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International Journal of Theoretical Physics

A Note on the Extreme Points of Positive Quantum Operations

Zhengli Chen, Cao Huai-xin

Published Jan 26, 2009• 14 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.1007/s10773-009-9939-7

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In this thesis, quantum channels are studied from the point of view of Mathematics. We studied the CPTP (completely positive trace preserving) and UCPTP channels, the latter being the unital channels. In both cases, the sets are compact convex, so they are the closure of their extreme points. We constructed extreme CPTP maps for every possible rank. We also constructed extreme UCPTP maps with rank 2 for each possible dimension. For ranks of at least 3, we constructed extreme UCPTP maps for many dimensions and ranks. We also proved that the tensor product of extreme CPTP maps is an extreme CPTP map. For UCPTP maps, we proved that the same is not always true, with many counterexamples. It is known that the category of CPTP maps is semicartesian. We add to this a classification of binary products. We proved that products only exist in trivial cases. For binary coproducts, we obtained the dimensions they should have, if they exist. In both cases, topological techniques were used. For this reason, we also investigated the topology of the closure of the set of extreme points of the CPTP maps. Topological invariants can be computed from decompositions of a space such as CW structures. These are a type of decomposition in which the space is expressed as a gluing of balls. In the search for a CW structure for the closure of the set of extreme CPTP maps, we obtained a partial decomposition that resembles a CW structure of the complex projective space.

math-phCross-listedarXiv:2608.20689•Aug 24, 2026•0 citations
Abstract In this note we study completely positive, trace-preserving (CPT) maps M 4 ( C ) ↦ M 4 ( C ) , in particular the class of examples given by quantum Markov chains (QMCs) describing the evolution of one qubit on a 2-vertex graph. For this class of channels, and regarding its convex structure, we examine the problem of finding the extreme points both with respect to CPT maps and with respect to the set of QMCs. This is done by considering the class of maps whose image is contained in the set of block-diagonal matrices. Motivated by previous results in the literature, a practical criterion for extremality is obtained via the Choi–Jamiołkowski isomorphism and appropriate direct-sum subspaces. The study of extreme maps is natural from a structural point of view, as these play the role of indecomposable operations and provide fundamental information about the geometry of the set of quantum channels.
The set of all channels with fixed input and output is convex. We first give a convenient formulation of necessary and sufficient condition for a channel to be extreme point of this set in terms of complementary channel, a notion of big importance in quantum information theory. This formulation is based on the general approach to extremality of completely positive maps in an operator algebra due to Arveson. We then apply this formulation to prove the main result of this note: under certain nondegeneracy conditions, purity of the environment is necessary and sufficient for extremality of Bosonic linear (quasi-free) channel. It follows that Gaussian channel between finite-mode Bosonic systems is extreme if and only if it has minimal noise.
In this thesis, quantum channels are studied from the point of view of Mathematics. We studied the CPTP (completely positive trace preserving) and UCPTP channels, the latter being the unital channels. In both cases, the sets are compact convex, so they are the closure of their extreme points. We constructed extreme CPTP maps for every possible rank. We also constructed extreme UCPTP maps with rank 2 for each possible dimension. For ranks of at least 3, we constructed extreme UCPTP maps for many dimensions and ranks. We also proved that the tensor product of extreme CPTP maps is an extreme CPTP map. For UCPTP maps, we proved that the same is not always true, with many counterexamples. It is known that the category of CPTP maps is semicartesian. We add to this a classification of binary products. We proved that products only exist in trivial cases. For binary coproducts, we obtained the dimensions they should have, if they exist. In both cases, topological techniques were used. For this reason, we also investigated the topology of the closure of the set of extreme points of the CPTP maps. Topological invariants can be computed from decompositions of a space such as CW structures. These are a type of decomposition in which the space is expressed as a gluing of balls. In the search for a CW structure for the closure of the set of extreme CPTP maps, we obtained a partial decomposition that resembles a CW structure of the complex projective space.