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We give a non-technical introduction of the basic concepts of Quantum Information Theory along the distinction between possible and impossible machines. We then proceed to describe the mathematical framework of Quantum Information Theory. The capacities of a quantum channel for classical and for quantum information are defined in a unified scheme, and a mathematical characterization of all teleportation and dense coding schemes is given., Comment: 51 pages, 12 Figures, LaTeX+dvips. Will appear in a volume "Quantum information - an introduction to basic theoretical concepts and experiments" in Springer Tracts in Modern Physics

We present a construction scheme for quantum error correcting codes. The basic ingredients are a graph and a finite abelian group, from which the code can explicitly be obtained. We prove necessary and sufficient conditions for the graph such that the resulting code corrects a certain number of errors. This allows a simple verification of the 1-error correcting property of fivefold codes in any dimension. As new examples we construct a large class of codes saturating the singleton bound, as well as a tenfold code detecting 3 errors., Comment: 8 pages revtex, 5 figures

We study separability properties in a 5-dimensional set of states of quantum systems composed of three subsystems of equal but arbitrary finite Hilbert space dimension d. These are the states, which can be written as linear combinations of permutation operators, or, equivalently, commute with unitaries of the form UxUxU. We compute explicitly the following subsets and their extreme points: (1) triseparable states, which are convex combinations of triple tensor products, (2) biseparable states, which are separable for a twofold partition of the system, and (3) states with positive partial transpose with respect to such a partition. Tripartite entanglement is investigated in terms of the relative entropy of tripartite entanglement and of the trace norm., Comment: 16 pages, RevTeX, 14 figures. Extends quant-ph/0003008 with additional results. Submitted to Phys.Rev.A

We show how to simplify the computation of the entanglement of formation and the relative entropy of entanglement for states, which are invariant under a group of local symmetries. For several examples of groups we characterize the state spaces, which are invariant under these groups. For specific examples we calculate the entanglement measures. In particular, we derive an explicit formula for the entanglement of formation for UU-invariant states, and we find a counterexample to the additivity conjecture for the relative entropy of entanglement., Comment: RevTeX,16 pages,9 figures, reference added, proof of monotonicity corrected, results unchanged

We discuss the entanglement properties of bipartite states with Gaussian Wigner functions. Separability and the positivity of the partial transpose are characterized in terms of the covariance matrix of the state, and it is shown that for systems composed of a single oscillator for Alice and an arbitrary number for Bob, positivity of the partial transpose implies separability. However, this implications fails with two oscillators on each side, as we show by a five parameter family of explicit counterexamples., Comment: 4 pages

We give an explicit counterexample to an entanglement inequality suggested in a recent paper [quant-ph/0005126] by Benatti and Narnhofer. The inequality would have had far-reaching consequences, including the additivity of the entanglement of formation., Comment: references added

We establish a one-to-one correspondence between (1) quantum teleportation schemes, (2) dense coding schemes, (3) orthonormal bases of maximally entangled vectors, (4) orthonormal bases of unitary operators with respect to the Hilbert-Schmidt scalar product, and (5) depolarizing operations, whose Kraus operators can be chosen to be unitary. The teleportation and dense coding schemes are assumed to be ``tight'' in the sense that all Hilbert spaces involved have the same finite dimension d, and the classical channel involved distinguishes d^2 signals. A general construction procedure for orthonormal bases of unitaries, involving Latin Squares and complex Hadamard Matrices is also presented., Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX

A class of problems in quantum information theory, having an elementary formulation but still resisting solution, concerns the additivity properties of various quantities characterizing quantum channels, notably the "classical capacity", and the "maximal output purity". All known results, including extensive numerical work, are consistent with the conjecture that these quantities are indeed additive (resp. multiplicative) with respect to tensor products of channels. A proof of this conjecture would have important consequences in quantum information theory. In particular, according to this conjecture, the classical capacity or the maximal purity of outputs cannot be increased by using entangled inputs of the channel. In this paper we state the additivity/multiplicativity problems, give some relations between them, and prove some new partial results, which also support the conjecture., Comment: 13 pages, no figures, several typos are corrected

We show how to compute or at least to estimate various capacity-related quantities for Bosonic Gaussian channels. Among these are the coherent information, the entanglement assisted classical capacity, the one-shot classical capacity, and a new quantity involving the transpose operation, shown to be a general upper bound on the quantum capacity, even allowing for finite errors. All bounds are explicitly evaluated for the case of a one-mode channel with attenuation/amplification and classical noise., Comment: 14 pages, RevTeX, 5 eps figures

Purification is a process in which decoherence is partially reversed by using several input systems which have been subject to the same noise. The purity of the outputs generally increases with the number of input systems, and decreases with the number of required output systems. We construct the optimal quantum operations for this task, and discuss their asymptotic behaviour as the number of inputs goes to infinity. The rate at which output systems may be generated depends crucially on the type of purity requirement. If one tests the purity of the outputs systems one at a time, the rate is infinite: this fidelity may be made to approach 1, while at the same time the number of outputs goes to infinity arbitrarily fast. On the other hand, if one also requires the correlations between outputs to decrease, the rate is zero: if fidelity with the pure product state is to go to 1, the number of outputs per input goes to zero. However, if only a fidelity close to 1 is required, the optimal purifier achieves a positive rate, which we compute., Comment: LaTeX2e, 24 pages, 4 figures

In a recent paper [quant-ph/9910066], Arens and Varadarajan gave a characterization of what they call EPR-states on a bipartite composite quantum system. By definition, such states imply perfect correlation between suitable pairs of observables in the two subsystems, and the task is to determine all such correlated pairs for a given state. In this note the argument is shortened and simplified, and at the same time extended to observables in general von Neumann algebras, which naturally arise in quantum field theory., Comment: 2 pages, RevTeX

We analyze some special properties of a system of two qubits, and in particular of the so-called Bell basis for this system, which have played an important role in recent papers on entanglement of qubits. In particular, we show which of these properties may be generalized to higher dimension. We give a general construction for bases of maximally entangled vectors in any dimension, but show that none of the properties related to complex conjugation in Bell basis can be realized for higher dimensional analogs., Comment: 16 pages, TeX

It is not a problem to complement a classical bit, i.e. to change the value of a bit, a 0 to a 1 and vice versa. This is accomplished by a NOT gate. Complementing a qubit in an unknown state, however, is another matter. We show that this operation cannot be done perfectly. We define the Universal-NOT (U-NOT) gate which out of N identically prepared pure input qubits generates M output qubits in a state which is as close as possible to the perfect complement. This gate can be realized by classical estimation and subsequent re-preparation of complements of the estimated state. Its fidelity is therefore equal to the fidelity F= (N+1)/(N+2) of optimal estimation, and does not depend on the required number of outputs. We also show that when some additional a priori information about the state of input qubit is available, than the fidelity of the quantum NOT gate can be much better than the fidelity of estimation., Comment: 4 pages, revtex

We report on non-linear magneto-tunneling experiments carried out in single GaAs vertical quantum dots. We show that conduction at low voltage bias can be a spectroscopic tool for both the ground state and first excited states of few electrons on the dot. Increasing voltage a large resonant peak is observed and attributed to tunneling across the quasi-continuum of higher excited states., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

Using RPA results, mean field theory, and refined data for the polarization vectors we determine the coupling constants of the four Peierls-active phonon modes to the spin chains of CuGeO_3. We then derive the values of the coupling of the spin system to the linear ionic displacements, the bond lengths and the angles between bonds. Our values are consistent with microscopic theories and various experimental results. We discuss the applicability of static approaches to the spin-phonon coupling. The c-axis anomaly of the thermal expansion is explained. We give the values of the coupling constants in an effective one-dimensional Hamiltonian., Comment: 11 pages, two figures, 13 tables, PRB 59 (in press)

We consider quantum devices for turning a finite number N of d-level quantum systems in the same unknown pure state \sigma into M>N systems of the same kind, in an approximation of the M-fold tensor product of the state \sigma. In a previous paper it was shown that this problem has a unique optimal solution, when the quality of the output is judged by arbitrary measurements, involving also the correlations between the clones. We show in this paper, that if the quality judgement is based solely on measurements of single output clones, there is again a unique optimal cloning device, which coincides with the one found previously., Comment: 16 Pages, REVTeX

We construct the unique optimal quantum device for turning a finite number of d-level quantum systems in the same unknown pure state \sigma into M systems of the same kind, in an approximation of the M-fold tensor product of the state \sigma., Comment: 12 pages, plain TeX, no figs

For a quantum observable $A_\hbar$ depending on a parameter $\hbar$ we define the notion ``$A_\hbar$ converges in the classical limit''. The limit is a function on phase space. Convergence is in norm in the sense that $A_\hbar\to0$ is equivalent with $\Vert A_\hbar\Vert\to0$. The $\hbar$-wise product of convergent observables converges to the product of the limiting phase space functions. $\hbar^{-1}$ times the commutator of suitable observables converges to the Poisson bracket of the limits. For a large class of convergent Hamiltonians the $\hbar$-wise action of the corresponding dynamics converges to the classical Hamiltonian dynamics. The connections with earlier approaches, based on the WKB method, or on Wigner distribution functions, or on the limits of coherent states are reviewed., Comment: plain TeX, 33 pages, no figures

For classical lattice systems, the Dobrushin-Lanford-Ruelle theory of boundary conditions states that the restriction of a global equilibrium state to a subsystem can be obtained as an integral over equilibrium states of the subsystem alone. The Hamiltonians for the subsystem are obtained by fixing a configuration for the variables in the complement of the subsystem, or more generally, by evaluating the full interaction Hamiltonian with respect to a state for the complement. We provide examples showing that the quantum mechanical version of this statement is false. It fails even if the subsystem is classical, but embedded into a quantum environment. We suggest an alternative characterization of the local restrictions of global equilibrium states by inequalities involving only local data., Comment: plain TeX, 26 pages, 5 figures in separate compressed .ps file. full postscript version from: ftp://ftp.physik.uni-osnabrueck.de/pub/werner/BoundaryConds/bcq.ps

We define a class of dynamical maps on the quasi-local algebra of a quantum spin system, which are quantum analogues of probabilistic cellular automata. We develop criteria for such a system to be ergodic, i.e., to possess a unique invariant state. Intuitively, ergodicity obtains if the local transition operators exhibit sufficiently large disorder. The ergodicity criteria also imply bounds for the exponential decay of correlations in the unique invariant state. The main technical tool is a quantum version of oscillation norms, defined in the classical case as the sum over all sites of the variations of an observable with respect to local spin-flips., Comment: plain TeX, 37 pages, no figures

We consider actions of quantum groups on lattice spin systems. We show that if an action of a quantum group respects the local structure of a lattice system, it has to be an ordinary group. Even allowing weakly delocalized (quasi-local) tails of the action, we find that there are no actions of a properly quantum group commuting with lattice translations. The non-locality arises from the ordering of factors in the quantum group C*-algebra, and can be made one-sided, thus allowing semi-local actions on a half chain. Under such actions, localized quantum group invariant elements remain localized. Hence the notion of interactions invariant under the quantum group and also under translations, recently studied by many authors, makes sense even though there is no global action of the quantum group. We consider a class of such quantum group invariant interactions with the property that there is a unique translation invariant ground state. Under weak locality assumptions, its GNS representation carries no unitary representation of the quantum group., Comment: plain TeX, 42 pages, no figures

We set up a general structure for the analysis of ``frustration-free ground states'', or ``zero-energy states'', i.e., states minimizing each term in a lattice interaction individually. The nesting of the finite volume ground state spaces is described by a generalized inductive limit of observable algebras. The limit space of this inductive system has a state space which is canonically isomorphic (as a compact convex set) to the set of zero-energy states. We show that for Heisenberg ferromagnets, and for generalized valence bond solid states, the limit space is an abelian C*-algebra, and all zero-energy states are translationally invariant or periodic. For the $q$-deformed spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg ferromagnet in one dimension (i.e., the XXZ-chain with S$_q$U(2)-invariant boundary conditions) the limit space is an extension of the non-commutative algebra of compact operators by two points, corresponding to the ``all spins up'' and the ``all spins down'' states, respectively. These are the only translationally invariant zero-energy states. The remaining ones are parametrized by the density matrices on a Hilbert space, and converge weakly to the ``all up'' (resp.\ ``all down'') state for shifts to $-\infty$ (resp.\ $+\infty$)., Comment: 42 pages, plain TeX, no figures

We consider the problem of representing in Hilbert space commutation relations of the form $$ a_ia_j^*=\delta_{ij}{\bold1} + \sum_{k\ell}T_{ij}^{k\ell} a_\ell^*a_k \quad,$$ where the $T_{ij}^{k\ell}$ are essentially arbitrary scalar coefficients. Examples comprise the $q$-canonical commutation relations introduced by Greenberg, Bozejko, and Speicher, and the twisted canonical (anti-)commutation relations studied by Pusz and Woronowicz, as well as the quantum group S$_\nu$U$(2)$. Using these relations, any polynomial in the generators $a_i$ and their adjoints can uniquely be written in ``Wick ordered form'' in which all starred generators are to the left of all unstarred ones. In this general framework we define the Fock representation, as well as coherent representations. We develop criteria for the natural scalar product in the associated representation spaces to be positive definite, and for the relations to have representations by bounded operators in a Hilbert space. We characterize the relations between the generators $a_i$ (not involving $a_i^*$) which are compatible with the basic relations. The relations may also be interpreted as defining a non-commutative differential calculus. For generic coefficients $T_{ij}^{k\ell}$, however, all differential forms of degree 2 and higher vanish. We exhibit conditions for this not to be the case, and relate them to the ideal structure of the Wick algebra, and conditions of positivity. We show that the differential calculus is compatible with the involution iff the coefficients $T$ define a representation of the braid group. This condition is also shown to imply improved bounds for the positivity of the Fock representation. Finally, we study the KMS states of the group of gauge transformations defined by $a_j\mapsto\exp(it)a_j$., Comment: 61 pages, AMSTeX 2.1 with amsppt 2.1c

We consider the Statistical Mechanics of systems of particles satisfying the $q$-commutation relations recently proposed by Greenberg and others. We show that although the commutation relations approach Bose (resp.\ Fermi) relations for $q\to1$ (resp.\ $q\to-1$), the partition functions of free gases are independent of $q$ in the range $-1

For the $q$-deformed canonical commutation relations $a(f)a^\dagger(g) = (1-q)\,\langle f,g\rangle{\bf1}+q\,a^\dagger(g)a(f)$ for $f,g$ in some Hilbert space ${\cal H}$ we consider representations generated from a vector $\Omega$ satisfying $a(f)\Omega=\langle f,\phi\rangle\Omega$, where $\phi\in{\cal H}$. We show that such a representation exists if and only if $\Vert\phi\Vert\leq1$. Moreover, for $\Vert\phi\Vert<1$ these representations are unitarily equivalent to the Fock representation (obtained for $\phi=0$). On the other hand representations obtained for different unit vectors $\phi$ are disjoint. We show that the universal C*-algebra for the relations has a largest proper, closed, two-sided ideal. The quotient by this ideal is a natural $q$-analogue of the Cuntz algebra (obtained for $q=0$). We discuss the Conjecture that, for $d<\infty$, this analogue should, in fact, be equal to the Cuntz algebra itself. In the limiting cases $q=\pm1$ we determine all irreducible representations of the relations, and characterize those which can be obtained via coherent states., Comment: 19 pages, Plain TeX