arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Mehdi Mhalla.
We present a formalization in Isabelle/HOL of quantum projective measurements, a class of measurements involving orthogonal projectors that is frequently used in quantum computing. We also formalize the CHSH inequality, a result that holds on arbitrary probability spaces, which can used to disprove the existence of a local hidden-variable theory for quantum mechanics.
We introduce a graphical language for coherent control of general quantum channels inspired by practical quantum optical setups involving polarising beam splitters (PBS). As standard completely positive trace preserving maps are known not to be appropriate to represent coherently controlled quantum channels, we propose to instead use purified channels, an extension of Stinespring's dilation. We characterise the observational equivalence of purified channels in various coherent-control contexts, paving the way towards a faithful representation of quantum channels under coherent control.
A completely depolarising quantum channel always outputs a fully mixed state and thus cannot transmit any information. In a recent Letter [D. Ebler et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 120502 (2018)], it was however shown that if a quantum state passes through two such channels in a quantum superposition of different orders - a setup known as the "quantum switch" - then information can nevertheless be transmitted through the channels. Here, we show that a similar effect can be obtained when one coherently controls between sending a target system through one of two identical depolarising channels. Whereas it is tempting to attribute this effect in the quantum switch to the indefinite causal order between the channels, causal indefiniteness plays no role in this new scenario. This raises questions about its role in the corresponding effect in the quantum switch. We study this new scenario in detail and we see that, when quantum channels are controlled coherently, information about their specific implementation is accessible in the output state of the joint control-target system. This allows two different implementations of what is usually considered to be the same channel to therefore be differentiated. More generally, we find that to completely describe the action of a coherently controlled quantum channel, one needs to specify not only a description of the channel (e.g., in terms of Kraus operators), but an additional "transformation matrix" depending on its implementation.
It has been shown elsewhere that quantum resources can allow us to achieve a family of equilibria that can have sometimes a better social welfare, while guaranteeing privacy. We use graph games to propose a way to build non-cooperative games from graph states, and we show how to achieve an unlimited improvement with quantum advice compared to classical advice.
We give an $\dfrac{1}{54}$ separation between 5-party pseudo-telepathy games and two-local theories. We define the notion of strategy in a k-local theory for a game, and extend the method of Chao and Reichardt. We also study variation of the game to minimize the classical winning probability.
In this paper, we propose a Quantum variation of combinatorial games, generalizing the Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe proposed by Allan Goff. A combinatorial game is a two-player game with no chance and no hidden information, such as Go or Chess. In this paper, we consider the possibility of playing superpositions of moves in such games. We propose different rulesets depending on when superposed moves should be played, and prove that all these rulesets may lead similar games to different outcomes. We then consider Quantum variations of the game of Nim. We conclude with some discussion on the relative interest of the different rulesets.
Analyzing pseudo-telepathy graph games, we propose a way to build contextuality scenarios exhibiting the quantum supremacy using graph states. We consider the combinatorial structures that generate equivalent scenarios. We introduce a new tool called multipartiteness width to investigate which scenarios are harder to decompose and show that there exist graphs generating scenarios with a linear multipartiteness width.
A 5x5 board is the smallest board on which one can set up all kind of chess pieces as a start position. We consider Gardner's minichess variant in which all pieces are set as in a standard chessboard (from Rook to King). This game has roughly 9x10^{18} legal positions and is comparable in this respect with checkers. We weakly solve this game, that is we prove its game-theoretic value and give a strategy to draw against best play for White and Black sides. Our approach requires surprisingly small computing power. We give a human readable proof. The way the result is obtained is generic and could be generalized to bigger chess settings or to other games.
We define a family of pseudo-telepathy games using graph states that extends the Mermin games. This family also contains a game used to define a quantum probability distribution that cannot be simulated by any number of PR boxes. We extend this result proving that the probability distribution obtained by the Paley graph state on 13 vertices cannot be simulated by any number of 4-partite non local boxes and that the Paley graph states on more than $k^{2}2^{2k-2}$ vertices provides a probability distribution that cannot be simulated by k-partite nonlocal boxes
A weak odd dominated (WOD) set in a graph is a subset B of vertices for which there exists a distinct set of vertices C such that every vertex in B has an odd number of neighbors in C. We point out the connections of weak odd domination with odd domination, [sigma,rho]-domination, and perfect codes. We introduce bounds on κ(G), the maximum size of WOD sets of a graph G, and on κ'(G), the minimum size of non WOD sets of G. Moreover, we prove that the corresponding decision problems are NP-complete. The study of weak odd domination is mainly motivated by the design of graph-based quantum secret sharing protocols: a graph G of order n corresponds to a secret sharing protocol which threshold is κ_Q(G) = max(κ(G), n-κ'(G)). These graph-based protocols are very promising in terms of physical implementation, however all such graph-based protocols studied in the literature have quasi-unanimity thresholds (i.e. κ_Q(G)=n-o(n) where n is the order of the graph G underlying the protocol). In this paper, we show using probabilistic methods, the existence of graphs with smaller κ_Q (i.e. κ_Q(G)< 0.811n where n is the order of G). We also prove that deciding for a given graph G whether κ_Q(G)< k is NP-complete, which means that one cannot efficiently double check that a graph randomly generated has actually a κ_Q smaller than 0.811n.
The local minimum degree of a graph is the minimum degree reached by means of a series of local complementations. In this paper, we investigate on this quantity which plays an important role in quantum computation and quantum error correcting codes. First, we show that the local minimum degree of the Paley graph of order p is greater than sqrt{p} - 3/2, which is, up to our knowledge, the highest known bound on an explicit family of graphs. Probabilistic methods allows us to derive the existence of an infinite number of graphs whose local minimum degree is linear in their order with constant 0.189 for graphs in general and 0.110 for bipartite graphs. As regards the computational complexity of the decision problem associated with the local minimum degree, we show that it is NP-complete and that there exists no k-approximation algorithm for this problem for any constant k unless P = NP.
The graph state formalism offers strong connections between quantum information processing and graph theory. Exploring these connections, first we show that any graph is a pivot-minor of a planar graph, and even a pivot minor of a triangular grid. Then, we prove that the application of measurements in the (X,Z)-plane over graph states represented by triangular grids is a universal measurement-based model of quantum computation. These two results are in fact two sides of the same coin, the proof of which is a combination of graph theoretical and quantum information techniques.
An accessing set in a graph is a subset B of vertices such that there exists D subset of B, such that each vertex of V\B has an even number of neighbors in D. In this paper, we introduce new bounds on the minimal size kappa'(G) of an accessing set, and on the maximal size kappa(G) of a non-accessing set of a graph G. We show strong connections with perfect codes and give explicitly kappa(G) and kappa'(G) for several families of graphs. Finally, we show that the corresponding decision problems are NP-Complete.
We study a simple graph-based classical secret sharing scheme: every player's share consists of a random key together with the encryption of the secret with the keys of his neighbours. A characterisation of the authorised and forbidden sets of players is given. Moreover, we show that this protocol is equivalent to the graph state quantum secret sharing (GS-QSS) schemes when the secret is classical. When the secret is an arbitrary quantum state, a set of players is authorised for a GS-QSS scheme if and only if, for the corresponding simple classical graph-based protocol, the set is authorised and its complement set is not.
We introduce a new family of quantum secret sharing protocols with limited quantum resources which extends the protocols proposed by Markham and Sanders and by Broadbent, Chouha, and Tapp. Parametrized by a graph G and a subset of its vertices A, the protocol consists in: (i) encoding the quantum secret into the corresponding graph state by acting on the qubits in A; (ii) use a classical encoding to ensure the existence of a threshold. These new protocols realize ((k,n)) quantum secret sharing i.e., any set of at least k players among n can reconstruct the quantum secret, whereas any set of less than k players has no information about the secret. In the particular case where the secret is encoded on all the qubits, we explore the values of k for which there exists a graph such that the corresponding protocol realizes a ((k,n)) secret sharing. We show that for any threshold k> n-n^{0.68} there exists a graph allowing a ((k,n)) protocol. On the other hand, we prove that for any k< 79n/156 there is no graph G allowing a ((k,n)) protocol. As a consequence there exists n_0 such that the protocols introduced by Markham and Sanders admit no threshold k when the secret is encoded on all the qubits and n>n_0.
Graph states are an elegant and powerful quantum resource for measurement based quantum computation (MBQC). They are also used for many quantum protocols (error correction, secret sharing, etc.). The main focus of this paper is to provide a structural characterisation of the graph states that can be used for quantum information processing. The existence of a gflow (generalized flow) is known to be a requirement for open graphs (graph, input set and output set) to perform uniformly and strongly deterministic computations. We weaken the gflow conditions to define two new more general kinds of MBQC: uniform equiprobability and constant probability. These classes can be useful from a cryptographic and information point of view because even though we cannot do a deterministic computation in general we can preserve the information and transfer it perfectly from the inputs to the outputs. We derive simple graph characterisations for these classes and prove that the deterministic and uniform equiprobability classes collapse when the cardinalities of inputs and outputs are the same. We also prove the reversibility of gflow in that case. The new graphical characterisations allow us to go from open graphs to graphs in general and to consider this question: given a graph with no inputs or outputs fixed, which vertices can be chosen as input and output for quantum information processing? We present a characterisation of the sets of possible inputs and ouputs for the equiprobability class, which is also valid for deterministic computations with inputs and ouputs of the same cardinality.
The entangled graph states have emerged as an elegant and powerful quantum resource, indeed almost all multiparty protocols can be written in terms of graph states including measurement based quantum computation (MBQC), error correction and secret sharing amongst others. In addition they are at the forefront in terms of implementations. As such they represent an excellent opportunity to move towards integrated protocols involving many of these elements. In this paper we look at expressing and extending graph state secret sharing and MBQC in a common framework and graphical language related to flow. We do so with two main contributions. First we express in entirely graphical terms which set of players can access which information in graph state secret sharing protocols. These succinct graphical descriptions of access allow us to take known results from graph theory to make statements on the generalisation of the previous schemes to present new secret sharing protocols. Second, we give a set of necessary conditions as to when a graph with flow, i.e. capable of performing a class of unitary operations, can be extended to include vertices which can be ignored, pointless measurements, and hence considered as unauthorised players in terms of secret sharing, or error qubits in terms of fault tolerance. This offers a way to extend existing MBQC patterns to secret sharing protocols. Our characterisation of pointless measurements is believed also to be a useful tool for further integrated measurement based schemes, for example in constructing fault tolerant MBQC schemes.
Among the models of quantum computation, the One-way Quantum Computer is one of the most promising proposals of physical realization, and opens new perspectives for parallelization by taking advantage of quantum entanglement. Since a one-way quantum computation is based on quantum measurement, which is a fundamentally nondeterministic evolution, a sufficient condition of global determinism has been introduced as the existence of a causal flow in a graph that underlies the computation. A O(n^3)-algorithm has been introduced for finding such a causal flow when the numbers of output and input vertices in the graph are equal, otherwise no polynomial time algorithm was known for deciding whether a graph has a causal flow or not. Our main contribution is to introduce a O(n^2)-algorithm for finding a causal flow, if any, whatever the numbers of input and output vertices are. This answers the open question stated by Danos and Kashefi and by de Beaudrap. Moreover, we prove that our algorithm produces an optimal flow (flow of minimal depth.) Whereas the existence of a causal flow is a sufficient condition for determinism, it is not a necessary condition. A weaker version of the causal flow, called gflow (generalized flow) has been introduced and has been proved to be a necessary and sufficient condition for a family of deterministic computations. Moreover the depth of the quantum computation is upper bounded by the depth of the gflow. However, the existence of a polynomial time algorithm that finds a gflow has been stated as an open question. In this paper we answer this positively with a polynomial time algorithm that outputs an optimal gflow of a given graph and thus finds an optimal correction strategy to the nondeterministic evolution due to measurements.