Papers by Paolo Perinotti

Physical Review A
The information content of a source is defined in terms of the minimum number of bits needed to s... more The information content of a source is defined in terms of the minimum number of bits needed to store the output of the source in a perfectly recoverable way. A similar definition can be given in the case of quantum sources, with qubits replacing bits. In the mentioned cases the information content can be quantified through Shannon's and von Neumann's entropy, respectively. Here we extend the definition of information content to operational probabilistic theories, and prove relevant properties as the subadditivity, and the relation between purity and information content of a state. We prove the consistency of the present notion of information content when applied to the classical and the quantum case. Finally, the relation with one of the notions of entropy that can be introduced in general probabilistic theories, the maximum accessible information, is given in terms of a lower bound.

Quantum processes with indefinite causal structure emerge when we wonder which are the most gener... more Quantum processes with indefinite causal structure emerge when we wonder which are the most general evolutions, allowed by quantum theory, of a set of local systems which are not assumed to be in any particular causal order. These processes can be described within the framework of higher-order quantum theory which, starting from considering maps from quantum transformations to quantum transformations, recursively constructs a hierarchy of quantum maps of increasingly higher order. In this work, we develop a formalism for quantum computation with indefinite causal structures; namely we characterize the computational structure of higher order quantum maps. Taking an axiomatic approach, the rules of this computation are identified as the most general compositions of higher order maps which are compatible with the mathematical structure of quantum theory. We provide a mathematical characterization of the admissible composition for arbitrary higher order quantum maps. We prove that these...
After proving a general no-cloning theorem for black boxes, we derive the optimal universal cloni... more After proving a general no-cloning theorem for black boxes, we derive the optimal universal cloning of unitary transformations, from one to two copies. The optimal cloner is realized by quantum channels with memory, and greately outperforms the optimal measure-and-reprepare cloning strategy. Applications are outlined, including two-way quantum cryptographic protocols.
Quantum walks (QWs) describe the evolution of quantum systems on graphs. An intrinsic degree of f... more Quantum walks (QWs) describe the evolution of quantum systems on graphs. An intrinsic degree of freedom---called the coin and represented by a finite-dimensional Hilbert space---is associated to each node. Scalar quantum walks are QWs with a one-dimensional coin. We propose a general strategy allowing one to construct scalar QWs on a broad variety of graphs, which admit embedding in Eulidean spaces, thus having a direct geometric interpretation. After reviewing the technique that allows one to regroup cells of nodes into new nodes, transforming finite spatial blocks into internal degrees of freedom, we prove that no QW with a two-dimensional coin can be derived from an isotropic scalar QW in this way. Finally we show that the Weyl and Dirac QWs can be derived from scalar QWs in spaces of dimension up to three, via our construction.
Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 2016
We study discrete-time quantum walks on Cayley graphs of non-Abelian groups, focusing on the easi... more We study discrete-time quantum walks on Cayley graphs of non-Abelian groups, focusing on the easiest case of virtually Abelian groups. We present a technique to reduce the quantum walk to an equivalent one on an Abelian group with coin system having larger dimension. This method allows one to extend the notion of wave-vector to the virtually Abelian case and study analytically the walk dynamics. We apply the technique in the case of two quantum walks on virtually Abelian groups with planar Cayley graphs, finding the exact solution in terms of dispersion relation.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2016
We show how the Weyl quantum walk derived from principles in D'Ariano & Perinotti (D'Aria... more We show how the Weyl quantum walk derived from principles in D'Ariano & Perinotti (D'Ariano & Perinotti 2014 Phys. Rev. A 90, 062106. ( doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.90.062106 )), enjoying a nonlinear Lorentz symmetry of dynamics, allows one to introduce Hopf algebras for position and momentum of the emerging particle. We focus on two special models of Hopf algebras–the usual Poincaré and the κ -Poincaré algebras.

Istituto Lombardo - Accademia di Scienze e Lettere - Incontri di Studio, 2017
The personal viewpoint of a theoretical physicist about the relation between reality and physical... more The personal viewpoint of a theoretical physicist about the relation between reality and physical science is exposed, starting from his personal experience in the context of quantum foundations and quantum information theory. The effectiveness of an axiomatic approach is argued as a navigation system between the abstract landscape of quantum theory and the reality of facts, along a road that is intrinsically unaccessible to classical conceptual maps. The present approach requires physics to accept the notion of information at its deepest level, in place of matter and space-time, that are recovered only as an effective description of phenomena on a secondary level. As a result of the above operation, a simplified conceptual scenario is achieved, where new possibilities are available for facing the open challenges of theoretical physics.

Higher order quantum computation is an extension of quantum computation where one introduces tran... more Higher order quantum computation is an extension of quantum computation where one introduces transformations whose input and output are transformations, thus generalizing the notion of channels and quantum operations. The generalization then goes recursively, with the construction of a full hierarchy of maps of increasingly higher order. The analysis of special cases already showed that higher order functions exhibit features that cannot be tracked down to the usual circuits, such as indefinite causal structures, providing provable advantages over circuital maps. The present treatment provides a general framework where this kind of analysis can be carried out in full generality. Higher order quantum computation is introduced axiomatically with a formulation based on the language of types of transformations. Complete positivity of higher order maps is derived from the general admissibility conditions instead of being postulated as in previous approaches. The recursive characterizatio...

Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2019
Higher-order quantum theory is an extension of quantum theory where one introduces transformation... more Higher-order quantum theory is an extension of quantum theory where one introduces transformations whose input and output are transformations, thus generalizing the notion of channels and quantum operations. The generalization then goes recursively, with the construction of a full hierarchy of maps of increasingly higher order. The analysis of special cases already showed that higher-order quantum functions exhibit features that cannot be tracked down to the usual circuits, such as indefinite causal structures, providing provable advantages over circuital maps. The present treatment provides a general framework where this kind of analysis can be carried out in full generality. The hierarchy of higher-order quantum maps is introduced axiomatically with a formulation based on the language of types of transformations. Complete positivity of higher-order maps is derived from the general admissibility conditions instead of being postulated as in previous approaches. The recursive charact...

arXiv: Quantum Physics, 2005
Broadcasting", namely distributing information over many users, suffers inprinciple limitations w... more Broadcasting", namely distributing information over many users, suffers inprinciple limitations when the information is quantum. This poses a critical issue in quantum information theory, for distributed processing and networked communications. For pure states ideal broadcasting coincides with the so-called "quantum cloning", describing an hypothetical ideal device capable of producing from a finite number N of copies of a state (drawn from a set) a larger number M > N of output copies of the same state. Since such a transformation is not isometric, it cannot be achieved by any physical machine for a quantum state drawn from a non orthogonal set: this is essentially the content of the "no-cloning" theorem. For mixed states the situation is quite different, since from the point of view of each single user a local marginal mixed state is indistinguishable from the partial trace of an entangled state, and there are infinitely many joint output states that correspond to ideal broadcasting. Indeed, for sufficiently large number N of input copies, not only ideal broadcasting of noncommuting mixed states is possible, but one can even purify the state in the process. Such state purification with an increasing number of copies has been named "superbroadcasting". In this paper we will review some recent results on superbroadcasting of qubits, for two different sets of input states, corresponding to universally covariant broadcasting and to phase-covariant broadcasting of equatorial states. After illustrating the theoretical derivation of the optimal broadcasting channels, we give the maximal purity and the maximal number of output copies M for which superbroadcasting is possible. We will see that the possibility of superbroadcasting does not increase the available information about the original input state, due to detrimental correlations between the local broadcast copies, which do not allow to exploit their statistics. Thus, essentially, the superbroadcasting channel simply transfers noise from local states toward correlations. We finally propose a procedure to realize optimal superbroadcasting maps by means of optimal pure states cloners.
We consider the general measurement scenario in which the ensemble average of an operator is dete... more We consider the general measurement scenario in which the ensemble average of an operator is determined via suitable data-processing of the outcomes of a quantum measurement described by a POVM. After reviewing the optimization of data processing that minimizes the statistical error of the estimation, we provide a compact formula for the evaluation of the estimation error.

Physical review letters, 2021
We present a systematic treatment of scattering processes for quantum systems whose time evolutio... more We present a systematic treatment of scattering processes for quantum systems whose time evolution is discrete. We define and show some general properties of the scattering operator, in particular the conservation of quasienergy which is defined only modulo 2π. Then we develop two perturbative techniques for the power series expansion of the scattering operator, the first one analogous to the iterative solution of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, the second one to the Dyson series of perturbative quantum field theory. We use this formalism to compare the scattering amplitudes of a continuous-time model and of the corresponding discretized one. We give a rigorous assessment of the comparison for the case of bounded free Hamiltonian, as in a lattice theory with a bounded number of particles. Our framework can be applied to a wide class of quantum simulators, like quantum walks and quantum cellular automata. As a case study, we analyze the scattering properties of a one-dimensional cel...
We consider the problem of broadcasting quantum information encoded in the displacement parameter... more We consider the problem of broadcasting quantum information encoded in the displacement parameter for an harmonic oscillator, from N to M > N copies of a thermal state. We show the Weyl–Heisenberg covariant broadcasting map that optimally reduces the thermal photon number, and we prove that it minimizes the noise in conjugate quadratures at the output for general input states. We find that from two input copies broadcasting is feasible, with the possibility of simultaneous purification ( superbroadcasting ). PACS numbers: 03.65.-w, 03.67.-a DOI: 10.1134/S0030400X07070259
Quantum, 2020
The theory of cellular automata in operational probabilistic theories is developed. We start intr... more The theory of cellular automata in operational probabilistic theories is developed. We start introducing the composition of infinitely many elementary systems, and then use this notion to define update rules for such infinite composite systems. The notion of causal influence is introduced, and its relation with the usual property of signalling is discussed. We then introduce homogeneity, namely the property of an update rule to evolve every system in the same way, and prove that systems evolving by a homogeneous rule always correspond to vertices of a Cayley graph. Next, we define the notion of locality for update rules. Cellular automata are then defined as homogeneous and local update rules. Finally, we prove a general version of the wrapping lemma, that connects CA on different Cayley graphs sharing some small-scale structure of neighbourhoods.
Generalized quantum instruments correspond to measurements where the input and output are either ... more Generalized quantum instruments correspond to measurements where the input and output are either states or more generally quantum circuits. These measurements describe any quantum protocol including games, communications, and algorithms. The set of generalized quantum instruments with a given input and output structure is a convex set. Here we investigate the extremal points of this set for the case of finite dimensional quantum systems and generalized instruments with finitely many outcomes. We derive algebraic necessary and sufficient conditions for extremality.

We address the task of compression of fermionic quantum information. Due to the parity superselec... more We address the task of compression of fermionic quantum information. Due to the parity superselection rule, differently from the case of encoding of quantum information in qubit states, part of the information carried by fermionic systems is encoded in their delocalised correlations. As a consequence, reliability of a compression protocol must be assessed in a way that necessarily accounts also for the preservation of correlations. This implies that input/output fidelity is not a satisfactory figure of merit for fermionic compression schemes. We then discuss various aspects regarding the assessment of reliability of an encoding scheme, and show that entanglement fidelity in the fermionic case is capable of evaluating the preservation of correlations, thus revealing itself strictly stronger than input/output fidelity, unlike the qubit case. We then introduce a fermionic version of the source coding theorem showing that, as in the quantum case, the von Neumann entropy is the minimal r...

We investigate general probabilistic theories in which every mixed state has a purification, uniq... more We investigate general probabilistic theories in which every mixed state has a purification, unique up to reversible channels on the purifying system. We show that the purification principle is equivalent to the existence of a reversible realization of every physical process, that is, to the fact that every physical process can be regarded as arising from a reversible interaction of the system with an environment, which is eventually discarded. From the purification principle we also construct an isomorphism between transformations and bipartite states that possesses all structural properties of the Choi-Jamio lkowski isomorphism in quantum theory. Such an isomorphism allows one to prove most of the basic features of quantum theory, like e.g. existence of pure bipartite states giving perfect correlations in independent experiments, no information without disturbance, no joint discrimination of all pure states, no cloning, teleportation, no programming, no bit commitment, complementa...
The paper studies unambiguous discrimination of fermionic states through local operations and cla... more The paper studies unambiguous discrimination of fermionic states through local operations and classical communication (LOCC). In the task of unambiguous discrimination, no error is tolerated but an inconclusive result is allowed. We show that contrary to the quantum case, it is not always possible to distinguish two fermionic states through LOCC unambiguously with the same success probability as if global measurements were allowed. Furthermore, we prove that we can overcome such a limit through an ancillary system made of two fermionic modes, independently of the dimension of the system, prepared in a maximally entangled state: in this case, LOCC protocols achieve the optimal success probability.
We study quantum learning algorithms for quantum measurements. The optimal learning algorithm is ... more We study quantum learning algorithms for quantum measurements. The optimal learning algorithm is derived for arbitrary von Neumann measurements in the case of training with one or two examples. The analysis of the case of three examples reveals that, differently from the learning of unitary gates, the optimal algorithm for learning of quantum measurements cannot be parallelized, and requires quantum memories for the storage of information.
We describe a general framework to study covariant symmetric broadcasting maps for mixed qubit st... more We describe a general framework to study covariant symmetric broadcasting maps for mixed qubit states. We explicitly derive the optimal N → M superbroadcasting maps, achieving optimal purification of the single-site output copy, in both the universal and the phase covariant cases. We also study the bipartite entanglement properties of the superbroadcast states.
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Papers by Paolo Perinotti