arXiv subjects

Daniel Centeno

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Centeno.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Coordination Requires a Common Cause in Quantum Theory

We propose a novel causal principle that is a genuinely multipartite extension of Reichenbach's common cause principle, namely, the coordination principle: parties in a network can achieve perfect randomized coordination--in particular, agree on a uniformly random output--only if they all share a common cause. We show that this principle does not follow from the standard no-signaling and independence principles by providing an explicit theory satisfying all these principles while violating the coordination principle. Strikingly, we prove that the coordination principle holds, however, in quantum theory for four parties, and derive noise-tolerant Bell-like inequalities that certify a common cause. We then extend these results to a genuinely quantum coordination task, showing that the four-partite GHZ state requires a quantum common cause which can also be certified by experimentally accessible Bell-like inequalities. A companion paper generalizes these results for N parties, proving that the coordination principle is satisfied in general for quantum theory.

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arXiv2026

A missing causal principle: Coordination

We introduce the coordination principle, which states that perfect coordination, in the form of agreement on a uniformly random output, among N parties is possible only if they share a common cause. This principle is purely causal and can be viewed as a multipartite generalization of Reichenbach's common cause principle. We prove that quantum information theory satisfy the coordination principle in any network, and derive noise-tolerant Bell-like inequalities that certify the presence of a common cause. We further show that the principle is not a consequence of no-signaling and independence alone by constructing a concrete operational probabilistic theory that obeys both principles while still allowing perfect coordination without a common cause. This possibility arises only in fully general causal scenarios with intermediate transformations between preparations and measurements. We also formulate a genuinely quantum coordination task, showing that the preparation of a multipartite GHZ state requires a quantum common cause, which can be certified by Bell-like inequalities which are experimentally testable. Finally, we discuss the open problem of finding a quantitative, noise-tolerant version of the coordination principle that constrains approximate coordination in any reasonable causal theory. This work is the extended version of the more compact letter and provides all the technical details of the proofs.

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arXiv2025

Certifying Randomness or its Lack Thereof for General Network Scenarios

The certification of intrinsic randomness is foundational to quantum information theory and central in many practical applications thereof, such as in the generation of unquestionably random numbers and in cryptographic protocols. Device-independent randomness certification based on violations of Bell inequalities has been thoroughly investigated within the standard Bell scenario. In this work, we aim to extend this line of research by exploring randomness certification in more general causal structures, namely, network scenarios. To address this task, we demonstrate how the computational tool known as the inflation technique can be adapted. As proof of concept, we use inflation to certify randomness relative to a beyond-quantum adversary for sample probability distributions obtained in the bilocality and triangle scenarios. Complementarily, we also provide computational methods for the problem of certifying an absence of randomness, which should not be conflated with certifying the classicality of a given probability distribution. We conclude with a discussion of conceptual subtleties regarding randomness certification in networks, highlighting important open problems in this nascent research field.

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arXiv2025

On whether quantum theory needs complex numbers: the foil theories perspective

Recent work by Renou et al. (2021) has led to some controversy concerning the question of whether quantum theory requires complex numbers for its formulation. We promote the view that the main result of that work is best understood not as a claim about the relative merits of different representations of quantum theory, but rather as a claim about the possibility of experimentally adjudicating between standard quantum theory and an alternative theory -- a foil theory -- known as real-amplitude quantum theory (RQT). In particular, the claim is that this adjudication can be achieved given only an assumption about the causal structure of the experiment. Here, we aim to shed some light on why this is possible, by reconceptualizing the comparison of the two theories as an instance of a broader class of such theory comparisons. By recasting RQT as the subtheory of quantum theory that arises by symmetrizing with respect to the collective action of a time-reversal symmetry, we can compare it to other subtheories that arise by symmetrization, but for different symmetries. If the symmetry has a unitary representation, the resulting foil theory is termed a twirled quantum world, and if it does not (as is the case in RQT), the resulting foil theory is termed a swirled quantum world. We show that, in contrast to RQT, there is no possibility of distinguishing any twirled quantum world from quantum theory given only an assumption about causal structure. We also define analogues of twirling and swirling for an arbitrary generalized probabilistic theory and identify certain necessary conditions on a causal structure for it to be able to support a causal compatibility gap between the theory and its symmetrized version. We draw out the implications of these analyses for the question of how a lack of a shared reference frame state features into the possibility of such a gap.

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arXiv2025

Upper Bounding Hilbert Space Dimensions which can Realize all the Quantum Correlations

We introduce novel upper bounds on the Hilbert space dimensions required to realize quantum correlations in Bell scenarios. We start by considering bipartite cases wherein one of the two parties has two settings and two outcomes. Regardless of the number of measurements and outcomes of the other party, the Hilbert space dimension of the first party can be limited to two while still achieving all convexly extremal quantum correlations. We then leverage Schmidt decomposition to show that the remaining party can losslessly also be restricted to a qubit Hilbert space. We then extend this idea to multipartite scenarios. We also adapt our results to provide upper bounds of local Hilbert space dimensions to achieve any quantum correlation, including convexly non-extremal correlations, by utilizing Caratheodory's theorem. Finally, we generalize our results to nonstandard Bell scenarios with communication. Taken together, our results fill in several previously unresolved aspects of the problem of determining sufficient Hilbert space dimensionality, expanding the collection of scenarios for which finite-dimensional quantum systems are known to be sufficient to reproduce any quantum correlation.

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arXiv2024

Distinguishing quantum causal scenarios with indistinguishable classical analogs: The significance of intermediate latents

The use of graphical models to represent causal hypotheses has enabled revolutionary progress in the study of the foundations of quantum theory. Here we consider directed acyclic graphs each of which contains both nodes representing observed variables as well as nodes representing latent or hidden variables. When comparing distinct causal structures, a natural question to ask is if they can explain distinct sets of observable distributions or not. Statisticians have developed a great variety of tools for resolving such questions under the assumption that latent nodes are interpreted classically. Here we highlight how the change to a quantum interpretation of the latent nodes induces distinctions between causal scenarios that would be classically indistinguishable. We especially concentrate on quantum scenarios containing latent nodes with at least one latent parent, a.k.a. possessing intermediate latents. This initial survey demonstrates that many such quantum processes can be operationally distinguished by considerations related to monogamy of nonlocality, especially when computationally aided by a hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations which we tailor for the study of such scenarios. We conclude by clarifying the challenges that prevent the generalization of this work, calling attention to open problems regarding observational (in)equivalence of quantum causal structures with intermediate latents.

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arXiv2024

Symmetry-induced failures of tomographic locality: Constructing foil theories by twirling

Tomographic locality is a principle commonly used in the program of finding axioms that pick out quantum theory within the landscape of possible theories. The principle asserts the sufficiency of local measurements for achieving a tomographic characterization of any bipartite state. In this work, we explore the meaning of the principle of tomographic locality by developing a simple scheme for generating a wide variety of theories that violate the principle. In this scheme, one starts with a tomographically local theory -- which can be classical, quantum or post-quantum -- and a physical symmetry, and one restricts the processes in the theory to all and only those that are covariant with respect to the collective action of that symmetry. We refer to the resulting theories as twirled worlds. We show that failures of tomographic locality are ubiquitous in twirled worlds. From the possibility of such failures in classical twirled worlds, we argue that the failure of tomographic locality (i.e., tomographic nonlocality) does not imply ontological holism. Our results also demonstrate the need for researchers seeking to axiomatize quantum theory to take a stand on the question of whether there are superselection rules that have a fundamental status.

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arXiv2023

Photonic implementation of the quantum Morra game

In this paper, we study a faithful translation of a two-player quantum Morra game, which builds on previous work by including the classical game as a special case. We propose a natural deformation of the game in the quantum regime in which Alice has a winning advantage, breaking the balance of the classical game. A Nash equilibrium can be found in some cases by employing a pure strategy, which is impossible in the classical game where a mixed strategy is always required. We prepared our states using photonic qubits on a linear optics setup, with an average deviation less than 2% with respect to the measured outcome probabilities. Finally, we discuss potential applications of the quantum Morra game to the study of quantum information and communication.

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arXiv2021

General quantum Chinos games

The Chinos game is a non-cooperative game between players who try to guess the total sum of coins drawn collectively. Semiclassical and quantum versions of this game were proposed by F. Guinea and M. A. Martin-Delgado, in J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36 L197 (2003), where the coins are replaced by a boson whose number occupancy is the aim of player's guesses. Here, we propose other versions of the Chinos game using a hard-core boson, one qubit and two qubits. In the latter case, we find that using entangled states the second player has a stable winning strategy that becomes symmetric for non-entangled states. Finally, we use the IBM Quantum Experience to compute the basic quantities involved in the two-qubit version of the game

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