Quantum physics provides results at information processing tasks that are unattainable by any classical theory. The aim of this thesis is to identify and characterize quantum entanglement and quantum nonlocality, the key resources used at quantum information protocols. We consider the problem of finding better experimental schemes to detect entangled states. For that, we study approximate physical realizations to non-physical processes, which provide the most efficient method to identify entanglement. We prove that many of these physical approximations have a simple experimental implementation. We then study characterization of quantum nonlocality. We introduce a method using the multipartite scenario, where more than two parties are involved, which provides several results on bipartite and multipartite quantum nonlocality. First, we prove that there exist quantum states which contain full multipartite nonlocality, which consist of the strongest kind of nonlocality. then, we prove that the combined use of several copies of a state can activate its nonlocal properties. In particular, this holds for bipartite and genuine multipartite nonlocality. Finally, we characterize quantum nonlocality by distinguishing it from stronger-than-quantum nonlocality. We construct a multipartite game for which classical and quantum players perform equally well, but for which supre-quantum players can sometimes provide an advantage. Our results suggest that physical resources might obbey a generalized no-signaling principle ( according to which ther's no instantaneous communication).
Quantum physics provides results at information processing tasks that are unattainable by any classical theory. The aim of this thesis is to identify and characterize quantum entanglement and quantum nonlocality, the key resources used at quantum information protocols. We consider the problem of finding better experimental schemes to detect entangled states. For that, we study approximate physical realizations to non-physical processes, which provide the most efficient method to identify entanglement. We prove that many of these physical approximations have a simple experimental implementation. We then study characterization of quantum nonlocality. We introduce a method using the multipartite scenario, where more than two parties are involved, which provides several results on bipartite and multipartite quantum nonlocality. First, we prove that there exist quantum states which contain full multipartite nonlocality, which consist of the strongest kind of nonlocality. then, we prove that the combined use of several copies of a state can activate its nonlocal properties. In particular, this holds for bipartite and genuine multipartite nonlocality. Finally, we characterize quantum nonlocality by distinguishing it from stronger-than-quantum nonlocality. We construct a multipartite game for which classical and quantum players perform equally well, but for which supre-quantum players can sometimes provide an advantage. Our results suggest that physical resources might obbey a generalized no-signaling principle ( according to which ther's no instantaneous communication).
Despite the success of quantum mechanics in predicting the outcomes of experiments in many branches of physics, the foundations of the theory have remained subject of research and dispute. At the basis of this struggle with the theory lie the phenomena of nonlocality and entanglement. Since it was first predicted by Bell in 1964, nonlocality was not only verified in numerous experiments, but also identified as a useful resource for quantum information processing. Thus, the study of nonlocality is important both from a fundamental point of view and with respect to new applications in quantum information theory, such as secure cryptography and randomness generation. The identification of entanglement as a resource for quantum information led to a strong theoretical effort devoted to its characterisation and detection. Many of the resulting mathematical tools find application in several domains of physics. Although the only known way to create nonlocal correlations is to measure entangled quantum systems, it has been shown that entanglement and nonlocality constitute two inequivalent properties. Therefore, in the light of the success of entanglement theory, it is of interest to also devise a resource theory of nonlocality. The task of this thesis is to develop such a theoretical framework for the characterisation of nonlocality as a resource. To gain a better understanding of nonlocal correlations it will be necessary to investigate correlation scenarios that go beyond the situation originally considered by Bell. In doing so, this thesis provides new description of nonlocality that also have implications for the characterisation of quantum correlations and the detection of new forms of nonlocality. The first question we address is how nonlocality can consistently be defined in a scenario of arbitrarily many parties that may collaborate among each other. To this end we recognise which are the allowed physical operations in this situation and then define nonlocality as the resource that cannot be created by these operations. Our approach shows that the conventional definition of multipartite nonlocality, adopted by the community so far, is inconsistent with this operational definition; we further propose and analyse new models that do not suffer from these inconsistencies. Furthermore, we show that our findings have implications for the characterisation of quantum correlations. A recent approach to describe the set of quantum correlation consists in using principles inspired from information theory. By using a special instance of the models we defined earlier we show a fundamental limitation of this approach: no bipartite information principle is sufficient to single out the set of quantum correlations from the set of nonsignalling correlations. We then developed a description of nonlocality in an even more generalised scenario of several parties. Motivated by a result of Popescu we study scenarios where the parties are allowed to perform not only a single but sequences of measurements on their systems. Characterising nonlocality also in this scenario in operational terms and defining local models compatible with this definition, we show that a new form of nonlocality can be detected Lastly, we examine the problem of detecting the presence of nonlocality in a multipartite scenario when one is given only partial access to the global system. We find that one can verify that the total system must display nonlocality, even though the accessible subsystems only exhibit local correlations.
Quantum technologies are enjoying an unprecedented popularity, and some applications are already in the market. This thesis studies two phenomena that are behind a lot of quantum technologies: entanglement and nonlocality. We focus on multipartite systems, and ask what configurations of those systems are more useful than others. 'Usefulness' takes on different meanings depending on the context, but, roughly speaking, we aim for more entanglement or more nonlocality. Chapter 2 develops a resource theory of entanglement with a unique multipartite maximally entangled state. Chapter 3 shows that any connected network of bipartite pure entangled states is genuine multipartite nonlocal (GMNL). Chapter 4 shows that, unlike in the case of pure states, topology is crucial to determine whether networks of bipartite mixed entangled states are genuine multipartite entangled. We also obtain, to our knowledge, the first example of superactivation of GMNL. In a departure from the main ideas explored in previous chapters, Chapter 5 is devoted to developing a physical principle inspired by a seminal result in epistemics. We contend that the principle must hold for any theory of Nature and intend for it to rule out post-quantum theories which are consistent with experimentally observed results.
Quantum mechanics is nonlocal, which makes it different from classical mechanics. Quantum information and quantum computation is a promising frontier science which is based on quantum mechanics. The nonlocality of quantum mechanics is the fundamental reason that many quantum information processing tasks have significant advantages over their classical counterparts.
In this dissertation, we study three aspects of quantum nonlocality, which include the quantitative relationship between entanglement and nonlocality, the quantification of genuine tripartite nonlocality and the distribution of nonlocal quantum resources. To be specific,
• We investigate the quantitative relationship between entanglement and nonlocality of bipartite quantum systems. We start by exploiting the condition that the nonlocality of two different two-qubit states can be optimally examined by a same nonlocality test setting. Via numerical simulation, we find that the nonlocality of a generic two-qubit state is upper bounded by a function of the corresponding entanglement. Further, we give an analytical proof for the upper bound and find the class of two-qubit states that can reach the upper bound.
• We analyze the quantification of genuine tripartite nonlocality of a generic three-qubit state. We find a method to solve the problem for a special class of three-qubit states which include not only pure states but also mixed states. Applying the method, we drive analytical results for the genuine tripartite nonlocality of generalized GHZ states, generalized Werner states and two class of mixed states with special correlation matrices.
• We investigate the distribution of nonlocal quantum resources. To distribute bipartite nonlocal quantum resources, we design an efficient quantum repeater scheme, which not only achieves the optimal transmission rate but also consumes less resources of local operations and classical communication, for the case of general pure states of two-qubit system. We also analyze the case of bipartite pure states of arbitrary dimensional quantum system and get an upper bound on the probability of a successful projection operation to produce a maximally nonlocal state. To distribute tripartite nonlocal resources, we propose a simple scenario to generate tripartite nonlocal resources from bipartite nonlocal resources. As examples, we examine the cases that two-qubit Werner states and general two-qubit pure states are prepared as resources, respectively. We get the upper bounds on the genuine tripartite nonlocality that can be generated in the scenario. We also provide the optimal measurement settings to achieve the upper bounds.
The Bell nonlocality is one of the most intriguing and counterintuitive phenomena displayed by quantum systems. Interestingly, such stronger-than-classical quantum correlations are somehow constrained, and one important question to the foundations of quantum theory is whether there is a physical, operational principle responsible for those constraints. One candidate is the information causality principle, which, in some particular cases, is proven to hold for quantum systems and to be violated by stronger-than-quantum correlations. In multipartite scenarios, though, it is known that the original formulation of the information causality principle fails to detect even extremal stronger-than-quantum correlations, thus suggesting that a genuinely multipartite formulation of the principle is necessary. In this work, we advance towards this goal, reporting a different formulation of the information causality principle in multipartite scenarios. By proposing a change of perspective, we obtain multipartite informational inequalities that work as necessary criteria for the principle to hold. We prove that such inequalities hold for all quantum resources and forbid some stronger-than-quantum ones. Finally, we show that our approach can be strengthened if multiple copies of the resource are available, or, counterintuitively, if noisy communication channels are employed.
Because of the importance of entanglement for quantum information purposes, a framework has been developed for its characterization and quantification as a resource based on the following operational principle: entanglement among N parties cannot be created by local operations and classical communication, even when N-1 parties collaborate. More recently, nonlocality has been identified as another resource, alternative to entanglement and necessary for device-independent quantum information protocols. We introduce an operational framework for nonlocality based on a similar principle: nonlocality among N parties cannot be created by local operations and allowed classical communication even when N-1 parties collaborate. We then show that the standard definition of multipartite nonlocality, due to Svetlichny, is inconsistent with this operational approach: according to it, genuine tripartite nonlocality could be created by two collaborating parties. We finally discuss alternative definitions for which consistency is recovered.
Physics has two main ambitions: to predict and to understand. Indeed, physics aims for the prediction of all natural phenomena. Prediction entails modeling the correlation between an action, the input, and what is subsequently observed, the output.Understanding, on the other hand, involves developing insightful principles and models that can explain the widest possible varietyof correlations present in nature. Remarkably, advances in both prediction and understanding foster our physical intuition and, as a consequence, novel and powerful applications are discovered. Quantum mechanics is a very successful physical theory both in terms of its predictive power as well as in its wide applicability. Nonetheless and despite many decades of development, we do not yet have a proper physical intuition of quantum phenomena. I believe that improvements in our understanding of quantum theory will yield better, and more innovative, protocols and vice versa.This dissertation aims at advancing our understanding and developing novel protocols. This is done through four approaches. The first one is to study quantum theory within a broad family of theories. In particular, we study quantum theory within the family of locally quantum theories. We found out that the principle that singles out quantum theory out of this family, thus connecting quantum local and nonlocal structure, is dynamical reversibility. This implies that the viability of large scale quantum computing can be based on concrete physical principles that can be experimentally tested at a local level without needing to test millions of qubits simultaneously. The second approach is to study quantum correlations from a black box perspective thus making as few assumptions as possible. The strategy is to study the completeness of quantum predictions by benchmarking them against alternative models. Three main results and applications come out of our study. Firstly, we prove that performing complete amplification of randomness starting from a source of arbitrarily weak randomness - a task that is impossible with classical resources - is indeed possible via nonlocality. This establishes in our opinion the strongest evidence for a truly random event in nature so far. Secondly, we prove that there exist finite events where quantum theory gives predictions as complete as any no-signaling theory can give, showing that the completeness of quantum theory is not an asymptotic property. Finally, we prove that maximally nonlocal theories can never be maximally random while quantum theory can, showing a trade-off between the nonlocality of a theory and its randomness capabilities. We also prove that quantum theory is not unique in this respect. The third approach we follow is to study quantum correlations in scenarios where some parties have a restriction on the available quantum degrees of freedom. The future progress of semi-device-independent quantum information depends crucially on our ability to bound the strength of these correlations. Here we provide a full characterization via a complete hierarchy of sets that approximate the target set from the outside. Each set can be in turn characterized using standard numerical techniques. One application of our work is certifying multidimensional entanglement device-independently.The fourth approach is to confront quantum theory with computer science principles. In particular, we establish two interesting implications for quantum theory results of raising the Church-Turing thesis to the level of postulate. Firstly, we show how different preparations of the same mixed state, indistinguishable according to the quantum postulates, become distinguishable when prepared computably. Secondly, we identify a new loophole for Bell-like experiments: if some parties in a Bell-like experiment use private pseudorandomness to choose their measurement inputs, the computational resources of an eavesdropper have to be limited to observe a proper violation of non locality.