In the studies of quantum information and computation, the quantum correlations
present in a non-classical system are seen as natural resources. In this
thesis, we present a detailed study on quantification and characterization of
multipartite quantum entanglement from a geometric perspective. Furthermore,
we present protocols and algorithms where quantum correlations such
as entanglement, quantum Fisher information, and quantum superposition
have been used to provide advantages as well securities in quantum communication
tasks, quantum speed-up, and protection against the decoherence in
an open quantum system.
First, we use a geometric measure of entanglement quantification based
on Euclidean distance of the Hermitian matrices to obtain the minimum distance
between the set of bipartite n- qudit density matrices with a positive
partial transpose and the maximally mixed state. This minimum distance coincides
with the radius of the largest separable ball. We present the interior
geometry of the set of all positive semidefinite matrices and identify a particular
class of Werner states for which the Peres-Horodecki criterion is both
necessary and sufficient for separability even in the dimensions greater than
six.
In the studies of quantum information and computation, the quantum correlations
present in a non-classical system are seen as natural resources. In this
thesis, we present a detailed study on quantification and characterization of
multipartite quantum entanglement from a geometric perspective. Furthermore,
we present protocols and algorithms where quantum correlations such
as entanglement, quantum Fisher information, and quantum superposition
have been used to provide advantages as well securities in quantum communication
tasks, quantum speed-up, and protection against the decoherence in
an open quantum system.
First, we use a geometric measure of entanglement quantification based
on Euclidean distance of the Hermitian matrices to obtain the minimum distance
between the set of bipartite n- qudit density matrices with a positive
partial transpose and the maximally mixed state. This minimum distance coincides
with the radius of the largest separable ball. We present the interior
geometry of the set of all positive semidefinite matrices and identify a particular
class of Werner states for which the Peres-Horodecki criterion is both
necessary and sufficient for separability even in the dimensions greater than
six.
The main topic of this compilation thesis is the investigation of multipartite entanglement of finite dimensional systems. We developed a numerical algorithm that detects if a multipartite state is entangled or separable in a finite number of steps of a semi-definite optimization task. This method is an extension of previously known semi-definite methods, which are inconclusive when the state is separable. In our case, if the state is separable, an explicit decomposition into a mixture of separable states can be extracted. This was achieved by mapping the entanglement problem onto the mathematically well studied truncated moment problem. Additionally, a new way of writing the partially transposed state for symmetric multi-qubit states was developed which simplifies many results previously known in entanglement theory. This new way of writing the partial transpose criterion unifies different interpretations and alternative formulations of the partial transpose criterion and it is also a part in the aforementioned semi-definite algorithm. The geometric properties of entangled symmetric states of two qubits were studied in detail: We could answer the question of how far a given pure state is from the convex hull of symmetric separable states, as measured by the Hilbert-Schmidt distance, by giving an explicit formula for the closest separable symmetric state. For mixed states we could provide a numerical upper and analytical lower bound for this distance. For a larger number of qubits we investigated the ball of absolutely classical states, i.e. symmetric multi-qubit states that stay separable under any unitary transformation. We found an analytical lower bound for the radius of this ball around the maximally mixed symmetric state and gave a numerical upper bound on this radius, by searching for an entangled state as close as possible to the maximally mixed symmetric state. The tensor representation of a symmetric multi-qubit state, or spin-j state, allowed us to study entanglement properties based on the spectrum of the tensor via tensor eigenvalues. The definiteness of this tensor relates to the entanglement of the state it represents and, hence, the smallest tensor eigenvalue can be used to detect entanglement. However, the tensor eigenvalues are more difficult to determine than the familiar matrix eigenvalues which made the investigation computationally more challenging. The relationship between the value of the smallest tensor eigenvalue and the amount of entanglement in the state was also investigated. It turned out that they are strongly correlated for small system sizes, i.e. for up to six qubits. However, to investigate this correlation we needed an independent way to gauge the amount of entanglement of a state and in order to do so we improved existing numerical methods to determine the distance of a state to the set of separable symmetric states, using a combination of linear and quadratic programming. The tensor representation of symmetric multi-qubit states was also used to formally define a new tensor class of regularly decomposable tensors that corresponds to the set of separable symmetric multi-qubit states.
A geometric understanding of entanglement is proposed based on local measurements. Taking recourse to the general structure of density matrices in the framework of Euclidean geometry, we first illustrate our approach for bipartite Werner states. It is demonstrated that separable states satisfy certain geometric constraints that entangled states do not. A separability criterion for multiparty Werner states of arbitrary dimension is derived. This approach can be used to determine separability across any bipartition of a general density matrix and leads naturally to a computable measure of entanglement for multiparty pure states. It is known that all density matrices within a certain distance of the normalized identity are separable. This distance is determined for a general setting of n qudits, each of dimension d.
Quantifying quantum entanglement is a pivotal challenge in quantum information science, particularly for high-dimensional systems, due to its computational complexity. This thesis extends the geometric measure of entanglement (GME) to introduce and investigate a suite of GME-based entanglement monotones tailored for diverse quantum contexts, including pure states, subspaces, and mixed states. These monotones are applicable to both bipartite and multipartite systems, offering a unified framework for characterizing entanglement across various scenarios. Notably, the proposed monotones are adept at identifying entanglement with varying entanglement dimensionalities, making them particularly effective for detecting high-dimensional entanglement. To support practical computation, we develop a non-convex optimization framework that yields accurate upper bounds, complemented by semidefinite programming techniques to establish robust lower bounds. Together, these approaches provide a consistent and efficient computational methodology. This work advances both the theoretical understanding and algorithmic tools for entanglement quantification, contributing to the study of complex quantum correlations in entangled systems.
One of the most important questions in quantum information theory is the so-called separability problem. It involves characterizing the set of separable (or, equivalently entangled) states among mixed states of a multipartite quantum system. In this thesis we study the generalization of this problem to types of quantum correlations that are defined in a manner analogous to entanglement. We start with the subset of set of pure states of a given quantum system and call states belonging to the convex hull of this subset "non-correlated" states. Consequently, the states laying outside the convex hull are referred to as "correlated". In this work we focus on cases when there exist a symmetry group that preserves the class of "non-correlated" pure states. The presence of symmetries allows to obtain a unified treatment of many types of seemingly unrelated types of correlations. We apply our general results to particular types of correlations: (i) entanglement of distinguishable particles, (ii) particle entanglement of bosons, (iii) "entanglement" of fermions, (iv) non-convex-Gaussian correlations in fermionic systems, (v) genuine multiparty entanglement, and finally (vi) refined notions of bipartite entanglement based on the concept of the Schmidt number. We investigate the natural problems and questions concerning the correlations defined above: (I) We provide explicit polynomial characterization of various types of correlations for pure states. (II) We examine cases in which it is possible to give a complete analytical characterization of correlated mixed states. (III) We derive a variety of polynomial criteria for detection of correlations in mixed states.(IV) We use the above criteria and the technique of measure concentration to study typical properties of correlations on sets of isospectral density matrices.
The counter-intuitive features of Quantum Mechanics make it possible to solve problems and perform tasks that are beyond the abilities of classical computers and classical communication devices. The area of quantum information processing studies how representing information by quantum states can help achieving such improvements.In this research, we use basic notions of quantum information (mainly entanglement, Bloch sphere, and geometrical distances between quantum states) for analyzing relations of quantum states to each other and quantum cryptographic protocols.Entanglement is an important feature of quantum states. Intuitively (and, partly, inaccurately), entanglement represents quantum (non-classical) correlations between several different quantum systems. Entanglement is one of the most important quantum phenomena, and it has many uses in quantum information, quantum communication, and quantum computing.Some quantum states can be geometrically represented by the Bloch sphere: the unit sphere in the three-dimensional Euclidean space. The "standard" quantum states, to which the laws of Quantum Mechanics directly apply, are called pure states. Other states are the mixed states: probability distributions ("mixtures") of several pure states. The points on the Bloch sphere are the pure states, and those inside the Bloch sphere are the mixed states. This geometrical representation is useful and intuitive for many purposes.We provide a geometrical analysis of entanglement for all the quantum mixed states of rank 2 (all the mixtures of exactly two pure states): for any such state (in any dimension), we define a generalized Bloch sphere by using the two pure states, and we analyze this state and its neighbor states inside this Bloch sphere. We look at the set of non-entangled states ("separable states") in the Bloch sphere and characterize it into exactly five possible classes. We give examples for each class and prove that there are no other classes. In addition, we suggest possible definitions of "entanglement measures" by using the "trace distance" from the nearest separable state.Many types of distances between quantum states can be defined. One of the most useful distances is the trace distance, which bounds the "distinguishability" between the states. The trace distance is very useful in quantum information and quantum cryptography, and it also has a simple geometrical interpretation: it is half of the Euclidean distance between the states in the Bloch sphere.Quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols make it possible for two participators to achieve the classically-impossible task of generating a secret random shared key even if their adversary is computationally unlimited. Several important QKD protocols, including the first protocol of Bennett and Brassard (BB84), have their unconditional security proved against adversaries performing the most general attacks in a theoretical (idealized) setting. We discuss a slightly different protocol, named "BB84-INFO-z", and prove it secure against a broad class of attacks (the collective attacks). Moreover, we make use of the "trace distance" for making our security proof more "composable" than similar security proofs for BB84: namely, for making a step towards proving that the secret key remains secret even when the two participators actually use it for cryptographic purposes.
Summary: \nEntanglement is a strange feature contained in the quantum mechanical framework, first observed theoretically by Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein. An inherent attribute of entanglement is non-locality, and in the continuation of this, several non-reductionist features, which are conceptually challenging and philosophically interesting. \n \nA considerable growth of the interest in quantum entanglement has occurred since the early 1990s, and much of the reason for this is that the tools of quantum optics and modern instrumentation have made it possible to measure and manipulate entangled quantum systems. Today, several applications of entanglement exist, including quantum computers and several areas in quantum communications. \n \nA quantum state is either separable or entangled, it cannot be none or both. A separable state do not exhibit the non-local features found in entangled states, and are in this sense comparable to classic states. An important issue here is the separability problem, which is the problem of determining whether a given state is entangled or not. \n \nWe study these quantum states as Hermitian matrices with positive eigenvalues in convex spaces. The PPT criterion is based on the partial transposition operation, which essentially transposes one of the two subsystems in the quantum system. For some states the result is another quantum (positive) state, and these are PPT (Positive Partial Transpose) states, while others that gain negative eigenvalues are called NPT states. \n \nFor systems of dimensions 2 × 2 and 2 × 3, the PPT states are identical to the separable states, and the NPT states are identical to the entangled states, so the PPT criterion is always conclusive. But for larger dimensions, such as for instance the 3 × 3 system, there always exist PPT states that are entangled, so for this case the PPT criterion can only be used in a contrapositive way. Since entangled PPT states in this sense seem to have great significance, their characteristics are worth studying. \nAs mentioned, the PPT criterion uses the transposition map on one of the two subsystems of a composite quantum system. Transposition is an example of a positive map, in that it maps all quantum states into quantum states. It is possible to use positive maps to formulate a much more general criterion for the separability problem.There is a link (an isomorphism) between positive maps and a subset of Hermitian operators called entanglement witnesses. \n \nThe so-called Horodecki criterion states that a quantum state is separable if and only if the expectation value of all entanglement witnesses in the state are non-negative. If the expectation value of one (or possibly several) entanglement witnesses in a given quantum state is negative, then the state is always entangled. This criterion is both necessary and sufficient, but demands that we can characterize the entire set of entanglement witnesses. \n \nThe approach in this thesis is through geometry. Of fundamental importance is the convex nature of the sets in question. The knowledge and understanding of the extremal points in these sets is very relevant, since they describe the sets completely. Undertaking completely analytic studies of the geometry at hand is in general very hard, especially as the dimension of the systems grow. The development and use of numerical tools is therefore essential.