2024 Spring QuantInfo Assignment1

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 1

Quantum Information (PHYS8149E / L251300), Semester II, 2023/2024

Assignment No. 1
Hand in your solution to the assignment by 14:00 on Wednesday, 20th March 2024.
7
The final score will be rescaled by a factor of 19 (to give a maximum score of 7% without bonus).
Note: Remember to put your name and student number on your work.

Hint: Your calculation often simplifies if you use the abstract notation of bras and kets, rather than expanding them as matrices
or vectors. Throughout, you may take | ± ii = √12 (|0i ± i|1i) as the eigenstate corresponding to the ±1 eigenvalue of the Pauli
observable σy .

Q 1. [2%] Unitary operators [Adapted from Nielsen & Chuang, Exercise 2.18]
Show that all eigenvalues {λ} of a unitary matrix U (regardless of its size) have modulus 1, i.e., λ = eiθ for some real θ.

Q 2. [4%] Qubit observable and projective measurements


Consider the qubit observable O = m̂ · ~σ where m̂ ∈ R3 is a unit vector, and ~σ = (σx , σy , σz ) is the vector of Pauli matrices.
Let |v± i be two orthonormal eigenvectors of O. A projective measurement of this observable—often implicitly assumed in
textbooks—amounts to taking the eigenprojector of O, denoted by E± ≡ |v± ihv± |, as the measurement operators M± = M†±
(and hence the POVM elements) of this measurement. Starting from the completeness requirement of POVM and the spectral
decomposition of O in terms of E± , derive an expression for the POVM elements E± in terms of O and the identity operator I.

Q 3. [5%] Relative phase, global phase, outcome probabilities, and expectation value

Consider a system prepared in the coherent superposition of the eigenstates of σy , |Ψ(χ, ϕ)i = e√2 | + ii + eiϕ | − ii , ϕ, χ ∈


[0, 2π). Compute the expectation value of σz for this state and determine all the value(s) of χ and ϕ where a measurement of σz
would always give the +1 result, i.e., an expectation value equals to 1? Note that σz = |0ih0| − |1ih1|.

Q 4. [4%] Partial trace, reduced states, and Schmidt decomposition [Adapted from an exercise in Preskill’s lecture notes]
Consider the two-qubit state:
1 1
|ψi = |0iA ⊗ (−|0iB + |1iB ) + |1iA ⊗ (|0iB + |1iB ) (1)
2 2
(a) Using partial trace, determine the reduced state of A, i.e., ρA .
(b) Invoke a symmetry argument to deduce the reduced state of B, i.e., ρB .
(c) Using your result from (a), deduce the Schmidt decomposition of |ψi.
Hint: Don’t compute any singular value decomposition, but explain how the eigenvalues of the reduced state are related to the
expansion coefficients in the Schmidt basis.

Bonus Q 4. [2%]: Entangled or not?


Is |ψi of Q 4. an entangled state? Explain your answer. If the minus sign in Eq. (1) is replaced by a positive sign, is the resulting
state entangled? Again, explain your answer.

Q 5. [4%] Non-projective measurement


Consider the list of operators specified by
√ √
2 2
E1 ≡ √ |1ih1| , E2 ≡ √ (|0i − |1i) (h0| − h1|) , E3 ≡ I − E1 − E2 . (2)
1+ 2 2(1 + 2)

Show that they indeed constitute a valid POVM (and hence define a legitimate measurement).

Bonus Q 5. [2%] Unambiguous state discrimination


Show that the POVM of Eq. (2) can be used to discriminate between the two overlapping quantum states |φ1 i = |0i and
|φ2 i = √12 (|0i + |1i) unambiguously whenever the measurement outcome is not the one corresponding to E3 . What can we
conclude when the measurement outcome is indeed the one corresponding to E3 ?

You might also like