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arXiv:quant-ph/0507130 · Physical Review A

Extremal quantum cloning machines

Giulio Chiribella, Giacomo Mauro D’Ariano, Paolo Perinotti, Nicolas J. Cerf

Published Oct 28, 2005• 23 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the problem of cloning a set of states that is invariant under the action of an irreducible group representation. We then characterize the cloners that are extremal in the convex set of group covariant cloning machines, among which one can restrict the search for optimal cloners. For a set of states that is invariant under the discrete Weyl-Heisenberg group, we show that all extremal cloners can be unitarily realized using the so-called double-Bell states, whence providing a general proof of the popular ansatz used in the literature for finding optimal cloners in a variety of settings. Our result can also be generalized to continuous-variable optimal cloning in infinite dimensions, where the covariance group is the customary Weyl-Heisenberg group of displacements.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.72.042336

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We investigate the problem of cloning a set of states that is invariant under the action of an irreducible group representation. We then characterize the cloners that are extremal in the convex set of group covariant cloning machines, among which one can restrict the search for optimal cloners. For a set of states that is invariant under the discrete Weyl-Heisenberg group, we show that all extremal cloners can be unitarily realized using the so-called double-Bell states, whence providing a general proof of the popular ansatz used in the literature for finding optimal cloners in a variety of settings. Our result can also be generalized to continuous-variable optimal cloning in infinite dimensions, where the covariance group is the customary Weyl-Heisenberg group of displacements.
We consider nonuniversal cloning maps, namely, cloning transformations that are covariant under a proper subgroup G of the universal unitary group U(d),U(d),U(d), where d is the dimension of the Hilbert space H\mathcal{H}H of the system to be cloned. We give a general method for optimizing cloning for any cost function. Examples of applications are given for phase-covariant cloning (cloning of equatorial qubits and qutrits) and for the Weyl-Heisenberg group (cloning of ``continuous variables'').
The study of quantum cryptography and quantum entanglement has traditionally been based on two-level quantum systems (qubits) and more recently on three-level systems (qutrits). We investigate several classes of state-dependent quantum cloners for four-level systems (quartits). These results apply to symmetric as well as asymmetric cloners, so that the balance between the fidelity of the two clones can also be analyzed. We extend Cerf's formalism for cloning states in order to derive cloning machines that remain invariant under certain unitary transformations. Our results show that a different cloner has to be used for two mutually unbiased bases which are related by a double Hadamard transformation, than for two mutually unbiased bases that are related by a Fourier transformation. This different cloner is obtained thanks to a redefinition of Bell states that respects the intrinsic symmetries of the Hadamard transformation.
The study of quantum cryptography and quantum entanglement has traditionally been based on two-level quantum systems (qubits) and more recently on three-level systems (qutrits). We investigate several classes of state-dependent quantum cloners for four-level systems (quartits). These results apply to symmetric as well as asymmetric cloners, so that the balance between the fidelity of the two clones can also be analyzed. We extend Cerf's formalism for cloning states in order to derive cloning machines that remain invariant under certain unitary transformations. Our results show that a different cloner has to be used for two mutually unbiased bases which are related by a double Hadamard transformation, than for two mutually unbiased bases that are related by a Fourier transformation. This different cloner is obtained thanks to a redefinition of Bell states that respects the intrinsic symmetries of the Hadamard transformation.
After a brief introduction to the quantum no-cloning theorem and its link with the linearity and causality of quantum mechanics, the concept of quantum cloning machines is sketched, following, whenever possible, the chronology of the main results. The important classes of quantum cloning machines are reviewed, in particular state-independent and state-dependent cloning machines. The 1-to-2 cloning problem is then studied from a formal point of view, using the isomorphism between completely positive maps and operators, which leads to the so-called double-Bell ansatz. This also yields an efficient numerical approach to quantum cloning, based on semidefinite programming methods. The derivation of the optimal N-to-M universal cloning machine in d dimensions is then detailed, as well as the notion of asymmetric cloning machines. In the second part of this review, the optical implementation of cloning machines is considered. It is shown that the universal cloning of photons can be achieved by parametric amplification of light or by symmetrization via the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. The various experimental demonstrations of quantum cloning machines are reviewed. The cloning of orthogonally polarized photons is also considered, as well as the asymmetric and phase-covariant cloning of photons. Finally, the extension of quantum cloning to continuous variables is analyzed. The optimal cloning of coherent states of light by phase-insensitive amplification is explained, as well as the experimental realization of continuous-variable quantum cloning with linear optics, measurement, and feed-forward operations.
In this work, we revisit the problem of finding an admissible region of fidelities obtained after the application of an arbitrary $1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}N$ universal quantum cloner which has been recently solved in A. Kay et al. [Quant. Inf. Comput 13, 880 (2013)] from the side of cloning machines. Using group-theory formalism, we show that the allowed region for fidelities can be alternatively expressed in terms of overlaps of pure states with recently found irreducible representations of the commutant $U\ensuremath{\bigotimes}U\ensuremath{\bigotimes}\ensuremath{\cdots}\ensuremath{\bigotimes}U\ensuremath{\bigotimes}{U}^{*}$, which gives the characterization of the allowed region where states being cloned are a figure of merit. Additionally, it is sufficient to take pure states with real coefficients only, which makes calculations simpler. To obtain the allowed region, we make a convex hull of possible ranges of fidelities related to a given irrep. Subsequently, two cases, $1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2$ and $1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3$ cloners, are studied for different dimensions of states as illustrative examples.
The quantum state space S over a ddd-dimensional Hilbert space is represented as a convex subset of a $(D\ensuremath{-}1)$-dimensional sphere ${S}_{D\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{\subset}{\mathbf{R}}^{D},$ where ${D=d}^{2}\ensuremath{-}1.$ Quantum transformations (CP\mathrm{CP}CP maps) are then associated with the affine transformations of RD{\mathbf{R}}^{D}RD and $N\ensuremath{\mapsto}M$ cloners induce polynomial mappings. In this geometrical setting it is shown that an optimal cloner can be chosen to be covariant and induces a map between reduced density matrices given by a simple contraction of the associated DDD-dimensional Bloch vectors.