Rodrigo Gallego

Full randomness from arbitrarily deterministic events

Do completely unpredictable events exist? Classical physics excludes fundamental randomness. Although quantum theory makes probabilistic predictions, this does not imply that nature is random, as randomness should be certified without relying on the complete structure of the theory being used. Bell tests approach the question from this perspective. However, they require prior perfect randomness, falling into a circular reasoning. A Bell test that generates perfect random bits from bits possessing high-but less than perfect-randomness has recently been obtained. Yet, the main question remained open: does any initial randomness suffice to certify perfect randomness? Here we show that this is indeed the case. We provide a Bell test that uses arbitrarily imperfect random bits to produce bits that are, under the non-signalling principle assumption, perfectly random. This provides the first protocol attaining full randomness amplification. Our results have strong implications onto the debate of whether there exist events that are fully random.

Device-independent tests of classical and quantum dimensions.

We address the problem of testing the dimensionality of classical and quantum systems in a black-box scenario. We develop a general formalism for tackling this problem. This allows us to derive lower bounds on the classical dimension necessary to reproduce given measurement data. Furthermore, we generalize the concept of quantum dimension witnesses to arbitrary quantum systems, allowing one to place a lower bound on the Hilbert space dimension necessary to reproduce certain data. Illustrating these ideas, we provide simple examples of classical and quantum dimension witnesses.

Operational framework for nonlocality.

Because of the importance of entanglement for quantum information purposes, a framework has been developed for its characterization and quantification as a resource based on the following operational principle: entanglement among N parties cannot be created by local operations and classical communication, even when N-1 parties collaborate. More recently, nonlocality has been identified as another resource, alternative to entanglement and necessary for device-independent quantum information protocols. We introduce an operational framework for nonlocality based on a similar principle: nonlocality among N parties cannot be created by local operations and allowed classical communication even when N-1 parties collaborate. We then show that the standard definition of multipartite nonlocality, due to Svetlichny, is inconsistent with this operational approach: according to it, genuine tripartite nonlocality could be created by two collaborating parties. We finally discuss alternative definitions for which consistency is recovered.

Quantum correlations require multipartite information principles.

Identifying which correlations among distant observers are possible within our current description of nature, based on quantum mechanics, is a fundamental problem in physics. Recently, information concepts have been proposed as the key ingredient to characterize the set of quantum correlations. Novel information principles, such as information causality or nontrivial communication complexity, have been introduced in this context and successfully applied to some concrete scenarios. We show in this work a fundamental limitation of this approach: no principle based on bipartite information concepts is able to singleout the set of quantum correlations for an arbitrary number of parties. Our results reflect the intricate structure of quantum correlations and imply that new and intrinsically multipartite information concepts are needed for their full understanding.

Resource Theory of Steering

We present an operational framework for Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering as a physical resource. To begin with, we characterize the set of steering non-increasing operations (SNIOs) --i.e., those that do not create steering-- on arbitrary-dimensional bipartite systems composed of a quantum subsystem and a black-box device. Next, we introduce the notion of convex steering monotones as the fundamental axiomatic quantifiers of steering. As a convenient example thereof, we present the relative entropy of steering. In addition, we prove that two previously proposed quantifiers, the steerable weight and the robustness of steering, are also convex steering monotones. To end up with, for minimal-dimensional systems, we establish, on the one hand, necessary and sufficient conditions for pure-state steering conversions under stochastic SNIOs and prove, on the other hand, the non-existence of steering bits, i.e., measure-independent maximally steerable states from which all states can be obtained by means of the free operations. Our findings reveal unexpected aspects of steering and lay foundations for further resource-theory approaches, with potential implications in Bell non-locality.

Fully nonlocal quantum correlations

Quantum mechanics is a nonlocal theory, but not as nonlocal as the no-signalling principle allows. However, there exist quantum correlations that exhibit maximal nonlocality: they are as nonlocal as any nonsignalling correlation and thus have a local content, quantified by the fraction p(L) of events admitting a local description, equal to zero. We exploit the known link between the Kochen-Specker and Bell theorems to derive a maximal violation of a Bell inequality from every Kochen-Specker proof. We then show that these Bell inequalities lead to experimental bounds on the local content of quantum correlations that are significantly better than those based on other constructions. We perform the experimental demonstration of a Bell test originating from the Peres-Mermin Kochen-Specker proof, providing an upper bound on the local content pL less than or similar to 0.22.

Thermodynamic work from operational principles

In recent years we have witnessed a concentrated effort to make sense of thermodynamics for small-scale systems. One of the main difficulties is to capture a suitable notion of work that models realistically the purpose of quantum machines, in an analogous way to the role played, for macroscopic machines, by the energy stored in the idealisation of a lifted weight. Despite several attempts to resolve this issue by putting forward specific models, these are far from realistically capturing the transitions that a quantum machine is expected to perform. In this work, we adopt a novel strategy by considering arbitrary kinds of systems that one can attach to a quantum thermal machine and defining work quantifiers. These are functions that measure the value of a transition and generalise the concept of work beyond those models familiar from phenomenological thermodynamics. We do so by imposing simple operational axioms that any reasonable work quantifier must fulfil and by deriving from them stringent mathematical condition with a clear physical interpretation. Our approach allows us to derive much of the structure of the theory of thermodynamics without taking the definition of work as a primitive. We can derive, for any work quantifier, a quantitative second law in the sense of bounding the work that can be performed using some non-equilibrium resource by the work that is needed to create it. We also discuss in detail the role of reversibility and correlations in connection with the second law. Furthermore, we recover the usual identification of work with energy in degrees of freedom with vanishing entropy as a particular case of our formalism. Our mathematical results can be formulated abstractly and are general enough to carry over to other resource theories than quantum thermodynamics.

Thermal machines beyond the weak coupling regime

How much work can be extracted from a heat bath using a thermal machine? The study of this question has a very long history in statistical physics in the weak-coupling limit, when applied to macroscopic systems. However, the assumption that thermal heat baths remain uncorrelated with associated physical systems is less reasonable on the nano-scale and in the quantum setting. In this work, we establish a framework of work extraction in the presence of quantum correlations. We show in a mathematically rigorous and quantitative fashion that quantum correlations and entanglement emerge as limitations to work extraction compared to what would be allowed by the second law of thermodynamics. At the heart of the approach are operations that capture the naturally non-equilibrium dynamics encountered when putting physical systems into contact with each other. We discuss various limits that relate to known results and put our work into the context of approaches to finite-time quantum thermodynamics.

Second law of thermodynamics under control restrictions.

The second law of thermodynamics, formulated as an ultimate bound on the maximum extractable work, has been rigorously derived in multiple scenarios. However, the unavoidable limitations that emerge due to the lack of control on small systems are often disregarded when deriving such bounds, which is specifically important in the context of quantum thermodynamics. Here we study the maximum extractable work with limited control over the working system and its interaction with the heat bath. We derive a general second law when the set of accessible Hamiltonians of the working system is arbitrarily restricted. We then apply our bound to particular scenarios that are important in realistic implementations: limitations on the maximum energy gap and local control over many-body systems. We hence demonstrate in what precise way the lack of control affects the second law. In particular, contrary to the unrestricted case, we show that the optimal work extraction is not achieved by simple thermal contacts. Our results not only generalize the second law to scenarios of practical relevance, but also take first steps in the direction of local thermodynamics.

Fully nonlocal, monogamous, and random genuinely multipartite quantum correlations.

Local measurements on bipartite maximally entangled states can yield correlations that are maximally nonlocal, monogamous, and with fully random outcomes. This makes these states ideal for bipartite cryptographic tasks. Genuine-multipartite nonlocality constitutes a stronger notion of nonlocality in the multipartite case. Maximal genuine-multipartite nonlocality, monogamy, and random outcomes are thus highly desired properties for genuine-multipartite cryptographic scenarios. We prove that local measurements on any Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state can produce correlations that are fully genuine-multipartite nonlocal, monogamous, and with fully random outcomes. A key ingredient in our proof is a multipartite chained Bell inequality detecting genuine-multipartite nonlocality, which we introduce. Finally, we discuss applications to device-independent secret sharing.