Geometric intuition is a crucial tool to obtain deeper insight into many concepts of physics. A paradigmatic example of its power is the Bloch ball, the geometrical representation for the state space of the simplest possible quantum system, a two-level system (or qubit). However, already for a three-level system (qutrit) the state space has eight dimensions, so that its complexity exceeds the grasp of our three-dimensional space of experience. This is unfortunate, given that the geometric object describing the state space of a qutrit has a much richer structure and is in many ways more representative for a general quantum system than a qubit. In this work we demonstrate that, based on the Bloch representation of quantum states, it is possible to construct a three dimensional model for the qutrit state space that captures most of the essential geometric features of the latter. Besides being of indisputable theoretical value, this opens the door to a new type of representation, thus extending our geometric intuition beyond the simplest quantum systems.
An ability to describe quantum states directly by average values of measurement outcomes is provided by the Bloch vector. For an informationally complete set of measurements one can construct unique Bloch vector for any quantum state. However, not every Bloch vector corresponds to a quantum state. It seems that only for two dimensional quantum systems it is easy to distinguish proper Bloch vectors from improper ones, i.e. the ones corresponding to quantum states from the other ones. I propose an alternative approach to the problem in which more than one vector is used. In particular, I show th…
The cascade, lambda and vee type of three-level systems are shown to be described by three different Hamiltonians in the SU(3) basis. We investigate the Bloch space structure of each configuration by solving the corresponding Bloch equation and show that at resonance, the seven-dimensional Bloch sphere ${\mathcal S}^7$ is broken into two distinct subspaces ${\mathcal S}^2{\times}{\mathcal S}^4$ due to the existence of a pair of quadratic constants. We also give a possible representation of the qutrit wave function and discuss its equivalence with the three-level system.
We present a surprisingly simple three-dimensional Bloch sphere representation of a qutrit, i.e., a single three-level quantum system. We start with a symmetric state of a two-qubit system and relate it to the spin-1 representation. Using this representation we associate each qutrit state with a three-dimensional vector $\mathbf{a}$ and a metric tensor $\mathbf{\hatΓ}$ which satisfy $\mathbf{a}\cdot \mathbf{\hatΓ} \cdot \mathbf{a}\leq 1$. This resembles the well known condition for qubit Bloch vectors in which case $\mathbf{\hatΓ}=\hat{I}$. In our case the vector $\mathbf{a}$ corresponds to sp…
We present an analysis of complete positivity (CP) constraints on qutrit quantum channels that have a form of affine transformations of generalized Bloch vector. For diagonal (damping) channels we derive conditions analogous to the ones that in qubit case produce tetrahedron structure in the channel parameter space.
We present an analysis of noisy atomic channels involving qutrits. We choose a three-level atom with V-configuration to be the qutrit state. Gell-Mann matrices and a generalized Bloch vector (8-dimensional) are used to describe the qutrit density operator. We introduce quantum quasi-distributions for qutrits that provide a simple description of entanglement. Studying the time-evolution for the atomic variables we find the Kraus representation of spontaneous emission quantum channel (SE channel). Furthermore, we consider a generalized Werner state of two qutrits and investigate the separability…
We present an analysis of spontaneous emission in a 3-level atom as an example of a qutrit state under the action of noisy quantum channels. We choose a 3-level atom with V-configuration to be the qutrit state. Gell-Mann matrices and a generalized Bloch vector (8-dimensional) are used to describe the qutrit density operator. Using the time-evolution equations of atomic variables we find the Kraus representation of spontaneous emission quantum channel (SE channel). Furthermore, we consider a generalized Werner state of two qutrits and investigate the separability condition. We give similar anal…
We have given a novel formulation of the exact solutions for the lambda, vee and cascade three-level systems where the Hamiltonian of each configuration is expressed in the SU(3) basis. The solutions are discussed from the perspective of the Bloch equation and the atom-field entanglement scenario. For the semiclassical systems, the Bloch space structure of each configuration is studied by solving the corresponding Bloch equation and it is shown that at resonance, the eight-dimensional Bloch sphere is broken up into two distinct subspaces due to the existence of a pair of quadratic constants. B…
The geometry of the generalized Bloch sphere $Ω_3$, the state space of a qutrit, is studied. Closed form expressions for $Ω_3$, its boundary $\partial Ω_3$, and the set of extremals $Ω_3^{\rm ext}$ are obtained by use of an elementary observation. These expressions and analytic methods are used to classify the 28 two-sections and the 56 three-sections of $Ω_3$ into unitary equivalence classes, completing the works of earlier authors. It is shown, in particular, that there are families of two-sections and of three-sections which are equivalent geometrically but not unitarily, a feature that doe…
We express the matrix elements of the density matrix of the qutrit state in terms of probabilities associated with artificial qubit states. We show that the quantum statistics of qubit states and observables is formally equivalent to the statistics of classical systems with three random vector variables and three classical probability distributions obeying special constrains found in this study. The Bloch spheres geometry of qubit states is mapped onto triangle geometry of qubits. We investigate the triada of Malevich's squares describing the qubit states in quantum suprematism picture and the…
We advocate the step change in properties of discrete $d$-level quantum systems, between $d=2$ and $d\geq 3$. Qubit systems, or multipartite systems containing qubit subsystem, are exceptional in their relative simplicity. One faces a step in complexity in valuating measures of quantum correlations for qutrits and then other higher dimensional qudits. There is a growing number of arguments leading to such conclusion: recently found no-go theorem for generalization of the Peres-Horodecki's PPT criterion \cite{sko}, change in geometry of state spaces of qubit and higher degree qudits (the so cal…
We have implemented a Walsh-Hadamard gate, which performs a quantum Fourier transform, in a superconducting qutrit. The qutrit is encoded in the lowest three energy levels of a capacitively shunted flux device, operated at the optimal flux-symmetry point. We use an efficient decomposition of the Walsh-Hadamard gate into two unitaries, generated by off-diagonal and diagonal Hamiltonians respectively. The gate implementation utilizes simultaneous driving of all three transitions between the three pairs of energy levels of the qutrit, one of which is implemented with a two-photon process. The gat…
For one qubit systems, we present a short, elementary argument characterizing unital quantum operators in terms of their action on Bloch vectors. We then show how our approach generalizes to multi-qubit systems, obtaining inequalities that govern when a ``diagonal'' superoperator on the Bloch region is a quantum operator. These inequalities are the n-qubit analogue of the Algoet-Fujiwara conditions. Our work is facilitated by an analysis of operator-sum decompositions in which negative summands are allowed.
We show that a quantum control procedure on a two-level system including dissipation gives rise to a semi-group corresponding to the Lie algebra semi-direct sum gl(3,R)+R^3. The physical evolution may be modelled by the action of this semi-group on a 3-vector as it moves inside the Bloch sphere, in the Bloch ball.
We classify the Markov chains that can be generated on the set of quantum states by a unitarily evolving 3-dim quantum system (qutrit) that is repeatedly measured with a projective measurement (PVM) consisting of one rank-2 projection and one rank-1 projection. The dynamics of such a system can be visualized as taking place on the union of a Bloch ball and a single point, which correspond to the respective projections. The classification is given in terms of the eigenvalues of the 2x2 matrix that describes the dynamics arising on the Bloch ball, i.e., on the 2-dim subsystem. We also express th…
Milz and Strunz ({\it J. Phys. A}: {\bf{48}} [2015] 035306) recently studied the probabilities that two-qubit and qubit-qutrit states, randomly generated with respect to Hilbert-Schmidt (Euclidean/flat) measure, are separable. They concluded that in both cases, the separability probabilities (apparently exactly $\frac{8}{33}$ in the two-qubit scenario) hold {\it constant} over the Bloch radii ($r$) of the single-qubit subsystems, jumping to 1 at the pure state boundaries ($r=1$). Here, firstly, we present evidence that in the qubit-qutrit case, the separability probability is uniformly distrib…
We use polarization operators known from quantum theory of angular momentum to expand the $N \times N$ dimensional density operators. Thereby, we construct generalized Bloch vectors representing density matrices. We study their properties and derive positivity conditions for any $N$. We also apply the procedure to study Bloch vector space for a qubit and a qutrit.
We determine the set of the Bloch vectors for N-level systems, generalizing the familiar Bloch ball in 2-level systems. An origin of the structural difference from the Bloch ball in 2-level systems is clarified.
1-qubit quantum states form a space called the three-dimensional Bloch ball. To compute Holevo capacity, Voronoi diagrams in the Bloch ball with respect to the quantum divergence have been used as a powerful tool. These diagrams basically treat mixed quantum states corresponding to points in the interior of the Bloch ball. Due to the existence of logarithm in the quantum divergence, the diagrams are not defined on pure quantum states corresponding to points on the two-dimensional sphere. This paper first defines the Voronoi diagrams for pure quantum states on the Bloch sphere by the Fubini-Stu…
The qutrit comes next in complexity after qubit as a resource for quantum information processing. The qubit density matrix can be easily visualized using Bloch sphere representation of its states. In contrast, this simplicity is in general unavailable for the 8-dimensional state space of a qutrit. In this work a new way to visualize them in a 3-dimensional Cartesian space is presented and compared with earlier similar efforts.
A method to establish a qubit decomposition of a general qudit state is presented. This new representation allows a geometrical depiction of any qudit state in the Bloch sphere. Additionally, we show that the nonnegativity conditions of the qudit state imply the existence of quantum correlations between the qubits which compose it. These correlations are used to define new inequalities which the density matrices components must satisfy. The importance of such inequalities in the reconstruction of a qudit state is addressed. As an example of the general procedure the qubit decomposition of a qu…
Using the convex optimization method and Helstrom family of ensembles introduced in Ref. [1], we have discussed optimal ambiguous discrimination in qubit systems. We have analyzed the problem of the optimal discrimination of N known quantum states and have obtained maximum success probability and optimal measurement for N known quantum states with equiprobable prior probabilities and equidistant from center of the Bloch ball, not all of which are on the one half of the Bloch ball and all of the conjugate states are pure. An exact solution has also been given for arbitrary three known quantum s…
We experimentally investigate a discrete time quantum walk in a system of coupled fiber loops and observe typical phenomena known from the wave propagation in periodic structures as ballistic spreading or an oscillation between two internal quantum states similar to Zitterbewegung (trembling motion). If a position-dependent phase gradient is applied we find localization and Bloch oscillations of the field for moderate as well as Landau-Zener tunneling for strong phase gradients.
This paper studies the quantum dynamics of a charged particle in a 2D square lattice, under the influence of electric and magnetic fields, the former being aligned with one of the lattice axes and the latter perpendicular to the lattice plane. While in free space these dynamics consist of uniform motions in the direction orthogonal to the electric field vector, we find that, in a lattice, this directed drift takes place only for specific initial conditions and for electric field magnitudes smaller than a critical value. Otherwise, the quantum wave--packet spreads ballistically in both directio…
We consider a very natural generalization of quantum theory by letting the dimension of the Bloch ball be not necessarily three. We analyze bipartite state spaces where each of the components has a d-dimensional Euclidean ball as state space. In addition to this we impose two very natural assumptions: the continuity and reversibility of dynamics, and the possibility of characterizing bipartite states by local measurements. We classify all these bipartite state spaces and prove that, except for the quantum two-qubit state space, none of them contains entangled states. Equivalently, in any of th…
For both unitary and open qubit dynamics, we compare asymmetry monotone-based bounds on the minimal time required for an initial qubit state to evolve to a final qubit state from which it is probabilistically distinguishable with fixed minimal error probability (i.e., the minimal error distinguishability time). For the case of unitary dynamics generated by a time-independent Hamiltonian, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition on two asymmetry monotones that guarantees that an arbitrary state of a two-level quantum system or a separable state of $N$ two-level quantum systems will unitar…
Quantum theory and relativity are the pillar theories on which our understanding of physics is based. Poincaré invariance is a fundamental physical principle stating that the experimental results must be the same in all inertial reference frames in Minkowski spacetime. It is a basic condition imposed on quantum theory in order to construct quantum field theories, hence, it plays a fundamental role in the standard model of particle physics too. As is well known, Minkowski spacetime follows from clear physical principles, like the relativity principle and the invariance of the speed of light. He…
The computational efficiency of quantum mechanics can be defined in terms of the qubit circuit model, which is characterized by a few simple properties: each computational gate is a reversible transformation in a connected matrix group; single wires carry quantum bits, i.e. states of a three-dimensional Bloch ball; states on two or more wires are uniquely determined by local measurement statistics and their correlations. In this paper, we ask whether other types of computation are possible if we relax one of those characteristics (and keep all others), namely, if we allow wires to be described…
The article considers a two-level open quantum system, whose evolution is governed by the Gorini--Kossakowski--Lindblad--Sudarshan master equation with Hamiltonian and dissipation superoperator depending, correspondingly, on piecewise constant coherent and incoherent controls with constrained magnitudes. Additional constraints on controls' variations are also considered. The system is analyzed using Bloch parametrization of the system's density matrix. We adapt the section method for obtaining outer parallelepipedal and pointwise estimations of reachable and controllability sets in the Bloch b…
We obtain formulas (bot. p. 12)--including $\frac{2}{121}$ and $\frac{4 \left(242 \sqrt{3} π-1311\right)}{9801}$--for the eight atoms (Fig. 11), summing to 1, which span a 256-dimensional three-set (P, S, PPT) entanglement-probability boolean algebra for the two-qutrit Hiesmayr-Loffler states. PPT denotes positive partial transpose, while P and S provide the Li-Qiao necessary and}sufficient conditions for entanglement. The constraints ensuring entanglement are $s> \frac{16}{9} \approx 1.7777$ and $p> \frac{2^{27}}{3^{18} \cdot 7^{15} \cdot13} \approx 5.61324 \cdot 10^{-15}$. Here, $s$ is the s…
Physical constraints such as positivity endow the set of quantum states with a rich geometry if the system dimension is greater than two. To shed some light on the complicated structure of the set of quantum states, we consider a stratification with strata given by unitary orbit manifolds, which can be identified with flag manifolds. The results are applied to study the geometry of the coherence vector for n-level quantum systems. It is shown that the unitary orbits can be naturally identified with spheres in R^{n^2-1} only for n=2. In higher dimensions the coherence vector only defines a non-…
Discrete structures in Hilbert space play a crucial role in finding optimal schemes for quantum measurements. We solve the problem whether a complete set of five iso-entangled mutually unbiased bases exists in dimension four, providing an explicit analytical construction. The reduced density matrices of these $20$ pure states forming this generalized quantum measurement form a regular dodecahedron inscribed in a sphere of radius $\sqrt{3/20}$ located inside the Bloch ball of radius $1/2$. Such a set forms a mixed-state $2$-design --- a discrete set of quantum states with the property that the …
Geometric phases have been used in NMR, to implement controlled phase shift gates for quantum information processing, only in weakly coupled systems in which the individual spins can be identified as qubits. In this work, we implement controlled phase shift gates in strongly coupled systems, by using non-adiabatic geometric phases, obtained by evolving the magnetization of fictitious spin-1/2 subspaces, over a closed loop on the Bloch sphere. The dynamical phase accumulated during the evolution of the subspaces, is refocused by a spin echo pulse sequence and by setting the delay of transition …
Quantum walks are processes that model dynamics in coherent systems. Their experimental implementations proved key to unveil novel phenomena in Floquet topological insulators. Here we realize a photonic quantum walk in the presence of a synthetic gauge field, which mimics the action of an electric field on a charged particle. By tuning the energy gaps between the two quasi-energy bands, we investigate intriguing system dynamics characterized by the interplay between Bloch oscillations and Landau-Zener transitions. When both gaps at quasi-energy values 0 and $π$ are vanishingly small, the Floqu…
Exploring Imaginary Coordinates: Disparity in the Shape of Quantum State Space in Even and Odd Dimensions
Technische Universität Wien（维也纳工业大学）；BCAM - Basque Center for Applied Mathematics（巴斯克应用数学中心）；University of Gdańsk（格但斯克大学）；Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona（巴塞罗那自治大学）；University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU（巴斯克大学）；IKERBASQUE Basque Foundation for Science（伊克尔巴斯克科学基金会）
Experimental challenges and prospects for quantum-enhanced energy conversion: Stationary Fano coherence in V-type qutrits interacting with polarized incoherent radiation
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-INO)（意大利国家光学研究所）；European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Università degli Studi di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学非线性光谱学欧洲实验室）；Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università degli Studi di Firenze（佛罗伦萨大学物理与天文学系）；Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-ISC)（意大利复杂系统研究所）
We analyse the metric properties of $\textit{conditioned}$ quantum state spaces $\mathcal{M}^{(n\times m)}_η$. These spaces are the convex sets of $nm \times nm$ density matrices that, when partially traced over $m$ degrees of freedom, respectively yield the given $n\times n$ density matrix $η$. For the case $n=2$, the volume of $\mathcal{M}^{(2\times m)}_η$ equipped with the Hilbert-Schmidt measure is a simple polynomial of the radius of $η$ in the Bloch-Ball. Remarkably, the probability $p_{\mathrm{sep}}^{(2\times m)}(η)$ to find a separable state in $\mathcal{M}^{(2\times m)}_η$ is independ…
Quantum theory is usually formulated in terms of abstract mathematical postulates, involving Hilbert spaces, state vectors, and unitary operators. In this work, we show that the full formalism of quantum theory can instead be derived from five simple physical requirements, based on elementary assumptions about preparation, transformations and measurements. This is more similar to the usual formulation of special relativity, where two simple physical requirements -- the principles of relativity and light speed invariance -- are used to derive the mathematical structure of Minkowski space-time. …
