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arXiv:2506.17980 · Advances in Mathematics

An operator system approach to self-testing

Jason Crann, Ivan G. Todorov, Lyudmila B. Turowska

Published Mar 9, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We develop a general framework for self-testing, in which bipartite correlations are described by states on the commuting tensor product of a pair of operator systems. We propose a definition of a local isometry between bipartite quantum systems in the commuting operator model, and define self-testing and abstract self-testing in the latter generality. We show that self-tests are in the general case always abstract self-tests and that, in some cases, the converse is also true. We apply our framework in a variety of instances, including to correlations with quantum inputs and outputs, quantum commuting correlations for the CHSH game, synchronous correlations, contextuality scenarios, quantum colourings and Schur quantum channels.

DOI
10.1016/j.aim.2026.110884

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We develop a general framework for self-testing, in which bipartite correlations are described by states on the commuting tensor product of a pair of operator systems. We propose a definition of a local isometry between bipartite quantum systems in the commuting operator model, and define self-testing and abstract self-testing in the latter generality. We show that self-tests are in the general case always abstract self-tests and that, in some cases, the converse is also true. We apply our framework in a variety of instances, including to correlations with quantum inputs and outputs, quantum commuting correlations for the CHSH game, synchronous correlations, contextuality scenarios, quantum colourings and Schur quantum channels.
We show that the optimal commuting operator correlation for a variant of Coladangelo's two-player generalized nonlocal game, based on the embezzlement of entanglement, is a commuting operator self-test. Our result gives the first correlation self-test for an exact entanglement embezzlement protocol in the commuting operator framework. Because the unique optimal correlation necessitates the exact embezzlement of entanglement, the correlation is unrealizable using quantum tensor-product models, even if the local spaces are allowed to be infinite dimensional. As such, our result provides an example of a commuting operator self-test where the Hilbert space shared by the two parties cannot be factored into a tensor-product of local spaces that is compatible with the local measurement operators. Our main proof technique relies on Harris' unique abstract state characterization of exact embezzlement of entanglement involving Cuntz algebras.
Self-testing refers to the certification of quantum states and measurements based entirely on the correlations exhibited by measurements on separate subsystems. In the bipartite case, self-testing of states has been completely characterized, up to local isometries, as there exist protocols that self-test arbitrary pure states of any local dimension. Much less is known in the multipartite case, where an important difference with respect to the bipartite case appears: there exist multipartite states that are not equivalent, up to local isometries, to their complex conjugate. Thus, any self-testing characterization must in general be complete up to not only local unitaries, but also complex conjugation. Under these premises, in this work, we give a complete characterization of self-testing in the multipartite qubit case.
Observed quantum correlations are known to determine in certain cases the underlying quantum state and measurements. This phenomenon is known as (quantum) self-testing .Self-testing constitutes a significant research area with practical and theoretical ramifications for quantum information theory. But since its conception two decades ago by Mayers and Yao, the common way to rigorously formulate self-testing has been in terms of operator-algebraic identities, and this formulation lacks an operational interpretation. In particular, it is unclear how to formulate self-testing in other physical theories, in formulations of quantum theory not referring to operator-algebra, or in scenarios causally different from the standard one.In this paper, we explain how to understand quantum self-testing operationally, in terms of causally structured dilations of the input-output channel encoding the correlations. These dilations model side-information which leaks to an environment according to a specific schedule, and we show how self-testing concerns the relative strength between such scheduled leaks of information. As such, the title of our paper has double meaning: we recast conventional quantum self-testing in terms of information-leaks to an environment – and this realises quantum self-testing as a special case within the surroundings of a general operational framework.Our new approach to quantum self-testing not only supplies an operational understanding apt for various generalisations, but also resolves some unexplained aspects of the existing definition, naturally suggests a distance measure suitable for robust self-testing, and points towards self-testing as a modular concept in a larger, cryptographic perspective.
We develop an abstract operator-algebraic characterization of robust self-testing for synchronous correlations and games. Specifically, we show that a synchronous correlation is a robust self-test if and only if there is a unique state on an appropriate C∗C^*C∗-algebra that "implements" the correlation. Extending this result, we prove that a synchronous game is a robust self-test if and only if its associated C∗C^*C∗-algebra admits a unique amenable tracial state. This framework allows us to establish that all synchronous correlations and games that serve as commuting operator self-tests for finite-dimensional strategies are also robust self-tests. As an application, we recover sufficient conditions for linear constraint system games to exhibit robust self-testing. We also demonstrate the existence of a synchronous nonlocal game that is a robust self-test but not a commuting operator self-test, showing that these notions are not equivalent.
We show that exact self-testing of a quantum correlation does not imply robust self-testing. Mančinska and Schmidt previously established such a separation for non-local games, but their obstruction to robustness arises from two distinct optimal correlations, with the self-tested one remaining robust. We establish the separation for a single correlation. Our proof is operator-algebraic. The main technical contribution is a general construction that associates a synchronous binary correlation to any finitely presented C*-algebra with unitary generators and real-coefficient relations. The implementing states of the correlation correspond exactly to the tracial states on the algebra. We apply this construction to an algebra with a unique finite-dimensional tracial state and a distinct amenable tracial state. By a characterization established by Zhao and independently by Kar, the resulting correlation is a self-test but not a robust self-test.
Self-testing has been a rich area of study in quantum information theory. It allows an experimenter to interact classically with a black box quantum system and to test that a specific entangled state was present and a specific set of measurements were performed. Recently, self-testing has been central to high-profile results in complexity theory as seen in the work on entangled games PCP of Natarajan and Vidick (FOCS 2018), iterated compression by Fitzsimons et al.\ (STOC 2019), and NEEXP in MIP* due to Natarajan and Wright (FOCS 2019). The most studied self-test is the CHSH game which features a bipartite system with two isolated devices. This game certifies the presence of a single EPR entangled state and the use of anti-commuting Pauli measurements. Most of the self-testing literature has focused on extending these results to self-test for tensor products of EPR states and tensor products of Pauli measurements.In this work, we introduce an algebraic generalization of CHSH by viewing it as a linear constraint system (LCS) game, exhibiting self-testing properties that are qualitatively different. These provide the first example of LCS games that self-test non-Pauli operators resolving an open question posed by Coladangelo and Stark (QIP 2017). Our games also provide a self-test for states other than the maximally entangled state, and hence resolves the open question posed by Cleve and Mittal (ICALP 2012). Additionally, our games have 1 bit question and log⁡n bit answer lengths making them suitable candidates for complexity theoretic application. This work is the first step towards a general theory of self-testing arbitrary groups. In order to obtain our results, we exploit connections between sum of squares proofs, non-commutative ring theory, and the Gowers-Hatami theorem from approximate representation theory. A crucial part of our analysis is to introduce a sum of squares framework that generalizes the solution group of Cleve, Liu, and Slofstra (Journal of Mathematical Physics 2017) to the non-pseudo-telepathic regime. Finally, we give a game that is not a self-test by "gluing" together two copies of the magic square game. Our results suggest a richer landscape of self-testing phenomena than previously considered.