4 research outputs found
A paradox in bosonic energy computations via semidefinite programming relaxations
We show that the recent hierarchy of semidefinite programming relaxations
based on non-commutative polynomial optimization and reduced density matrix
variational methods exhibits an interesting paradox when applied to the bosonic
case: even though it can be rigorously proven that the hierarchy collapses
after the first step, numerical implementations of higher order steps generate
a sequence of improving lower bounds that converges to the optimal solution. We
analyze this effect and compare it with similar behavior observed in
implementations of semidefinite programming relaxations for commutative
polynomial minimization. We conclude that the method converges due to the
rounding errors occurring during the execution of the numerical program, and
show that convergence is lost as soon as computer precision is incremented. We
support this conclusion by proving that for any element p of a Weyl algebra
which is non-negative in the Schrodinger representation there exists another
element p' arbitrarily close to p that admits a sum of squares decomposition.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure
Random Numbers Certified by Bell's Theorem
Randomness is a fundamental feature in nature and a valuable resource for
applications ranging from cryptography and gambling to numerical simulation of
physical and biological systems. Random numbers, however, are difficult to
characterize mathematically, and their generation must rely on an unpredictable
physical process. Inaccuracies in the theoretical modelling of such processes
or failures of the devices, possibly due to adversarial attacks, limit the
reliability of random number generators in ways that are difficult to control
and detect. Here, inspired by earlier work on nonlocality based and device
independent quantum information processing, we show that the nonlocal
correlations of entangled quantum particles can be used to certify the presence
of genuine randomness. It is thereby possible to design of a new type of
cryptographically secure random number generator which does not require any
assumption on the internal working of the devices. This strong form of
randomness generation is impossible classically and possible in quantum systems
only if certified by a Bell inequality violation. We carry out a
proof-of-concept demonstration of this proposal in a system of two entangled
atoms separated by approximately 1 meter. The observed Bell inequality
violation, featuring near-perfect detection efficiency, guarantees that 42 new
random numbers are generated with 99% confidence. Our results lay the
groundwork for future device-independent quantum information experiments and
for addressing fundamental issues raised by the intrinsic randomness of quantum
theory.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 16 page appendix. Version as close as possible
to the published version following the terms of the journa
A convergent hierarchy of semidefinite programs characterizing the set of quantum correlations
We are interested in the problem of characterizing the correlations that
arise when performing local measurements on separate quantum systems. In a
previous work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 010401 (2007)], we introduced an infinite
hierarchy of conditions necessarily satisfied by any set of quantum
correlations. Each of these conditions could be tested using semidefinite
programming. We present here new results concerning this hierarchy. We prove in
particular that it is complete, in the sense that any set of correlations
satisfying every condition in the hierarchy has a quantum representation in
terms of commuting measurements. Although our tests are conceived to rule out
non-quantum correlations, and can in principle certify that a set of
correlations is quantum only in the asymptotic limit where all tests are
satisfied, we show that in some cases it is possible to conclude that a given
set of correlations is quantum after performing only a finite number of tests.
We provide a criterion to detect when such a situation arises, and we explain
how to reconstruct the quantum states and measurement operators reproducing the
given correlations. Finally, we present several applications of our approach.
We use it in particular to bound the quantum violation of various Bell
inequalities.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figure