Bures geometry of the three-level quantum systems

Paul B. Slater

For the eight-dimensional Riemannian manifold comprised by the three-level quantum systems endowed with the Bures metric, we numerically approximate the integrals over the manifold of several functions of the curvature and of its (anti-)self-dual parts. The motivation for pursuing this research is to elaborate upon the findings of Dittmann in his paper, "Yang-Mills equation and Bures metric" (quant-ph/9806018).

Samuel L. Braunstein, Carlton M. Caves

Julian Schwinger

Paul B. Slater

This paper has been superseded by math-ph/0102032, "Bures geometry of the three-level quantum systems. II".

Yu-Huan Huang, Xu-Yang Hou, Hao Guo +1 more

We elucidate the Bures metric in quantum state space near a rank-changing point of the density matrix and show contrasting behavior for two-level ($N=2$) systems versus higher-level systems. Due to the smooth pure-state boundary for $N=2$, we prove the apparent metric divergences to be merely coordinate artifacts and present three Lindblad processes exhibiting qualitatively different evolution near rank-changing points, showing geodesic approach, power-law scaling, and pure-state escape law. For higher-dimensional ($N\ge 3$) systems, the geometry near a rank-changing point differs fundamentally. Under suitable restrictions of the density matrix and its approach towards a pure state, the Bures metric reduces to a conical metric with the pure state at the cone tip. Such a conic geometry leads to genuine curvature singularities: A two-dimensional cone exhibits a Dirac delta-function curvature near the tip while a higher-dimensional cone shows a power-law divergence of the curvature towards the cone tip. A construction of Lindblad evolution for $N=3$ systems with conic singularities is presented, along with possible implications for future experimental and theoretical research.

Bogdan Mielnik