We introduce symmetric extensions of bipartite quantum states as a tool for analyzing protocols that distill secret key from quantum correlations. Whether the correlations are coming from a prepare-and-measure quantum key distribution scheme or from an entanglement-based scheme, the protocol has to produce effective states without a symmetric extension in order to succeed. By formulating the symmetric extension problem as a semidefinite program, we solve the problem for Bell-diagonal states. Applying this result to the six-state and BB84 schemes, we show that for the entangled states that cannot be distilled by current key distillation procedures, the failure can be understood in terms of a failure to break a symmetric extension.
We investigate which bipartite quantum states admit a symmetric extension and apply the results in the analysis of noise thresholds in quantum key distribution protocols with two-way postprocessing. We find that states that admit a symmetric extension can be decomposed into a convex combination of states that admit a_pure_ symmetric extension. For a state to have a pure symmetric extension, its nonzero eigenvalues must be equal to the nonzero eigenvalues of one of the subsystems. While this does not fully characterize the set of states with a pure symmetric extension in all dimensions, it is a…
Quantum key distribution uses public discussion protocols to establish shared secret keys. In the exploration of ultimate limits to such protocols, the property of symmetric extendibility of underlying bipartite states $ρ_{AB}$ plays an important role. A bipartite state $ρ_{AB}$ is symmetric extendible if there exits a tripartite state $ρ_{ABB'}$, such that the $AB$ marginal state is identical to the $AB'$ marginal state, i.e. $ρ_{AB'}=ρ_{AB}$. For a symmetric extendible state $ρ_{AB}$, the first task of the public discussion protocol is to break this symmetric extendibility. Therefore to char…
We analyze the connection between Bell inequality violations and symmetric extendibility of quantum states. We prove that 2-qubit reduced states of multiqubit symmetric pure states do not violate the Bell Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. We then prove the more general converse that any 2-qubit state that violates the CHSH inequality cannot have a symmetric extension. We extend our analysis to qudits and provide a test for symmetric extendibility of 2-qudit states. We show that if a 2-qudit Bell inequality is monogamous, then any 2-qudit state that violates this inequality does not…
We provide quantitative bounds on the characterisation of multiparticle separable states by states that have locally symmetric extensions. The bounds are derived from two-particle bounds and relate to recent studies on quantum versions of de Finetti's theorem. We discuss algorithmic applications of our results, in particular a quasipolynomial-time algorithm to decide whether a multiparticle quantum state is separable or entangled (for constant number of particles and constant error in the LOCC or Frobenius norm). Our results provide a theoretical justification for the use of the Search for Sym…
We analyze bipartite quantum states that admit a symmetric extension. Any such state can be decomposed into a convex combination of states that allow a _pure_ symmetric extension. A necessary condition for a state to admit a pure symmetric extension is that the spectra of the local and global density matrices are equal. This condition is also sufficient for two qubits, but not for any larger systems. Using this condition we present a conjectured necessary and sufficient condition for a two qubit state to admit symmetric extension, which we prove in some special cases. The results from symmetri…
In this paper, we present new progress on the study of the symmetric extension criterion for separability. First, we show that a perturbation of order O(1/N) is sufficient and, in general, necessary to destroy the entanglement of any state admitting an N Bose symmetric extension. On the other hand, the minimum amount of local noise necessary to induce separability on states arising from N Bose symmetric extensions with Positive Partial Transpose (PPT) decreases at least as fast as O(1/N^2). From these results, we derive upper bounds on the time and space complexity of the weak membership probl…
Quantum key distribution is a cryptographic primitive for the distribution of symmetric encryption keys between two parties that possess a pre-shared secret. Since the pre-shared secret is a requirement, quantum key distribution may be viewed as a key growing protocol. We note that the use of pre-shared secrets coupled with access to randomness beacons may enable key growing which, though not secure from an information-theoretic standpoint, remains quantum safe.
We consider the collective eavesdropping of the BB84 and six-state protocols. Since these protocols are symmetric in the eigenstates of conjugate bases, we consider collective attacks having the same kind of symmetry. We then show how these symmetric collective attacks are sufficiently strong in order to minimize the Devetak-Winter rates. In fact, it is quite easy to construct simple examples able to reach the unconditionally-secure key-rates of these protocols.
A bipartite state $ρ^{AB}$ has a $k$-symmetric extension if there exists a $k+1$-partite state $ρ^{AB_1B_2\ldots B_k}$ with marginals $ρ^{AB_i}=ρ^{AB}, \forall i$. The $k$-symmetric extension is called bosonic if $ρ^{AB_1B_2\ldots B_k}$ is supported on the symmetric subspace of $B_1B_2\ldots B_k$. Understanding the structure of symmetric/bosonic extension has various applications in the theory of quantum entanglement, quantum key distribution and the quantum marginal problem. In particular, bosonic extension gives a tighter bound for the quantum marginal problem based on seperability. In gener…
This is a series of 5 lectures around the common subject of the construction of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators and its applications to Quantum Physics. We will try to offer a brief account of some recent ideas in the theory of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators on Hilbert spaces and their applications to a few specific problems in Quantum Mechanics.
In this note we prove a refined version of the Christensen-Evans theorem for generators of uniformly continuous GNS-symmetric quantum Markov semigroups. We use this result to show the existence of GNS-symmetric extensions of GNS-symmetric quantum Markov semigroups. In particular, this implies that the generators of GNS-symmetric quantum Markov semigroups on finite-dimensional von Neumann algebra can be written in the form specified by Alicki's theorem.
We consider an information reconciliation protocol for quantum key distribution (QKD). In order to correct down the error rate, we suggest a method, which is based on symmetric blind information reconciliation for the low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. We develop a subsequent verification protocol with the use of $ε$-universal hash functions, which allows verifying the identity between the keys with a certain probability.
Based on quantum encryption, we present a new idea for quantum public-key cryptography (QPKC) and construct a whole theoretical framework of a QPKC system. We show that the quantum-mechanical nature renders it feasible and reasonable to use symmetric keys in such a scheme, which is quite different from that in conventional public-key cryptography. The security of our scheme is analyzed and some features are discussed. Furthermore, the state-estimation attack to a prior QPKC scheme is demonstrated.
We introduce a constructive method to calculate the achievable secret key rate for a generic class of quantum key distribution protocols, when only a finite number n of signals is given. Our approach is applicable to all scenarios in which the quantum state shared by Alice and Bob is known. In particular, we consider the six state protocol with symmetric eavesdropping attacks, and show that for a small number of signals, i.e. below the order of 10^4, the finite key rate differs significantly from the asymptotic value for n approaching infinity. However, for larger n, a good approximation of th…
We discuss several PT-symmetric deformations of superderivatives. Based on these various possibilities, we propose new families of complex PT-symmetric deformations of the supersymmetric Korteweg-de Vries equation. Some of these new models are mere fermionic extensions of the former in the sense that they are formulated in terms of superspace valued superfields containing bosonic and fermionic fields, breaking however the supersymmetry invariance. Nonetheless, we also find extensions, which may be viewed as new supersymmetric Korteweg-de Vries equation. Moreover, we show that these deformation…
We study the self-adjoint extensions of the Hamiltonian operator with symmetric potentials which go to $-\infty$ faster than $-|x|^{2p}$ with $p>1$ as $x\to\pm\infty$. In this extension procedure, one requires the Wronskian between any states in the spectrum to approach to the same limit as $x\to\pm\infty$. Then the boundary terms cancel and the Hamiltonian operator can be shown to be hermitian. Discrete bound states with even and odd parities are obtained. Since the Wronskian is not required to vanish asymptotically, the energy eigenstates could be degenerate. Some explicit examples are given…
The classification of quantum symmetric-key encryption protocol is presented. According to five elements of a quantum symmetric-key encryption protocol: plaintext, ciphertext, key, encryption algorithm and decryption algorithm, there are 32 different kinds of them. Among them, 5 kinds of protocols have already been constructed and studied, and 21 kinds of them are proved to be impossible to construct, the last 6 kinds of them are not yet presented effectively. That means the research on quantum symmetric-key encryption protocol only needs to consider with 5 kinds of them nowadays.
We consider non-Hermitian PT-symmetric deformation of $A_{N-1}$ type Calogero model without confining potential to investigate the possible existence of spectral singularity. By considering the Wronskian between asymptotic incoming and outgoing scattering state wave functions, we found that there exist no spectral singularity in this model. We further explicitly show that the transmission coefficient vanishes and the reflection coefficient becomes unity for all values of the energy in such a momentum dependent non-Hermitian PT-symmetric model.
We discuss a many-particle quantum system, which is obtained by adding some nonhermitian but PT (i.e. combined parity and time reversal) invariant interaction to the $A_{N-1}$ rational Calogero model without confining potential. This model gives rise to scattering states with continuous real spectrum. The scattering phase shift is determined through the exchange statistics parameter. We find that, unlike the case of usual Calogero model, the exclusion and exchange statistics parameter differ from each other in the presence of PT invariant interaction.
We study the physical content of the PT-symmetric complex extension of quantum mechanics as proposed in Bender et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5243 (1998) and 89, 270401 (2002), and show that as a fundamental probabilistic physical theory it is neither an alternative to nor an extension of ordinary quantum mechanics. We demonstrate that the definition of a physical observable given in the above papers is inconsistent with the dynamical aspect of the theory and offer a consistent notion of an observable.
