Graph states are present in quantum information and found applications ranging from quantum network protocols (like secret sharing) to measurement based quantum computing. In this paper, we extend the notion of graph states, which can be regarded as pure quantum graph states, or as homogeneous quadratic Boolean functions associated to simple undirected graphs, to quantum states based on mixed graphs (graphs which allow both directed and undirected edges), obtaining mixed quantum states, which are defined by matrices associated to the measurement of homogeneous quadratic Boolean functions in some (ancillary) variables. In our main result, we describe the extended graph state as the sum of terms of a commutative subgroup of the stabilizer group of the corresponding mixed graph with the edges' directions reversed.
Graph states are present in quantum information and found applications ranging from quantum network protocols (like secret sharing) to measurement based quantum computing. In this paper, we extend the notion of graph states, which can be regarded as pure quantum graph states, or as homogeneous quadratic Boolean functions associated to simple undirected graphs, to quantum states based on mixed graphs (graphs which allow both directed and undirected edges), obtaining mixed quantum states, which are defined by matrices associated to the measurement of homogeneous quadratic Boolean functions in some (ancillary) variables. In our main result, we describe the extended graph state as the sum of terms of a commutative subgroup of the stabilizer group of the corresponding mixed graph with the edges' directions reversed.
We have generalised the concept of graph states to what we have called mixed graph states, which we define in terms of mixed graphs, that is graphs with both directed and undirected edges, as the density matrix stabilized by the associated stabilizer matrix defined by the mixed graph. We can interpret this matrix as a quantum object by making it part of a larger fully commuting matrix, i.e. where we choose the environment appropriately, and this will imply that our quantum object is a mixed state. We prove that, in the same way as (pure) graph states, the density matrix of a parent of mixed graph state can be written as sum of a few Pauli matrices, well defined from the mixed graph. We have proven that the set of matrices that appear in this sum is fully pair-wise commuting, and form a multiplicative group up to global constants, which is always of maximum size. Furthermore, the cardinality of the set depends solely of the miminum possible number of extension columns/rows, and the number of nodes of the mixed graph. We prove a formula for this cardinality. Finally, in the case of purely undirected graphs, this corresponds to the usual pure graph state. Also, we have developed a way of finding maximal commutative group of such Pauli matrices as a linear subspace problem, for any given mixed graph. We also have proven how the structure of maximal commutative groups is independent of the direction of the arrows of the mixed graph, and also of the undirected edges; this allows the simplification of the problem of finding these groups in general to finding them for a much smaller set of graphs.
Representing graphs as quantum states is becoming an increasingly important approach to study entanglement of mixed states, alternate to the standard linear algebraic density matrix-based approach of study. In this paper, we propose a general weighted directed graph framework for investigating properties of a large class of quantum states which are defined by three types of Laplacian matrices associated with such graphs. We generalize the standard framework of defining density matrices from simple connected graphs to density matrices using both combinatorial and signless Laplacian matrices associated with weighted directed graphs with complex edge weights and with/without self-loops. We also introduce a new notion of Laplacian matrix, which we call signed Laplacian matrix associated with such graphs. We produce necessary and/or sufficient conditions for such graphs to correspond to pure and mixed quantum states. Using these criteria, we finally determine the graphs whose corresponding density matrices represent entangled pure states which are well known and important for quantum computation applications. We observe that all these entangled pure states share a common combinatorial structure.
Graph states are widely used in quantum information theory, including entanglement theory, quantum error correction, and one-way quantum computing. Graph states have a nice structure related to a certain graph, which is given by either a stabilizer group or an encoding circuit, both can be directly given by the graph. To generalize graph states, whose stabilizer groups are abelian subgroups of the Pauli group, one approach taken is to study non-abelian stabilizers. In this work, we propose to generalize graph states based on the encoding circuit, which is completely determined by the graph and a Hadamard matrix. We study the entanglement structures of these generalized graph states and show that they are all maximally mixed locally. We also explore the relationship between the equivalence of Hadamard matrices and local equivalence of the corresponding generalized graph states. This leads to a natural generalization of the Pauli (X, Z) pairs, which characterizes the local symmetries of these generalized graph states. Our approach is also naturally generalized to construct graph quantum codes which are beyond stabilizer codes.
Graph states are the main computational building blocks of measurement-based computation and a useful tool for error correction in the gate model architecture. The graph states form a class of quantum states which are eigenvectors for the abelian group of stabilizer operators. They own topological properties, arising from their graph structure, including the presence of highly connected nodes, called hubs. Starting from hub nodes, we demonstrate how to efficiently express a graph state through the generators of the stabilizer group. We provide examples by expressing the ring and the star topology, for which the number of stabilizers reduces fromnto⌈2n⌉, and fromnto 1, respectively. We demonstrate that the graph states can be generated by a subgroup of the stabilizer group. Therefore, we provide an algebraic framework to manipulate the graph states with a reduced number of stabilizers.
Graph states form a rich class of entangled states that exhibit important aspects of multi-partite entanglement. At the same time, they can be described by a number of parameters that grows only moderately with the system size. They have a variety of applications in quantum information theory, most prominently as algorithmic resources in the context of the one-way quantum computer, but also in other fields such as quantum error correction and multi-partite quantum communication, as well as in the study of foundational issues such as non-locality and decoherence. In this review, we give a tutorial introduction into the theory of graph states. We introduce various equivalent ways how to define graph states, and discuss the basic notions and properties of these states. The focus of this review is on their entanglement properties. These include aspects of non-locality, bi-partite and multi-partite entanglement and its classification in terms of the Schmidt measure, the distillability properties of mixed entangled states close to a pure graph state, as well as the robustness of their entanglement under decoherence. We review some of the known applications of graph states, as well as proposals for their experimental implementation.
Mixed graphs, which generalize both undirected and directed graphs, provide a natural framework for investigating a broader class of quantum transport phenomena, including perfect state transfer (PST) and multiple state transfer (MST). The Hermitian adjacency matrix, incorporating both symmetric and asymmetric edge structures, establishes a unified spectral framework that reveals quantum phenomena absent in undirected graphs. In this paper, we study PST and MST on mixed graphs using the Hermitian adjacency matrix, extending results from undirected graphs and focusing on phenomena such as periodicity, one-way PST, two-way PST, and MST. Additionally, we present novel results that contribute to a deeper understanding of quantum state transfer in mixed graphs.