Richard Jozsa

Rapid Solution of Problems by Quantum Computation

A class of problems is described which can be solved more efficiently by quantum computation than by any classical or stochastic method. The quantum computation solves the problem with certainty in exponentially less time than any classical deterministic computation.

Fidelity for Mixed Quantum States

Abstract We propose a definition of fidelity for mixed quantum states in terms of Uhlmanns ‘transition probability’ formula F(ϱ1, ϱ2) = {trace [(√ϱ1ϱ2 × √ϱ1)1/2]}2 and give new elementary proofs of its essential properties.

CONDITIONAL QUANTUM DYNAMICS AND LOGIC GATES

Quantum logic gates provide fundamental examples of conditional quantum dynamics. They could form the building blocks of general quantum information processing systems which have recently been shown to have many interesting nonclassical properties. We describe a simple quantum logic gate, the quantum controlled-NOT, and analyze some of its applications. We discuss two possible physical realizations of the gate, one based on Ramsey atomic interferometry and the other on the selective driving of optical resonances of two subsystems undergoing a dipole-dipole interaction.

Quantum Privacy Amplification and the Security of Quantum Cryptography over Noisy Channels

Existing quantum cryptographic schemes are not, as they stand, operable in the presence of noise on the quantum communication channel. Although they become operable if they are supplemented by classical privacy-amplification techniques, the resulting schemes are difficult to analyze and have not been proved secure. We introduce the concept of quantum privacy amplification and a cryptographic scheme incorporating it which is provably secure over a noisy channel. The scheme uses an “entanglement purification” procedure which, because it requires only a few quantum controllednot and single-qubit operations, could be implemented using technology that is currently being developed. [S0031-9007(96)01288-4] Quantum cryptography [1 ‐ 3] allows two parties (traditionally known as Alice and Bob) to establish a secure random cryptographic key if, first, they have access to a quantum communication channel, and second, they can exchange classical public messages which can be monitored but not altered by an eavesdropper (Eve). Using such a key, a secure message of equal length can be transmitted over the classical channel. However, the security of quantum cryptography has so far been proved only for the idealized case where the quantum channel, in the absence of eavesdropping, is noiseless. That is because, under existing protocols, Alice and Bob detect eavesdropping by performing certain quantum measurements on transmitted batches of qubits and then using statistical tests to determine, with any desired degree of confidence, that the transmitted qubits are not entangled with any third system such as Eve. The problem is that there is in principle no way of distinguishing entanglement with an eavesdropper (caused by her measurements) from entanglement with the environment caused by innocent noise, some of which is presumably always present. This implies that all existing protocols are, strictly speaking, inoperable in the presence of noise, since they require the transmission of messages to be suspended whenever an eavesdropper (or, therefore, noise) is detected. Conversely, if we want a protocol that is secure in the presence of noise, we must find one that allows secure transmission to continue even in the presence of eavesdroppers. To this end, one might consider modifying the existing pro

A Complete Classification of Quantum Ensembles Having a Given Density Matrix

Abstract A complete constructive classification is given for all discrete ensembles of pure quantum states having a given density matrix. As a special case this provides a classification of positive operator valued measures with finitely many components. We also show that any chosen ensemble consistent with a fixed density matrix ϱ can be created at space-like separation using an entangled state depending only on ϱ.

On the role of entanglement in quantum-computational speed-up

For any quantum algorithm operating on pure states, we prove that the presence of multi‐partite entanglement, with a number of parties that increases unboundedly with input size, is necessary if the quantum algorithm is to offer an exponential speed‐up over classical computation. Furthermore, we prove that the algorithm can be efficiently simulated classically to within a prescribed tolerance η even if a suitably small amount of global entanglement is present. We explicitly identify the occurrence of increasing multi‐partite entanglement in Shors algorithm. Our results do not apply to quantum algorithms operating on mixed states in general and we discuss the suggestion that an exponential computational speed‐up might be possible with mixed states in the total absence of entanglement. Finally, despite the essential role of entanglement for pure‐state algorithms, we argue that it is nevertheless misleading to view entanglement as a key resource for quantum‐computational power.

Separability of Very Noisy Mixed States and Implications for NMR Quantum Computing

We give a constructive proof that all mixed states of N qubits in a sufficiently small neighborhood of the maximally mixed state are separable (unentangled). The construction provides an explicit representation of any such state as a mixture of product states. We give upper and lower bounds on the size of the neighborhood, which show that its extent decreases exponentially with the number of qubits. The bounds show that no entanglement appears in the physical states at any stage of present NMR experiments. Though this result raises questions about NMR quantum computation, further analysis would be necessary to assess the power of the general unitary transformations, which are indeed implemented in these experiments, in their action on separable states.

A New Proof of the Quantum Noiseless Coding Theorem

Abstract We give an account of the quantum noiseless coding theorem, including a new proof based on a simplified block coding scheme. We also discuss an illustrative example of quantum coding.

Structure of States Which Satisfy Strong Subadditivity of Quantum Entropy with Equality

We give an explicit characterisation of the quantum states which saturate the strong subadditivity inequality for the von Neumann entropy. By combining a result of Petz characterising the equality case for the monotonicity of relative entropy with a recent theorem by Koashi and Imoto, we show that such states will have the form of a so–called short quantum Markov chain, which in turn implies that two of the systems are independent conditioned on the third, in a physically meaningful sense. This characterisation simultaneously generalises known necessary and sufficient entropic conditions for quantum error correction as well as the conditions for the achievability of the Holevo bound on accessible information.

Quantum clock synchronization based on shared prior entanglement

We demonstrate that two spatially separated parties (Alice and Bob) can utilize shared prior quantum entanglement, and classical communications, to establish a synchronized pair of atomic clocks. In contrast to classical synchronization schemes, the accuracy of our protocol is independent of Alices or Bobs knowledge of their relative locations or of the properties of the intervening medium.