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arXiv:quant-ph/0611157 · Physical Review A

Role of entanglement and correlations in mixed-state quantum computation

Animesh Datta, Guifré Vidal

Published Apr 11, 2007• 259 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In a quantum computation with pure states, the generation of large amounts of entanglement is known to be necessary for a speedup with respect to classical computations. However, examples of quantum computations with mixed states are known, such as the deterministic computation with one quantum qubit (DQC1) model [Knill and Laflamme, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5672 (1998)], in which entanglement is at most marginally present, and yet a computational speedup is believed to occur. Correlations, and not entanglement, have been identified as a necessary ingredient for mixed-state quantum computation speedups. Here we show that correlations, as measured through the operator Schmidt rank, are indeed present in large amounts in the DQC1 circuit. This provides evidence for the preclusion of efficient classical simulation of DQC1 by means of a whole class of classical simulation algorithms, thereby reinforcing the conjecture that DQC1 leads to a genuine quantum computational speedup.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.75.042310

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In a quantum computation with pure states, the generation of large amounts of entanglement is known to be necessary for a speedup with respect to classical computations. However, examples of quantum computations with mixed states are known, such as the deterministic computation with one quantum qubit (DQC1) model [Knill and Laflamme, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5672 (1998)], in which entanglement is at most marginally present, and yet a computational speedup is believed to occur. Correlations, and not entanglement, have been identified as a necessary ingredient for mixed-state quantum computation speedups. Here we show that correlations, as measured through the operator Schmidt rank, are indeed present in large amounts in the DQC1 circuit. This provides evidence for the preclusion of efficient classical simulation of DQC1 by means of a whole class of classical simulation algorithms, thereby reinforcing the conjecture that DQC1 leads to a genuine quantum computational speedup.
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Deterministic quantum computation with one pure qubit (DQC1) is an efficient model of computation that uses highly mixed states. Unlike pure-state models, its power is not derived from the generation of a large amount of entanglement. Instead it has been proposed that other nonclassical correlations are responsible for the computational speedup, and that these can be captured by the quantum discord. In this Letter we implement DQC1 in an all-optical architecture, and experimentally observe the generated correlations. We find no entanglement, but large amounts of quantum discord-except in three cases where an efficient classical simulation is always possible. Our results show that even fully separable, highly mixed, states can contain intrinsically quantum mechanical correlations and that these could offer a valuable resource for quantum information technologies.
In this paper I argue that entanglement is a necessary component for any explanation of quantum speedup and I address some purported counter-examples that some claim show that the contrary is true. In particular, I address Biham et al.'s mixed-state version of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, and Knill & Laflamme's deterministic quantum computation with one qubit (DQC1) model of quantum computation. I argue that these examples do not demonstrate that entanglement is unnecessary for the explanation of quantum speedup, but that they rather illuminate and clarify the role that entanglement does play.
Quantum entanglement is the most popular kind of quantum correlations. Its role in several tasks in quantum information theory like quantum cryptography, quantum dense coding and quantum teleportation is indisputable. The role of entanglement in quantum algorithms has also attracted enormous amount of attention in the literature. The research in this direction is motivated by the finding that a quantum computer can efficiently factorize arbitrary integer numbers. Since no classical algorithm is known today that can solve this problem efficiently, this example clearly demonstrates the superiority of a quantum computer compared to its classical counterpart. In this context, entanglement also plays a crucial role: if the quantum computer operates on a pure state without entanglement, then the computational process can be simulated efficiently on a classical computer. In this case entanglement is the key ingredient that makes the difference between a quantum and a classical computer. However, the situation is more involved if the computational process is not perfect. In this case the quantum computer operates on a mixed state, and the role of entanglement is less obvious. A seminal result in this direction is a quantum algorithm known under the acronym DQC1. This algorithm operates on an almost maximally mixed state with vanishingly little entanglement. However, DQC1 can still perform tasks efficiently for which no efficient classical algorithm is known today. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that entanglement in general is not related to the efficiency of a quantum algorithm. Triggered by this observation other kinds of quantum correlations have been studied. In this context a particular measure of quantum correlations known as quantum discord is referred to frequently in the literature. Quantum discord is a measure of quantum correlations beyond entanglement, i.e., a quantum state can have no entanglement, but nonvanishing quantum discord. Quantum discord is also regarded as the key resource in the DQC1 algorithm. Although this statement is still controversial, it was shown under very general assumptions that quantum discord is required if a quantum computer is to show an exponential speedup over any classical algorithm. In this thesis we give a short introduction into the theory of entanglement and general quantum correlations, and further discuss our results. In particular, we show that two different kinds of entanglement measures can coincide. This result is used to build an algorithm for computing entanglement. We also consider the role of quantum correlations for the distribution of entanglement and for the quantum measurement process. We further discuss the behavior of quantum correlations under local noise, and their monogamy properties.
Mixed state quantum computation can perform certain tasks which are believed to be efficiently intractable on a classical computer. For a specific model of mixed state quantum computation, namely, deterministic quantum computation with a single qubit (DQC1), recent investigations suggest that quantum correlations other than entanglement might be responsible for the power of DQC1 model. However, strictly speaking, the role of entanglement in this model of computation was not entirely clear. We provide conclusive evidence that there are instances where quantum entanglement is not present in any part of this model, nevertheless we have advantage over classical computation. This establishes the fact that quantum dissonance (a kind of quantum correlations) present in fully separable (FS) states provide power to DQC1 model.
In this thesis, I look at the role of quantum entanglement in mixed-state quantum computation. The model we consider is the DQC1 or `power of one qubit' model. I show that there is minimal bipartite entanglement in a typical instance of the DQC1 circuit and even put an upper bound on the possible amount of entanglement. This limited amount of entanglement, however, does not imply that the system is classically simulatable. A matrix product state (MPS) algorithm for a typical instance of the DQC1 system requires exponential classical resources. This exposes a gap between the amount of entanglement and the amount of purely nonclassical correlations in a quantum system. This gap, I suggest, can be filled by quantum discord. I calculate it in a typical instance of the DQC1 circuit and find that the amount of discord is a constant fraction of the maximum possible discord for a system of that size. This allows an interpretation of quantum discord as the resource that drives mixed-state quantum computation. I also study quantum discord as a quantity of independent interest. Its role in the phenomenon of entanglement distribution is studied through an easily comprehensible example. This thesis also contains discussions on the relation between the complexity classes P, BQP and DQC1. Additional material is presented on the connections between the DQC1 model, Jones polynomials and statistical mechanics. The thesis concludes with a discussion of a few open problems related to the DQC1 model, the quantum discord and their scope in quantum information science.