arXiv subjects

Gilad Gour

Publications and source records attributed to Gilad Gour.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Almost all multipartite qubit quantum states have trivial stabilizer

The stabilizer group of an n-qubit state ψis the set of all matrices of the form g=g_1\otimes\cdots\otimes g_n, with g_1,...,g_n being any 2x2 invertible complex matrices, that satisfy gψ=ψ. We show that for 5 or more qubits, except for a set of states of zero measure, the stabilizer group of multipartite entangled states is trivial; that is, containing only the identity element. We use this result to show that for 5 or more qubits, the action of deterministic local operations and classical communication (LOCC) can almost always be simulated simply by local unitary (LU) operations. This proves that almost all n-qubit states with n>4 are isolated, that is they can neither be reached nor converted into any other (n-partite entangled), LU-inequivalent state via deterministic LOCC. We also find a simple and elegant expression for the maximal probability to convert one multi-qubit entangled state to another for this generic set of states.

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arXiv2017

The binegativity of two qubits

We introduce an entanglement-related quantity that we call the binegativity. Based on numerical evidence, we conjecture that the binegativity is an entanglement measure for two-qubit states. The binegativity is compared to the concurrence and negativity, the only known entanglement measures that can be computed analytically for all two-qubit states. The ordering of entangled two-qubit mixed states induced by the binegativity is distinct from the ordering determined by previously known measures, yielding possible new insights into the structure of entangled two-qubit mixed states.

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arXiv2017

The resource theory under conditioned thermal operations

The "thermal operations" framework developed in past works is used to model the evolution of microscopic quantum systems in contact with thermal baths. Here we extend this model to bipartite devices with one part acting as a control external to the system--bath setup. We define the operations of such hybrid devices as conditioned thermal operations. We examine the resource under these operations, which we call conditional athermality. In the quasiclassical limit, we quantify this resource and find the conditions for its conversion between different forms.

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arXiv2017

Entanglement monotones and transformations of symmetric bipartite states

The primary goal in the study of entanglement as a resource theory is to find conditions that determine when one quantum state can or cannot be transformed into another via local operations and classical communication. This is typically done through entanglement monotones or conversion witnesses. Such quantities cannot be computed for arbitrary quantum states in general, but it is useful to consider classes of symmetric states for which closed-form expressions can be found. In this paper, we show how to compute the convex roof of any entanglement monotone for all Werner states. The convex roofs of the well-known Vidal monotones are computed for all isotropic states, and we show how this method can generalize to other entanglement measures and other types of symmetries as well. We also present necessary and sufficient conditions that determine when a pure bipartite state can be deterministically converted into a Werner state or an isotropic state.

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arXiv2017

Quantum Relative Lorenz Curves

The theory of majorization and its variants, including thermomajorization, have been found to play a central role in the formulation of many physical resource theories, ranging from entanglement theory to quantum thermodynamics. Here we formulate the framework of quantum relative Lorenz curves, and show how it is able to unify majorization, thermomajorization, and their noncommutative analogues. In doing so, we define the family of Hilbert $α$-divergences and show how it relates with other divergences used in quantum information theory. We then apply these tools to the problem of deciding the existence of a suitable transformation from an initial pair of quantum states to a final one, focusing in particular on applications to the resource theory of athermality, a precursor of quantum thermodynamics.

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arXiv2017

Quantum resource theories in the single-shot regime

One of the main goals of any resource theory such as entanglement, quantum thermodynamics, quantum coherence, and asymmetry, is to find necessary and sufficient conditions (NSC) that determine whether one resource can be converted to another by the set of free operations. Here we find such NSC for a large class of quantum resource theories which we call affine resource theories (ART). ARTs include the resource theories of athermality, asymmetry, and coherence, but not entanglement. Remarkably, the NSC can be expressed as a family of inequalities between resource monotones (quantifiers) that are given in terms of the conditional min entropy. The set of free operations is taken to be (1) the maximal set (i.e. consists of all resource non-generating (RNG) quantum channels) or (2) the self-dual set of free operations (i.e. consists of all RNG maps for which the dual map is also RNG). As an example, we apply our results to quantum thermodynamics with Gibbs preserving operations, and several other ARTs. Finally, we discuss the applications of these results to resource theories that are not affine, and along the way, provide the NSC that a quantum resource theory consists of a resource destroying map.

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arXiv2016

Uncertainty, joint uncertainty, and the quantum uncertainty principle

Historically, the element of uncertainty in quantum mechanics has been expressed through mathematical identities called uncertainty relations, a great many of which continue to be discovered. These relations use diverse measures to quantify uncertainty (and joint uncertainty). In this paper we use operational information-theoretic principles to identify the common essence of all such measures, thereby defining measure-independent notions of uncertainty and joint uncertainty. We find that most existing entropic uncertainty relations use measures of joint uncertainty that yield themselves to a small class of operational interpretations. Our notion relaxes this restriction, revealing previously unexplored joint uncertainty measures. To illustrate the utility of our formalism, we derive an uncertainty relation based on one such new measure. We also use our formalism to gain insight into the conditions under which measure-independent uncertainty relations can be found.

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arXiv2016

The minimum Renyi entropy output of a quantum channel is locally additive

We show that the minimum Renyi entropy output of a quantum channel is locally additive for Renyi parameter alpha>1. While our work extends the results of [10] (in which local additivity was proven for alpha=1), it is based on several new techniques that incorporate the multiplicative nature of p-norms, in contrast to the additivity property of the von-Neumann entropy. Our results demonstrate that the counterexamples to the Renyi additivity conjectures exhibit global effects of quantum channels. Interestingly, the approach presented here can not be extended to Renyi entropies with parameter alpha<1.

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arXiv2016

Are Incoherent Operations Physically Consistent? -- A Critical Examination of Incoherent Operations

Considerable work has recently been directed toward developing resource theories of quantum coherence. In most approaches, a state is said to possess quantum coherence if it is not diagonal in some specified basis. In this letter we establish a criterion of physical consistency for any resource theory in terms of physical implementation of the free operations, and we show that all currently proposed basis-dependent theories of coherence fail to satisfy this criterion. We further characterize the physically consistent resource theory of coherence and find its operational power to be quite limited. After relaxing the condition of physical consistency, we introduce the class of dephasing-covariant incoherent operations, present a number of new coherent monotones based on relative Rényi entropies, and study incoherent state transformations under different operational classes. In particular, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for qubit state transformations and show these conditions hold for all classes of incoherent operations.

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arXiv2016

Computable entanglement conversion witness that is better than the negativity

The primary goal of entanglement theory is to determine convertibility conditions for two quantum states. Up until now, this has always been done with the use of entanglement monotones. With the exception of the negativity, such quantities tend to be rather uncomputable. We instead promote the idea of conversion witnesses in this paper. A conversion witness is a function on pairs of states and whose value determines whether a state can be converted into another. We construct a conversion witness that can be efficiently computed for arbitrary states in systems of any size. This conversion witness is always better than the negativity at detecting when two entangled states are not interconvertible. Furthermore, when considering states of two-qubit systems, this new conversion witness is sometimes better than the entanglement of formation. This shows that the study of conversion witness is in fact useful, and may have applications in resource theories beyond that of entanglement.

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arXiv2015

Stability theorem of depolarizing channels for the minimal output quantum Rényi entropies

We show that the stability theorem of the depolarizing channel holds for the output quantum $p$-Rényi entropy for $p \ge 2$ or $p=1$, which is an extension of the well known case $p=2$. As an application, we present a protocol in which Bob determines whether Alice prepares a pure quantum state close to a product state. In the protocol, Alice transmits to Bob multiple copies of a pure state through a depolarizing channel, and Bob estimates its output quantum $p$-Rényi entropy. By using our stability theorem, we show that Bob can determine whether her preparation is appropriate.

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arXiv2015

The general structure of quantum resource theories

In recent years it was recognized that properties of physical systems such as entanglement, athermality, and asymmetry, can be viewed as resources for important tasks in quantum information, thermodynamics, and other areas of physics. This recognition followed by the development of specific quantum resource theories (QRTs), such as entanglement theory, determining how quantum states that cannot be prepared under certain restrictions may be manipulated and used to circumvent the restrictions. Here we discuss the general structure of QRTs, and show that under a few assumptions (such as convexity of the set of free states), a QRT is asymptotically reversible if its set of allowed operations is maximal; that is, if the allowed operations are the set of all operations that do not generate (asymptotically) a resource. In this case, the asymptotic conversion rate is given in terms of the regularized relative entropy of a resource which is the unique measure/quantifier of the resource in the asymptotic limit of many copies of the state. This measure also equals the smoothed version of the logarithmic robustness of the resource.

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arXiv2015

Low-temperature thermodynamics with quantum coherence

Thermal operations are an operational model of non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics. In the absence of coherence between energy levels, exact state transition conditions under thermal operations are known in terms of a mathematical relation called thermo-majorization. But incorporating coherence has turned out to be challenging, even under the relatively tractable model wherein all Gibbs state-preserving quantum channels are included. Here we find a mathematical generalization of thermal operations at low temperatures, "cooling maps", for which we derive the necessary and sufficient state transition condition. Cooling maps that saturate recently-discovered bounds on coherence transfer are realizable as thermal operations, motivating us to conjecture that all cooling maps are thermal operations. Cooling maps, though a less conservative generalization to thermal operations, are more tractable than Gibbs-preserving operations, suggesting that cooling map-like models at general temperatures could be of use in gaining insight about thermal operations.

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arXiv2015

The resource theory of informational nonequilibrium in thermodynamics

We review recent work on the foundations of thermodynamics in the light of quantum information theory. We adopt a resource-theoretic perspective, wherein thermodynamics is formulated as a theory of what agents can achieve under a particular restriction, namely, that the only state preparations and transformations that they can implement for free are those that are thermal at some fixed temperature. States that are out of thermal equilibrium are the resources. We consider the special case of this theory wherein all systems have trivial Hamiltonians (that is, all of their energy levels are degenerate). In this case, the only free operations are those that add noise to the system (or implement a reversible evolution) and the only nonequilibrium states are states of informational nonequilibrium, that is, states that deviate from the maximally mixed state. The degree of this deviation we call the state's nonuniformity; it is the resource of interest here, the fuel that is consumed, for instance, in an erasure operation. We consider the different types of state conversion: exact and approximate, single-shot and asymptotic, catalytic and noncatalytic. In each case, we present the necessary and sufficient conditions for the conversion to be possible for any pair of states, emphasizing a geometrical representation of the conditions in terms of Lorenz curves. We also review the problem of quantifying the nonuniformity of a state, in particular through the use of generalized entropies. Quantum state conversion problems in this resource theory can be shown to be always reducible to their classical counterparts, so that there are no inherently quantum-mechanical features arising in such problems. This body of work also demonstrates that the standard formulation of the second law of thermodynamics is inadequate as a criterion for deciding whether or not a given state transition is possible.

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arXiv2015

Additive bounds of minimum output entropies for unital channels and an exact qubit formula

We investigate minimum output (Rényi) entropy of qubit channels and unital quantum channels. We obtain an exact formula for the minimum output entropy of qubit channels, and bounds for unital quantum channels. Interestingly, our bounds depend only on the operator norm of the matrix representation of the channels on the space of trace-less Hermitian operators. Moreover, since these bounds respect tensor products, we get bounds for the capacity of unital quantum channels, which is saturated by the Werner-Holevo channel. Furthermore, we construct an orthonormal basis, besides the Gell-Mann basis, for the space of trace-less Hermitian operators by using discrete Weyl operators. We apply our bounds to discrete Weyl covariant channels with this basis, and find new examples in which the minimum output Rényi $2$-entropy is additive.

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arXiv2014

On convex optimization problems in quantum information theory

Convex optimization problems arise naturally in quantum information theory, often in terms of minimizing a convex function over a convex subset of the space of hermitian matrices. In most cases, finding exact solutions to these problems is usually impossible. As inspired by earlier investigations into the relative entropy of entanglement [Phys. Rev. A 78 032310 (2008)], we introduce a general method to solve the converse problem rather than find explicit solutions. That is, given a matrix in a convex set, we determine a family of convex functions that are minimized at this point. This method allows us find explicit formulae for the relative entropy of entanglement and the Rains bound, two well-known upper bounds on the distillable entanglement, and yields interesting information about these quantities, such as the fact that they coincide in the case where at least one subsystem of a multipartite state is a qubit.

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arXiv2014

Construction of all general symmetric informationally complete measurements

We construct the set of all general (i.e. not necessarily rank 1) symmetric informationally complete (SIC) positive operator valued measures (POVMs). In particular, we show that any orthonormal basis of a real vector space of dimension d^2-1 corresponds to some general SIC POVM and vice versa. Our constructed set of all general SIC-POVMs contains weak SIC-POVMs for which each POVM element can be made arbitrarily close to a multiple times the identity. On the other hand, it remains open if for all finite dimensions our constructed family contains a rank 1 SIC-POVM.

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arXiv2014

Phase-asymmetry resource interconversion via estimation

Practical implementations of quantum information-theoretic applications rely on phase coherences between systems. These coherences are disturbed by misalignment between phase references. Quantum states carrying phase-asymmetry act as resources to counteract this misalignment. In this paper, we construct protocols for interconverting these resources by first estimating the misalignment. Our method achieves sublinear, but otherwise arbitrarily high, asymptotic rate of conversion of pure resource states to mixed ones. No other method is known for asymptotic pure-to-mixed state conversion. Our method also has the advantage of achieving phase reference alignment in addition to resource conversion.

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