Fidelity of quantum states: Difference between revisions
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::::<math>= \min_{\{F_i\}} \sum _i \sqrt{\mathrm{Tr}[ \rho F_i ] \mathrm{Tr}[ \sigma F_i ]}</math>. |
::::<math>= \min_{\{F_i\}} \sum _i \sqrt{\mathrm{Tr}[ \rho F_i ] \mathrm{Tr}[ \sigma F_i ]}</math>. |
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It was shown by Fuchs and Caves that this manifestly symmetric definition is equivalent to the simple asymmetric formula given in the next section.<ref>C. A. Fuchs, C. M. Caves: [http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v73/i23/p3047_1 Ensemble-Dependent Bounds for Accessible Information in Quantum Mechanics], [[Physical Review Letters]] 73, 3047(1994)</ref> |
It was shown by Fuchs and Caves that this manifestly symmetric definition is equivalent to the simple asymmetric formula given in the next section.<ref>C. A. Fuchs, C. M. Caves: [http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v73/i23/p3047_1 "Ensemble-Dependent Bounds for Accessible Information in Quantum Mechanics"], ''[[Physical Review Letters]]'' 73, 3047(1994)</ref> |
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== Definition == |
== Definition == |
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So we can see that fidelity behaves almost like a metric. This can be formalised and made useful by defining |
So we can see that fidelity behaves almost like a metric. This can be formalised and made useful by defining |
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:<math> \cos \theta_{\rho\sigma} = F(\rho,\sigma) \,</math> |
:<math> \cos \theta_{\rho\sigma} = F(\rho,\sigma) \,</math> |
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As the angle between the states <math>\rho</math> and <math>\sigma</math>. It follows from the above properties that <math>\theta_{\rho\sigma}</math> is non-negative, symmetric in its inputs, and is equal to zero if and only if <math>\rho = \sigma</math>. Furthermore, it can be proved that it obeys the triangle inequality,<ref>M. Nielsen, I. Chuang, ''Quantum Computation and Quantum Information'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, 409-416</ref> so this angle is a metric on the state space: the [[ |
As the angle between the states <math>\rho</math> and <math>\sigma</math>. It follows from the above properties that <math>\theta_{\rho\sigma}</math> is non-negative, symmetric in its inputs, and is equal to zero if and only if <math>\rho = \sigma</math>. Furthermore, it can be proved that it obeys the triangle inequality,<ref>M. Nielsen, I. Chuang, ''Quantum Computation and Quantum Information'', Cambridge University Press, 2000, 409-416</ref> so this angle is a metric on the state space: the [[Fubini–Study metric]].<ref>K. Życzkowski, I. Bengtsson, ''Geometry of Quantum States'', Cambridge University Press, 2008, 131</ref> |
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=== Relationship to Trace Distance === |
=== Relationship to Trace Distance === |
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</math> |
</math> |
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When A and B are both density operators, this is a quantum generalization of the [[statistical distance]]. This is relevant because the trace distance provides upper and lower bounds on the fidelity as quantified by the ''Fuchs-van de Graaf inequalities'',<ref>C. A. Fuchs and J. van de Graaf, "Cryptographic Distinguishability Measures for Quantum Mechanical States |
When A and B are both density operators, this is a quantum generalization of the [[statistical distance]]. This is relevant because the trace distance provides upper and lower bounds on the fidelity as quantified by the ''Fuchs-van de Graaf inequalities'',<ref>C. A. Fuchs and J. van de Graaf, "Cryptographic Distinguishability Measures for Quantum Mechanical States", ''IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory'' 45, 1216 (1999). arXiv:quant-ph/9712042</ref> |
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:<math> |
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== Fidelity of quantum measurements == |
== Fidelity of quantum measurements == |
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The '''fidelity of a measurement with a projective measurement''' is defined<ref>Taoufik Amri |
The '''fidelity of a measurement with a projective measurement''' is defined<ref>Taoufik Amri, [http://arxiv1.library.cornell.edu/abs/1001.303 "Quantum behavior of measurement apparatus"], arXiv:1001.3032 (2010).</ref> as the overlap between their [[Quantum tomography|pre-measurement states]]: |
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<references/> |
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* A. Uhlmann |
* A. Uhlmann [http://www.physik.uni-leipzig.de/~uhlmann/PDF/Uh76a.pdf "The "Transition Probability" in the State Space of a *-Algebra"]. ''Rep. Math. Phys.'' 9 (1976) 273–279. PDF] |
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* R. Jozsa, |
* R. Jozsa, "Fidelity for mixed quantum states", ''Journal of Modern Optics'', 1994, vol. 41, 2315-2323. |
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* J. A. Miszczak, Z. Puchała, P. Horodecki, A. Uhlmann, K. Życzkowski, |
* J. A. Miszczak, Z. Puchała, P. Horodecki, A. Uhlmann, K. Życzkowski, [http://arxiv.org/abs/0805.2037 arXiv:0805.2037 "Sub-- and super--fidelity as bounds for quantum fidelity"], ''Quantum Information & Computation'', Vol.9 No.1&2 (2009) |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidelity Of Quantum States}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidelity Of Quantum States}} |
Revision as of 18:00, 13 March 2014
In quantum information theory, fidelity is a measure of the "closeness" of two quantum states. It is not a metric on the space of density matrices, but it can be used to define the Bures metric on this space.
Motivation
In probability theory, given two random variables p = (p1...pn) and q = (q1...qn) on the probability space X = {1,2...n}. The fidelity of p and q is defined to be the quantity
- .
In other words, the fidelity F(p,q) is the inner product of and viewed as vectors in Euclidean space. Notice that F(p,q) = 1 if and only if p = q. In general, . This measure is known as the Bhattacharyya coefficient.
Given a classical measure of the distinguishability of two probability distributions, one can motivate a measure of distinguishability of two quantum states as follows. If an experimenter is attempting to determine whether a quantum state is either of two possibilities or , the most general possible measurement he can make on the state is a POVM, which is described by a set of Hermitian positive semidefinite operators . If the state given to the experimenter is , he will witness outcome with probability , and likewise with probability for . His ability to distinguish between the quantum states and is then equivalent to his ability to distinguish between the classical probability distributions and . Naturally, the experimenter will choose the best POVM he can find, so this motivates defining the quantum fidelity as the Bhattacharyya coefficient when extremized over all possible POVMs :
- .
- .
It was shown by Fuchs and Caves that this manifestly symmetric definition is equivalent to the simple asymmetric formula given in the next section.[1]
Definition
Given two density matrices ρ and σ, the fidelity is defined by
By M½ of a positive semidefinite matrix M, we mean its unique positive square root given by the spectral theorem. The Euclidean inner product from the classical definition is replaced by the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product. When the states are classical, i.e. when ρ and σ commute, the definition coincides with that for probability distributions.
An equivalent definition is given by
where the norm is the trace norm (sum of the singular values). This definition has the advantage that it clearly shows that the fidelity is symmetric in its two arguments.
Notice by definition F is non-negative, and F(ρ,ρ) = 1. In the following section it will be shown that it can be no larger than 1.
In the original 1994 paper of Jozsa the name 'fidelity' was used for the quantity and this convention is often used in the literature. According to this convention 'fidelity' has a meaning of probability.
Simple examples
Pure states
Suppose that one of the states is pure: . Then and the fidelity is
If the other state is also pure, , then the fidelity is
This is sometimes called the overlap between two states. If, say, is an eigenstate of an observable, and the system is prepared in , then F(ρ, σ)2 is the probability of the system being in state after the measurement.
Commuting states
Let ρ and σ be two density matrices that commute. Therefore they can be simultaneously diagonalized by unitary matrices, and we can write
- and
for some orthonormal basis . Direct calculation shows the fidelity is
This shows that, heuristically, fidelity of quantum states is a genuine extension of the notion from probability theory.
Some properties
Unitary invariance
Direct calculation shows that the fidelity is preserved by unitary evolution, i.e.
for any unitary operator U.
Uhlmann's theorem
We saw that for two pure states, their fidelity coincides with the overlap. Uhlmann's theorem generalizes this statement to mixed states, in terms of their purifications:
Theorem Let ρ and σ be density matrices acting on Cn. Let ρ½ be the unique positive square root of ρ and
be a purification of ρ (therefore is an orthonormal basis), then the following equality holds:
where is a purification of σ. Therefore, in general, the fidelity is the maximum overlap between purifications.
Proof: A simple proof can be sketched as follows. Let denote the vector
and σ½ be the unique positive square root of σ. We see that, due to the unitary freedom in square root factorizations and choosing orthonormal bases, an arbitrary purification of σ is of the form
where Vi's are unitary operators. Now we directly calculate
But in general, for any square matrix A and unitary U, it is true that |Tr(AU)| ≤ Tr (A*A)½. Furthermore, equality is achieved if U* is the unitary operator in the polar decomposition of A. From this follows directly Uhlmann's theorem.
Consequences
Some immediate consequences of Uhlmann's theorem are
- Fidelity is symmetric in its arguments, i.e. F (ρ,σ) = F (σ,ρ). Notice this is not obvious from the definition.
- F (ρ,σ) lies in [0,1], by the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality.
- F (ρ,σ) = 1 if and only if ρ = σ, since Ψρ = Ψσ implies ρ = σ.
So we can see that fidelity behaves almost like a metric. This can be formalised and made useful by defining
As the angle between the states and . It follows from the above properties that is non-negative, symmetric in its inputs, and is equal to zero if and only if . Furthermore, it can be proved that it obeys the triangle inequality,[2] so this angle is a metric on the state space: the Fubini–Study metric.[3]
Relationship to Trace Distance
We can define the trace distance between two matrices A and B in terms of the trace norm by
When A and B are both density operators, this is a quantum generalization of the statistical distance. This is relevant because the trace distance provides upper and lower bounds on the fidelity as quantified by the Fuchs-van de Graaf inequalities,[4]
Often the trace distance is easier to calculate or bound than the fidelity, so these relationships are quite useful. In the case that at least one of the states is a pure state Ψ, the lower bound can be tightened.
Fidelity of quantum measurements
The fidelity of a measurement with a projective measurement is defined[5] as the overlap between their pre-measurement states:
where and are respectively the pre-measurement state corresponding to the result "n" and the target state in which we would like measuring the system before its interaction with the measurement apparatus.
The pre-measurement state is the main tool of the retrodictive approach of quantum physics in which we make predictions about state preparations leading to a certain measurement result. In such an approach, this fidelity has an interesting meaning: this is nothing but the retrodictive probability of preparing the system in the target state when we read the result "n". Thus, when a measurement is sufficiently faithful , the most probable state in which the system was prepared before the measurement giving the result "n" is this target state .
References
- ^ C. A. Fuchs, C. M. Caves: "Ensemble-Dependent Bounds for Accessible Information in Quantum Mechanics", Physical Review Letters 73, 3047(1994)
- ^ M. Nielsen, I. Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, Cambridge University Press, 2000, 409-416
- ^ K. Życzkowski, I. Bengtsson, Geometry of Quantum States, Cambridge University Press, 2008, 131
- ^ C. A. Fuchs and J. van de Graaf, "Cryptographic Distinguishability Measures for Quantum Mechanical States", IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 45, 1216 (1999). arXiv:quant-ph/9712042
- ^ Taoufik Amri, "Quantum behavior of measurement apparatus", arXiv:1001.3032 (2010).
- A. Uhlmann "The "Transition Probability" in the State Space of a *-Algebra". Rep. Math. Phys. 9 (1976) 273–279. PDF]
- R. Jozsa, "Fidelity for mixed quantum states", Journal of Modern Optics, 1994, vol. 41, 2315-2323.
- J. A. Miszczak, Z. Puchała, P. Horodecki, A. Uhlmann, K. Życzkowski, arXiv:0805.2037 "Sub-- and super--fidelity as bounds for quantum fidelity", Quantum Information & Computation, Vol.9 No.1&2 (2009)