Motivated to understand how entanglement resources can be distributed in quantum networks, we introduce threshold entanglement (TE) states. These are multipartite quantum states whose entanglement across bipartitions forces all marginals of half or less local systems to be (absolutely) separable. First, in contrast to states used for quantum secret sharing, we demonstrate that TE states exist for four and seven qubits. Second, between four and nine qubits, we delimit the average entanglement that TE states must have by combining two semidefinite programming relaxations: (i) lower bounds on the minimal purity of pure state marginals, and (ii) upper bounds on the maximal purity of mixed absolutely separable states. Besides delimiting the existence regions of TE states, our approach independently improves the best known bounds on both of the above problems. Moreover, these improved bounds show that TE states of eight qubits cannot exist. Numerical evidence suggests that TE states accommodate significant amounts of entanglement and magic, which are resources needed for quantum advantage in quantum computing.
Motivated to understand how entanglement resources can be distributed in quantum networks, we introduce threshold entanglement (TE) states. These are multipartite quantum states whose entanglement across bipartitions forces all marginals of half or less local systems to be (absolutely) separable. First, in contrast to states used for quantum secret sharing, we demonstrate that TE states exist for four and seven qubits. Second, between four and nine qubits, we delimit the average entanglement that TE states must have by combining two semidefinite programming relaxations: (i) lower bounds on the minimal purity of pure state marginals, and (ii) upper bounds on the maximal purity of mixed absolutely separable states. Besides delimiting the existence regions of TE states, our approach independently improves the best known bounds on both of the above problems. Moreover, these improved bounds show that TE states of eight qubits cannot exist. Numerical evidence suggests that TE states accommodate significant amounts of entanglement and magic, which are resources needed for quantum advantage in quantum computing.
At the heart of the curious phenomenon of quantum entanglement lies the relation between the whole and its parts. In my thesis, I explore different aspects of this theme in the multipartite setting by drawing connections to concepts from statistics, graph theory, and quantum error-correcting codes: first, I address the case when joint quantum states are determined by their few-body parts and by Jaynes’ maximum entropy principle. This can be seen as an extension of the notion of entanglement, with less complex states already being determined by their few-body marginals. Second, I address the conditions for certain highly entangled multipartite states to exist. In particular, I present the solution of a long-standing open problem concerning the existence of an absolutely maximally entangled state on seven qubits. This sheds light on the algebraic properties of pure quantum states, and on the conditions that constrain the sharing of entanglement amongst multiple particles. Third, I investigate Ulam’s graph reconstruction problems in the quantum setting, and obtain legitimacy conditions of a set of states to be the reductions of a joint graph state. Lastly, I apply and extend the weight enumerator machinery from quantum error correction to investigate the existence of codes and highly entangled states in higher dimensions. This clarifies the physical interpretation of the weight enumerators and of the quantum MacWilliams identity, leading to novel applications in multipartite entanglement.
Multipartite entanglement is the premier resource for quantum technologies. Yet, its exact quantification in the laboratory is notoriously challenging, typically requiring the full knowledge of high dimensional quantum states. Here, we construct observable bounds to multipartite entanglement for systems of arbitrary size, which are functions of the local and global state purities, and correlation functions. First, we derive experimentally accessible upper and lower limits to both the bipartite entanglement of formation and the squashed entanglement of bipartite systems, by leveraging cornerstone results of quantum information theory: the entropy strong subadditivity inequality and the Koashi-Winter monogamy relation. Then, we convert them into bounds to the entanglement up to degree k for arbitrary states, and to the genuine k-partite entanglement, by employing a recently proposed method. Finally, we analytically and numerically test these results, by bounding the multipartite entanglement of several relevant states and mixtures, including the important classes of GHZ, Dicke, W states, and random pure states.
Quantum entanglement of pure states of a bipartite system is defined as the amount of local or marginal (i.e. referring to the subsystems) entropy. For mixed states this identification vanishes, since the global loss of information about the state makes it impossible to distinguish between quantum and classical correlations. Here we show how the joint knowledge of the global and marginal degrees of information of a quantum state, quantified by the purities or, in general, by information entropies, provides an accurate characterization of its entanglement. In particular, for Gaussian states of continuous variable systems, we classify the entanglement of two-mode states according to their degree of total and partial mixedness, comparing the different roles played by the purity and the generalized p-entropies in quantifying the mixedness and bounding the entanglement. We prove the existence of strict upper and lower bounds on the entanglement and the existence of extremally (maximally and minimally) entangled states at fixed global and marginal degrees of information. This results allow for a powerful, operative method to measure mixed-state entanglement without the full tomographic reconstruction of the state. Finally, we briefly discuss the ongoing extension of our analysis to the quantification of multipartite entanglement in highly symmetric Gaussian states of arbitrary 1 × N-mode partitions.
Abstract. Quantum entanglement of pure states of a bipartite system is defined as the amount of local or marginal (i.e. referring to the subsystems) entropy. For mixed states this identification vanishes, since the global loss of information about the state makes it impossible to distinguish between quantum and classical correlations. Here we show how the joint knowledge of the global and marginal degrees of information of a quantum state, quantified by the purities or in general by information entropies, provides an accurate characterization of its entanglement. In particular, for Gaussian states of continuous variable systems, we classify the entanglement of two–mode states according to their degree of total and partial mixedness, comparing the different roles played by the purity and the generalized p−entropies in quantifying the mixedness and bounding the entanglement. We prove the existence of strict upper and lower bounds on the entanglement and the existence of extremally (maximally and minimally) entangled states at fixed global and marginal degrees of information. This results allow for a powerful, operative method to measure mixedstate entanglement without the full tomographic reconstruction of the state. Finally, we briefly discuss the ongoing extension of our analysis to the quantification of multipartite entanglement in highly symmetric Gaussian states of arbitrary 1 × N-mode partitions. 1.
Clarifying the relation between the whole and its parts is crucial for many problems in science. In quantum mechanics, this question manifests itself in the quantum marginal problem, which asks whether there is a global pure quantum state for some given marginals. This problem arises in many contexts, ranging from quantum chemistry to entanglement theory and quantum error correcting codes. In this paper, we prove a correspondence of the marginal problem to the separability problem. Based on this, we describe a sequence of semidefinite programs which can decide whether some given marginals are compatible with some pure global quantum state. As an application, we prove that the existence of multiparticle absolutely maximally entangled states for a given dimension is equivalent to the separability of an explicitly given two-party quantum state. Finally, we show that the existence of quantum codes with given parameters can also be interpreted as a marginal problem, hence, our complete hierarchy can also be used.
We consider random bipartite quantum states obtained by tracing out one subsystem from a random, uniformly distributed, tripartite pure quantum state. We compute thresholds for the dimension of the system being traced out, so that the resulting bipartite quantum state satisfies the reduction criterion in different asymptotic regimes. We consider as well the basis-independent version of the reduction criterion (the absolute reduction criterion), computing thresholds for the corresponding eigenvalue sets. We do the same for other sets relevant in the study of absolute separability, using techniques from random matrix theory. Finally, we gather and compare the known values for the thresholds corresponding to different entanglement criteria, and conclude with a list of open questions.