Two-message quantum interactive proofs and the quantum separability problem

Suppose that a polynomial-time mixed-state quantum circuit, described as a sequence of local unitary interactions followed by a partial trace, generates a quantum state shared between two parties. One might then wonder, does this quantum circuit produce a state that is separable or entangled? Here, we give evidence that it is computationally hard to decide the answer to this question, even if one has access to the power of quantum computation. We begin by exhibiting a two-message quantum interactive proof system that can decide the answer to a promise version of the question. We then prove that the promise problem is hard for the class of promise problems with "quantum statistical zero knowledge" (QSZK) proof systems by demonstrating a polynomial-time Karp reduction from the QSZK-complete promise problem "quantum state distinguishability" to our quantum separability problem. By exploiting Knill's efficient encoding of a matrix description of a state into a description of a circuit to generate the state, we can show that our promise problem is NP-hard with respect to Cook reductions. Thus, the quantum separability problem (as phrased above) constitutes the first nontrivial promise problem decidable by a two-message quantum interactive proof system while being hard for both NP and QSZK. We also consider a variant of the problem, in which a given polynomial-time mixed-state quantum circuit accepts a quantum state as input, and the question is to decide if there is an input to this circuit which makes its output separable across some bipartite cut. We prove that this problem is a complete promise problem for the class QIP of problems decidable by quantum interactive proof systems. Finally, we show that a two-message quantum interactive proof system can also decide a multipartite generalization of the quantum separability problem.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures; v2: technical improvements and new result for the multipartite quantum separability problem; v3: minor changes to address referee comments, accepted for presentation at the 2013 IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity; v4: changed problem names; v5: updated references and added a paragraph to the conclusion to connect with prior work on separability testin

Stabilisation of Quantum Computations by Symmetrisation

We propose a method for the stabilisation of quantum computations (including quantum state storage). The method is based on the operation of projection into $\cal SYM$, the symmetric subspace of the full state space of $R$ redundant copies of the computer. We describe an efficient algorithm and quantum network effecting $\cal SYM$--projection and discuss the stabilising effect of the proposed method in the context of unitary errors generated by hardware imprecision, and nonunitary errors arising from external environmental interaction. Finally, limitations of the method are discussed.Comment: 20 pages LaTeX, 2 postscript figure

Resetting uncontrolled quantum systems

We consider a scenario where we wish to bring a closed system of known Hilbert space dimension $d_S$ (the target), subject to an unknown Hamiltonian evolution, back to its quantum state at a past time $t_0$. The target is out of our control: this means that we ignore both its free Hamiltonian and how the system interacts with other quantum systems we may use to influence it. Under these conditions, we prove that there exist protocols within the framework of non-relativistic quantum physics which reset the target system to its exact quantum state at $t_0$. Each "resetting protocol" is successful with non-zero probability for all possible free Hamiltonians and interaction unitaries, save a subset of zero measure. When the target is a qubit and the interaction is sampled from the Haar measure, the simplest resetting circuits have a significant average probability of success and their implementation is within reach of current quantum technologies. Finally, we find that, in case the resetting protocol fails, it is possible to run a further protocol that, if successful, undoes both the natural evolution of the target and the effects of the failed protocol over the latter. By chaining in this fashion several such protocols, one can substantially increase the overall probability of a successful resetting.Comment: Published version. This work was not funded by the European Research Counci

Distributed H-infinity filtering for polynomial nonlinear stochastic systems in sensor networks

Copyright [2010] IEEE. This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Such permission of the IEEE does not in any way imply IEEE endorsement of any of Brunel University's products or services. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to [email protected]. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.In this paper, the distributed H1 filtering problem is addressed for a class of polynomial nonlinear stochastic systems in sensor networks. For a Lyapunov function candidate whose entries are polynomials, we calculate its first- and second-order derivatives in order to facilitate the use of Itos differential role. Then, a sufficient condition for the existence of a feasible solution to the addressed distributed H1 filtering problem is derived in terms of parameter-dependent linear matrix inequalities (PDLMIs). For computational convenience, these PDLMIs are further converted into a set of sums of squares (SOSs) that can be solved effectively by using the semidefinite programming technique. Finally, a numerical simulation example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed design approach.This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the U.K. under Grant GR/S27658/01, the Royal Society of the U.K., the National 973 Program of China under Grant 2009CB320600, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 60974030 and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany