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arXiv:2409.07646 · Quantum

Multipartite Embezzlement of Entanglement

Lauritz van Luijk, Alexander Stottmeister, Henrik Wilming

Published Jul 30, 2025• 3 citations
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Abstract

Embezzlement of entanglement refers to the task of extracting entanglement from an entanglement resource via local operations and without communication while perturbing the resource arbitrarily little. Recently, the existence of embezzling states of bipartite systems of type III von Neumann algebras was shown. However, both the multipartite case and the precise relation between embezzling states and the notion of embezzling families, as originally defined by van Dam and Hayden, was left open. Here, we show that finite-dimensional approximations of multipartite embezzling states form multipartite embezzling families. In contrast, not every embezzling family converges to an embezzling state. We identify an additional consistency condition that ensures that an embezzling family converges to an embezzling state. This criterion distinguishes the embezzling family of van Dam and Hayden from the one by Leung, Toner, and Watrous. The latter generalizes to the multipartite setting. By taking a limit, we obtain a multipartite system of commuting type III 1 factors on which every state is an embezzling state. We discuss our results in the context of quantum field theory and quantum many-body physics. As open problems, we ask whether vacua of relativistic quantum fields in more than two spacetime dimensions are multipartite embezzling states and whether multipartite embezzlement allows for an operator-algebraic characterization.

DOI
10.22331/q-2025-07-30-1818

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Embezzlement of entanglement refers to the task of extracting entanglement from an entanglement resource via local operations and without communication while perturbing the resource arbitrarily little. Recently, the existence of embezzling states of bipartite systems of type III von Neumann algebras was shown. However, both the multipartite case and the precise relation between embezzling states and the notion of embezzling families, as originally defined by van Dam and Hayden, was left open. Here, we show that finite-dimensional approximations of multipartite embezzling states form multipartite embezzling families. In contrast, not every embezzling family converges to an embezzling state. We identify an additional consistency condition that ensures that an embezzling family converges to an embezzling state. This criterion distinguishes the embezzling family of van Dam and Hayden from the one by Leung, Toner, and Watrous. The latter generalizes to the multipartite setting. By taking a limit, we obtain a multipartite system of commuting type III 1 factors on which every state is an embezzling state. We discuss our results in the context of quantum field theory and quantum many-body physics. As open problems, we ask whether vacua of relativistic quantum fields in more than two spacetime dimensions are multipartite embezzling states and whether multipartite embezzlement allows for an operator-algebraic characterization.
Quantum state embezzlement is the transformation $|\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\rangle}\ensuremath{\mapsto}|\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\rangle}|\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ using only local operations, where $|\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ and $|\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ are multipartite quantum states. Exact embezzlement is an impossible task since it implies the increase of entanglement without communication. Surprisingly, van Dam and Hayden [Phys. Rev. A 67, 060302 (2003)] find a universal embezzling family of states $|\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ that enables embezzlement in the bipartite setting with arbitrary precision as the dimension of $|\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ increases. Furthermore, the family is independent of the state $|\ensuremath{\varphi}\ensuremath{\rangle}$ to be embezzled. We study embezzlement in the bipartite setting. We present various requirements and consequences, and infinitely many universal embezzling families inequivalent to that proposed by van Dam and Hayden. We include numerical studies of up to 33-qubit large local systems.
We study the quantum information theoretic task of embezzlement of entanglement in the setting of von Neumann algebras. Given a shared entangled resource state, this task asks to produce arbitrary entangled states using local operations without communication while perturbing the resource arbitrarily little. We quantify the performance of a given resource state by the worst-case error. States for which the latter vanishes are 'embezzling states' as they allow to embezzle arbitrary entangled states with arbitrarily small error. The best and worst performance among all states defines two algebraic invariants for von Neumann algebras. The first invariant takes only two values. Either it vanishes and embezzling states exist, which can only happen in type III, or no state allows for nontrivial embezzlement. In the case of factors not of finite type I, the second invariant equals the diameter of the state space. This provides a quantitative operational interpretation of Connes' classification of type III factors within quantum information theory. Type III1_11​ factors are 'universal embezzlers' where every state is embezzling. Our findings have implications for relativistic quantum field theory, where type III algebras naturally appear. For instance, they explain the maximal violation of Bell inequalities in the vacuum. Our results follow from a one-to-one correspondence between embezzling states and invariant probability measures on the flow of weights. We also establish that universally embezzling ITPFI factors are of type III1_11​ by elementary arguments.
Embezzlement of entanglement refers to the counterintuitive possibility of extracting entangled quantum states from a reference state of an auxiliary system (the "embezzler") via local quantum operations while hardly perturbing the latter. We uncover a deep connection between the operational task of embezzling entanglement and the mathematical classification of von Neumann algebras. Our result implies that relativistic quantum fields are universal embezzlers: any entangled state of any dimension can be embezzled from them with arbitrary precision. This provides an operational characterization of the infinite amount of entanglement present in the vacuum state of relativistic quantum field theories.
Van Dam and Hayden introduced a concept commonly referred to as embezzlement, where, for any entangled quantum state ϕ, there is an entangled catalyst state ψ, from which a high fidelity approximation of ϕ ⊗ ψ can be produced using only local operations. We investigate a version of this where the embezzlement is perfect (i.e., the fidelity is 1). We prove that perfect embezzlement is impossible in a tensor product framework, even with infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces and infinite entanglement entropy. Then we prove that perfect embezzlement is possible in a commuting operator framework. We prove this using the theory of C*-algebras and we also provide an explicit construction. Next, we apply our results to analyze perfect versions of a nonlocal game introduced by Regev and Vidick. Finally, we analyze the structure of perfect embezzlement protocols in the commuting operator model, showing that they require infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces.
Embezzlement of entanglement allows to extract arbitrary entangled states from a suitable embezzling state using only local operations while perturbing the resource state arbitrarily little. A natural family of embezzling states is given by ground states of non-interacting, critical fermions in one spatial dimension. This raises the question of whether the embezzlement operations can be restricted to Gaussian operations whenever one only wishes to extract Gaussian entangled states. We show that this is indeed the case and prove that the embezzling property is in fact a generic property of fermionic Gaussian states. Our results provide a fine-grained understanding of embezzlement of entanglement for fermionic Gaussian states in the finite-size regime and thereby bridge finite-size systems to abstract characterizations based on the classification of von Neumann algebras. To prove our results, we establish novel bounds relating the distance of covariances to the trace-distance of Gaussian states, which may be of independent interest.
Using local operations and classical communication (LOCC), entanglement can be manipulated but not created. However, entanglement can be embezzled . In this work, we completely characterize universal embezzling families and demonstrate how this singles out the original family introduced by van Dam and Hayden. To achieve this, we first give a full characterization of pure to mixed state LOCC-conversions. Then, we introduce a new conversion distance and derive a closed-form expression for it. These results might be of independent interest.