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arXiv:quant-ph/0309120

Constructions of Mutually Unbiased Bases

Andreas Klappenecker, Martin Roetteler

Published Sep 15, 2003• 86 citations
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Abstract

Two orthonormal bases B and B' of a d-dimensional complex inner-product space are called mutually unbiased if and only if ||^2=1/d holds for all b in B and b' in B'. The size of any set containing (pairwise) mutually unbiased bases of C^d cannot exceed d+1. If d is a power of a prime, then extremal sets containing d+1 mutually unbiased bases are known to exist. We give a simplified proof of this fact based on the estimation of exponential sums. We discuss conjectures and open problems concerning the maximal number of mutually unbiased bases for arbitrary dimensions.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0309120

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Mutually unbiased bases: polynomial optimization and symmetry

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A set of k orthonormal bases of Cd is called mutually unbiased if |⟨e,f⟩|2=1/d whenever e and f are basis vectors in distinct bases. A natural question is for which pairs (d,k) there exist k mutually unbiased bases in dimension d . The (well-known) upper bound k≤d+1 is attained when d is a power of a prime. For all other dimensions it is an open problem whether the bound can be attained. Navascués, Pironio, and Acín showed how to reformulate the existence question in terms of the existence of a certain C∗ -algebra. This naturally leads to a noncommutative polynomial optimization problem and an associated hierarchy of semidefinite programs. The problem has a symmetry coming from the wreath product of Sd and Sk .We exploit this symmetry (analytically) to reduce the size of the semidefinite programs making them (numerically) tractable. A key step is a novel explicit decomposition of the Sd≀Sk -module C([d]×[k])t into irreducible modules. We present numerical results for small d,k and low levels of the hierarchy. In particular, we obtain sum-of-squares proofs for the (well-known) fact that there do not exist d+2 mutually unbiased bases in dimensions d=2,3,4,5,6,7,8 . Moreover, our numerical results indicate that a sum-of-squares refutation, in the above-mentioned framework, of the existence of more than 3 MUBs in dimension 6 requires polynomials of total degree at least 12 .

Quantum•Apr 30, 2024•6 citations
Two orthonormal bases B and B' of a d-dimensional complex inner-product space are called mutually unbiased if and only if ||^2=1/d holds for all b in B and b' in B'. The size of any set containing (pairwise) mutually unbiased bases of C^d cannot exceed d+1. If d is a power of a prime, then extremal sets containing d+1 mutually unbiased bases are known to exist. We give a simplified proof of this fact based on the estimation of exponential sums. We discuss conjectures and open problems concerning the maximal number of mutually unbiased bases for arbitrary dimensions.
Two orthonormal bases in the complex space of dimension d, are said to be mutually unbiased if the square of the magnitude of the inner product of any vector from one basis with any vector in other basis is equal to the reciprocal of the dimension d. Mutually unbiased bases are used for optimal state determination of mixed quantum states. It is known that in any dimension d, the number of mutually unbiased bases is at most d+1. Ivanovic found a complete set of mutually unbiased bases for prime dimensions. His construction was generalized by Wootters and Fields for prime power dimensions. There is a strong connection between maximally commuting bases of orthogonal unitary matrices and mutually unbiased bases. Based on this connection, there exits a constructive proof of the existence of a complete set of mutually unbiased bases for prime power dimensions. This thesis is an exploration on construction of mutually unbiased bases.
In a quantum system having a finite number N of orthogonal states, two orthonormal bases {ai} and {bj} are called mutually unbiased if all inner products ⟨ai∣bj⟩ have the same modulus 1∕N. This concept appears in several quantum information problems. The number of pairwise mutually unbiased bases is at most N+1 and various constructions of such N+1 bases have been found when N is a power of a prime number. We study families of formulas that generalize these constructions to arbitrary dimensions using finite rings. We then prove that there exists a set of N+1 mutually unbiased bases described by such formulas, if and only if N is a power of a prime number.
A set of kkk orthonormal bases of Cd\mathbb C^dCd is called mutually unbiased if ∣⟨e,f⟩∣2=1/d|\langle e,f\rangle |^2 = 1/d∣⟨e,f⟩∣2=1/d whenever eee and fff are basis vectors in distinct bases. A natural question is for which pairs (d,k)(d,k)(d,k) there exist~kkk mutually unbiased bases in dimension ddd. The (well-known) upper bound k≤d+1k \leq d+1k≤d+1 is attained when~ddd is a power of a prime. For all other dimensions it is an open problem whether the bound can be attained. Navascués, Pironio, and Acín showed how to reformulate the existence question in terms of the existence of a certain C∗C^*C∗-algebra. This naturally leads to a noncommutative polynomial optimization problem and an associated hierarchy of semidefinite programs. The problem has a symmetry coming from the wreath product of SdS_dSd​ and SkS_kSk​. We exploit this symmetry (analytically) to reduce the size of the semidefinite programs making them (numerically) tractable. A key step is a novel explicit decomposition of the Sd≀SkS_d \wr S_kSd​≀Sk​-module C([d]×[k])t\mathbb C^{([d]\times [k])^t}C([d]×[k])t into irreducible modules. We present numerical results for small d,kd,kd,k and low levels of the hierarchy. In particular, we obtain sum-of-squares proofs for the (well-known) fact that there do not exist d+2d+2d+2 mutually unbiased bases in dimensions~d=2,3,4,5,6,7,8d=2,3,4,5,6,7,8d=2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Moreover, our numerical results indicate that a sum-of-squares refutation, in the above-mentioned framework, of the existence of more than 333 MUBs in dimension 666 requires polynomials of total degree at least~121212.
The study of Mutually Unbiased Bases continues to be developed vigorously, and presents several challenges in the Quantum Information Theory. Two orthonormal bases in Cd,BandB′\mathbb C^d, B {and} B'Cd,BandB′ are said mutually unbiased if ∀b∈B,b′∈B′\forall b\in B, b'\in B'∀b∈B,b′∈B′ the scalar product b⋅b′b\cdot b'b⋅b′ has modulus d−1/2d^{-1/2}d−1/2. In particular this property has been introduced in order to allow an optimization of the measurement-driven quantum evolution process of any state ψ∈Cdψ\in \mathbb C^dψ∈Cd when measured in the mutually unbiased bases B_jofCdB\_{j} {of} \mathbb C^dB_jofCd. At present it is an open problem to find the maximal umber of mutually Unbiased Bases when ddd is not a power of a prime number. \noindent In this article, we revisit the problem of finding Mutually Unbiased Bases (MUB's) in any dimension ddd. The method is very elementary, using the simple unitary matrices introduced by Schwinger in 1960, together with their diagonalizations. The Vandermonde matrix based on the ddd-th roots of unity plays a major role. This allows us to show the existence of a set of 3 MUB's in any dimension, to give conditions for existence of more than 3 MUB's for ddd even or odd number, and to recover the known result of existence of d+1d+1d+1 MUB's for ddd a prime number. Furthermore the construction of these MUB's is very explicit. As a by-product, we recover results about Gauss Sums, known in number theory, but which have apparently not been previously derived from MUB properties.
Two orthogonal bases A and B of an n-dimensional Hilbert space are called Mutually Unbiased if for ai ∈ A and bj ∈ B holds: |(ai, bj)| = 1 n for each i, j ∈ {1, . . . , n}. A set B of Mutually Unbiased Bases (MUBs) is a set of bases such that each two distinct bases Bi, Bj ∈ B are mutually unbiased. The bounds on the number of MUBs, dependent on the dimension n, will be derived. Also a construction for MUBs in Cp, with p prime, will be showed. Finally, some open problems will be discussed.
A set of k orthonormal bases of Cd is called mutually unbiased if |⟨e,f⟩|2=1/d whenever e and f are basis vectors in distinct bases. A natural question is for which pairs (d,k) there exist k mutually unbiased bases in dimension d . The (well-known) upper bound k≤d+1 is attained when d is a power of a prime. For all other dimensions it is an open problem whether the bound can be attained. Navascués, Pironio, and Acín showed how to reformulate the existence question in terms of the existence of a certain C∗ -algebra. This naturally leads to a noncommutative polynomial optimization problem and an associated hierarchy of semidefinite programs. The problem has a symmetry coming from the wreath product of Sd and Sk .We exploit this symmetry (analytically) to reduce the size of the semidefinite programs making them (numerically) tractable. A key step is a novel explicit decomposition of the Sd≀Sk -module C([d]×[k])t into irreducible modules. We present numerical results for small d,k and low levels of the hierarchy. In particular, we obtain sum-of-squares proofs for the (well-known) fact that there do not exist d+2 mutually unbiased bases in dimensions d=2,3,4,5,6,7,8 . Moreover, our numerical results indicate that a sum-of-squares refutation, in the above-mentioned framework, of the existence of more than 3 MUBs in dimension 6 requires polynomials of total degree at least 12 .