We prove that the set of non-identity generalized Pauli operators on the Hilbert space of N d -level quantum systems, d an odd prime, naturally forms a symplectic polar space of rank N and order d . This generalizes the solution (by the author) of a recent conjecture posed by Saniga-Planat (which covers the case d =2). As an application, we give a new short proof for the existence of maximal sets of MUBs (mutually unbiased bases) in Hilbert spaces of prime power dimension (also including the prime case).
We prove that the set of non-identity generalized Pauli operators on the Hilbert space of N d -level quantum systems, d an odd prime, naturally forms a symplectic polar space of rank N and order d . This generalizes the solution (by the author) of a recent conjecture posed by Saniga-Planat (which covers the case d =2). As an application, we give a new short proof for the existence of maximal sets of MUBs (mutually unbiased bases) in Hilbert spaces of prime power dimension (also including the prime case).
The commutation relations between the generalized Pauli operators of N-qudits (i. e., N p-level quantum systems), and the structure of their bases/maximal sets of commuting operators, follow a nice graph theoretical/geometrical pattern. One may identify vertices of a graph with the operators so that edges join commuting pairs of them to form the so-called Pauli graph PpN . One may identify points of a geometry with the operators so that lines correspond to the maximal commuting sets of them. As per two-qubits (p = 2, N = 2) all basic properties and partitionings of this graph are embodied in the geometry of the symplectic generalized quadrangle of order two, W(2). The structure of the two-qutrit (p = 3, N = 2) graph is more involved; here it turns out more convenient to deal with its dual to see the relation with the geometry of generalized quadrangle Q(4, 3), the dual of W(3). Finally, the generalized adjacency graph for multiple (N > 3) qubits/qutrits is shown to follow from symplectic polar spaces of order two/three. These mathematical concepts relate to mutually unbiased bases and to quantum entanglement. Michel Planat† and Metod Saniga‡ The N-qudit fabric: Pauli graph and finite geometries
We consider questions posed in a recent paper of Mandayam et al. (2014) on the nature of “unextendible mutually unbiased bases.” We describe a conceptual framework to study these questions, using a connection proved by the author in Thas (2009) between the set of nonidentity generalized Pauli operators on the Hilbert space of N d-level quantum systems, d a prime, and the geometry of non-degenerate alternating bilinear forms of rank N over finite fields F d . We then supply alternative and short proofs of results obtained in Mandayam et al. (2014), as well as new general bounds for the problems considered in loc. cit. In this setting, we also solve Conjecture 1 of Mandayam et al. (2014) and speculate on variations of this conjecture.
One way to construct a maximal set of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) in a prime-power dimensional Hilbert space is by means of finite phase-space methods. MUBs obtained in this way are covariant with respect to some subgroup of the group of all affine symplectic phase-space transformations. However, this construction is not canonical: as a consequence, many different choices of covariance subgroups are possible. In particular, when the Hilbert space is 2n dimensional, it is known that covariance with respect to the full group of affine symplectic phase-space transformations can never be achieved. Here we show that in this case there exist two essentially different choices of maximal subgroups admitting covariant MUBs. For both of them, we explicitly construct a family of 2n covariant MUBs. We thus prove that, contrary to the odd dimensional case, maximally covariant MUBs are very far from being unique in even prime-power dimensions.
The connection between maximal sets of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) in a prime-power dimensional Hilbert space and finite phase-space geometries is well known. In this article, we classify MUBs according to their degree of covariance with respect to the natural symmetries of a finite phase-space, which are the group of its affine symplectic transformations. We prove that there exist maximal sets of MUBs that are covariant with respect to the full group only in odd prime-power dimensional spaces, and in this case, their equivalence class is actually unique. Despite this limitation, we show that in dimension [Formula: see text] covariance can still be achieved by restricting to proper subgroups of the symplectic group, that constitute the finite analogues of the oscillator group. For these subgroups, we explicitly construct the unitary operators yielding the covariance.
The commutation relations between the generalized Pauli operators of N-qudits (i. e., N p-level quantum systems), and the structure of their maximal sets of commuting bases, follow a nice graph theoretical/geometrical pattern. One may identify vertices/points with the operators so that edges/lines join commuting pairs of them to form the so-called Pauli graph PpN . As per two-qubits (p = 2, N = 2) all basic properties and partitionings of this graph are embodied in the geometry of the symplectic generalized quadrangle of order two, W(2). The structure of the two-qutrit (p = 3, N = 2) graph is more involved; here it turns out more convenient to deal with its dual in order to see all the parallels with the two-qubit case and its surmised relation with the geometry of generalized quadrangle Q(4, 3), the dual of W(3). Finally, the generalized adjacency graph for multiple (N > 3) qubits/qutrits is shown to follow from symplectic polar spaces of order two/three. The relevance of these mathematical concepts to mutually unbiased bases and to quantum entanglement is also highlighted in some detail.
Mutually unbiased bases generalize the X , Y and Z qubit bases. They possess numerous applications in quantum information science. It is well known that in prime power dimensions N = p m (with p prime and m a positive integer), there exists a maximal set of N + 1 mutually unbiased bases. In the present paper, we derive an explicit expression for those bases, in terms of the (operations of the) associated finite field (Galois division ring) of N elements. This expression is shown to be equivalent to the expressions previously obtained by Ivanovic ( 1981 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 14 3241 ) in odd prime dimensions, and Wootters and Fields (1989 Ann. Phys. 191 363) in odd prime power dimensions. In even prime power dimensions, we derive a new explicit expression for the mutually unbiased bases. The new ingredients of our approach are, basically, the following: we provide a simple expression of the generalized Pauli group in terms of the additive characters of the field, and we derive an exact groupal composition law between the elements of the commuting subsets of the generalized Pauli group, renormalized by a well-chosen phase-factor.