Natural Majorization of the Quantum Fourier Transformation in Phase-Estimation Algorithms

We prove that majorization relations hold step by step in the Quantum Fourier Transformation (QFT) for phase-estimation algorithms. Our result relies on the fact that states which are mixed by Hadamard operators at any stage of the computation only differ by a phase. This property is a consequence of the structure of the initial state and of the QFT, based on controlled-phase operators and a single action of a Hadamard gate per qubit. The detail of our proof shows that Hadamard gates sort the probability distribution associated to the quantum state, whereas controlled-phase operators carry all the entanglement but are immaterial to majorization. We also prove that majorization in phase-estimation algorithms follows in a most natural way from unitary evolution, unlike its counterpart in Grover's algorithm. PACS: 03.67.-a, 03.67.Lx     

Progress in Quantum Algorithms

We discuss the progress (or lack of it) that has been made in discovering algorithms for computation on a quantum computer. Some possible reasons are given for the paucity of quantum algorithms so far discovered, and a short survey is given of the state of the field. PACS: 03.67.Lx     

Parametrizing Quantum States and Channels

This work describes one parametrization of quantum states and channels and several of its possible applications. This parametrization works in any dimension and there is an explicit algorithm which produces it. Included in the list of applications are a simple characterization of pure states, an explicit formula for one additive entropic quantity which does not require knowledge of eigenvalues, and an algorithm which finds one Kraus operator representation for a quantum operation without recourse to eigenvalue and eigenvector calculations. PACS: 03.67a, 03.67-Hk, 03.67-Lx     

三值量子基本门及其对量子Fourier变换的电路实现

理论上可以把量子基本门组合在一起来实现任何量子电路和构建可伸缩的量子计算机。但由于构建量子线路的量子基本门数量庞大,要正确控制这些量子门十分困难。因此,如何减少构建量子线路的基本门数量是一个非常重要和非常有意义的课题。提出采用三值量子态系统构建量子计算机,并给出了一组三值量子基本门的功能定义、算子矩阵和量子线路图。定义的基本门主要包括三值量子非门、三值控制非门、三值Hadamard门、三值量子交换门和三值控制CR_k门等。通过把量子Fourier变换推广到三值量子态,成功运用部分三值量子基本门构建出能实现量子Fourier变换的量子线路。通过定量分析发现,三值量子Fourier变换的线路复杂度比二值情况降低了至少50%,表明三值量子基本门在降低量子计算线路复杂度方面具有巨大优势。     

Unambiguous State Discrimination in Quantum Key Distribution

The quantum circuit and design are presented for an optimized entangling probe attacking the BB84 Protocol of quantum key distribution (QKD) and yielding maximum information to the probe. Probe photon polarization states become optimally entangled with the signal states on their way between the legitimate transmitter and receiver. Although standard von-Neumann projective measurements of the probe yield maximum information on the pre-privacy amplified key, if instead the probe measurements are performed with a certain positive operator valued measure (POVM), then the measurement results are unambiguous, at least some of the time. It follows that the BB84 (Bennett–Brassard 1984) protocol of quantum key distribution has a vulnerability similar to the well-known vulnerability of the B92 (Bennett 1992) protocol Pacs: 03.67.Dd, 03.67.Hk, 03.65.Ta     

Improving Gate-Level Simulation of Quantum Circuits

Simulating quantum computation on a classical computer is a difficult problem. The matrices representing quantum gates, and the vectors modeling qubit states grow exponentially with an increase in the number of qubits. However, by using a novel data structure called the Quantum Information Decision Diagram (QuIDD) that exploits the structure of quantum operators, a useful subset of operator matrices and state vectors can be represented in a form that grows polynomially with the number of qubits. This subset contains, but is not limited to, any equal superposition of n qubits, any computational basis state, n-qubit Pauli matrices, and n-qubit Hadamard matrices. It does not, however, contain the discrete Fourier transform (employed in Shor's algorithm) and some oracles used in Grover's algorithm. We first introduce and motivate decision diagrams and QuIDDs. We then analyze the runtime and memory complexity of QuIDD operations. Finally, we empirically validate QuIDD-based simulation by means of a general-purpose quantum computing simulator QuIDDPro implemented in C++. We simulate various instances of Grover's algorithm with QuIDDPro, and the results demonstrate that QuIDDs asymptotically outperform all other known simulation techniques. Our simulations also show that well-known worst-case instances of classical searching can be circumvented in many specific cases by data compression techniques. PACS: 03.67.Lx, 03.65.Fd, 03.65.Vd, 07.05.Bx     

Quantum Comparison Machines with One-Sided Error

It is always possible to decide, with one-sided error, whether two quantum states are the same under a specific unitary transformation. However we show here that it is impossible to do so if the transformation is anti-linear and non-singular. This result implies that unitary and anti-unitary operations exist on an unequal footing in quantum information theory. PACS: 03.67.-a     

Geometric Approach to Digital Quantum Information

We present geometric methods for uniformly discretizing the continuous N-qubit Hilbert space H_N. When considered as the vertices of a geometrical figure, the resulting states form the equivalent of a Platonic solid. The discretization technique inherently describes a class of /2 rotations that connect neighboring states in the set, i.e., that leave the geometrical figures invariant. These rotations are shown to generate the Clifford group, a general group of discrete transformations on N qubits. Discretizing H_N allows us to define its digital quantum information content, and we show that this information content grows as N². While we believe the discrete sets are interesting because they allow extra-classical behavior—such as quantum entanglement and quantum parallelism—to be explored while circumventing the continuity of Hilbert space, we also show how they may be a useful tool for problems in traditional quantum computation. We describe in detail the discrete sets for one and two qubits.PACS: 03.67.Lx; 03.67.pp; 03.67.-a; 03.67.Mn.PACS: 03.67.Lx; 03.67.pp; 03.67.-a; 03.67.Mn.     

Spin-Based Quantum Dot Quantum Computing in Silicon

The spins of localized electrons in silicon are strong candidates for quantum information processing because of their extremely long coherence times and the integrability of Si within the present microelectronics infrastructure. This paper reviews a strategy for fabricating single electron spin qubits in gated quantum dots in Si/SiGe heterostructures. We discuss the pros and cons of using silicon, present recent advances, and outline challenges. PACS: 03.67.Pp, 03.67.Lx, 85.35.Be, 73.21.La     

Ion Trap Quantum Computing with Ca+ Ions

The scheme of an ion trap quantum computer is described and the implementation of quantum gate operations with trapped Ca⁺ ions is discussed. Quantum information processing with Ca⁺ ions is exemplified with several recent experiments investigating entanglement of ions. PACS: 03.67.Lx, 03.67.Mn, 32.80.Pj     

Quantum Information Processing in Cavity-QED

We give a brief overview of cavity-QED and its roles in quantum information science. In particular, we discuss setups in optical cavity-QED, where either atoms serve as stationary qubits, or photons serve as flying qubits. PACS: 42.50.Pq, 03.67.Lx, 03.67.Hk, 32.80.Pj     

Experimental Demonstration of Quantum Lattice Gas Computation

We report an ensemble nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) implementation of a quantum lattice gas algorithm for the diffusion equation. The algorithm employs an array of quantum information processors sharing classical information, a novel architecture referred to as a type-II quantum computer. This concrete implementa-tion provides a test example from which to probe the strengths and limitations of this new computation paradigm. The NMR experiment consists of encoding a mass density onto an array of 16 two-qubit quantum information processors and then following the computation through 7 time steps of the algorithm. The results show good agreement with the analytic solution for diffusive dynamics. We also describe numerical simulations of the NMR implementation. The simulations aid in determining sources of experimental errors, and they help define the limits of the implementation. PACS: 03.67.Lx; 47.11.+j; 05.60.-k     

An Example of the Difference Between Quantum and Classical Random Walks

In this note, we discuss a general definition of quantum random walks on graphs and illustrate with a simple graph the possibility of very different behavior between a classical random walk and its quantum analog. In this graph, propagation between a particular pair of nodes is exponentially faster in the quantum case. PACS: 03.67.Hk     

Quantum Computing and Information Extraction for Dynamical Quantum Systems

We discuss the simulation of complex dynamical systems on a quantum computer. We show that a quantum computer can be used to efficiently extract relevant physical information. It is possible to simulate the dynamical localization of classical chaos and extract the localization length with quadratic speed up with respect to any known classical computation. We can also compute with algebraic speed up the diffusion coefficient and the diffusion exponent, both in the regimes of Brownian and anomalous diffusion. Finally, we show that it is possible to extract the fidelity of the quantum motion, which measures the stability of the system under perturbations, with exponential speed up. The so-called quantum sawtooth map model is used as a test bench to illustrate these results. PACS: 03.67.Lx, 05.45.Mt     

How Do Two Observers Pool Their Knowledge About a Quantum System?

In the theory of classical statistical inference one can derive a simple rule by which two or more observers may combine independently obtained states of knowledge together to form a new state of knowledge, which is the state which would be possessed by someone having the combined information of both observers. Moreover, this combined state of knowledge can be found without reference to the manner in which the respective observers obtained their information. However, we show that in general this is not possible for quantum states of knowledge; in order to combine two quantum states of knowledge to obtain the state resulting from the combined information of both observers, these observers must also possess information about how their respective states of knowledge were obtained. Nevertheless, we emphasize this does not preclude the possibility that a unique, well motivated rule for combining quantum states of knowledge without reference to a measurement history could be found. We examine both the direct quantum analog of the classical problem, and that of quantum state-estimation, which corresponds to a variant in which the observers share a specific kind of prior information. PACS: 03.67.-a, 02.50.-r, 03.65.Bz     

Topical Review: Optimum Probe Parameters for Entangling Probe in Quantum Key Distribution

For the four-state protocol of quantum key distribution, optimum sets of probe parameters are calculated for the most general unitary probe in which each individual transmitted photon is made to interact with the probe so that the signal and the probe are left in an entangled state, and projective measurement by the probe, made subsequent to projective measurement by the legitimate receiver, yields information about the signal state. The probe optimization is based on maximizing the Renyi information gain by the probe on corrected data for a given error rate induced by the probe in the legitimate receiver. An arbitrary angle is included between the nonorthogonal linear polarization states of the signal photons. Two sets of optimum probe parameters are determined which both correspond to the same optimization. Also, a larger set of optimum probe parameters is found than was known previously for the standard BB84 protocol. A detailed comparison is made between the complete and incomplete optimizations, and the latter simpler optimization is also made complete. Also, the process of key distillation from the quantum transmission in quantum key distribution is reviewed, with the objective of calculating the secrecy capacity of the four-state protocol in the presence of the eavesdropping probe. Emphasis is placed on information leakage to the probe. PACS: 03.67.Dd; 03.67.Hk; 03.65.Ta     

Approximate Quantum Error Correction

The errors that arise in a quantum channel can be corrected perfectly if and only if the channel does not decrease the coherent information of the input state. We show that, if the loss of coherent information is small, then approximate quantum error correction is possible. PACS: 03.67.H, 03.65.U     

Noiseless Subsystems and the Structure of the Commutant in Quantum Error Correction

The effect of noise on a quantum system can be described by a set of operators obtained from the interaction Hamiltonian. Recently it has been shown that generalized quantum error correcting codes can be derived by studying the algebra of this set of operators. This led to the discovery of noiseless subsystems. They are described by a set of operators obtained from the commutant of the noise generators. In this paper we derive a general method to compute the structure of this commutant in the case of unital noise. PACS: 03.67.–a, 03.67.Pp