We analyze the geometric aspects of unitary evolution of general states for a multilevel quantum system by exploiting the structure of coadjoint orbits in the unitary group Lie algebra. Using the same method in the case of SU(3) we study the effect of degeneracies on geometric phases for three-level systems. This is shown to lead to a highly nontrivial generalization of the result for two-level systems in which degeneracy results in a "monopole" structure in parameter space. The rich structures that arise are related to the geometry of adjoint orbits in SU(3). The limiting case of a two-level degeneracy in a three-level system is shown to lead to the known monopole structure.
In the theory of quantum information, the mixed-unitary quantum channels, for any positive integer dimension $n$, are those linear maps that can be expressed as a convex combination of conjugations by $n\times n$ complex unitary matrices. We consider the mixed-unitary rank of any such channel, which is the minimum number of distinct unitary conjugations required for an expression of this form. We identify several new relationships between the mixed-unitary rank~$N$ and the Choi rank~$r$ of mixed-unitary channels, the Choi rank being equal to the minimum number of nonzero terms required for a K…
For a positive integer $d$ and a unitary representation $ρ:G\rightarrow\mathrm{U}(d)$ of a compact group $G$, the twirling channel for this representation is the linear mapping $Φ: M_d\rightarrow M_d$ defined as $Φ(X)=\int_{G}\mathrm{d}μ(g)\,ρ(g)Xρ(g^{-1})$ for every $X\in M_d$, where $μ$ is the Haar measure on $G$. Such channels are examples of mixed-unitary channels, as they are in the convex hull of the set of unitary channels of a fixed size. By Carathéodory's theorem, these channels can always be expressed as a finite linear combination of unitary channels. We consider the mixed-unitary r…
We classify, up to local unitary equivalence, local unitary stabilizer Lie algebras for symmetric mixed states into six classes. These include the stabilizer types of the Werner states, the GHZ state and its generalizations, and Dicke states. For all but the zero algebra, we classify entanglement types (local unitary equivalence classes) of symmetric mixed states that have those stabilizers. We make use of the identification of symmetric density matrices with polynomials in three variables with real coefficients and apply the representation theory of SO(3) on this space of polynomials.
We consider the mixed states of the bipartite quantum system with the first party a qubit and the second a qutrit. The group of local unitary transformations of the system, ignoring the overall phase factor, is the direct product G of SU(2) and SU(3). We compute the simply graded Poincare series of the algebra of G-invariant polynomial functions on the set of mixed states of the system, and construct several low degree invariants.
The nonlocal properties of arbitrary dimensional bipartite quantum systems are investigated. A complete set of invariants under local unitary transformations is presented. These invariants give rise to both sufficient and necessary conditions for the equivalence of quantum states under local unitary transformations: two density matrices are locally equivalent if and only if all these invariants have equal values.
Off-diagonal mixed state phases based upon a concept of orthogonality adapted to unitary evolution and a proper normalisation condition are introduced. Some particular instances are analysed and parallel transport leading to the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phase is delineated. A complete experimental realisation of the off-diagonal mixed state geometric phases in the qubit case using polarisation-entangled two-photon interferometry is proposed.
We present computable criterion for completely classifying multi-qubit quantum states under local unitary operations. The criterion can be used to detect whether two quantum states in multi-qubit systems are local unitary equivalent or not. Once obtaining the positive answer, we are further able to compute the corresponding unitary operators precisely. Since the scheme is based on the mean values of some quantum mechanical observables, it supplies an experimental way to judge the local equivalence of quantum states.
The geometric phase for a pure quantal state undergoing an arbitrary evolution is a ``memory'' of the geometry of the path in the projective Hilbert space of the system. We find that Uhlmann's geometric phase for a mixed quantal state undergoing unitary evolution not only depends on the geometry of the path of the system alone but also on a constrained bi-local unitary evolution of the purified entangled state. We analyze this in general, illustrate it for the qubit case, and propose an experiment to test this effect. We also show that the mixed state geometric phase proposed recently in the c…
The equivalence of multipartite quantum mixed states under local unitary transformations is studied. A criterion for the equivalence of non-degenerate mixed multipartite quantum states under local unitary transformations is presented.
The unitary $ \mathrm{U}(d)$-equivalence relation between elements of the space $\mathfrak{P}_+\,$ of mixed states of $d$-dimensional quantum system defines the orbit space $ \mathfrak{P}_+/ \mathrm{U}(d)\,$ and provides its description in terms the ring $\mathbb{R}[\mathfrak{P}_+]^{\mathrm{U}(d)}\,$ of $\mathrm{U}(d)$-invariant polynomials. We prove that the semi-algebraic structure of $ \mathfrak{P}_+/ \mathrm{U}(d)\, $ is determined completely by two basic properties of density matrices, their semi-positivity and Hermicity. Particularly, it is shown that the Processi-Schwarz inequalities in…
In terms of the analysis of fixed point subgroup and tensor decomposability of certain matrices, we study the equivalence of of quantum bipartite mixed states under local unitary transformations. For non-degenerate case an operational criterion for the equivalence of two such mixed bipartite states under local unitary transformations is presented.
We establish a novel procedure to analyze the entanglement properties of extremal density matrices depending on the parameters of a finite dimensional Hamiltonian. It was applied to a general 2-qubit Hamiltonian which could exhibit Kramers degeneracy. This is done through the extremal density matrix formalism, which allows to extend the conventional variational principle to mixed states. By applying the positive partial transpose criterion in terms of the Correlation and Schlienz-Mahler matrices on the extremal density matrices, we demonstrate that it is possible to reach both pure and mixed e…
A quantum channel is said to be a mixed-unitary channel if it can be expressed as a convex combination of unitary channels. We prove that, given the Choi representation of a quantum channel, it is NP-hard with respect to polynomial-time Turing reductions to determine whether or not that channel is a mixed-unitary channel. This hardness result holds even under the assumption that the channel is not within an inverse-polynomial distance (in the dimension of the space upon which it acts) of the boundary of the mixed-unitary channels.
We study the equivalence of quantum states under local unitary transformations by using the singular value decomposition. A complete set of invariants under local unitary transformations is presented for several classes of tripartite mixed states in KxMxN composite systems. Two density matrices in the same class are equivalent under local unitary transformations if and only if all these invariants have equal values for these density matrices.
Usually models for quantum computations deal with unitary gates on pure states. In this paper we generalize the usual model. We consider a model of quantum computations in which the state is an operator of density matrix and the gates are quantum operations, not necessarily unitary. A mixed state (operator of density matrix) of n two-level quantum systems is considered as an element of $4^{n}$-dimensional operator Hilbert space. Unitary quantum gates and nonunitary quantum operations for n-qubit system are considered as generalized quantum gates acting on mixed state. In this paper we study un…
We investigate the equivalence of bipartite quantum mixed states under local unitary transformations by introducing representation classes from a geometrical approach. It is shown that two bipartite mixed states are equivalent under local unitary transformations if and only if they have the same representation class. Detailed examples are given on calculating representation classes.
The mixed states are important in quantum optics since they frequently appear in the decoherence problems. When one of the components of the system is prepared in the mixed state and the evolution operator of this system is not available, one cannot deduce the density matrix. We present analytical approach to accurately solve this problem. The approach can be applied on the condition that the Schrödinger's equation of the system is solvable with any arbitrary initial state. In deriving the solution we exploit the fact that any mixed state can be expressed in terms of a phase state. The approac…
Majorana Representation (MR) of symmetric $ N $-qubit pure states has been used successfully in entanglement classification. Generalization of this has been a long standing open problem due to the difficulties faced in the construction of a Majorana like geometric representation for symmetric mixed state. We have overcome this problem by developing a method of classifying local unitary (LU) equivalent classes of symmetric $N$-qubit mixed states based on the geometrical Multiaxial Representation (MAR) of the density matrix. In addition to the two parameters defined for the entanglement classifi…
We investigate the equivalence of quantum states under local unitary transformations. A complete set of invariants under local unitary transformations is presented for a class of mixed states. It is shown that two states in this class are locally equivalent if and only if all these invariants have equal values for them.
We investigate the equivalence of quantum mixed states under local unitary transformations. For a class of rank-two mixed states, a sufficient and necessary condition of local equivalence is obtained by giving a complete set of invariants under local unitary transformations, such that two states in this class are locally equivalent if and only if all these invariants have equal values for them.
We consider the statistics of overlaps between a mixed state and its image under random unitary transformations. Choosing the transformations from the unitary group with its invariant (Haar) measure, the distribution of overlaps depends only on the eigenvalues of the mixed state. This allows one to estimate these eigenvalues from the overlap statistics. In the first part of this work, we present explicit results for qutrits, including a discussion of the expected uncertainties in the eigenvalue estimation. In the second part, we assume that the set of available unitary transformations is restr…
We study the local unitary equivalence for two and three-qubit mixed states by investigating the invariants under local unitary transformations. For two-qubit system, we prove that the determination of the local unitary equivalence of 2-qubits states only needs 14 or less invariants for arbitrary two-qubit states. Using the same method, we construct invariants for three-qubit mixed states. We prove that these invariants are sufficient to guarantee the LU equivalence of certain kind of three-qubit states. Also, we make a comparison with earlier works.
We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for local unitary (LU) operators to leave invariant the set of 1-qubit reduced density matrices of a multi-qubit state. LU operators with this property are tensor products of {\it cyclic local} operators, and form a subgroup, the centralizer subgroup of the set of reduced states, of the Lie group $SU(2)^{\otimes n}$. The dimension of this subgroup depends on the type of reduced density matrices. It is maximum when all reduced states are maximally mixed and it is minimum when none of them is maximally mixed. For any given multi-qubit state, pure or …
We consider arbitrary mixed state in unitary evolution and provide a comprehensive description of corresponding geometric phase in which two different points of view prevailing currently can be unified. Introducing an ancillary system and considering the purification of given mixed state, we find that different results of mixed state geometric phase correspond to different choice of the representation of Hilbert space of the ancilla. Moreover we demonstrate that in order to obtain Uhlmann's geometric phase it is not necessary to resort to the unitary evolution of ancilla.
We study the local unitary equivalence of arbitrary dimensional multipartite quantum mixed states. We present a necessary and sufficient criterion of the local unitary equivalence for general multipartite states based on matrix realignment. The criterion is shown to be operational even for particularly degenerated states by detailed examples. Besides, explicit expressions of the local unitary operators are constructed for locally equivalent states. In complement to the criterion, an alternative approach based on partial transposition of matrices is also given, which makes the criterion more ef…
The phenomenon of degeneracy of an $N-$plet of bound states is studied in the framework of quantum theory of closed (i.e., unitary) systems. For an underlying Hamiltonian $H=H(λ)$ the degeneracy occurs at a Kato's exceptional point $λ^{(EPN)}$ of order $N$ and of the spectral geometric multiplicity $K<N$. In spite of the phenomenological appeal of the concept (tractable as a quantum phase transition, or as a unitary processes of the loss of the observability of the system), the dedicated literature deals, predominantly, just with the models where $N=2$ and $K=1$. In our paper it is shown that …
We consider the tensor product of the completely depolarising channel on $d\times d$ matrices with the map of Schur multiplication by a $k \times k$ correlation matrix and characterise, via matrix theory methods, when such a map is a mixed (random) unitary channel. When $d=1$, this recovers a result of O'Meara and Pereira, and for larger $d$ is equivalent to a result of Haagerup and Musat that was originally obtained via the theory of factorisation through von Neumann algebras. We obtain a bound on the distance between a given correlation matrix for which this tensor product is nearly mixed un…
We provide a physical prescription based on interferometry for introducing the total phase of a mixed state undergoing unitary evolution, which has been an elusive concept in the past. We define the parallel transport condition that provides a connection-form for obtaining the geometric phase for mixed states. The expression for the geometric phase for mixed state reduces to well known formulas in the pure state case when a system undergoes noncyclic and unitary quantum evolution.
The equivalence problem under local unitary transformation for $n$--partite pure states is reduced to the one for $(n-1)$--partite mixed states. In particular, a tripartite system $\mathcal{H}_A\otimes\mathcal{H}_B\otimes\mathcal{H}_C$, where $\mathcal{H}_j$ is a finite dimensional complex Hilbert space for $j=A,B,C$, is considered and a set of invariants under local transformations is introduced, which is complete for the set of states whose partial trace with respect to $\mathcal{H}_A$ belongs to the class of generic mixed states.
We propose an extended quantum mechanical formalism that is based on a wave operator $\vr$, which is related to the ordinary density matrix via $ρ=\vr\vr^\dagger$. This formalism allows a (generalized) unitary evolution between pure and mixed states. It also preserves much of the connection between symmetries and conservation laws. The new formalism is illustrated for the case of a two level system.
We study quantum metrology for unitary dynamics. Analytic solutions are given for both the optimal unitary state preparation starting from an arbitrary mixed state and the corresponding optimal measurement precision. This represents a rigorous generalization of known results for optimal initial states and upper bounds on measurement precision which can only be saturated if pure states are available. In particular, we provide a generalization to mixed states of an upper bound on measurement precision for time-dependent Hamiltonians that can be saturated with optimal Hamiltonian control. These r…
We consider mixed states of two qubits and show under which global unitary operations their entanglement is maximized. This leads to a class of states that is a generalization of the Bell states. Three measures of entanglement are considered: entanglement of formation, negativity and relative entropy of entanglement. Surprisingly all states that maximize one measure also maximize the others. We will give a complete characterization of these generalized Bell states and prove that these states for fixed eigenvalues are all equivalent under local unitary transformations. We will furthermore chara…
The geometric phases of cyclic evolutions for mixed states are discussed in the framework of unitary evolution. A canonical one-form is defined whose line integral gives the geometric phase which is gauge invariant. It reduces to the Aharonov and Anandan phase in the pure state case. Our definition is consistent with the phase shift in the proposed experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{85}, 2845 (2000)] for a cyclic evolution if the unitary transformation satisfies the parallel transport condition. A comprehensive geometric interpretation is also given. It shows that the geometric phases for mi…
We decompose the quantum adiabatic evolution as the products of gauge invariant unitary operators and obtain the exact nonadiabatic correction in the adiabatic approximation. A necessary and sufficient condition that leads to adiabatic evolution with geometric phases is provided and we determine that in the adiabatic evolution, while the eigenstates are slowly varying, the eigenenergies and degeneracy of the Hamiltonian can change rapidly. We exemplify this result by the example of the adiabatic evolution driven by parametrized pulse sequences. For driving fields that are rotating slowly with …
We study the equivalence of mixed states under local unitary transformations. First we express quantum states in Bloch representation. Then based on the coefficient matrices, some invariants are constructed. This method and results can be extended to multipartite high dimensional system.
We investigate the average entropy of a subsystem within a global unitary orbit of a given mixed bipartite state in the finite-dimensional space. Without working out the closed-form expression of such average entropy for the mixed state case, we provide an analytical lower bound for this average entropy. In deriving this analytical lower bound, we get some useful by-products of independent interest. We also apply these results to estimate average correlation along a global unitary orbit of a given mixed bipartite state. When the notion of von Neumann entropy is replaced by linear entropy, the …
Entangling properties of a mixed 2-qubit system can be described by the local homogeneous unitary invariant polynomials in elements of the density matrix. The structure of the corresponding invariant polynomial ring for the special subclass of states, the so-called mixed X-states, is established. It is shown that for the X-states there is an injective ring homomorphism of the quotient ring of SU(2)xSU(2) invariant polynomials modulo its syzygy ideal and the SO(2)xSO(2)-invariant ring freely generated by five homogeneous polynomials of degrees 1,1,1,2,2.
The metric underlying the mixed state geometric phase in unitary and nonunitary evolution [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 85}, 2845 (2000); Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 93}, 080405 (2004)] is delineated. An explicit form for the line element is derived and shown to be related to an averaged energy dispersion in the case of unitary evolution. The line element is measurable in interferometry involving nearby internal states. Explicit geodesics are found in the single qubit case. It is shown how the Bures line element can be obtained by extending our approach to arbitrary decompositions of density operators. The…
The concept of off-diagonal geometric phases for mixed quantal states in unitary evolution is developed. We show that these phases arise from three basic ideas: (1) fulfillment of quantum parallel transport of a complete basis, (2) a concept of mixed state orthogonality adapted to unitary evolution, and (3) a normalization condition. We provide a method for computing the off-diagonal mixed state phases to any order for unitarities that divide the parallel transported basis of Hilbert space into two parts: one part where each basis vector undergoes cyclic evolution and one part where all basis …
We cast observable measure of quantum coherence or asymmetry as a resource to control the quantum speed limit (QSL) for unitary evolutions. For non-unitary evolutions, QSL depends on that of the state of the system and environment together. We show that the product of the time bound and the coherence (asymmetry) or the quantum part of the uncertainty behaves in a geometric way under partial elimination and classical mixing of states. These relations give a new insight to the quantum speed limit. We also show that our bound is experimentally measurable and is tighter than various existing bound…
We introduce algebraic sets in the complex projective spaces for the mixed states in bipartite quantum systems as their invariants under local unitary operations. The algebraic sets of the mixed state have to be the union of the linear subspaces if the mixed state is separable. Some examples are given and studied based on our criterion
Minimal, open quantum systems that are governed by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians have been realized across multiple platforms in the past two years. Here we investigate the dynamics of open systems with Hermitian or anti-Hermitian Hamiltonians, both of which can be implemented in such platforms. For a single system subject to unitary and thermal dynamics in a periodic manner, we show that the corresponding Floquet Hamiltonian has a rich phase diagram with numerous exceptional-point (EP) degeneracy contours. This protocol can be used to realize a quantum Hatano-Nelson model that is characterized b…
We study the structure of the inverse limit of the graded algebras of local unitary invariant polynomials using its Hilbert series. For k subsystems, we conjecture that the inverse limit is a free algebra and the number of algebraically independent generators with homogenous degree 2m equals the number of conjugacy classes of index m subgroups in a free group on k-1 generators. Similarly, we conjecture that the inverse limit in the case of k-partite mixed state invariants is free and the number of algebraically independent generators with homogenous degree m equals the number of conjugacy clas…
We introduce algebraic sets in the products of complex projective spaces for the mixed states in multipartite quantum systems as their invariants under local unitary operations. The algebraic sets have to be the union of the linear subspaces if the state is separable. Some examples are studied based on our criterion
A kinematic approach to the geometric phase for mixed quantal states in nonunitary evolution is proposed. This phase is manifestly gauge invariant and can be experimentally tested in interferometry. It leads to well-known results when the evolution is unitary.
We examine evolutions where each component of a given decomposition of a mixed quantal state evolves independently in a unitary fashion. The geometric phase and parallel transport conditions for this type of decomposition dependent evolution are delineated. We compare this geometric phase with those previously defined for unitarily evolving mixed states, and mixed state evolutions governed by completely positive maps.
