By introducing an operator sum representation for arbitrary linear maps, we develop a generalized theory of quantum error correction (QEC) that applies to any linear map, in particular maps that are not completely positive (CP). This theory of "linear quantum error correction" is applicable in cases where the standard and restrictive assumption of a factorized initial system-bath state does not apply.
The diamond and completely bounded norms for linear maps play an increasingly important role in quantum information science, providing fundamental stabilized distance measures for differences of quantum operations. Based on the theory of completely bounded maps, we formulate an algorithm to compute the norm of an arbitrary linear map. We present an implementation of the algorithm via Maple, discuss its efficiency, and consider the case of differences of unitary maps.
The concept of the {\em half density matrix} is proposed. It unifies the quantum states which are described by density matrices and physical processes which are described by completely positive maps. With the help of the half-density-matrix representation of Hermitian linear map, we show that every positive map which is not completely positive is a {\em difference} of two completely positive maps. A necessary and sufficient condition for a positive map which is not completely positive is also presented, which is illustrated by some examples.
A dynamical map is a map which takes one density operator to another. Such a map can be written in an operator-sum representation (OSR) using a spectral decomposition. The method of the construction applies to more general maps which need not be completely positive. The OSR not unique; there is a freedom to choose the set of operators in the OSR differently, yet still obtain the same map. Here we identify all maps which are equivalent to a given map. Whereas the freedom for completely positive maps is unitary, the freedom for maps which are not necessarily completely positive is pseudo-unitary…
We investigate completely positive maps for an open system interacting with its environment. The families of the initial states for which the reduced dynamics can be described by a completely positive map are identified within the framework of direct-sum decomposition of state space. They includes not only separable states with vanishing or nonvanishing quantum discord but also entangled states. A general expression of the families as well as the Kraus operators for the completely positive maps are explicitly given. It significantly extends the previous results.
We show that the set of not-completely-positive (NCP) maps is unbounded, unless further assumptions are made. This is done by first proposing a reasonable definition of a valid NCP map, which is nontrivial because NCP maps may lack a full positivity domain. The definition is motivated by specific examples. We prove that for valid NCP maps, the eigenvalue spectrum of the corresponding dynamical matrix is not bounded. Based on this, we argue that in general the volume measure of qubit maps, including NCP maps, is not well defined.
We present an "uncertainty principle" for quantum channels, showing a relationship between the dimensions of the range of a channel and the range of its complement. We examine some interesting specific cases, and discuss consequences for privacy of quantum channels.
A theorem of Blackwell about comparison between information structures in classical statistics is given an analogue in the quantum probabilistic setup. The theorem provides an operational interpretation for trace-preserving completely positive maps, which are the natural quantum analogue of classical stochastic maps. The proof of the theorem relies on the separation theorem for convex sets and on quantum teleportation.
An analytical expression for the relativistic corrections to the energy spectra of particles completely confined in an one-dimensional limited length in real space is given, based upon the wave property of particles, the relativistic energy-momentum relation and two mathematical equations.
The notion of potential output purity of a completely positive map is introduced as a generalization of the regularized output purity. An upper bound is derived for this quantity, and for several classes of maps (including CQ, QC and Hadamard channels) it is shown that potential purity does not exceed the standard output purity. As an application the potential purity is used to bound the logarithmic Sobolev constant of a product of depolarizing channel semigroups.
The time evolution of an initially uncorrelated system is governed by a completely positive (CP) map. More generally, the system may contain initial (quantum) correlations with an environment, in which case the system evolves according to a not-completely positive (NCP) map. It is an interesting question what the relative measure is for these two types of maps within the set of positive maps. After indicating the scope of the full problem of computing the true volume for generic maps acting on a qubit, we study the case of Pauli channels in an abstract space whose elements represent an equival…
The phenomenological dissipation of the Bloch equations is reexamined in the context of completely positive maps. Such maps occur if the dissipation arises from a reduction of a unitary evolution of a system coupled to a reservoir. In such a case the reduced dynamics for the system alone will always yield completely positive maps of the density operator. We show that, for Markovian Bloch maps, the requirement of complete positivity imposes some Bloch inequalities on the phenomenological damping constants. For non-Markovian Bloch maps some kind of Bloch inequalities involving eigenvalues of the…
In this work we examine quantum states which have non-negative amplitudes (in a fixed basis) and the channels which preserve them. These states include the ground states of stoquastic Hamiltonians and they are of interest since they avoid the Sign Problem and can thus be efficiently simulated. In optimization theory, the convex cone generated by such states is called the set of completely positive (CP) matrices (not be confused with completely positive superoperators). We introduce quantum channels which preserve these states and call them completely positive completely positive. To study thes…
We derive an extremal equation for optimal completely-positive map which most closely approximates a given transformation between pure quantum states. Moreover, we also obtain an upper bound on the maximal mean fidelity that can be attained by the optimal approximate transformation. The developed formalism is applied to universal-NOT gate, quantum cloning machines, quantum entanglers, and qubit theta-shifter.
We generalize the notion of relative phase to completely positive maps with known unitary representation, based on interferometry. Parallel transport conditions that define the geometric phase for such maps are introduced. The interference effect is embodied in a set of interference patterns defined by flipping the environment state in one of the two paths. We show for the qubit that this structure gives rise to interesting additional information about the geometry of the evolution defined by the CP map.
We expand the set of initial states of a system and its environment that are known to guarantee completely positive reduced dynamics for the system when the combined state evolves unitarily. We characterize the correlations in the initial state in terms of its quantum discord [H. Ollivier and W. H. Zurek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 017901 (2001)]. We prove that initial states that have only classical correlations lead to completely positive reduced dynamics. The induced maps can be not completely positive when quantum correlations including, but not limited to, entanglement are present. We outline t…
A class of quantum channels and completely positive maps (CPMs) are introduced and investigated. These, which we call subspace preserving (SP) CPMs has, in the case of trace preserving CPMs, a simple interpretation as those which preserve probability weights on a given orthogonal sum decomposition of the Hilbert space of a quantum system. Several equivalent characterizations of SP CPMs are proved and an explicit construction of all SP CPMs, is provided. For a subclass of the SP channels a construction in terms of joint unitary evolution with an ancilla system, is presented.
Axiomatic approach to measurement theory is developed. All the possible statistical properties of apparatuses measuring an observable with nondegenerate spectrum allowed in standard quantum mechanics are characterized.
The description of the dynamics of a system that may be correlated with its environment is only meaningful within the context of a specific framework. Different frameworks rely upon different assumptions about the initial system-environment state. We reexamine the connections between complete-positivity and quantum discord within two different sets of assumptions about the relevant family of initial states. We present an example of a system-environment state with non-vanishing quantum discord that leads to a completely-positive map. This invalidates an earlier claim on the necessity of vanishi…
We introduce a framework for the construction of completely positive maps for subsystems of indistinguishable fermionic particles. In this scenario, the initial global state is always correlated, and it is not possible to tell system and environment apart. Nonetheless, a reduced map in the operator sum representation is possible for some sets of states where the only non-classical correlation present is exchange.
Two long standing open problems in quantum theory are to characterize the class of initial system-bath states for which quantum dynamics is equivalent to (1) a map between the initial and final system states, and (2) a completely positive (CP) map. The CP map problem is especially important, due to the widespread use of such maps in quantum information processing and open quantum systems theory. Here we settle both these questions by showing that the answer to the first is "all", with the resulting map being Hermitian, and that the answer to the second is that CP maps arise exclusively from th…
Einstein introduced the locality principle which states that all physical effect in some finite space-time region does not influence its space-like separated finite region. Recently, in algebraic quantum field theory, Rédei captured the idea of the locality principle by the notion of operational separability. The operation in operational separability is performed in some finite space-time region, and leaves unchanged the state in its space-like separated finite space-time region. This operation is defined with a completely positive map. In the present paper, we justify using a completely posit…
Maps that are not completely positive (CP) are often useful to describe the dynamics of open systems. An apparent violation of complete positivity can occur because there are prior correlations of the principal system with the environment, or if the applied transformation is correlated with the state of the system. We provide a physically motivated definition of accessible non-CP maps and derive two necessary conditions for a map to be accessible. We also show that entanglement between the system and the environment is not necessary to generate a non-CP dynamics. We describe two simple approxi…
We consider open quantum systems with factorized initial states, providing the structure of the reduced system dynamics, in terms of environment cumulants. We show that such completely positive (CP) and trace preserving (TP) maps can be unraveled by linear stochastic Schrödinger equations (SSEs) characterized by sets of colored stochastic processes (with n-th order cumulants). We obtain both the conditions such that the SSEs provide CPTP dynamics, and those for unraveling an open system dynamics. We then focus on Gaussian non-Markovian unravellings, whose known structure displays a functional …
The problem of conditions on the initial correlations between the system and the environment that lead to completely positive (CP) or not-completely positive (NCP) maps has been studied by various authors. Two lines of study may be discerned: one concerned with families of initial correlations that induce CP dynamics under the application of an arbitrary joint unitary on the system and environment; the other concerned with specific initial states that may be highly entangled. Here we study the latter problem, and highlight the interplay between the initial correlations and the unitary applied.…
The prevailing description for dissipative quantum dynamics is given by the Lindblad form of a Markovian master equation, used under the assumption that memory effects are negligible. However, in certain physical situations, the master equation is essentially of a non-Markovian nature. This paper examines master equations that possess a memory kernel, leading to a replacement of white noise by colored noise. The conditions under which this leads to a completely positive, trace-preserving map are discussed for an exponential memory kernel. A physical model that possesses such an exponential mem…
Valid transformations between quantum states are necessarily described by completely positive maps, instead of just positive maps. Positive but not completely positive maps such as the transposition map cannot be implemented due to the existence of entanglement in composite quantum systems, but there are classes of states for which the positivity is guaranteed, e.g., states not correlated to other systems. In this paper, we introduce the concept of N-copy extension of maps to quantitatively analyze the difference between positive maps and completely positive maps. We consider implementations o…
Two kinds of maps that describe evolution of states of a subsystem coming from dynamics described by a unitary operator for a larger system, maps defined for fixed mean values and maps defined for fixed correlations, are found to be quite different for the same unitary dynamics in the same situation in the larger system. An affine form is used for both kinds of maps to find necessary and sufficient conditions for inverse maps. All the different maps with the same homogeneous part in their affine forms have inverses if and only if the homogeneous part does. Some of these maps are completely pos…
We define extension maps as maps that extend a system (through adding ancillary systems) without changing the state in the original system. We show, using extension maps, why a completely positive operation on an initially entangled system results in a non positive mapping of a subsystem. We also show that any trace preserving map, either positive or negative, can be decomposed in terms of an extension map and a completely positive map.
We investigate heat transport in a spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain, coupled locally to independent thermal baths of different temperature. The analysis is carried out within the framework of the theory of open systems by means of appropriate quantum master equations. The standard microscopic derivation of the weak-coupling Lindblad equation in the secular approximation is considered, and shown to be inadequate for the description of stationary nonequilibrium properties like a non-vanishing energy current. Furthermore, we derive an alternative master equation that is capable to describe a stationary …
This article introduces PnCP, a MATLAB toolbox for constructing positive maps which are not completely positive. We survey optimization and sum of squares relaxation techniques to find the most numerically efficient methods for this construction. We also show how this package can be applied to the problem of classifying entanglement in quantum states.
Let $D$ be a space of $2\times n$ matrices. Then the face of the cone of all completely positive maps from $M_2$ into $M_n$ given by $D$ is an exposed face of the bigger cone of all decomposable positive linear maps if and only if the set of all rank one matrices in $D$ forms a subspace of $D$ together with zero and $D^\perp$ is spanned by rank one matrices.
A linear map between matrix spaces is positive if it maps positive semidefinite matrices to positive semidefinite ones, and is called completely positive if all its ampliations are positive. In this article quantitative bounds on the fraction of positive maps that are completely positive are proved. A main tool are real algebraic geometry techniques developed by Blekherman to study the gap between positive polynomials and sums of squares. Finally, an algorithm to produce positive maps which are not completely positive is given.
Let $Φ$ be a trace-preserving, positivity-preserving (but not necessarily completely positive) linear map on the algebra of complex $2 \times 2$ matrices, and let $Ω$ be any finite-dimensional completely positive map. For $p=2$ and $p \geq 4$, we prove that the maximal $p$-norm of the product map $Φ\ot Ω$ is the product of the maximal $p$-norms of $Φ$ and $Ω$. Restricting $Φ$ to the class of completely positive maps, this settles the multiplicativity question for all qubit channels in the range of values $p \geq 4$.
Gluings of completely positive maps (CPMs) are defined and investigated. As a brief description of this concept consider a pair of `evolution machines', each with the ability to evolve the internal state of a `particle' inserted into its input. Each of these machines is characterized by a channel describing the operation the internal state has experienced when the particle is returned at the output. Suppose a particle is put in a superposition between the input of the first and the second machine. Here it is shown that the total evolution caused by a pair of such devices is not uniquely determ…
Given commuting families of Hermitian matrices {A1, ..., Ak} and {B1, ...., Bk}, conditions for the existence of a completely positive map L, such that L(Aj) = Bj for j = 1, ...,k, are studied. Additional properties such as unital or / and trace preserving on the map ? are also considered. Connections of the study to dilation theory, matrix inequalities, unitary orbits, and quantum information science are mentioned.
Lorentz transformations of spin density matrices for a particle with positive mass and spin 1/2 are described by maps of the kind used in open quantum dynamics. They show how the Lorentz transformations of the spin depend on the momentum. Since the spin and momentum generally are entangled, the maps generally are not completely positive and act in limited domains. States with two momentum values are considered, so the maps are for the spin qubit entangled with the qubit made from the two momentum values, and results from the open quantum dynamics of two coupled qubits can be applied. Inverse m…
Linear maps of matrices describing evolution of density matrices for a quantum system initially entangled with another are identified and found to be not always completely positive. They can even map a positive matrix to a matrix that is not positive, unless we restrict the domain on which the map acts. Nevertheless, their form is similar to that of completely positive maps. Only some minus signs are inserted in the operator-sum representation. Each map is the difference of two completely positive maps. The maps are first obtained as maps of mean values and then as maps of basis matrices. Thes…
Convex sets of completely positive maps and positive semidefinite kernels are considered in the most general context of modules over $C^*$-algebras and a complete charaterization of their extreme points is obtained. As a byproduct, we determine extreme quantum instruments, preparations, channels, and extreme autocorrelation functions. Various applications to quantum information and measurement theories are given. The structure of quantum instruments is analyzed thoroughly.
We investigate the evolution of open quantum systems in the presence of initial correlations with an environment. Here the standard formalism of describing evolution by completely positive trace preserving (CPTP) quantum operations can fail and non-completely positive (non-CP) maps may be observed. A new classification of correlations between a system and environment using quantum discord is explored. However, we find quantum discord is not a symmetric quantity between exchange of systems and this leads to ambiguity in classifications - states which are both quantum and classically correlated …
Continuous-variable systems in quantum theory can be fully described through any one of the ${\rm s}$-ordered family of quasiprobabilities $Λ_{\rm s}(α)$, ${\rm s} \in [-1,1]$. We ask for what values of $({\rm s}, a)$ is the scaling map $Λ_{\rm s}(α) \rightarrow a^{-2} Λ_{\rm s}(a^{-1}α)$ a positive map? Our analysis based on a duality we establish settles this issue (i) the scaling map generically fails to be positive, showing that there is no useful entanglement witness of the scaling type beyond the transpose map, and (ii) in the two particular cases $({\rm s}=1, |a| \leq 1)$ and $({\rm s}=…
Simple examples are constructed that show the entanglement of two qubits being both increased and decreased by interactions on just one of them. One of the two qubits interacts with a third qubit, a control, that is never entangled or correlated with either of the two entangled qubits and is never entangled, but becomes correlated, with the system of those two qubits. The two entangled qubits do not interact, but their state can change from maximally entangled to separable or from separable to maximally entangled. Similar changes for the two qubits are made with a swap operation between one of…
Using the known possibility to associate the completely positive maps with density matrices and recent results on expressing the density matrices with sets of classical probability distributions of dichotomic random variables we construct the probability representation of the completely positive maps. In this representation, any completely positive map of qudit state density matrix is identified with the set of classical coin probability distributions. Examples of the maps of qubit states are studied in detail. The evolution equation of quantum states is written in the form of the classical-li…
We show that quantum subdynamics of an open quantum system can always be described by a Hermitian map, irrespective of the form of the initial total system state. Since the theory of quantum error correction was developed based on the assumption of completely positive (CP) maps, we present a generalized theory of linear quantum error correction, which applies to any linear map describing the open system evolution. In the physically relevant setting of Hermitian maps, we show that the CP-map based version of quantum error correction theory applies without modifications. However, we show that a …
King and Ruskai asked whether the norm of a completely positive map acting between Schatten classes of operators is equal to that of its restriction to the real subspace of self-adjoint operators. Proofs have been promptly supplied by Watrous and Audenaert. Here we provide one more proof, in fact of a slightly more general fact, under the (slightly weaker) assumption of 2-positivity. The argument is elementary and self-contained.
In this work we show that, given a linear map from a general operator space into the dual of a C$^*$-algebra, its completely bounded norm is upper bounded by a universal constant times its $(1,cb)$-summing norm. This problem is motivated by the study of quantum XOR games in the field of quantum information theory. In particular, our results imply that for such games entangled strategies cannot be arbitrarily better than those strategies using one-way classical communication.
Dynamical A and B maps have been employed extensively by Sudarshan and co-workers to investigate open system evolution of quantum systems. A canonical structure of the A-map is introduced here. It is shown that this canonical A-map enables us to investigate if the dynamics is completely positive (CP) or non-completely positive (NCP) in an elegant way and hence, it subsumes the basic results on open system dynamics. Identifying memory effects in open system evolution is gaining increasing importance recently and here, a criterion of non-Markovianity, based on the relative entropy of the dynamic…
We introduce the concept of completely positive roots of completely positive maps on operator algebras. We do this in different forms: as asymptotic roots, proper discrete roots and as continuous one-parameter semigroups of roots. We present structural and general existence and non-existence results, some special examples in settings where we understand the situation better, and several challenging open problems. Our study is closely related to Elfving's embedding problem in classical probability and the divisibility problem of quantum channels.
We investigate the set a) of positive, trace preserving maps acting on density matrices of size N, and a sequence of its nested subsets: the sets of maps which are b) decomposable, c) completely positive, d) extended by identity impose positive partial transpose and e) are superpositive. Working with the Hilbert-Schmidt (Euclidean) measure we derive tight explicit two-sided bounds for the volumes of all five sets. A sample consequence is the fact that, as N increases, a generic positive map becomes not decomposable and, a fortiori, not completely positive. Due to the Jamiolkowski isomorphism, …
We show that each positive map from B(K) to B(H) with K and H finite dimensional Hilbert spaces is a scalar multiple of a map of the form $Tr - ψ$ with $ψ$ completely positive. This is used to give necessary and sufficient conditions for maps to be C-positive for a large class of mapping cones; in particular we apply the results to k-positive maps.
It is a well-known result due to E. Størmer that every positive qubit map is decomposable into a sum of a completely positive map and a completely copositive map. Here, we generalize this result to tensor squares of qubit maps. Specifically, we show that any positive tensor product of a qubit map with itself is decomposable. This solves a recent conjecture by S. Fillipov and K. Magadov. We contrast this result with examples of non-decomposable positive maps arising as the tensor product of two distinct qubit maps or as the tensor square of a decomposable map from a qubit to a ququart. To show …
King and Ruskai asked whether the $p\to q$ norm of a completely positive map $Φ$, acting between Schatten $p$ and $q$ classes of self-adjoint operators, $||Φ||_{p\to q} = \max_{A=A^*} \frac{||Φ(A)||_q}{||A||_p}$, is equal to the $p\to q$ norm of that map when acting between Schatten classes of general, not necessarily self-adjoint, operators. The first proof has been given by Watrous. We give an alternative proof of this statement.
