Abstract Verstraete et al (2003 Phys. Rev. A 68 012103) showed that SLOCC invariants provide entanglement monotones. We observe that many highly entangled or useful four-qubit states that appear in prior literature are stationary points of such entanglement measures. This motivates the search for more stationary points. We use the notion of critical points (in the sense of the Kempf-Ness theorem) together with Vinberg theory to reduce the complexity of the problem significantly. We solve the corresponding systems utilizing modern numerical nonlinear algebra methods and reduce the solutions by natural symmetries. This method produces an extended list of four-qubit stationary points, which includes all the critical states in the survey by Enríquez et al (2016 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 698 012003). To illustrate the potential for application, we discuss the use of these states to generate pure five-qubit and six-qubit quantum error correcting codes by reversing a construction of Rains (1996 IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 44 1388–94).
Abstract Verstraete et al (2003 Phys. Rev. A 68 012103) showed that SLOCC invariants provide entanglement monotones. We observe that many highly entangled or useful four-qubit states that appear in prior literature are stationary points of such entanglement measures. This motivates the search for more stationary points. We use the notion of critical points (in the sense of the Kempf-Ness theorem) together with Vinberg theory to reduce the complexity of the problem significantly. We solve the corresponding systems utilizing modern numerical nonlinear algebra methods and reduce the solutions by natural symmetries. This method produces an extended list of four-qubit stationary points, which includes all the critical states in the survey by Enríquez et al (2016 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 698 012003). To illustrate the potential for application, we discuss the use of these states to generate pure five-qubit and six-qubit quantum error correcting codes by reversing a construction of Rains (1996 IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 44 1388–94).
It is a recent observation that entanglement classification for qubits is closely related to stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) invariants. Verstraete et al.[ Phys. Rev. A 65 (2002) 052112 ] showed that for pure states of four qubits there are nine different degenerate SLOCC entanglement classes. Li et al.[ Phys. Rev. A 76 (2007) 052311 ] showed that there are at feast 28 distinct true SLOCC entanglement classes for four qubits by means of the SLOCC invariant and semi-invariant. We give 16 different entanglement classes for four qubits by means of basic SLOCC invariants.
It is a recent observation that entanglement classification for qubits is closely related to local SL(2,C)-invariants including the invariance under qubit permutations [Dür, et al., Phys. Rev. A 62, 062314 (2000); Osterloh, A. and Siewert, J., Phys. Rev. A 72, 012337 (2005); O. Chterental and D. Ž. Ðoković, Linear Algebra Research Advances (Nova Science, Hauppauge, N.Y., 2007), Chap. 4, p. 133], which has been termed SL∗ invariance. In order to single out the SL∗ invariants, we analyze the SL(2,C)-invariants of four (five) qubits and decompose them into irreducible modules for the symmetric group S4 (S5) of qubit permutations. A classifying set of measures of genuine multipartite entanglement is given by the ideal of the algebra of SL∗-invariants vanishing on arbitrary product states. We find that low degree homogeneous components of this ideal can be constructed in full by using the approach introduced by Osterloh and Siewert [Phys. Rev. A 72, 012337 (2005); Int. J. Quant. Inf. 4, 531 (2006)]. Our analysis highlights an intimate connection between this latter procedure and the standard methods to create invariants, such as the Ω-process [Luque, J.-G. and Thibon, J.-Y., J. Phys. A 39, 371 (2005)]. As the degrees of invariants increase, the alternative method proves to be particularly efficient.
We show that a positive homogeneous function that is invariant under determinant-1 stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) transformations defines an N-qubit entanglement monotone if and only if the homogeneous degree is not larger than 4. We then describe a common basis and formalism for the N-tangle and other known invariant polynomials of degree 4. This allows us to elucidate the relation of the four-qubit invariants defined by Luque and Thibon [Phys. Rev. A 67, 042303 (2003)] and the reduced two-qubit density matrices of the states under consideration, thus giving a physical interpretation for those invariants. We demonstrate that this is a special case of a completely general law that holds for any multipartite system with bipartitions of equal dimension, e.g., for an even number of qudits.
We propose a new approach to the geometry of the four-qubit entanglement classes depending on parameters. More precisely, we use invariant theory and algebraic geometry to describe various stratifications of the Hilbert space by Stochastic Local Operations with Classical Communication (SLOCC) invariant algebraic varieties. The normal forms of the four-qubit classification of Verstraete et al. are interpreted as dense subsets of components of the dual variety of the set of separable states and an algorithm based on the invariants/covariants of the four-qubit quantum states is proposed to identify a state with a SLOCC equivalent normal form (up to qubits permutation).
Quantum states that are symmetric with respect to permutations of their subsystems appear in a wide range of physical settings, and they have a variety of promising applications in quantum information science. In this thesis, the entanglement of symmetric multipartite states is categorized, with a particular focus on the pure multi-qubit case and the geometric measure of entanglement. An essential tool for this analysis is the Majorana representation, a generalization of the single-qubit Bloch sphere representation, which allows for a unique representation of symmetric n-qubit states by n points on the surface of a sphere. Here this representation is employed to search for the maximally entangled symmetric states of up to 12 qubits in terms of the geometric measure, and an intuitive visual understanding of the upper bound on the maximal symmetric entanglement is given. Furthermore, it will be seen that the Majorana representation facilitates the characterization of entanglement equivalence classes such as stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) and the degeneracy configuration (DC). It is found that SLOCC operations between symmetric states can be described by the Möbius transformations of complex analysis, which allows for a clear visualization of the SLOCC freedoms and facilitates the understanding of SLOCC invariants and equivalence classes. In particular, explicit forms of representative states for all symmetric SLOCC classes of up to five qubits are derived. Well-known entanglement classification schemes such as the four qubit entanglement families or polynomial invariants are reviewed in the light of the results gathered here, which leads to sometimes surprising connections. Some interesting links and applications of the Majorana representation to related fields of mathematics and physics are also discussed.
In quantum information theory, understanding the complexity of entangled states within the context of SLOCC (stochastic local operations and classical communications) involving d qubits (or qudits) is essential for advancing our knowledge of quantum systems. This complexity is often analyzed by classifying the states via local symmetry groups. The resulting classes can be distinguished using invariant polynomials, which serve as a measure of entanglement. This paper introduces a novel method for obtaining invariant polynomials of the smallest degrees, which significantly enhances the efficiency of characterizing SLOCC classes of entangled quantum states. Our method not only simplifies the process of identifying these classes but also provides a robust tool for analyzing the entanglement properties of complex quantum systems. As a practical application, we demonstrate the derivation of minimal degree invariants in specific cases, illustrating the effectiveness of our approach in real-world scenarios. This advancement has the potential to streamline various processes in quantum information theory, making it easier to understand, classify, and utilize entangled states effectively.