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arXiv:2602.00646

Pauli Cloners for Pauli Channels

S. F. Kerstan, M. Gallezot, T. Decker, M. Braun, N. Hegemann

quant-phSubmitted Jan 31, 2026• Announced Feb 3, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We present a quantum circuit architecture for the one-to-two cloning of $N$-qubit registers. It implements the broad class of Pauli cloners by extending the Niu--Griffiths architecture to multi-qubit systems. In the single-qubit case, we provide explicit constructions for asymmetric universal, phase covariant and biased cloners. We explore the fundamental relationship between Pauli errors, mutually unbiased bases and Pauli cloning. Furthermore, we demonstrate how Pauli cloners can be tailored to specific noise models in the context of quantum communication, especially quantum key distribution.

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Several classes of state-dependent quantum cloners for three-level systems are investigated. These cloners optimally duplicate some of the four maximally-conjugate bases with an equal fidelity, thereby extending the phasecovariant qubit cloner to qutrits. Three distinct classes of qutrit cloners can be distinguished, depending on whether two, three, or four maximally-conjugate bases are cloned as well (the latter case simply corresponds to the universal qutrit cloner). These results apply to symmetric as well as asymmetric cloners, so that the balance between the fidelity of the two clones can also be analysed.
The study of quantum cryptography and quantum entanglement has traditionally been based on two-level quantum systems (qubits) and more recently on three-level systems (qutrits). We investigate several classes of state-dependent quantum cloners for four-level systems (quartits). These results apply to symmetric as well as asymmetric cloners, so that the balance between the fidelity of the two clones can also be analyzed. We extend Cerf's formalism for cloning states in order to derive cloning machines that remain invariant under certain unitary transformations. Our results show that a different cloner has to be used for two mutually unbiased bases which are related by a double Hadamard transformation, than for two mutually unbiased bases that are related by a Fourier transformation. This different cloner is obtained thanks to a redefinition of Bell states that respects the intrinsic symmetries of the Hadamard transformation.
While exact cloning of an unknown quantum state is prohibited by the linearity of quantum mechanics, approximate cloning is possible and has been used, e.g., to derive limits on the security of quantum communication protocols. In the case of asymmetric cloning, the information from the input state is distributed asymmetrically between the different output states. Here, we consider asymmetric phase-covariant cloning, where the goal is to optimally transfer the phase information from a single input qubit to different output qubits. We construct an optimal quantum cloning machine for two qubits that does not require ancilla qubits and implement it on an NMR quantum information processor.
Pauli channels are fundamental in the context of quantum computing as they model the simplest kind of noise in quantum devices. We propose a quantum algorithm for simulating Pauli channels and extend it to encompass Pauli dynamical maps (parametrized Pauli channels). A parametrized quantum circuit is employed to accommodate for dynamical maps. We also establish the mathematical conditions for an N-qubit transformation to be achievable using a parametrized circuit where only one single-qubit operation depends on the parameter. The implementation of the proposed circuit is demonstrated using IBM's quantum computers for the case of one qubit, and the fidelity of this implementation is reported.
In this paper we establish a deep connection between the 3-qubit one-to-two phase-covariant quantum cloning network of Fuchs et al. [Phys. Rev. A 56, 1163 (1997)], and its low-cost two-qubit counterpart due to Niu and Griffiths [Phys. Rev. A 60, 2764 (1999)]. A general, necessary, and sufficient criterion is derived in order to characterize the reducibility of 3-qubit one-to-two cloners to two-qubit one-to-two cloners. When this criterion is fulfilled, low-cost cloning is possible. We show that the optimal isotropic or universal 3-qubit one-to-two cloning machine is not reducible to a 2-qubit one-to-two cloner.