This thesis is centered around mathematical structures of fundamental importance to quantum foundations and quantum information. Its introductory part acquaints the reader with the basics of the general ideas of frames and simplices, as well as with some central quantum mechanical concepts like density matrices and Hilbert spaces. Article I deals with the question of contextuality in relation to quantum measurement. Using a specific strategy of assigning truth values to state vectors, some aspects of the Kochen-Specker theorem are explored. In Article II an object called SIC-POVM is studied, more specifically by investigating the behaviour of a function used to measure the closeness of an arbitrary vector set to such a configuration. In addition to putting the results of these two papers into context, the aim of this thesis is to offer a discussion of the search for connections between the SIC-POVM and so-called MUBs in odd prime dimensions, as well as a brief comment on a structure here introduced as a Kochen-Specker frame; it is shown that the latter plays a part in the proof of Hardy’s paradox as well as for an inequality for testing contextuality due to Klyachko et al.
This thesis is centered around mathematical structures of fundamental importance to quantum foundations and quantum information. Its introductory part acquaints the reader with the basics of the general ideas of frames and simplices, as well as with some central quantum mechanical concepts like density matrices and Hilbert spaces. Article I deals with the question of contextuality in relation to quantum measurement. Using a specific strategy of assigning truth values to state vectors, some aspects of the Kochen-Specker theorem are explored. In Article II an object called SIC-POVM is studied, more specifically by investigating the behaviour of a function used to measure the closeness of an arbitrary vector set to such a configuration. In addition to putting the results of these two papers into context, the aim of this thesis is to offer a discussion of the search for connections between the SIC-POVM and so-called MUBs in odd prime dimensions, as well as a brief comment on a structure here introduced as a Kochen-Specker frame; it is shown that the latter plays a part in the proof of Hardy’s paradox as well as for an inequality for testing contextuality due to Klyachko et al.
Measurements play a central role in quantum information. This thesis looksat two types: contextual measurements and symmetric measurements. Contextualityoriginates from the Kochen-Specker theorem about hidden variablemodels and has recently undergone a subtle shift in its manifestation. Symmetricmeasurements are characterised by the regular polytopes they formin Bloch space (the vector space containing all density matrices) and are thesubject of several investigations into their existence in all dimensions.We often describe measurements by the vectors in Hilbert space ontowhich our operators project. In this sense, both contextual and symmetricmeasurements are connected to special sets of vectors. These vectors areoften special for another reason: they form congurations in a given incidencegeometry.In this thesis, we aim to show various connections between congurationsand measurements in quantum information. The congurations discussedhere would have been well-known to 19th and 20th century geometers andwe show they are relevant for advances in quantum theory today. Specically,the Hesse and Reye congurations provide proofs of measurement contextuality,both in its original form and its newer guise. The Hesse congurationalso ties together dierent types of symmetric measurements in dimension3called SICs and MUBswhile giving insights into the group theoreticalproperties of higher dimensional symmetric measurements.
Contextuality is a key distinguishing feature between classical and quantum physics. It expresses a fundamental obstruction to describing quantum theory using classical concepts. In turn, understood as a resource for quantum computation, it is expected to hold the key to quantum advantage. Yet, despite its long recognised importance in quantum foundations and, more recently, in quantum computation, the structural essence of contextuality has remained somewhat elusive - different frameworks address different aspects of the phenomenon, yet their precise relationship often remains unclear. This issue already looms large at the level of the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem: while traditional proofs proceed by showing the nonexistence of valuations, the notion of state-independent contextuality in the marginal approach allows to prove contextuality from seemingly weaker assumptions. In the light of this, and at the absence of a unified mathematical framework for Kochen-Specker contextuality, the original algebraic approach has been widely abandoned, in favour of the study of contextual correlations. Here, we reinstate the algebraic perspective on contextuality. Concretely, by building on the novel concept of context connections, we reformulate the algebraic relations between observables originally postulated by Kochen and Specker, and we explicitly demonstrate their consistency with the notion of state-independent contextuality. In the present paper, we focus on the new conceptual ideas and discuss them in the concrete setting of spin-1 observables, specifically those in the example of [S. Yu and C.H. Oh, Phys. Rev. Lett., 108, 030402 (2012)]; in a companion paper, we generalise these ideas, obtain a complete characterisation of Kochen-Specker contextuality and provide a detailed comparison with the related notions of contextuality in the marginal and graph-theoretic approach.
The paper concerns Weyl-Heisenberg covariant SIC-POVMs (symmetric informationally complete positive operator valued measures) and full sets of MUBs (mutually unbiased bases) in prime dimension. When represented as vectors in generalized Bloch space a SIC-POVM forms a d 2 − 1 dimensional regular simplex (d being the Hilbert space dimension). By contrast, the generalized Bloch vectors representing a full set of MUBs form d + 1 mutually orthogonal d − 1 dimensional regular simplices. In this paper we show that, in the Weyl-Heisenberg case, there are some simple geometrical relationships between the single SIC-POVM simplex and the d + 1 MUB simplices. We go on to give geometrical interpretations of the minimum uncertainty states introduced by Wootters and Sussman, and by Appleby, Dang and Fuchs, and of the fiduciality condition given by Appleby, Dang and Fuchs. 1
A central result in the foundations of quantum mechanics is the Kochen-Specker theorem. In short, it states that quantum mechanics is in conflict with classical models in which the result of a measurement does not depend on which other compatible measurements are jointly performed. Here, compatible measurements are those that can be performed simultaneously or in any order without disturbance. This conflict is generically called quantum contextuality. In this article, we present an introduction to this subject and its current status. We review several proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem and different notions of contextuality. We explain how to experimentally test some of these notions and discuss connections between contextuality and nonlocality or graph theory. Finally, we review some applications of contextuality in quantum information processing.
A central result in the foundations of quantum mechanics is the Kochen-Specker theorem. In short, it states that quantum mechanics cannot be reconciled with classical models that are noncontextual for ideal measurements. The first explicit derivation by Kochen and Specker was rather complex, but considerable simplifications have been achieved thereafter. We propose a systematic approach to find minimal Hardy-type and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-type (GHZ-type) proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem, these are characterized by the fact that the predictions of classical models are opposite to the predictions of quantum mechanics. Based on our results, we show that the Kochen-Specker set with 18 vectors from Cabello et al. [Phys. Lett. A 212, 183 (1996)PYLAAG0375-960110.1016/0375-9601(96)00134-X] is the minimal set for any dimension, verifying a longstanding conjecture by Peres. Our results allow to identify minimal contextuality scenarios and to study their usefulness for information processing.
The notion of contextuality, which emerges from a theorem established by Simon Kochen and Ernst Specker (1960-1967) and by John Bell (1964-1966), is certainly one of the most fundamental aspects of quantum weirdness. If it is a questioning on scholastic philosophy and a study of contrafactual logic that led Specker to his demonstration with Kochen, it was a criticism of von Neumann's "proof" that led John Bell to the result. A misinterpretation of this famous "proof" will lead them to diametrically opposite conclusions. Over the last decades, remarkable theoretical progresses have been made on the subject in the context of the study of quantum foundations and quantum information. Thus, the graphic generalizations of Cabello-Severini-Winter and Acin-Fritz-Leverrier-Sainz raise the question of the connection between non-locality and contextuality. It is also the case of the sheaf-theoretic approach of Samson Abramsky et al., which also invites us to compare contextuality with the logical structure of certain classical logical paradoxes. Another approach, initiated by Robert Spekkens, generalizes the concept to any type of experimental procedure. This new form of "universal" contextuality has been raised as a criterion of non-classicality, i.e. of weirdness. It notably led to identify the nature of curious quantum paradoxes involving post-selections and weak measurements. In the light of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the Kochen-Specker theorem, this report aims to introduce these results little known to the French scientific public, in the context of an investigation on the nature of the weirdness of quantum physics.