Characterization of two-qubit perfect entanglers

Here we consider perfect entanglers from another perspective. It is shown that there are some {\em special} perfect entanglers which can maximally entangle a {\em full} product basis. We have explicitly constructed a one-parameter family of such entanglers together with the proper product basis that they maximally entangle. This special family of perfect entanglers contains some well-known operators such as {\textsc{cnot}} and {\textsc{dcnot}}, but {\em not} {\small{\sqrt{\rm{\textsc{swap}}}}}. In addition, it is shown that all perfect entanglers with entangling power equal to the maximal value, 2/9, are also special perfect entanglers. It is proved that the one-parameter family is the only possible set of special perfect entanglers. Also we provide an analytic way to implement any arbitrary two-qubit gate, given a proper special perfect entangler supplemented with single-qubit gates. Such these gates are shown to provide a minimum universal gate construction in that just two of them are necessary and sufficient in implementation of a generic two-qubit gate.Comment: 6 pages, 1 eps figur

Muon capture on light nuclei

This work investigates the muon capture reactions 2H(\mu^-,\nu_\mu)nn and 3He(\mu^-,\nu_\mu)3H and the contribution to their total capture rates arising from the axial two-body currents obtained imposing the partially-conserved-axial-current (PCAC) hypothesis. The initial and final A=2 and 3 nuclear wave functions are obtained from the Argonne v_{18} two-nucleon potential, in combination with the Urbana IX three-nucleon potential in the case of A=3. The weak current consists of vector and axial components derived in chiral effective field theory. The low-energy constant entering the vector (axial) component is determined by reproducting the isovector combination of the trinucleon magnetic moment (Gamow-Teller matrix element of tritium beta-decay). The total capture rates are 393.1(8) s^{-1} for A=2 and 1488(9) s^{-1} for A=3, where the uncertainties arise from the adopted fitting procedure.Comment: 6 pages, submitted to Few-Body Sys

Yang-Mills theory for bundle gerbes

Given a bundle gerbe with connection on an oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension at least equal to 3, we formulate and study the associated Yang-Mills equations. When the Riemannian manifold is compact and oriented, we prove the existence of instanton solutions to the equations and also determine the moduli space of instantons, thus giving a complete analysis in this case. We also discuss duality in this context.Comment: Latex2e, 7 pages, some typos corrected, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. and Ge

Globally controlled universal quantum computation with arbitrary subsystem dimension

We introduce a scheme to perform universal quantum computation in quantum cellular automata (QCA) fashion in arbitrary subsystem dimension (not necessarily finite). The scheme is developed over a one spatial dimension $N$-element array, requiring only mirror symmetric logical encoding and global pulses. A mechanism using ancillary degrees of freedom for subsystem specific measurement is also presented.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Quantum circuits with uniformly controlled one-qubit gates

Uniformly controlled one-qubit gates are quantum gates which can be represented as direct sums of two-dimensional unitary operators acting on a single qubit. We present a quantum gate array which implements any n-qubit gate of this type using at most 2^{n-1} - 1 controlled-NOT gates, 2^{n-1} one-qubit gates and a single diagonal n-qubit gate. The circuit is based on the so-called quantum multiplexor, for which we provide a modified construction. We illustrate the versatility of these gates by applying them to the decomposition of a general n-qubit gate and a local state preparation procedure. Moreover, we study their implementation using only nearest-neighbor gates. We give upper bounds for the one-qubit and controlled-NOT gate counts for all the aforementioned applications. In all four cases, the proposed circuit topologies either improve on or achieve the previously reported upper bounds for the gate counts. Thus, they provide the most efficient method for general gate decompositions currently known.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. v2 has simpler notation and sharpens some result

BRST, anti-BRST and their geometry

We continue the comparison between the field theoretical and geometrical approaches to the gauge field theories of various types, by deriving their Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) and anti-BRST trasformation properties and comparing them with the geometrical properties of the bundles and gerbes. In particular, we provide the geometrical interpretation of the so--called Curci-Ferrari conditions that are invoked for the absolute anticommutativity of the BRST and anti-BRST symmetry transformations in the context of non-Abelian 1-form gauge theories as well as Abelian gauge theory that incorporates a 2-form gauge field. We also carry out the explicit construction of the 3-form gauge fields and compare it with the geometry of 2--gerbes.Comment: A comment added. To appear in Jour. Phys. A: Mathemaical and Theoretica

A practical scheme for quantum computation with any two-qubit entangling gate

Which gates are universal for quantum computation? Although it is well known that certain gates on two-level quantum systems (qubits), such as the controlled-not (CNOT), are universal when assisted by arbitrary one-qubit gates, it has only recently become clear precisely what class of two-qubit gates is universal in this sense. Here we present an elementary proof that any entangling two-qubit gate is universal for quantum computation, when assisted by one-qubit gates. A proof of this important result for systems of arbitrary finite dimension has been provided by J. L. and R. Brylinski [arXiv:quant-ph/0108062, 2001]; however, their proof relies upon a long argument using advanced mathematics. In contrast, our proof provides a simple constructive procedure which is close to optimal and experimentally practical [C. M. Dawson and A. Gilchrist, online implementation of the procedure described herein (2002), http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc/].Comment: 3 pages, online implementation of procedure described can be found at http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc

Higher dimensional abelian Chern-Simons theories and their link invariants

The role played by Deligne-Beilinson cohomology in establishing the relation between Chern-Simons theory and link invariants in dimensions higher than three is investigated. Deligne-Beilinson cohomology classes provide a natural abelian Chern-Simons action, non trivial only in dimensions $4l+3$, whose parameter $k$ is quantized. The generalized Wilson $(2l+1)$-loops are observables of the theory and their charges are quantized. The Chern-Simons action is then used to compute invariants for links of $(2l+1)$-loops, first on closed $(4l+3)$-manifolds through a novel geometric computation, then on $\mathbb{R}^{4l+3}$ through an unconventional field theoretic computation.Comment: 40 page

An Invitation to Higher Gauge Theory

In this easy introduction to higher gauge theory, we describe parallel transport for particles and strings in terms of 2-connections on 2-bundles. Just as ordinary gauge theory involves a gauge group, this generalization involves a gauge '2-group'. We focus on 6 examples. First, every abelian Lie group gives a Lie 2-group; the case of U(1) yields the theory of U(1) gerbes, which play an important role in string theory and multisymplectic geometry. Second, every group representation gives a Lie 2-group; the representation of the Lorentz group on 4d Minkowski spacetime gives the Poincar\'e 2-group, which leads to a spin foam model for Minkowski spacetime. Third, taking the adjoint representation of any Lie group on its own Lie algebra gives a 'tangent 2-group', which serves as a gauge 2-group in 4d BF theory, which has topological gravity as a special case. Fourth, every Lie group has an 'inner automorphism 2-group', which serves as the gauge group in 4d BF theory with cosmological constant term. Fifth, every Lie group has an 'automorphism 2-group', which plays an important role in the theory of nonabelian gerbes. And sixth, every compact simple Lie group gives a 'string 2-group'. We also touch upon higher structures such as the 'gravity 3-group' and the Lie 3-superalgebra that governs 11-dimensional supergravity.Comment: 60 pages, based on lectures at the 2nd School and Workshop on Quantum Gravity and Quantum Geometry at the 2009 Corfu Summer Institut

Valence bond solid formalism for d-level one-way quantum computation

The d-level or qudit one-way quantum computer (d1WQC) is described using the valence bond solid formalism and the generalised Pauli group. This formalism provides a transparent means of deriving measurement patterns for the implementation of quantum gates in the computational model. We introduce a new universal set of qudit gates and use it to give a constructive proof of the universality of d1WQC. We characterise the set of gates that can be performed in one parallel time step in this model.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures. Published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Genera