How to efficiently select an arbitrary Clifford group element

We give an algorithm which produces a unique element of the Clifford group C_n on n qubits from an integer 0\le i < |C_n| (the number of elements in the group). The algorithm involves O(n^3) operations. It is a variant of the subgroup algorithm by Diaconis and Shahshahani which is commonly applied to compact Lie groups. We provide an adaption for the symplectic group Sp(2n,F_2) which provides, in addition to a canonical mapping from the integers to group elements g, a factorization of g into a sequence of at most 4n symplectic transvections. The algorithm can be used to efficiently select randomelements of C_n which is often useful in quantum information theory and quantum computation. We also give an algorithm for the inverse map, indexing a group element in time O(n^3).Comment: 7 pages plus 4 1/2 pages of python cod

Additive Extensions of a Quantum Channel

We study extensions of a quantum channel whose one-way capacities are described by a single-letter formula. This provides a simple technique for generating powerful upper bounds on the capacities of a general quantum channel. We apply this technique to two qubit channels of particular interest--the depolarizing channel and the channel with independent phase and amplitude noise. Our study of the latter demonstrates that the key rate of BB84 with one-way post-processing and quantum bit error rate q cannot exceed H(1/2-2q(1-q)) - H(2q(1-q)).Comment: 6 pages, one figur

Classical signature of quantum annealing

A pair of recent articles concluded that the D-Wave One machine actually operates in the quantum regime, rather than performing some classical evolution. Here we give a classical model that leads to the same behaviors used in those works to infer quantum effects. Thus, the evidence presented does not demonstrate the presence of quantum effects.Comment: 8 pages, 3 pdf figure