Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2309.15919 · Quantum

Efficient Computation of the Quantum Rate-Distortion Function

Kerry He, James Saunderson, Hamza Fawzi

Published Apr 9, 2024• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The quantum rate-distortion function plays a fundamental role in quantum information theory, however there is currently no practical algorithm which can efficiently compute this function to high accuracy for moderate channel dimensions. In this paper, we show how symmetry reduction can significantly simplify common instances of the entanglement-assisted quantum rate-distortion problems. This allows us to better understand the properties of the quantum channels which obtain the optimal rate-distortion trade-off, while also allowing for more efficient computation of the quantum rate-distortion function regardless of the numerical algorithm being used. Additionally, we propose an inexact variant of the mirror descent algorithm to compute the quantum rate-distortion function with provable sublinear convergence rates. We show how this mirror descent algorithm is related to Blahut-Arimoto and expectation-maximization methods previously used to solve similar problems in information theory. Using these techniques, we present the first numerical experiments to compute a multi-qubit quantum rate-distortion function, and show that our proposed algorithm solves faster and to higher accuracy when compared to existing methods.

DOI
10.22331/q-2024-04-09-1314

Related papers

An Efficient Alternating Minimization Algorithm for Computing Quantum Rate-Distortion Function

Lingyi Chen, Deheng Yuan, Wenyi Zhang +2 more

We consider the computation of the entanglement-assisted quantum rate-distortion function, which plays a central role in quantum information theory. We propose an efficient alternating minimization algorithm based on the Lagrangian analysis. Instead of fixing the multiplier corresponding to the distortion constraint, we update the multiplier in each iteration. Hence the algorithm solves the original problem itself, rather than the Lagrangian relaxation of it. Moreover, all the other variables are iterated in closed form without solving multidimensional nonlinear equations or multivariate optimization problems. Numerical experiments show the accuracy of our proposed algorithm and its improved efficiency over existing methods.

arXiv:2507.19920•IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW)•Sep 29, 2025•0 citations

Computing Quantum Channel Capacities

Navneeth Ramakrishnan, Raban Iten, Volkher B. Scholz +1 more

The capacity of noisy quantum channels characterizes the highest rate at which information can be reliably transmitted and it is therefore of practical as well as fundamental importance. Capacities of classical channels are computed using alternating optimization schemes, called Blahut-Arimoto algorithms. In this work, we generalize classical Blahut-Arimoto algorithms to the quantum setting. In particular, we give efficient iterative schemes to compute the capacity of channels with classical input and quantum output, the quantum capacity of less noisy channels, the thermodynamic capacity of quantum channels, as well as the entanglement-assisted capacity of quantum channels. We give rigorousa priorianda posterioribounds on the estimation error by employing quantum entropy inequalities and demonstrate fast convergence of our algorithms in numerical experiments.

arXiv:1905.01286•IEEE Transactions on Information Theory•Oct 28, 2020•33 citations

Algorithms for Computing the Petz-Augustin Capacity

Chun-Neng Chu, Wei-Fu Tseng, Yen-Huan Li

We propose the first algorithms with non-asymptotic convergence guarantees for computing the Petz-Augustin capacity, which generalizes the channel capacity and characterizes the optimal error exponent in classical-quantum channel coding. This capacity can be equivalently expressed as the maximization of two generalizations of mutual information: the Petz-Rényi information and the Petz-Augustin information. To maximize the Petz-Rényi information, we show that it corresponds to a convex Hölder-smooth optimization problem, and hence the universal fast gradient method of Nesterov (2015), along with its convergence guarantees, readily applies. Regarding the maximization of the Petz-Augustin information, we adopt a two-layered approach: we show that the objective function is smooth relative to the negative Shannon entropy and can be efficiently optimized by entropic mirror descent; each iteration of entropic mirror descent requires computing the Petz-Augustin information, for which we propose a novel fixed-point algorithm and establish its contractivity with respect to the Thompson metric. Notably, this two-layered approach can be viewed as a generalization of the mirror-descent interpretation of the Blahut-Arimoto algorithm due to He et al. (2024).

cs.ITCross-listedarXiv:2601.06492•IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT)•Jan 13, 2026•1 citation

Minimizing Quantum Renyi Divergences via Mirror Descent with Polyak Step Size

Jun-Kai You, Hao–Chung Cheng, Yen-Huan Li

Quantum information quantities play a substantial role in characterizing operational quantities in various quantum information-theoretic problems. We consider numerical computation of four quantum information quantities: Petz-Augustin information, sandwiched Augustin information, conditional sandwiched Renyi entropy and sandwiched Renyi information. To compute these quantities requires minimizing some order-$α$ quantum Renyi divergences over the set of quantum states. Whereas the optimization problems are obviously convex, they violate standard bounded gradient/Hessian conditions in literature, so existing convex optimization methods and their convergence guarantees do not directly apply. In this paper, we propose a new class of convex optimization methods called mirror descent with the Polyak step size. We prove their convergence under a weak condition, showing that they provably converge for minimizing quantum Renyi divergences. Numerical experiment results show that entropic mirror descent with the Polyak step size converges fast in minimizing quantum Renyi divergences.

arXiv:2109.06054•Sep 13, 2021•1 citation

Interior Point Methods for Structured Quantum Relative Entropy Optimization Problems

Kerry He, James Saunderson, Hamza Fawzi

Abstract Quantum relative entropy optimization refers to a class of convex problems in which a linear functional is minimized over an affine section of the epigraph of the quantum relative entropy function. Recently, the self-concordance of a natural barrier function was proved for this set, and various implementations of interior-point methods have been made available to solve this class of optimization problems. In this paper, we show how common structures arising from applications in quantum information theory can be exploited to improve the efficiency of solving quantum relative entropy optimization problems using interior-point methods. First, we show that the natural barrier function for the epigraph of the quantum relative entropy composed with positive linear operators is self-concordant, even when these linear operators map to singular matrices. Compared to modeling problems using the full quantum relative entropy cone, this allows us to remove redundant log-determinant expressions from the barrier function and reduce the overall barrier parameter. Second, we show how certain slices of the quantum relative entropy cone exhibit useful properties which should be exploited whenever possible to perform certain key steps of interior-point methods more efficiently. We demonstrate how these methods can be applied to applications in quantum information theory, including quantifying quantum key rates, quantum rate-distortion functions, quantum channel capacities, and the ground state energy of Hamiltonians. Our numerical results show that these techniques improve computation times by up to several orders of magnitude, and allow previously intractable problems to be solved.

arXiv:2407.00241•Mathematical Programming Computation•Nov 17, 2025•2 citations

Convex optimization on moment polytopes: Hadamard mirror descent and efficient algorithms for quantum functionals and other tensor parameters

Mahmut Levent Doğan, Keiya Sakabe, Michael Walter

Convex optimization on polytopes arises in many areas of science. When the polytope is given implicitly or has exponentially many vertices and facets, standard methods may not apply or be ineffective. This is the case for moment polytopes, such as the entanglement polytopes, which play a foundational role in quantum information and algebraic complexity. They give rise to important entanglement measures and tensor parameters such as the quantum functionals, yet general effective methods for computing these quantities have been elusive. In this paper we address this challenge. We develop a first-order framework called Hadamard mirror descent to optimize suitable convex functions over moment polytopes and, more generally, the gradient sets of geodesically convex functions. It operates locally and does not rely on any explicit description of the polytope. Our framework extends mirror descent, an effective and widely used framework for convex optimization, from the Euclidean setting to Hadamard manifolds, and is motivated by a recent work by Hirai, which we interpret as a Hadamard version of mirror flow. Applying the framework to entanglement polytopes yields the first efficient first-order algorithms to compute the quantum functionals, the symmetric quantum functional, and the G-stable ranks, as well as a new direct algorithm for the non-commutative rank.

cs.CCCross-listedarXiv:2609.06633•Sep 8, 2026•0 citations
The quantum rate-distortion function plays a fundamental role in quantum information theory, however there is currently no practical algorithm which can efficiently compute this function to high accuracy for moderate channel dimensions. In this paper, we show how symmetry reduction can significantly simplify common instances of the entanglement-assisted quantum rate-distortion problems. This allows us to better understand the properties of the quantum channels which obtain the optimal rate-distortion trade-off, while also allowing for more efficient computation of the quantum rate-distortion function regardless of the numerical algorithm being used. Additionally, we propose an inexact variant of the mirror descent algorithm to compute the quantum rate-distortion function with provable sublinear convergence rates. We show how this mirror descent algorithm is related to Blahut-Arimoto and expectation-maximization methods previously used to solve similar problems in information theory. Using these techniques, we present the first numerical experiments to compute a multi-qubit quantum rate-distortion function, and show that our proposed algorithm solves faster and to higher accuracy when compared to existing methods.
We consider the computation of the entanglement-assisted quantum rate-distortion function, which plays a central role in quantum information theory. We propose an efficient alternating minimization algorithm based on the Lagrangian analysis. Instead of fixing the multiplier corresponding to the distortion constraint, we update the multiplier in each iteration. Hence the algorithm solves the original problem itself, rather than the Lagrangian relaxation of it. Moreover, all the other variables are iterated in closed form without solving multidimensional nonlinear equations or multivariate optimization problems. Numerical experiments show the accuracy of our proposed algorithm and its improved efficiency over existing methods.
The capacity of noisy quantum channels characterizes the highest rate at which information can be reliably transmitted and it is therefore of practical as well as fundamental importance. Capacities of classical channels are computed using alternating optimization schemes, called Blahut-Arimoto algorithms. In this work, we generalize classical Blahut-Arimoto algorithms to the quantum setting. In particular, we give efficient iterative schemes to compute the capacity of channels with classical input and quantum output, the quantum capacity of less noisy channels, the thermodynamic capacity of quantum channels, as well as the entanglement-assisted capacity of quantum channels. We give rigorousa priorianda posterioribounds on the estimation error by employing quantum entropy inequalities and demonstrate fast convergence of our algorithms in numerical experiments.
We propose the first algorithms with non-asymptotic convergence guarantees for computing the Petz-Augustin capacity, which generalizes the channel capacity and characterizes the optimal error exponent in classical-quantum channel coding. This capacity can be equivalently expressed as the maximization of two generalizations of mutual information: the Petz-Rényi information and the Petz-Augustin information. To maximize the Petz-Rényi information, we show that it corresponds to a convex Hölder-smooth optimization problem, and hence the universal fast gradient method of Nesterov (2015), along with its convergence guarantees, readily applies. Regarding the maximization of the Petz-Augustin information, we adopt a two-layered approach: we show that the objective function is smooth relative to the negative Shannon entropy and can be efficiently optimized by entropic mirror descent; each iteration of entropic mirror descent requires computing the Petz-Augustin information, for which we propose a novel fixed-point algorithm and establish its contractivity with respect to the Thompson metric. Notably, this two-layered approach can be viewed as a generalization of the mirror-descent interpretation of the Blahut-Arimoto algorithm due to He et al. (2024).
Quantum information quantities play a substantial role in characterizing operational quantities in various quantum information-theoretic problems. We consider numerical computation of four quantum information quantities: Petz-Augustin information, sandwiched Augustin information, conditional sandwiched Renyi entropy and sandwiched Renyi information. To compute these quantities requires minimizing some order-ααα quantum Renyi divergences over the set of quantum states. Whereas the optimization problems are obviously convex, they violate standard bounded gradient/Hessian conditions in literature, so existing convex optimization methods and their convergence guarantees do not directly apply. In this paper, we propose a new class of convex optimization methods called mirror descent with the Polyak step size. We prove their convergence under a weak condition, showing that they provably converge for minimizing quantum Renyi divergences. Numerical experiment results show that entropic mirror descent with the Polyak step size converges fast in minimizing quantum Renyi divergences.
Abstract Quantum relative entropy optimization refers to a class of convex problems in which a linear functional is minimized over an affine section of the epigraph of the quantum relative entropy function. Recently, the self-concordance of a natural barrier function was proved for this set, and various implementations of interior-point methods have been made available to solve this class of optimization problems. In this paper, we show how common structures arising from applications in quantum information theory can be exploited to improve the efficiency of solving quantum relative entropy optimization problems using interior-point methods. First, we show that the natural barrier function for the epigraph of the quantum relative entropy composed with positive linear operators is self-concordant, even when these linear operators map to singular matrices. Compared to modeling problems using the full quantum relative entropy cone, this allows us to remove redundant log-determinant expressions from the barrier function and reduce the overall barrier parameter. Second, we show how certain slices of the quantum relative entropy cone exhibit useful properties which should be exploited whenever possible to perform certain key steps of interior-point methods more efficiently. We demonstrate how these methods can be applied to applications in quantum information theory, including quantifying quantum key rates, quantum rate-distortion functions, quantum channel capacities, and the ground state energy of Hamiltonians. Our numerical results show that these techniques improve computation times by up to several orders of magnitude, and allow previously intractable problems to be solved.
Convex optimization on polytopes arises in many areas of science. When the polytope is given implicitly or has exponentially many vertices and facets, standard methods may not apply or be ineffective. This is the case for moment polytopes, such as the entanglement polytopes, which play a foundational role in quantum information and algebraic complexity. They give rise to important entanglement measures and tensor parameters such as the quantum functionals, yet general effective methods for computing these quantities have been elusive. In this paper we address this challenge. We develop a first-order framework called Hadamard mirror descent to optimize suitable convex functions over moment polytopes and, more generally, the gradient sets of geodesically convex functions. It operates locally and does not rely on any explicit description of the polytope. Our framework extends mirror descent, an effective and widely used framework for convex optimization, from the Euclidean setting to Hadamard manifolds, and is motivated by a recent work by Hirai, which we interpret as a Hadamard version of mirror flow. Applying the framework to entanglement polytopes yields the first efficient first-order algorithms to compute the quantum functionals, the symmetric quantum functional, and the G-stable ranks, as well as a new direct algorithm for the non-commutative rank.