arXiv subjects

Zbigniew Puchała

Publications and source records attributed to Zbigniew Puchała.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Noise Resilience of Quantum Key Distribution Protocols Secured Against Independent Attacks With One-Way Communication

We investigate the resilience to noise of single-qubit quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols in the scenario of security against independent eavesdropping attacks and key distillation based on one-way classical communication. To this end, we introduce a noise-based metric that quantifies the efficiency of QKD protocols. Within this framework, we analyze the maximal noise levels that allow Alice and Bob to asymptotically establish a secure secret key. Using this assumption, we compare the noise tolerance of general single-qubit QKD protocols, in particular the BB84, B92, E91, and six-state protocols. Our main result determines the noise level threshold for QKD allowing one to distill an asymptotically secure secret key. Additionally, we demonstrate that the six-state protocol achieves the greatest resistance to noise while simultaneously yielding a higher post-selection efficiency than the other analyzed single-qubit protocols, confirming its robustness within the considered security model. Finally, we perform an analysis of the proposed noise-based metric and the conventional quantum bit error rate (QBER) metric.

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arXiv2026

IntegrateUnitary.jl: A Julia package for symbolic integration over Haar measures

Symbolic integration over the Haar measure of compact groups is a computational cornerstone in quantum information science and random matrix theory. We present \texttt{IntegrateUnitary.jl}, a comprehensive Julia package for computing exact expectations of polynomial functions over a wide range of compact groups ($U(d)$, $O(d)$, $Sp(d)$, and $SU(d)$ for balanced polynomials), circular and Gaussian ensembles, Ginibre ensembles, permutation groups, random pure states, and unitary $t$-designs. The package provides a fully open-source implementation of the Weingarten calculus and Wick contractions with broad symbolic-$d$ support for entry-wise and trace-polynomial integrals, while selected workflows currently require concrete integer dimensions (including higher pure trace moments $|\mathrm{tr}(U)|^{2k}$ for $k > 1$ and HCIZ with \texttt{SymbolicMatrix} inputs, and direct matrix-valued integration of \texttt{SymbolicMatrix}/\texttt{SymbolicMatrixProduct} expressions), automatic asymptotic expansions, a high-level symbolic trace interface that reconstructs Weingarten graphs from index-free expressions, and a bridge to \texttt{ITensors.jl} for tensor network averaging. We discuss the underlying algorithms, including the Murnaghan-Nakayama rule and symplectic-orthogonal duality, and demonstrate that the package efficiently handles high-degree moments and quantum information metrics.

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arXiv2026

Asymptotic distinguishability of Haar-averaged measurement models

We study discrimination problems generated by the same basic Haar-random measurement mechanism at two observational levels. First, we derive an explicit expression for the type-II error in the task of discriminating a Haar-random measure-and-prepare channel from the identity channel $\mathbb{I}$, using a coherence-sensitive entangled tester. Second, after passing to the induced classical measurement records, we compare two random measurement models: one induced by a single collective unitary of the form $U^{\otimes (n_1+n_2)}$ with $U\in U(d)$, and another induced by independent local unitaries $U_1^{\otimes n_1}\otimes U_2^{\otimes n_2}$. For the associated Haar-averaged aggregate histogram laws, in which the block of origin of each count is not retained, we obtain closed-form formulas and quantify their discrepancy through the total variation distance. We derive asymptotic expressions in the fixed-$N$, large-$d$ regime, the fixed-$d$, large-$N$ regime, the sparse joint-scaling regime $N=o(\sqrt d)$, and the critical scaling regime $N/\sqrt d\to c$. We also identify the block-resolved pair-of-histograms law, showing that the aggregate total variation distance is a coarse-grained lower bound on the distinguishability available when block labels are retained.

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arXiv2026

Choi-level twirling of quantum channels: finite constructions and non-compact transformations

Twirling, i.e. averaging over symmetry actions, is a standard tool for reducing quantum states and channels to a symmetry-invariant form. We study channel twirling from the perspective of the channel-state duality and provide a constructive Choi-level description of the averaging map induced by arbitrary input/output representations. Our main technical result concerns the collective setting: for $π^{\textrm{in}}(U)=U^{\otimes t_{\textrm{in}}}$ and $π^{\textrm{out}}(U)=U^{\otimes t_{\textrm{out}}}$, we introduce a partial-transpose reduction that removes the contragredient action and converts the mixed (walled Brauer) channel twirl into an ordinary Schur-Weyl twirl of the partially transposed Choi operator under $U^{\otimes(t_{\textrm{in}}+t_{\textrm{out}})}$, enabling explicit permutation-based formulas without constructing walled Brauer idempotents or mixed Schur transforms. Beyond compact symmetries, we extend channel twirling to reductive, generally non-unitary groups via Cartan decomposition and obtain an invariant-sector decomposition of the averaged Choi operator with weights determined solely by the Abelian Cartan component. Finally, we provide two finite realizations of channel averaging: a "dual" implementation as a convex mixture of unitary-$1$-design channels acting on invariant sectors, and a design-like reconstruction showing that weighted group $t$-designs induce channel $t$-designs for $t=t_{\textrm{in}}+t_{\textrm{out}}$.

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arXiv2025

Single-shot comparison of random quantum channels and measurements

In this work we provide an efficiency analysis of the problem of comparison of two randomly chosen quantum operations in the single-shot regime. We provide tight bounds for the success probability of such a protocol for arbitrary quantum channels and generalized measurements.

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arXiv2024

Local certification of unitary operations

In this work, we analyze the local certification of unitary quantum channels, which is a natural extension of quantum hypothesis testing. A particular case of a quantum channel operating on two systems corresponding to product states at the input, is considered. The goal is to minimize the probability of the type II error, given a specified maximum probability of the type I error, considering assistance through entanglement with auxiliary systems. Our result indicates connection of the local certification problem with a product numerical range of unitary matrices. We show that the optimal local strategy does not need usage of auxiliary systems and requires only single round of one-way classical communication. Moreover, we compare local and global certification strategies and show that typically local strategies are optimal, yet in some extremal cases, where global strategies make no errors, local ones may fail miserably. Finally, some application for local certification of von Neumann measurements are discussed as well.

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arXiv2024

Hybrid quantum-classical computation for automatic guided vehicles scheduling

Motivated by recent efforts to develop quantum computing for practical, industrial-scale challenges, we demonstrate the effectiveness of state-of-the-art hybrid (not necessarily quantum) solvers in addressing the business-centric optimization problem of scheduling Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs). Some solvers can already leverage noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. In our study, we utilize D-Wave hybrid solvers that implement classical heuristics with potential assistance from a quantum processing unit. This hybrid methodology performs comparably to existing classical solvers. However, due to the proprietary nature of the software, the precise contribution of quantum computation remains unclear. Our analysis focuses on a practical, business-oriented scenario: scheduling AGVs within a factory constrained by limited space, simulating a realistic production setting. Our approach maps a realistic AGVs problem onto one reminiscent of railway scheduling and demonstrates that the AGVs problem is better suited to quantum computing than its railway counterpart, the latter being denser in terms of the average number of constraints per variable. The main idea here is to highlight the potential usefulness of a hybrid approach for handling AGVs scheduling problems of practical sizes. We show that a scenario involving up to 21 AGVs, significant due to possible deadlocks, can be efficiently addressed by a hybrid solver in seconds.

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arXiv2024

Discrimination and certification of unknown quantum measurements

We study the discrimination of von Neumann measurements in the scenario when we are given a reference measurement and some other measurement. The aim of the discrimination is to determine whether the other measurement is the same as the first one. We consider the cases when the reference measurement is given without the classical description and when its classical description is known. Both cases are studied in the symmetric and asymmetric discrimination setups. Moreover, we provide optimal certification schemes enabling us to certify a known quantum measurement against the unknown one.

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arXiv2024

Resource engines

In this paper we aim to push the analogy between thermodynamics and quantum resource theories one step further. Previous inspirations were based predominantly on thermodynamic considerations concerning scenarios with a single heat bath, neglecting an important part of thermodynamics that studies heat engines operating between two baths at different temperatures. Here, we investigate the performance of resource engines, which replace the access to two heat baths at different temperatures with two arbitrary constraints on state transformations. The idea is to imitate the action of a two--stroke heat engine, where the system is sent to two agents (Alice and Bob) in turns, and they can transform it using their constrained sets of free operations. We raise and address several questions, including whether or not a resource engine can generate a full set of quantum operations or all possible state transformations, and how many strokes are needed for that. We also explain how the resource engine picture provides a natural way to fuse two or more resource theories, and we discuss in detail the fusion of two resource theories of thermodynamics with two different temperatures, and two resource theories of coherence with respect to two different bases.

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arXiv2023

Operational Quantum Average-Case Distances

We introduce distance measures between quantum states, measurements, and channels based on their statistical distinguishability in generic experiments. Specifically, we analyze the average Total Variation Distance (TVD) between output statistics of protocols in which quantum objects are intertwined with random circuits and measured in standard basis. We show that for circuits forming approximate 4-designs, the average TVDs can be approximated by simple explicit functions of the underlying objects -- the average-case distances (ACDs). We apply them to analyze the effects of noise in quantum advantage experiments and for efficient discrimination of high-dimensional states and channels without quantum memory. We argue that ACDs are better suited for assessing the quality of NISQ devices than common distance measures such as trace distance or the diamond norm.

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arXiv2023

Exploring Quantum Average-Case Distances: proofs, properties, and examples

In this work, we perform an in-depth study of recently introduced average-case quantum distances. The average-case distances approximate the average Total-Variation (TV) distance between measurement outputs of two quantum processes, in which quantum objects of interest (states, measurements, or channels) are intertwined with random circuits. Contrary to conventional distances, such as trace distance or diamond norm, they quantify $\textit{average-case}$ statistical distinguishability via random circuits. We prove that once a family of random circuits forms an $δ$-approximate $4$-design, with $δ=o(d^{-8})$, then the average-case distances can be approximated by simple explicit functions that can be expressed via degree two polynomials in objects of interest. We prove that those functions, which we call quantum average-case distances, have a plethora of desirable properties, such as subadditivity, joint convexity, and (restricted) data-processing inequalities. Notably, all of the distances utilize the Hilbert-Schmidt norm which provides an operational interpretation it did not possess before. We also derive upper bounds on the maximal ratio between worst-case and average-case distances. For each dimension $d$ this ratio is at most $d^{\frac{1}{2}},\ d, \ d^{\frac{3}{2}}$ for states, measurements, and channels, respectively. To support the practical usefulness of our findings, we study multiple examples in which average-case quantum distances can be calculated analytically.

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arXiv2022

Storage and retrieval of von Neumann measurements

This work examines the problem of learning an unknown von Neumann measurement of dimension $d$ from a finite number of copies. To obtain a faithful approximation of the given measurement we are allowed to use it $N$ times. Our main goal is to estimate the asymptotic behavior of the maximum value of the average fidelity function $F_d$ for a general $N \rightarrow 1$ learning scheme. We show that $F_d = 1 - Θ\left(\frac{1}{N^2}\right)$ for arbitrary but fixed dimension $d$. In addition to that, we compared various learning schemes for $d=2$. We observed that the learning scheme based on deterministic port-based teleportation is asymptotically optimal but performs poorly for low $N$. In particular, we discovered a parallel learning scheme, which despite its lack of asymptotic optimality, provides a high value of the fidelity for low values of $N$ and uses only two-qubit entangled memory states.

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arXiv2022

Strategies for single-shot discrimination of process matrices

The topic of causality has recently gained traction quantum information research. This work examines the problem of single-shot discrimination between process matrices which are an universal method defining a causal structure. We provide an exact expression for the optimal probability of correct distinction. In addition, we present an alternative way to achieve this expression by using the convex cone structure theory. We also express the discrimination task as semidefinite programming. Due to that, we have created the SDP calculating the distance between process matrices and we quantify it in terms of the trace norm. As a valuable by-product, the program finds an optimal realization of the discrimination task. We also find two classes of process matrices which can be distinguished perfectly. Our main result, however, is a consideration of the discrimination task for process matrices corresponding to quantum combs. We study which strategy, adaptive or non-signalling, should be used during the discrimination task. We proved that no matter which strategy you choose, the probability of distinguishing two process matrices being a quantum comb is the same.

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arXiv2022

Encoding classical information into quantum resources

We introduce and analyse the problem of encoding classical information into different resources of a quantum state. More precisely, we consider a general class of communication scenarios characterised by encoding operations that commute with a unique resource destroying map and leave free states invariant. Our motivating example is given by encoding information into coherences of a quantum system with respect to a fixed basis (with unitaries diagonal in that basis as encodings and the decoherence channel as a resource destroying map), but the generality of the framework allows us to explore applications ranging from super-dense coding to thermodynamics. For any state, we find that the number of messages that can be encoded into it using such operations in a one-shot scenario is upper-bounded in terms of the information spectrum relative entropy between the given state and its version with erased resources. Furthermore, if the resource destroying map is the twirling channel over some unitary group, we find matching one-shot lower-bounds as well. In the asymptotic setting where we encode into many copies of the resource state, our bounds yield an operational interpretation of resource monotones such as the relative entropy of coherence and its corresponding relative entropy variance.

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arXiv2022

On the probabilistic quantum error correction

Probabilistic quantum error correction is an error-correcting procedure which uses postselection to determine if the encoded information was successfully restored. In this work, we deeply analyze probabilistic version of the error-correcting procedure for general noise. We generalized the Knill-Laflamme conditions for probabilistically correctable errors. We show that for some noise channels, we should encode the information into a mixed state to maximize the probability of successful error correction. Finally, we investigate an advantage of the probabilistic error-correcting procedure over the deterministic one. Reducing the probability of successful error correction allows for correcting errors generated by a broader class of noise channels. Significantly, if the errors are caused by a unitary interaction with an auxiliary qubit system, we can probabilistically restore a qubit state by using only one additional physical qubit.

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arXiv2022

Statistical quality assessment of Ising-based annealer outputs

The ability to evaluate the outcomes of quantum annealers is essential for such devices to be used in complex computational tasks. We introduce a statistical test of the quality of Ising-based annealers' output based on the data only, assessing the ground state's probability of being sampled. A higher probability value implies that at least the lower part of the spectrum is a part of the sample. Assuming a plausible model of the univariate energy distribution of the sample, we express the ground-state energy and temperature as a function of cumulants up to the third order. Using the annealer samples, we evaluate this multiple times using Bootstrap resampling, resulting in an estimated histogram of ground-state energies and deduce the desired parameter on this basis. The approach provides an easily implementable method for the primary validation of Ising-based annealers' output. We demonstrate its behavior through experiments made with actual samples originating from quantum annealer devices.

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arXiv2022

Excluding false negative error in certification of quantum channels

Certification of quantum channels is based on quantum hypothesis testing and involves also preparation of an input state and choosing the final measurement. This work primarily focuses on the scenario when the false negative error cannot occur, even if it leads to the growth of the probability of false positive error. We establish a condition when it is possible to exclude false negative error after a finite number of queries to the quantum channel in parallel, and we provide an upper bound on the number of queries. On top of that, we found a class of channels which allow for excluding false negative error after a finite number of queries in parallel, but cannot be distinguished unambiguously. Moreover, it will be proved that parallel certification scheme is always sufficient, however the number of steps may be decreased by the use of adaptive scheme. Finally, we consider examples of certification of various classes of quantum channels and measurements.

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arXiv2022

Post-Error Correction for Quantum Annealing Processor using Reinforcement Learning

Finding the ground state of the Ising spin-glass is an important and challenging problem (NP-hard, in fact) in condensed matter physics. However, its applications spread far beyond physic due to its deep relation to various combinatorial optimization problems, such as travelling salesman or protein folding. Sophisticated and promising new methods for solving Ising instances rely on quantum resources. In particular, quantum annealing is a quantum computation paradigm, that is especially well suited for Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO). Nevertheless, commercially available quantum annealers (i.e., D-Wave) are prone to various errors, and their ability to find low energetic states (corresponding to solutions of superior quality) is limited. This naturally calls for a post-processing procedure to correct errors (capable of lowering the energy found by the annealer). As a proof-of-concept, this work combines the recent ideas revolving around the DIRAC architecture with the Chimera topology and applies them in a real-world setting as an error-correcting scheme for quantum annealers. Our preliminary results show how to correct states output by quantum annealers using reinforcement learning. Such an approach exhibits excellent scalability, as it can be trained on small instances and deployed for large ones. However, its performance on the chimera graph is still inferior to a typical algorithm one could incorporate in this context, e.g., simulated annealing.

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