arXiv subjects

Robert Koenig

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Koenig.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Composite anyon coding and the initialization of a topological quantum computer

Schemes for topological quantum computation are usually based on the assumption that the system is initially prepared in a specific state. In practice, this state preparation is expected to be challenging as it involves non-topological operations which heavily depend on the experimental realization and are not naturally robust against noise. Here we show that this assumption can be relaxed by using composite anyons: starting from an unknown state with reasonable physical properties, it is possible to efficiently distill suitable initial states for computation purely by braiding. This is achieved by encoding logical information in a subsystem code with gauge system corresponding to the internal degrees of freedom of composite objects.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Approximating Turaev-Viro 3-manifold invariants is universal for quantum computation

The Turaev-Viro invariants are scalar topological invariants of compact, orientable 3-manifolds. We give a quantum algorithm for additively approximating Turaev-Viro invariants of a manifold presented by a Heegaard splitting. The algorithm is motivated by the relationship between topological quantum computers and (2+1)-D topological quantum field theories. Its accuracy is shown to be nontrivial, as the same algorithm, after efficient classical preprocessing, can solve any problem efficiently decidable by a quantum computer. Thus approximating certain Turaev-Viro invariants of manifolds presented by Heegaard splittings is a universal problem for quantum computation. This establishes a novel relation between the task of distinguishing non-homeomorphic 3-manifolds and the power of a general quantum computer.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Quantum computation with Turaev-Viro codes

The Turaev-Viro invariant for a closed 3-manifold is defined as the contraction of a certain tensor network. The tensors correspond to tetrahedra in a triangulation of the manifold, with values determined by a fixed spherical category. For a manifold with boundary, the tensor network has free indices that can be associated to qudits, and its contraction gives the coefficients of a quantum error-correcting code. The code has local stabilizers determined by Levin and Wen. For example, applied to the genus-one handlebody using the Z_2 category, this construction yields the well-known toric code. For other categories, such as the Fibonacci category, the construction realizes a non-abelian anyon model over a discrete lattice. By studying braid group representations acting on equivalence classes of colored ribbon graphs embedded in a punctured sphere, we identify the anyons, and give a simple recipe for mapping fusion basis states of the doubled category to ribbon graphs. We explain how suitable initial states can be prepared efficiently, how to implement braids, by successively changing the triangulation using a fixed five-qudit local unitary gate, and how to measure the topological charge. Combined with known universality results for anyonic systems, this provides a large family of schemes for quantum computation based on local deformations of stabilizer codes. These schemes may serve as a starting point for developing fault-tolerance schemes using continuous stabilizer measurements and active error-correction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Simplifying quantum double Hamiltonians using perturbative gadgets

Perturbative gadgets were originally introduced to generate effective k-local interactions in the low-energy sector of a 2-local Hamiltonian. Extending this idea, we present gadgets which are specifically suited for realizing Hamiltonians exhibiting non-abelian anyonic excitations. At the core of our construction is a perturbative analysis of a widely used hopping-term Hamiltonian. We show that in the low-energy limit, this Hamiltonian can be approximated by a certain ordered product of operators. In particular, this provides a simplified realization of Kitaev's quantum double Hamiltonians.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Exact entanglement renormalization for string-net models

We construct an explicit renormalization group (RG) transformation for Levin and Wen's string-net models on a hexagonal lattice. The transformation leaves invariant the ground-state "fixed-point" wave function of the string-net condensed phase. Our construction also produces an exact representation of the wave function in terms of the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA). This sets the stage for efficient numerical simulations of string-net models using MERA algorithms. It also provides an explicit quantum circuit to prepare the string-net ground-state wave function using a quantum computer.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

A strong converse for classical channel coding using entangled inputs

A fully general strong converse for channel coding states that when the rate of sending classical information exceeds the capacity of a quantum channel, the probability of correctly decoding goes to zero exponentially in the number of channel uses, even when we allow code states which are entangled across several uses of the channel. Such a statement was previously only known for classical channels and the quantum identity channel. By relating the problem to the additivity of minimum output entropies, we show that a strong converse holds for a large class of channels, including all unital qubit channels, the d-dimensional depolarizing channel and the Werner-Holevo channel. This further justifies the interpretation of the classical capacity as a sharp threshold for information-transmission.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

One-and-a-half quantum de Finetti theorems

We prove a new kind of quantum de Finetti theorem for representations of the unitary group U(d). Consider a pure state that lies in the irreducible representation U_{mu+nu} for Young diagrams mu and nu. U_{mu+nu} is contained in the tensor product of U_mu and U_nu; let xi be the state obtained by tracing out U_nu. We show that xi is close to a convex combination of states Uv, where U is in U(d) and v is the highest weight vector in U_mu. When U_{mu+nu} is the symmetric representation, this yields the conventional quantum de Finetti theorem for symmetric states, and our method of proof gives near-optimal bounds for the approximation of xi by a convex combination of product states. For the class of symmetric Werner states, we give a second de Finetti-style theorem (our 'half' theorem); the de Finetti-approximation in this case takes a particularly simple form, involving only product states with a fixed spectrum. Our proof uses purely group theoretic methods, and makes a link with the shifted Schur functions. It also provides some useful examples, and gives some insight into the structure of the set of convex combinations of product states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Post-selection technique for quantum channels with applications to quantum cryptography

We propose a general method for studying properties of quantum channels acting on an n-partite system, whose action is invariant under permutations of the subsystems. Our main result is that, in order to prove that a certain property holds for any arbitrary input, it is sufficient to consider the special case where the input is a particular de Finetti-type state, i.e., a state which consists of n identical and independent copies of an (unknown) state on a single subsystem. A similar statement holds for more general channels which are covariant with respect to the action of an arbitrary finite or locally compact group. Our technique can be applied to the analysis of information-theoretic problems. For example, in quantum cryptography, we get a simple proof for the fact that security of a discrete-variable quantum key distribution protocol against collective attacks implies security of the protocol against the most general attacks. The resulting security bounds are tighter than previously known bounds obtained by proofs relying on the exponential de Finetti theorem [Renner, Nature Physics 3,645(2007)].

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

On Exchangeable Continuous Variable Systems

We investigate permutation-invariant continuous variable quantum states and their covariance matrices. We provide a complete characterization of the latter with respect to permutation-invariance, exchangeability and representing convex combinations of tensor power states. On the level of the respective density operators this leads to necessary criteria for all these properties which become necessary and sufficient for Gaussian states. For these we use the derived results to provide de Finetti-type theorems for various distance measures.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Sampling of min-entropy relative to quantum knowledge

Let X_1, ..., X_n be a sequence of n classical random variables and consider a sample of r positions selected at random. Then, except with (exponentially in r) small probability, the min-entropy of the sample is not smaller than, roughly, a fraction r/n of the total min-entropy of all positions X_1, ..., X_n, which is optimal. Here, we show that this statement, originally proven by Vadhan [LNCS, vol. 2729, Springer, 2003] for the purely classical case, is still true if the min-entropy is measured relative to a quantum system. Because min-entropy quantifies the amount of randomness that can be extracted from a given random variable, our result can be used to prove the soundness of locally computable extractors in a context where side information might be quantum-mechanical. In particular, it implies that key agreement in the bounded-storage model (using a standard sample-and-hash protocol) is fully secure against quantum adversaries, thus solving a long-standing open problem.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Abstract Storage Devices

A quantum storage device differs radically from a conventional physical storage device. Its state can be set to any value in a certain (infinite) state space, but in general every possible read operation yields only partial information about the stored state. The purpose of this paper is to initiate the study of a combinatorial abstraction, called abstract storage device (ASD), which models deterministic storage devices with the property that only partial information about the state can be read, but that there is a degree of freedom as to which partial information should be retrieved. This concept leads to a number of interesting problems which we address, like the reduction of one device to another device, the equivalence of devices, direct products of devices, as well as the factorization of a device into primitive devices. We prove that every ASD has an equivalent ASD with minimal number of states and of possible read operations. Also, we prove that the reducibility problem for ASD's is NP-complete, that the equivalence problem is at least as hard as the graph isomorphism problem, and that the factorization into binary-output devices (if it exists) is unique.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2007

A most compendious and facile quantum de Finetti theorem

In its most basic form, the finite quantum de Finetti theorem states that the reduced k-partite density operator of an n-partite symmetric state can be approximated by a convex combination of k-fold product states. Variations of this result include Renner's "exponential" approximation by "almost-product" states, a theorem which deals with certain triples of representations of the unitary group, and D'Cruz et al.'s result for infinite-dimensional systems. We show how these theorems follow from a single, general de Finetti theorem for representations of symmetry groups, each instance corresponding to a particular choice of symmetry group and representation of that group. This gives some insight into the nature of the set of approximating states, and leads to some new results, including an exponential theorem for infinite-dimensional systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

The Bounded Storage Model in The Presence of a Quantum Adversary

An extractor is a function E that is used to extract randomness. Given an imperfect random source X and a uniform seed Y, the output E(X,Y) is close to uniform. We study properties of such functions in the presence of prior quantum information about X, with a particular focus on cryptographic applications. We prove that certain extractors are suitable for key expansion in the bounded storage model where the adversary has a limited amount of quantum memory. For extractors with one-bit output we show that the extracted bit is essentially equally secure as in the case where the adversary has classical resources. We prove the security of certain constructions that output multiple bits in the bounded storage model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Locking of accessible information and implications for the security of quantum cryptography

The unconditional security of a quantum key distribution protocol is often defined in terms of the accessible information, that is, the maximum mutual information between the distributed key S and the outcome of an optimal measurement on the adversary's (quantum) system. We show that, even if this quantity is small, certain parts of the key S might still be completely insecure when S is used in applications, such as for one-time pad encryption. This flaw is due to a locking property of the accessible information: one additional (physical) bit of information might increase the accessible information by more than one bit.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

On the Power of Quantum Memory

We address the question whether quantum memory is more powerful than classical memory. In particular, we consider a setting where information about a random n-bit string X is stored in r classical or quantum bits, for r<n, i.e., the stored information is bound to be only partial. Later, a randomly chosen binary question F about X is asked, which has to be answered using only the stored information. The maximal probability of correctly guessing the answer F(X) is then compared for the cases where the storage device is classical or quantum mechanical, respectively. We show that, despite the fact that the measurement of quantum bits can depend arbitrarily on the question F to be answered, the quantum advantage is negligible already for small values of the difference n-r. An implication for cryptography is that privacy amplification by application of a compression function mapping n-bit strings to s-bit strings (for some s<n-r), chosen publicly from a two-universal class of hash functions, remains essentially equally secure when the adversary's memory is allowed to be r quantum rather than only r classical bits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

A de Finetti representation for finite symmetric quantum states

Consider a symmetric quantum state on an n-fold product space, that is, the state is invariant under permutations of the n subsystems. We show that, conditioned on the outcomes of an informationally complete measurement applied to a number of subsystems, the state in the remaining subsystems is close to having product form. This immediately generalizes the so-called de Finetti representation to the case of finite symmetric quantum states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Universally composable privacy amplification against quantum adversaries

Privacy amplification is the art of shrinking a partially secret string Z to a highly secret key S. We show that, even if an adversary holds quantum information about the initial string Z, the key S obtained by two-universal hashing is secure, according to a universally composable security definition. Additionally, we give an asymptotically optimal lower bound on the length of the extractable key S in terms of the adversary's (quantum) knowledge about Z. Our result has applications in quantum cryptography. In particular, it implies that many of the known quantum key distribution protocols are universally composable.

quant-ph↗