We apply and extend recent results of Krattenthaler and Slater (quant-ph/9612043), who sought quantum analogs of seminal work on universal data compression of Clarke and Barron. KS obtained explicit formulas for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the 2^m x 2^m density matrices gotten by averaging the m-fold tensor products with themselves of the 2 x 2 density matrices. The weighting was done with respect to a one-parameter family of probability distributions, all the members of which are spherically-symmetric over the "Bloch sphere" of two-level quantum systems. This family includes the normalized volume element of the minimal monotone (Bures) metric. In this letter, we conduct parallel analyses (for m =2,3,4), based on a natural measure on the density matrices recently proposed by Zyczkowski, Horodecki, Sanpera and Lewenstein (quant-ph/9804024) and find interesting similarities and differences with the findings of KS. In addition, we are able to obtain exact analogous results, based on the measure of ZHSL, for the twofold tensor products of the 3 x 3 density matrices.
We apply and extend recent results of Krattenthaler and Slater (quant-ph/9612043), who sought quantum analogs of seminal work on universal data compression of Clarke and Barron. KS obtained explicit formulas for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the 2^m x 2^m density matrices gotten by averaging the m-fold tensor products with themselves of the 2 x 2 density matrices. The weighting was done with respect to a one-parameter family of probability distributions, all the members of which are spherically-symmetric over the "Bloch sphere" of two-level quantum systems. This family includes the normalized volume element of the minimal monotone (Bures) metric. In this letter, we conduct parallel analyses (for m =2,3,4), based on a natural measure on the density matrices recently proposed by Zyczkowski, Horodecki, Sanpera and Lewenstein (quant-ph/9804024) and find interesting similarities and differences with the findings of KS. In addition, we are able to obtain exact analogous results, based on the measure of ZHSL, for the twofold tensor products of the 3 x 3 density matrices.
We extend to additional probability measures and scenarios, certain of the recent results of Krattenthaler and Slater (quant-ph/9612043), whose original motivation was to obtain quantum analogs of seminal work on universal data compression of Clarke and Barron. KS obtained explicit formulas for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the 2^m x 2^m density matrices derived by averaging the m-fold tensor products with themselves of the 2 x 2 density matrices. The weighting was done with respect to a one-parameter (u) family of probability distributions, all the members of which are spherically-symmetric (SU(2)-invariant) over the ``Bloch sphere'' of two-level quantum systems. For u = 1/2, one obtains the normalized volume element of the minimal monotone (Bures) metric. In this paper, analyses parallel to those of KS are conducted, based on an alternative "natural" measure on the density matrices recently proposed by Zyczkowski, Horodecki, Sanpera, and Lewenstein (quant-ph/9804024). The approaches of KS and that based on ZHSL are found to yield [1 + m/2] identical SU(2) x S_{m}-invariant eigenspaces (but not coincident eigenvalues for m > 3). Companion results, based on the SU(3) form of the ZHSL measure, are obtained for the twofold and threefold tensor products of the 3 x 3 density matrices. We find a rather remarkable limiting procedure (selection rule) for recovering from these analyses, the (permutationally-symmetrized) multiplets of SU(3) constructed from two or three particles. We also analyze the scenarios (all for m = 2) N = 2 x 3, N= 2 x 3 x 2, N= 3 x 2 x 2 and N = 4 and, in addition, generalize the ZHSL measure, so that it incorporates a family of (symmetric) Dirichlet distributions (rather than simply the uniform distribution), defined on the (N-1)-dimensional simplex of eigenvalues.
Hubner's formula for the Bures (statistical distance) metric is applied to both a one-parameter and a two-parameter series (n=2,...,7) of sets of 2^n x 2^n density matrices. In the doubly-parameterized series, the sets are comprised of the n-fold tensor products --- corresponding to n independent, identical quantum systems --- of the 2 x 2 density matrices with real entries. The Gaussian curvatures of the corresponding Bures metrics are found to be constants (4/n). In the second series of 2^n x 2^n density matrices studied, the singly-parameterized sets are formed --- following a study of Krattenthaler and Slater --- by averaging with respect to a certain Gibbs distribution, the n-fold tensor products of the 2 x 2 density matrices with complex entries. For n = 100, we are also able to compute the Bures distance between two arbitrary (not necessarily neighboring) density matrices in this particular series, making use of the eigenvalue formulas of Krattenthaler and Slater, together with the knowledge that the 2^n x 2^n density matrices in this series commute.
We report the results of certain integrations of quantum-theoretic interest, relying, in this regard, upon recently developed parametrizations of Boya et al (1998 Preprint quant-ph/9810084) of the n × n density matrices, in terms of squared components of the unit ( n - 1)-sphere and the n × n unitary matrices. Firstly, we express the normalized volume elements of the Bures (minimal monotone) metric for n = 2 and 3, thereby obtaining `Bures prior probability distributions' over the two- and three-state systems. Then, as a first step in extending these results to n >3, we determine that the `Hall normalization constant' ( C n ) for the marginal Bures prior probablity distribution over the ( n - 1)-dimensional simplex of the n eigenvalues of the n × n density matrices is, for n = 4, equal to 71 680/ 2 . Since we also find that C 3 = 35/ , it follows that C 4 is simply equal to 2 11 C 3 / . ( C 2 itself is known to equal 2/ .) The constant C 5 is also found. It too is associated with a remarkably simple decomposition, involving the product of the eight consecutive prime numbers from 3 to 23. We also preliminarily investigate several cases n >5, with the use of quasi-Monte Carlo integration. We hope that the various analyses reported will prove useful in deriving a general formula (which evidence suggests will involve the Bernoulli numbers) for the Hall normalization constant for arbitrary n . This would have diverse applications, including quantum inference and universal quantum coding.
We pursue a number of analytical directions, motivated to some extent initially by the possibility of developing a methodology for formally proving or disproving a certain conjecture of quantum-theoretical relevance (quant-ph/0308037). It asserts that the 15-dimensional volume occupied by the separable two-qubit density matrices is (\sqrt{2}-1)/3, as measured in terms of the statistical distinguishability metric (four times the Bures or minimal monotone metric). Somewhat disappointingly, however, the several various analyses that we report, though we hope of independent/autonomous interest, appear to provide small indication of how to definitively resolve the conjecture. Among our studies here are ones of: (1) the Bures volumes of the two-dimensional sections of Bloch vectors for a number of the Jakobczyk-Siennicki two-qubit scenarios; (2) the structure of certain convex polytopes of separable density matrices; and (3) the diagonalization of 15 x 15 Bures metric tensors.
We investigate the possibility of deriving analytical formulas for the 15-dimensional separable volumes, in terms of any of a number of metrics of interest (Hilbert-Schmidt [HS], Bures,...), of the two-qubit (four-level) systems. This would appear to require 15-fold symbolic integrations over a complicated convex body (defined by both separability and feasibility constraints). The associated 15-dimensional integrands -- in terms of the Tilma-Byrd-Sudarshan Euler-angle-based parameterization of the 4 x 4 density matrices ρ(math-ph/0202002) -- would be the products of 12-dimensional Haar measure μ_{Haar} (common to each metric) and 3-dimensional measures μ_{metric} (specific to each metric) over the 3d-simplex formed by the four eigenvalues of ρ. We attempt here to estimate/determine the 3-dimensional integrands (the products of the various [known] μ_{metric}'s and an unknown symmetric weighting function W) remaining after the (putative) 12-fold integration of μ_{Haar} over the twelve Euler angles. We do this by fitting W so that the conjectured HS separable volumes and hyperareas (quant-ph/0410238; cf. quant-ph/0609006) are reproduced. We further evaluate a number of possible choices of W by seeing how well they also yield the conjectured separable volumes for the Bures, Kubo-Mori, Wigner-Yanase and (arithmetic) average monotone metrics and the conjectured separable Bures hyperarea (quant-ph/0308037,Table VI). We, in fact, find two such exact (rather similar) choices that give these five conjectured (non-HS) values all within 5%. In addition to the above-mentioned Euler angle parameterization of ρ, we make extensive use of the Bloore parameterization (J. Phys. A 9 [1976], 2059) in a companion set of two-qubit separability analyses.
Among the monotone metrics on the (n^{2} - 1)-dimensional convex set of n x n density matrices, as Petz and Sudar have recently elaborated, there are a minimal (Bures) and a maximal one. We examine the proposition that it is physically meaningful to treat the volume elements of these metrics as densities-of-states for thermodynamic purposes. In the n = 2 (spin-1/2) case, use of the maximal monotone metric, in fact, does lead to the adoption of the Langevin (and not the Brillouin) functions, thus, completely conforming with a recent probabilistic argument of Lavenda. Brody and Hughston also arrived at the Langevin function in an analysis based on the Fubini-Study metric. It is a matter of some interest, however, that in the first (subsequently modified) version of their paper, they had reported a different result, one fully consistent with the alternative use of the minimal monotone metric. In this part I of our investigation, we first study scenarios involving partially entangled spin-1/2 particles (n = 4, 6,...) and then a certain three-level extension of the two-level systems. In part II, we examine, in full generality, and with some limited analytical success, the cases n = 3 and 4.