Abstract In this chapter we visit the ‘church of the larger Hilbert space’: we take a closer look at the relationship of pure and mixed quantum states via purification, and discuss a similar connection between completely positive and trace-preserving (CPTP) maps and unitary dynamics on a larger Hilbert space. We show that such CPTP maps, which represent quantum channels, are equivalent to operations admitting a Kraus decomposition, as well as to unitary dynamics on a larger Hilbert space with factoring initial condition, the famous Stinespring dilation of quantum operations. In this context we introduce the Choi-Jamiołkowski isomorphism, which expresses a duality between maps between two Hilbert spaces and states on tensor products of these Hilbert spaces, and we review several important examples of quantum channels such as the dephasing channel, amplitude-damping channel, and depolarizing channel. Finally, we examine operations that are not possible in quantum theory, focusing on the no-cloning theorem.
Abstract In this chapter we visit the ‘church of the larger Hilbert space’: we take a closer look at the relationship of pure and mixed quantum states via purification, and discuss a similar connection between completely positive and trace-preserving (CPTP) maps and unitary dynamics on a larger Hilbert space. We show that such CPTP maps, which represent quantum channels, are equivalent to operations admitting a Kraus decomposition, as well as to unitary dynamics on a larger Hilbert space with factoring initial condition, the famous Stinespring dilation of quantum operations. In this context we introduce the Choi-Jamiołkowski isomorphism, which expresses a duality between maps between two Hilbert spaces and states on tensor products of these Hilbert spaces, and we review several important examples of quantum channels such as the dephasing channel, amplitude-damping channel, and depolarizing channel. Finally, we examine operations that are not possible in quantum theory, focusing on the no-cloning theorem.
Abstract This chapter is devoted to the discussion of quantum maps. We present three equivalent definitions of a quantum map and important examples, including the depolarizing channel, amplitude damping, and dephasing. We briefly describe the inversion recovery and the Ramsey experiment, two experimental techniques designed to measure the relaxation and coherence time of a qubit. We present the Kraus representation of a quantum map, and we show that quantum maps arise when the dynamics of an additional system are averaged out, a result known as Stinespring’s dilation theorem. Lastly, we present the Choi-Jamiolkowki isomorphism
Abstract The Choi representation of completely positive trace preserving (CPTP) maps, i.e. quantum channels is often used in the context of quantum information and computation as it is easy to work with. It is a correspondence between CPTP maps and quantum states also termed as the Choi–Jamiołkowski isomorphism. It is especially useful if a parametrization of the set of CPTP maps is needed in order to consider a general map or optimize over the set of these. Here we provide a brief introduction to this topic, focusing on certain useful calculational techniques which are presented in full detail.
Provided a maximally entangled state vector in H⊗H, the Choi-Jamiolkowski isomorphism of quantum information theory (or channel/state duality) produces a mapping of CP(H,K) (completely positive maps of density operators on H tothose on K) onto the density operators on K⊗H, which extends to a unitary map. Here, H and K are {finite-dimensional} Hilbert spaces.The nature of this construction, the form of the associated formulas, and the possibility of versions which do not require an entangled vector seed, are illuminated from the perspective of {naturality}, in the sense of Eilenberg and MacLane.There is a unique such correspondence (``Choi map'') natural in both H and K which produces density operators on either L(H,K) (Hilbert-Schmidt inner product) or K⊗H∗ instead of K⊗H. In particular, no entangled state input is required. There are no such binatural maps carried on K⊗H, but those natural in only K are canonically associated with unitary maps H→H∗ and derive from the binatural maps. The construction recovers the standard Choi-Jamiolkowski formulae and shows how they express naturality.
The complete positivity vs positivity correspondence in the Choi-Jamiołkowski-Kraus-Sudarshan quantum channel-state isomorphism depends on the choice of basis. Instead of the "canonical" basis, if we use, e.g., the Pauli spin matrices along with the identity as the basis for the space of bounded operators on the two-dimensional complex Hilbert space, this correspondence breaks down. A sufficient condition on the basis for validity of this correspondence is provided in the work of Paulsen and Shult~\cite{Paulsen}, which was later proven to be necessary by Kye~\cite{Kye}. A correspondence is also present between the space of super-maps and the tensor product of the spaces of the inputs and outputs of the same. In particular, a super-map is completely CP-preserving if and only if its Choi-type representation is completely positive (CP). This correspondence also depends on a specific choice of basis. In this work, we find the necessary and sufficient condition on a basis such that this correspondence holds true.
In this thesis, quantum channels are studied from the point of view of Mathematics. We studied the CPTP (completely positive trace preserving) and UCPTP channels, the latter being the unital channels. In both cases, the sets are compact convex, so they are the closure of their extreme points. We constructed extreme CPTP maps for every possible rank. We also constructed extreme UCPTP maps with rank 2 for each possible dimension. For ranks of at least 3, we constructed extreme UCPTP maps for many dimensions and ranks. We also proved that the tensor product of extreme CPTP maps is an extreme CPTP map. For UCPTP maps, we proved that the same is not always true, with many counterexamples. It is known that the category of CPTP maps is semicartesian. We add to this a classification of binary products. We proved that products only exist in trivial cases. For binary coproducts, we obtained the dimensions they should have, if they exist. In both cases, topological techniques were used. For this reason, we also investigated the topology of the closure of the set of extreme points of the CPTP maps. Topological invariants can be computed from decompositions of a space such as CW structures. These are a type of decomposition in which the space is expressed as a gluing of balls. In the search for a CW structure for the closure of the set of extreme CPTP maps, we obtained a partial decomposition that resembles a CW structure of the complex projective space.
This work constitutes the systematic and rigorous extension of the entire framework of Meta Operational Mathematics to the domain of quantum operations and their compositional inverses.Quantum mechanics, as the fundamental theory of nature at the microscopic scale, provides a uniquely rich testing ground for the meta-operational philosophy: operations that act upon quantum states—such as completely positive trace-preserving (CPTP) maps, quantum measurements, quantum instruments, and unitary evolutions—can themselves be operated upon, composed, iterated, added, multiplied, differentiated, exponentiated, logarithmized, and subjected to algebraic,analytic, and geometric transformations.We establish a complete four-level hierarchical framework tailored specifically to quantum theory: Level 0 consists of density matrices (quantum states) as elements of the base space F =Tsa(H); Level 1 consists of quantum operations as smooth mappings on F; Level 2 consists of quantum meta-operations as smooth mappings on quantum operations; and Level 3 consists of meta-meta-operations acting upon meta-operations. Within this framework, every fundamental operation of quantum mechanics is canonically lifted to a meta-operation, and the interactions among these meta-operations—through composition, pointwise addition, pointwise multiplication, differentiation, quantum randomization, exponentiation, and logarithm—generate the entire quantum operad QOp in its bornological closure.A fundamental distinction from the hyperbolic, elliptic, Gamma, Beta, Zeta, and probabilistic cases is rigorously established. In quantum theory, the base space F = Tsa(H) is not a subset of the complex plane but a non-commutative Banach space of trace-class self-adjoint operators.The compositional inverse of a quantum channel is not merely a formal inverse but the quantum error correction recovery map, which embodies the fundamental duality between CPTP maps and their Stinespring dilations. The complementary channel operation—corresponding to the environmental output of a Stinespring dilation—satisfies a twisted antipode axiom in the Hopf operad structure, reflecting the irreversible accumulation of information leaked to the environment. The completely positive constraint endows the quantum operad with a non-trivial boundary structure absent in all other cases.The eight fundamental meta-operations generating the entire quantum operad are: composition, pointwise addition, pointwise multiplication, differentiation, quantum randomization, the identity operation, the quantum channel evaluation operation, and the quantum measurement operation. Their irreducibility is proved through a careful analysis of the dependence structure of each generator on the remaining seven, using the Stinespring dilation theorem, the uniqueness of Kraus representations, and the Choi-Jamiołkowski isomorphism for complete positivity. The three essential features of quantum theory—positivity and complete positivity, complementarity and uncertainty relations, and entanglement and inseparability—are systematically elevated to the meta-operational level as algebraic axioms, analytic tools, and geometric objects, constructing a self-contained Quantum Meta-Operational Mathematics. All conjectures and open problems originally stated within this research program have either been resolved as theorems within the body of this work or are precisely formulated as remaining open problems with partial progress rigorously indicated.