well-known qubit case—and is a convenient expression for comparison with measurable quantities and for explicit calculations avoiding the handling of large matrices. We present a new method to decompose density matrices via so-called standard matrices, consider the important case of an isotropic two-qudit state and decompose it according to each basis. In the case of qutrits we show a representation of an entanglement witness in terms of expectation values of spin-1 measurements, which is appropriate for an experimental realization.
The reduced kkk-particle density matrix of a density matrix on finite-dimensional, fermion Fock space can be defined as the image under the orthogonal projection in the Hilbert-Schmidt geometry onto the space of kkk-body observables. A proper understanding of this projection is therefore intimately related to the representability problem, a long-standing open problem in computational quantum chemistry. Given an orthonormal basis in the finite-dimensional one-particle Hilbert space, we explicitly construct an orthonormal basis of the space of Fock space operators which restricts to an orthonormal basis of the space of kkk-body operators for all kkk.
It is well known that the Schmidt decomposition exists for all pure states of a two-party quantum system. We demonstrate that there are two ways to obtain an analogous decomposition for arbitrary rank-1 operators acting on states of a bipartite finite-dimensional Hilbert space. These methods amount to joint Schmidt-type decompositions of two pure states where the two sets of coefficients and local bases depend on the properties of either state, however, at the expense of the local bases not all being orthonormal and in one case the complex-valuedness of the coefficients. With these results we derive several generally valid purity-type formulas for one-party reductions of rank-1 operators, and we point out relevant relations between the Schmidt decomposition and the Bloch representation of bipartite pure states.
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.
The tomographic description of a quantum state is formulated in an abstract infinite-dimensional Hilbert space framework, the space of the Hilbert-Schmidt linear operators, with trace formula as scalar product. Resolutions of the unity, written in terms of over-complete sets of rank-one projectors and of associated Gram-Schmidt operators taking into account their non-orthogonality, are then used to reconstruct a quantum state from its tomograms. Examples of well known tomographic descriptions illustrate the exposed theory.