Information geometry of Gaussian channels

We define a local Riemannian metric tensor in the manifold of Gaussian channels and the distance that it induces. We adopt an information-geometric approach and define a metric derived from the Bures-Fisher metric for quantum states. The resulting metric inherits several desirable properties from the Bures-Fisher metric and is operationally motivated from distinguishability considerations: It serves as an upper bound to the attainable quantum Fisher information for the channel parameters using Gaussian states, under generic constraints on the physically available resources. Our approach naturally includes the use of entangled Gaussian probe states. We prove that the metric enjoys some desirable properties like stability and covariance. As a byproduct, we also obtain some general results in Gaussian channel estimation that are the continuous-variable analogs of previously known results in finite dimensions. We prove that optimal probe states are always pure and bounded in the number of ancillary modes, even in the presence of constraints on the reduced state input in the channel. This has experimental and computational implications: It limits the complexity of optimal experimental setups for channel estimation and reduces the computational requirements for the evaluation of the metric: Indeed, we construct a converging algorithm for its computation. We provide explicit formulae for computing the multiparametric quantum Fisher information for dissipative channels probed with arbitrary Gaussian states, and provide the optimal observables for the estimation of the channel parameters (e.g. bath couplings, squeezing, and temperature).Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

Quantum state discrimination: a geometric approach

We analyse the problem of finding sets of quantum states that can be deterministically discriminated. From a geometric point of view this problem is equivalent to that of embedding a simplex of points whose distances are maximal with respect to the Bures distance (or trace distance). We derive upper and lower bounds for the trace distance and for the fidelity between two quantum states, which imply bounds for the Bures distance between the unitary orbits of both states. We thus show that when analysing minimal and maximal distances between states of fixed spectra it is sufficient to consider diagonal states only. Hence considering optimal discrimination, given freedom up to unitary orbits, it is sufficient to consider diagonal states. This is illustrated geometrically in terms of Weyl chambers.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Inferring effective field observables from a discrete model

A spin system on a lattice can usually be modelled at large scales by an effective quantum field theory. A key mathematical result relating the two descriptions is the quantum central limit theorem, which shows that certain spin observables satisfy an algebra of bosonic fields under certain conditions. Here, we show that these particular observables and conditions are the relevant ones for an observer with certain limited abilities to resolve spatial locations as well as spin values. This is shown by computing the asymptotic behaviour of a quantum Fisher information metric as function of the resolution parameters. The relevant observables characterise the state perturbations whose distinguishability does not decay too fast as a function of spatial or spin resolution

A Cut Principle for Information Flow

We view a distributed system as a graph of active locations with unidirectional channels between them, through which they pass messages. In this context, the graph structure of a system constrains the propagation of information through it. Suppose a set of channels is a cut set between an information source and a potential sink. We prove that, if there is no disclosure from the source to the cut set, then there can be no disclosure to the sink. We introduce a new formalization of partial disclosure, called *blur operators*, and show that the same cut property is preserved for disclosure to within a blur operator. This cut-blur property also implies a compositional principle, which ensures limited disclosure for a class of systems that differ only beyond the cut.Comment: 31 page

Resource Theories as Quantale Modules

We aim to counter the tendency for specialization in science by advancing a language that can facilitate the translation of ideas and methods between disparate contexts. The methods we address relate to questions of "resource-theoretic nature". In a resource theory, one identifies resources and allowed manipulations that can be used to transform them. Some of the main questions are: How to optimize resources? What are the trade-offs between them? Can a given resource be converted to another one via the allowed manipulations? Because of the ubiquity of such questions, methods for answering them in one context can be used to tackle corresponding questions in new contexts. The translation occurs in two stages. Firstly, concrete methods are generalized to the abstract language to find under what conditions they are applicable. Then, one can determine whether potentially novel contexts satisfy these conditions. Here, we mainly focus on the first part of this two-stage process. The thesis starts with a more thorough introduction to resource theories and our perspective on them in chapter 1. Chapter 2 then provides a selection of mathematical ideas that we make heavy use of in the rest of the manuscript. In chapter 3, we present two variants of the abstract framework, whose relations to existing ones are summarized in table 1.1. The first one, universally combinable resource theories, offers a structure in which resources, desired tasks, and resource manipulations may all be viewed as "generalized resources". Blurring these distinctions, whenever appropriate, is a simplification that lets us understand the abstract results in elementary terms. It offers a slightly distinct point of view on resource theories from the traditional one, in which resources and their manipulations are considered independently. In this sense, the second framework in terms of quantale modules follows the traditional conception. Using these, we make contributions towards the task of generalizing concrete methods in chapter 4 by studying the ways in which meaningful measures of resources may be constructed. One construction expresses a notion of cost (or yield) of a resource, summarized in its generalized form in theorems 4.21 and 4.22. Among other applications, this construction may be used to extend measures from a subset of resources to a larger domain—such as from states to channels and other processes. Another construction allows the translation of resource measures between resource theories. A particularly useful version thereof is the translation of measures of distinguishability to other resource theories, which we study in detail. Special cases include resource robustness and weight measures as well as relative entropy based measures quantifying minimal distinguishability from freely available resources. We instantiate some of these ideas in a resource theory of distinguishability in chapter 5. It describes the utility of systems with probabilistic behavior for the task of distinguishing between hypotheses, which said behavior may depend on