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Nathaniel Johnston

Publications and source records attributed to Nathaniel Johnston.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2014

Process tomography for unitary quantum channels

We study the number of measurements required for quantum process tomography under prior information, such as a promise that the unknown channel is unitary. We introduce the notion of an interactive observable and we show that any unitary channel acting on a $d$-level quantum system can be uniquely identified among all other channels (unitary or otherwise) with only $O(d^2)$ interactive observables, as opposed to the $O(d^4)$ required for tomography of arbitrary channels. This result generalizes, so that channels with at most $q$ Kraus operators can be identified with only $O(qd^2)$ interactive observables. Slight improvements can be obtained if we wish to identify such a channel only among unital channels or among other channels with $q$ Kraus operators. These results are proven via explicit construction of large subspaces of Hermitian matrices with various conditions on rank, eigenvalues, and partial trace. Our constructions are built upon various forms of totally nonsingular matrices.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2014

The Structure of Qubit Unextendible Product Bases

Unextendible product bases have been shown to have many important uses in quantum information theory, particularly in the qubit case. However, very little is known about their mathematical structure beyond three qubits. We present several new results about qubit unextendible product bases, including a complete characterization of all four-qubit unextendible product bases, which we show there are exactly 1446 of. We also show that there exist p-qubit UPBs of almost all sizes less than $2^p$.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2013

Separability from Spectrum for Qubit-Qudit States

The separability from spectrum problem asks for a characterization of the eigenvalues of the bipartite mixed states ρ with the property that U^*ρU is separable for all unitary matrices U. This problem has been solved when the local dimensions m and n satisfy m = 2 and n <= 3. We solve all remaining qubit-qudit cases (i.e., when m = 2 and n >= 4 is arbitrary). In all of these cases we show that a state is separable from spectrum if and only if U^*ρU has positive partial transpose for all unitary matrices U. This equivalence is in stark contrast with the usual separability problem, where a state having positive partial transpose is a strictly weaker property than it being separable.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2013

Non-Positive Partial Transpose Subspaces Can be as Large as Any Entangled Subspace

It is known that, in an $(m \otimes n)$-dimensional quantum system, the maximum dimension of a subspace that contains only entangled states is (m-1)(n-1). We show that the exact same bound is tight if we require the stronger condition that every state with range in the subspace has non-positive partial transpose. As an immediate corollary of our result, we solve an open question that asks for the maximum number of negative eigenvalues of the partial transpose of a quantum state. In particular, we give an explicit method of construction of a bipartite state whose partial transpose has (m-1)(n-1) negative eigenvalues, which is necessarily maximal, despite recent numerical evidence that suggested such states may not exist for large m and n.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2013

Duality of Entanglement Norms

We consider four norms on tensor product spaces that have appeared in quantum information theory and demonstrate duality relationships between them. We show that the product numerical radius is dual to the robustness of entanglement, and we similarly show that the S(k)-norm is dual to the projective tensor norm. We show that, analogous to how the product numerical radius and the S(k)-norm characterize k-block positivity of operators, there is a natural version of the projective tensor norm that characterizes Schmidt number. In this way we obtain an elementary new proof of the cross norm criterion for separability, and we also generalize both the cross norm and realignment criteria to the case of arbitrary Schmidt number.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2013

Uniqueness of Quantum States Compatible with Given Measurement Results

We discuss the uniqueness of quantum states compatible with given results for measuring a set of observables. For a given pure state, we consider two different types of uniqueness: (1) no other pure state is compatible with the same measurement results and (2) no other state, pure or mixed, is compatible with the same measurement results. For case (1), it is known that for a d-dimensional Hilbert space, there exists a set of 4d-5 observables that uniquely determines any pure state. We show that for case (2), 5d-7 observables suffice to uniquely determine any pure state. Thus there is a gap between the results for (1) and (2), and we give some examples to illustrate this. The case of observables corresponding to reduced density matrices (RDMs) of a multipartite system is also discussed, where we improve known bounds on local dimensions for case (2) in which almost all pure states are uniquely determined by their RDMs. We further discuss circumstances where (1) can imply (2). We use convexity of the numerical range of operators to show that when only two observables are measured, (1) always implies (2). More generally, if there is a compact group of symmetries of the state space which has the span of the observables measured as the set of fixed points, then (1) implies (2). We analyze the possible dimensions for the span of such observables. Our results extend naturally to the case of low rank quantum states.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2013

Non-Uniqueness of Minimal Superpermutations

We examine the open problem of finding the shortest string that contains each of the n! permutations of n symbols as contiguous substrings (i.e., the shortest superpermutation on n symbols). It has been conjectured that the shortest superpermutation has length $\sum_{k=1}^n k!$ and that this string is unique up to relabelling of the symbols. We provide a construction of short superpermutations that shows that, if the conjectured minimal length is true, then uniqueness fails for all n >= 5. Furthermore, uniqueness fails spectacularly; we construct more than doubly-exponentially many distinct superpermutations of the conjectured minimal length.

math.CO↗
arXiv2013

The Minimum Size of Qubit Unextendible Product Bases

We investigate the problem of constructing unextendible product bases in the qubit case - that is, when each local dimension equals 2. The cardinality of the smallest unextendible product basis is known in all qubit cases except when the number of parties is a multiple of 4 greater than 4 itself. We construct small unextendible product bases in all of the remaining open cases, and we use graph theory techniques to produce a computer-assisted proof that our constructions are indeed the smallest possible.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2012

Generation of Mapping Cones from Small Sets

We answer in the affirmative a recently-posed question that asked if there exists an "untypical" convex mapping cone -- i.e., one that does not arise from the transpose map and the cones of k-positive and k-superpositive maps. We explicitly construct such a cone based on atomic positive maps. Our general technique is to consider the smallest convex mapping cone generated by a single map, and we derive several results on such mapping cones. We use this technique to also present several other examples of untypical mapping cones, including a family of cones generated by spin factors. We also provide a full characterization of mapping cones generated by single elements in the qubit case in terms of their typicality.

math.OA↗
arXiv2012

Norms and Cones in the Theory of Quantum Entanglement

There are various notions of positivity for matrices and linear matrix-valued maps that play important roles in quantum information theory. The cones of positive semidefinite matrices and completely positive linear maps, which represent quantum states and quantum channels respectively, are the most ubiquitous positive cones. There are also many natural cones that can been regarded as "more" or "less" positive than these standard examples. In particular, entanglement theory deals with the cones of separable operators and entanglement witnesses, which satisfy very strong and weak positivity properties respectively. Rather complementary to the various cones that arise in entanglement theory are norms. The trace and operator norms for operators and the diamond and completely bounded norms for superoperators are the typical norms that are seen throughout quantum information theory. In this work our main goal is to develop a family of norms that play a role analogous to the cone of entanglement witnesses. We investigate the basic mathematical properties of these norms, including their relationships with other well-known norms, their isometry groups, and their dual norms. We also make the place of these norms in entanglement theory rigorous by showing that entanglement witnesses arise from minimal operator systems, and analogously our norms arise from minimal operator spaces. Finally, we connect the various cones and norms considered here to several seemingly unrelated problems from other areas. We characterize the problem of whether or not non-positive partial transpose bound entangled states exist in terms of one of our norms, and provide evidence in favour of their existence. We also characterize the minimum gate fidelity of a quantum channel, the maximum output purity and its completely bounded counterpart, and the geometric measure of entanglement in terms of these norms.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2012

The Complexity of the Puzzles of Final Fantasy XIII-2

We analyze the computational complexity of solving the three "temporal rift" puzzles in the recent popular video game Final Fantasy XIII-2. We show that the Tile Trial puzzle is NP-hard and we provide an efficient algorithm for solving the Crystal Bonds puzzle. We also show that slight generalizations of the Crystal Bonds and Hands of Time puzzles are NP-hard.

cs.CC↗
arXiv2012

The B36/S125 "2x2" Life-Like Cellular Automaton

The B36/S125 (or "2x2") cellular automaton is one that takes place on a 2D square lattice much like Conway's Game of Life. Although it exhibits high-level behaviour that is similar to Life, such as chaotic but eventually stable evolution and the existence of a natural diagonal glider, the individual objects that the rule contains generally look very different from their Life counterparts. In this article, a history of notable discoveries in the 2x2 rule is provided, and the fundamental patterns of the automaton are described. Some theoretical results are derived along the way, including a proof that the speed limits for diagonal and orthogonal spaceships in this rule are c/3 and c/2, respectively. A Margolus block cellular automaton that 2x2 emulates is investigated, and in particular a family of oscillators made up entirely of 2 x 2 blocks are analyzed and used to show that there exist oscillators with period 2^m(2^k - 1) for any integers m,k \geq 1.

nlin.CG↗
arXiv2011

Mapping Cones are Operator Systems

We investigate the relationship between mapping cones and matrix ordered *-vector spaces (i.e., abstract operator systems). We show that to every mapping cone there is an associated operator system on the space of n-by-n complex matrices, and furthermore we show that the associated operator system is unique and has a certain homogeneity property. Conversely, we show that the cone of completely positive maps on any operator system with that homogeneity property is a mapping cone. We also consider several related problems, such as characterizing cones that are closed under composition on the right by completely positive maps, and cones that are also semigroups, in terms of operator systems.

math.OA↗
arXiv2011

Quantum Gate Fidelity in Terms of Choi Matrices

We provide new results for computing and comparing the quantum gate fidelity of quantum channels via their Choi matrices. We extend recent work that showed there exist non-dual pairs of quantum channels with equal gate fidelity by providing an explicit characterization of all such channels. We use our characterization to show that when the dimension is 2 (or 3, under slightly stronger hypotheses), the gate fidelity of two channels is equal if and only if their difference equals the difference of some unital map and its dual -- a fact that has been shown to be false when the dimension is 4 or larger. We also present a formula for the minimum gate fidelity of a channel in terms of a well-studied norm on a compression of its Choi matrix. As a consequence, several new ways of bounding and approximating the minimum gate fidelity follow, including a simple semidefinite program to compute it for qubit channels.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2011

Characterizing Operations Preserving Separability Measures via Linear Preserver Problems

We use classical results from the theory of linear preserver problems to characterize operators that send the set of pure states with Schmidt rank no greater than k back into itself, extending known results characterizing operators that send separable pure states to separable pure states. We also provide a new proof of an analogous statement in the multipartite setting. We use these results to develop a bipartite version of a classical result about the structure of maps that preserve rank-1 operators and then characterize the isometries for two families of norms that have recently been studied in quantum information theory. We see in particular that for k at least 2 the operator norms induced by states with Schmidt rank k are invariant only under local unitaries, the swap operator and the transpose map. However, in the k = 1 case there is an additional isometry: the partial transpose map.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2010

Minimal and Maximal Operator Spaces and Operator Systems in Entanglement Theory

We examine k-minimal and k-maximal operator spaces and operator systems, and investigate their relationships with the separability problem in quantum information theory. We show that the matrix norms that define the k-minimal operator spaces are equal to a family of norms that have been studied independently as a tool for detecting k-positive linear maps and bound entanglement. Similarly, we investigate the k-super minimal and k-super maximal operator systems that were recently introduced and show that their cones of positive elements are exactly the cones of k-block positive operators and (unnormalized) states with Schmidt number no greater than k, respectively. We characterize a class of norms on the k-super minimal operator systems and show that the completely bounded versions of these norms provide a criterion for testing the Schmidt number of a quantum state that generalizes the recently-developed separability criterion based on trace-contractive maps.

math.OA↗
arXiv2010

A Family of Norms With Applications In Quantum Information Theory

We consider a family of vector and operator norms defined by the Schmidt decomposition theorem for quantum states. We use these norms to tackle two fundamental problems in quantum information theory: the classification problem for k-positive linear maps and entanglement witnesses, and the existence problem for non-positive partial transpose bound entangled states. We begin with an analysis of the norms, showing that the vector norms can be explicitly calculated, and we derive several inequalities in order to bound the operator norms and compute them in special cases. We then use the norms to establish what appears to be the most general spectral test for k-positivity currently available, showing how it implies several other known tests as well as some new ones. Building on this work, we frame the NPPT bound entangled problem as a concrete problem on a specific limit, specifically that a particular entangled Werner state is bound entangled if and only if a certain norm inequality holds on a given family of projections.

quant-ph↗