arXiv subjects

Christopher M. Dawson

Publications and source records attributed to Christopher M. Dawson.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2008

Unifying variational methods for simulating quantum many-body systems

We introduce a unified formulation of variational methods for simulating ground state properties of quantum many-body systems. The key feature is a novel variational method over quantum circuits via infinitesimal unitary transformations, inspired by flow equation methods. Variational classes are represented as efficiently contractible unitary networks, including the matrix-product states of density matrix renormalization, multiscale entanglement renormalization (MERA) states, weighted graph states, and quantum cellular automata. In particular, this provides a tool for varying over classes of states, such as MERA, for which so far no efficient way of variation has been known. The scheme is flexible when it comes to hybridizing methods or formulating new ones. We demonstrate the functioning by numerical implementations of MERA, matrix-product states, and a new variational set on benchmarks.

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arXiv2007

Noise thresholds for optical cluster-state quantum computation

In this paper we do a detailed numerical investigation of the fault-tolerant threshold for optical cluster-state quantum computation. Our noise model allows both photon loss and depolarizing noise, as a general proxy for all types of local noise other than photon loss noise. We obtain a threshold region of allowed pairs of values for the two types of noise. Roughly speaking, our results show that scalable optical quantum computing is possible for photon loss probabilities less than 0.003, and for depolarization probabilities less than 0.0001. Our fault-tolerant protocol involves a number of innovations, including a method for syndrome extraction known as telecorrection, whereby repeated syndrome measurements are guaranteed to agree. This paper is an extended version of [Dawson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 020501].

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arXiv2005

Noise thresholds for optical quantum computers

In this paper we numerically investigate the fault-tolerant threshold for optical cluster-state quantum computing. We allow both photon loss noise and depolarizing noise (as a general proxy for all local noise), and obtain a threshold region of allowed pairs of values for the two types of noise. Roughly speaking, our results show that scalable optical quantum computing is possible for photon loss probabilities less than 0.003, and for depolarization probabilities less than 0.0001.

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arXiv2005

The Solovay-Kitaev algorithm

This pedagogical review presents the proof of the Solovay-Kitaev theorem in the form of an efficient classical algorithm for compiling an arbitrary single-qubit gate into a sequence of gates from a fixed and finite set. The algorithm can be used, for example, to compile Shor's algorithm, which uses rotations of $π/ 2^k$, into an efficient fault-tolerant form using only Hadamard, controlled-{\sc not}, and $π/ 8$ gates. The algorithm runs in $O(\log^{2.71}(1/ε))$ time, and produces as output a sequence of $O(\log^{3.97}(1/ε))$ quantum gates which is guaranteed to approximate the desired quantum gate to an accuracy within $ε> 0$. We also explain how the algorithm can be generalized to apply to multi-qubit gates and to gates from $SU(d)$.

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arXiv2005

Entanglement Sharing and Decoherence in the Spin-Bath

The monogamous nature of entanglement has been illustrated by the derivation of entanglement sharing inequalities - bounds on the amount of entanglement that can be shared amongst the various parts of a multipartite system. Motivated by recent studies of decoherence, we demonstrate an interesting manifestation of this phenomena that arises in system-environment models where there exists interactions between the modes or subsystems of the environment. We investigate this phenomena in the spin-bath environment, constructing an entanglement sharing inequality bounding the entanglement between a central spin and the environment in terms of the pairwise entanglement between individual bath spins. The relation of this result to decoherence will be illustrated using simplified system-bath models of decoherence.

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arXiv2004

Quantum computing and polynomial equations over the finite field Z_2

What is the computational power of a quantum computer? We show that determining the output of a quantum computation is equivalent to counting the number of solutions to an easily computed set of polynomials defined over the finite field Z_2. This connection allows simple proofs to be given for two known relationships between quantum and classical complexity classes.

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arXiv2004

Fault-tolerant quantum computation with cluster states

The one-way quantum computing model introduced by Raussendorf and Briegel [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (22), 5188-5191 (2001)] shows that it is possible to quantum compute using only a fixed entangled resource known as a cluster state, and adaptive single-qubit measurements. This model is the basis for several practical proposals for quantum computation, including a promising proposal for optical quantum computation based on cluster states [M. A. Nielsen, arXiv:quant-ph/0402005, accepted to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.]. A significant open question is whether such proposals are scalable in the presence of physically realistic noise. In this paper we prove two threshold theorems which show that scalable fault-tolerant quantum computation may be achieved in implementations based on cluster states, provided the noise in the implementations is below some constant threshold value. Our first threshold theorem applies to a class of implementations in which entangling gates are applied deterministically, but with a small amount of noise. We expect this threshold to be applicable in a wide variety of physical systems. Our second threshold theorem is specifically adapted to proposals such as the optical cluster-state proposal, in which non-deterministic entangling gates are used. A critical technical component of our proofs is two powerful theorems which relate the properties of noisy unitary operations restricted to act on a subspace of state space to extensions of those operations acting on the entire state space.

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arXiv2004

Entanglement and bifurcations in Jahn-Teller models

We compare and contrast the entanglement in the ground state of two Jahn-Teller models. The $E\otimesβ$ system models the coupling of a two-level electronic system, or qubit, to a single oscillator mode, while the $E\otimesε$ models the qubit coupled to two independent, degenerate oscillator modes. In the absence of a transverse magnetic field applied to the qubit, both systems exhibit a degenerate ground state. Whereas there always exists a completely separable ground state in the $E\otimesβ$ system, the ground states of the $E\otimesε$ model always exhibit entanglement. For the $E\otimesβ$ case we aim to clarify results from previous work, alluding to a link between the ground state entanglement characteristics and a bifurcation of a fixed point in the classical analogue. In the $E\otimesε$ case we make use of an ansatz for the ground state. We compare this ansatz to exact numerical calculations and use it to investigate how the entanglement is shared between the three system degrees of freedom.

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arXiv2004

Frustration, interaction strength and ground-state entanglement in complex quantum systems

Entanglement in the ground state of a many-body quantum system may arise when the local terms in the system Hamiltonian fail to commute with the interaction terms in the Hamiltonian. We quantify this phenomenon, demonstrating an analogy between ground-state entanglement and the phenomenon of frustration in spin systems. In particular, we prove that the amount of ground-state entanglement is bounded above by a measure of the extent to which interactions frustrate the local terms in the Hamiltonian. As a corollary, we show that the amount of ground-state entanglement is bounded above by a ratio between parameters characterizing the strength of interactions in the system, and the local energy scale. Finally, we prove a qualitatively similar result for other energy eigenstates of the system.

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arXiv2003

Quantum dynamics as a physical resource

How useful is a quantum dynamical operation for quantum information processing? Motivated by this question we investigate several strength measures quantifying the resources intrinsic to a quantum operation. We develop a general theory of such strength measures, based on axiomatic considerations independent of state-based resources. The power of this theory is demonstrated with applications to quantum communication complexity, quantum computational complexity, and entanglement generation by unitary operations.

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arXiv2002

A practical scheme for quantum computation with any two-qubit entangling gate

Which gates are universal for quantum computation? Although it is well known that certain gates on two-level quantum systems (qubits), such as the controlled-not (CNOT), are universal when assisted by arbitrary one-qubit gates, it has only recently become clear precisely what class of two-qubit gates is universal in this sense. Here we present an elementary proof that any entangling two-qubit gate is universal for quantum computation, when assisted by one-qubit gates. A proof of this important result for systems of arbitrary finite dimension has been provided by J. L. and R. Brylinski [arXiv:quant-ph/0108062, 2001]; however, their proof relies upon a long argument using advanced mathematics. In contrast, our proof provides a simple constructive procedure which is close to optimal and experimentally practical [C. M. Dawson and A. Gilchrist, online implementation of the procedure described herein (2002), http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc/].

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arXiv2002

Universal simulation of Hamiltonian dynamics for qudits

What interactions are sufficient to simulate arbitrary quantum dynamics in a composite quantum system? Dodd et al. (quant-ph/0106064) provided a partial solution to this problem in the form of an efficient algorithm to simulate any desired two-body Hamiltonian evolution using any fixed two-body entangling N-qubit Hamiltonian, and local unitaries. We extend this result to the case where the component systems have D dimensions. As a consequence we explain how universal quantum computation can be performed with any fixed two-body entangling N-qudit Hamiltonian, and local unitaries.

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