Quantum de Finetti theorem indicates that a surprising connection exists between the permutation-invariant property of a large system and the independent, identical distribution that describes its subsystems. The theorem is highly nontrivial in that it allows one to infer independence---within a finite error---from symmetry alone, both of which are important and fundamental concepts in physics and mathematics. Here, we present an improved quantum de Finetti theorem that provides a lower error bound, thus establishing an even closer relationship between symmetry and independence than before. As application, we study the security of quantum key distribution under the most general attacks, and show that the key rate is higher than previous ones obtained by existing trace-norm-based de Finetti theorems. Therefore, the application of the quantum de Finetti theorem in quantum information processing, as well as developing the theorem itself, is advanced here.
Quantum de Finetti theorem indicates that a surprising connection exists between the permutation-invariant property of a large system and the independent, identical distribution that describes its subsystems. The theorem is highly nontrivial in that it allows one to infer independence---within a finite error---from symmetry alone, both of which are important and fundamental concepts in physics and mathematics. Here, we present an improved quantum de Finetti theorem that provides a lower error bound, thus establishing an even closer relationship between symmetry and independence than before. As application, we study the security of quantum key distribution under the most general attacks, and show that the key rate is higher than previous ones obtained by existing trace-norm-based de Finetti theorems. Therefore, the application of the quantum de Finetti theorem in quantum information processing, as well as developing the theorem itself, is advanced here.
When analysing quantum information processing protocols, one has to deal with large entangled systems, each consisting of many subsystems. To make this analysis feasible, it is often necessary to identify some additional structures. de Finetti theorems provide such a structure for the case where certain symmetries hold. More precisely, they relate states that are invariant under permutations of subsystems to states in which the subsystems are independent of each other. This relation plays an important role in various areas, e.g., in quantum cryptography or state tomography, where permutation invariant systems are ubiquitous. The known de Finetti theorems usually refer to the internal quantum state of a system and depend on its dimension. Here, we prove a different de Finetti theorem where systems are modelled in terms of their statistics under measurements. This is necessary for a large class of applications widely considered today, such as device independent protocols, where the underlying systems and the dimensions are unknown and the entire analysis is based on the observed correlations.
Symmetries are of fundamental interest in many areas of science. In quantum information theory, if a quantum state is invariant under permutations of its subsystems, it is a well-known and widely used result that its marginal can be approximated by a mixture of tensor powers of a state on a single subsystem. Applications of this quantum de Finetti theorem range from quantum key distribution (QKD) to quantum state tomography and numerical separability tests. Recently, it has been discovered by Gross, Nezami and Walter that a similar observation can be made for a larger symmetry group than permutations: states that are invariant under stochastic orthogonal symmetry are approximated by tensor powers of stabilizer states, with an exponentially smaller overhead than previously possible. This naturally raises the question if similar improvements could be found for applications where this symmetry appears (or can be enforced). Here, two such examples are investigated.
The de Finetti representation theorem for continuous variable quantum system is first developed to approximate an N-partite continuous variable quantum state with a convex combination of independent and identical subsystems, which requires the original state to obey permutation symmetry conditioned on successful experimental verification on k of N subsystems. We generalize the de Finetti theorem to include asymmetric bounds on the variance of canonical observables and biased basis selection during the verification step. Our result thereby enables application of infinite-dimensional de Finetti theorem to situations where two conjugate measurements obey different statistics, such as the security analysis of quantum key distribution protocols based on squeezed state against coherent attack.
We propose a general method for studying properties of quantum channels acting on an n-partite system, whose action is invariant under permutations of the subsystems. Our main result is that, in order to prove that a certain property holds for an arbitrary input, it is sufficient to consider the case where the input is a particular de Finetti-type state, i.e., a state which consists of n identical and independent copies of an (unknown) state on a single subsystem. Our technique can be applied to the analysis of information-theoretic problems. For example, in quantum cryptography, we get a simple proof for the fact that security of a discrete-variable quantum key distribution protocol against collective attacks implies security of the protocol against the most general attacks. The resulting security bounds are tighter than previously known bounds obtained with help of the exponential de Finetti theorem.
Standard finite quantum de Finetti theorems approximate the k-system marginals of permutation-invariant states of n-systems by mixtures of independent and identically distributed (iid) states, usually in trace distance. We prove both standard and Renner's exponential de Finetti theorems in the stronger form of operator inequalities, implying bounds in every Schatten norm and for every quantum Rényi divergence satisfying data processing. In the standard case, for fixed local dimension, our k/n error bound in max-relative entropy improves on the previously best known k2/n scaling, even in the classical setting. The operator-inequality approach is particularly suited to study channel de Finetti representations because operator order between Choi states is equivalent to completely positive (CP) order between the underlying channels. For permutation-covariant channels N(n):A⊗n→B⊗n, where dA=dimA, we prove that the k-system reduced channel is CP-dominated by a mixture of tensor-power channels with error O(k/n) and polynomial dependence on the local dimensions, addressing a question raised by Berta et al. [Math. Program. 194, 781-829 (2022)]. Under the no-signalling condition, we also prove an exponential channel de Finetti theorem where the approximating mixture consists of Choi-almost-iid channels, whose normalized Choi states are almost-iid in the sense of Mazzola-Sutter-Renner. In the case of r defects, the representation error is at most poly(n)(2dA4k3/(nr2))(r+1)/2 and decays exponentially in n for a suitable choice of parameters r and k.
Quantum versions of de Finetti’s theorem are powerful tools, yielding conceptually important insights into the security of key distribution protocols or tomography schemes and allowing one to bound the error made by mean-field approaches. Such theorems link the symmetry of a quantum state under the exchange of subsystems to negligible quantum correlations and are well understood and established in the context of distinguishable particles. In this work, we derive a de Finetti theorem for finite sized Majorana fermionic systems. It is shown, much reflecting the spirit of other quantum de Finetti theorems, that a state which is invariant under certain permutations of modes loses most of its anti-symmetric character and is locally well described by a mode separable state. We discuss the structure of the resulting mode separable states and establish in specific instances a quantitative link to the quality of the Hartree-Fock approximation of quantum systems. We hint at a link to generalized Pauli principles for one-body reduced density operators. Finally, building upon the obtained de Finetti theorem, we generalize and extend the applicability of Hudson’s fermionic central limit theorem.