Professor Artur Ekert FRS

Abstract:

We derive a tight upper bound for the fidelity of a universal N to M qubit cloner, valid for any M \geq N, where the output of the cloner is required to be supported on the symmetric subspace. Our proof is based on the concatenation of two cloners and the connection between quantum cloning and quantum state estimation. We generalise the operation of a quantum cloner to mixed and/or entangled input qubits described by a density matrix supported on the symmetric subspace of the constituent qubits. We also extend the validity of optimal state estimation methods to inputs of this kind.

Abstract:

Quantum computers use the quantum interference of different computational paths to enhance correct outcomes and suppress erroneous outcomes of computations. A common pattern underpinning quantum algorithms can be identified when quantum computation is viewed as multi-particle interference. We use this approach to review (and improve) some of the existing quantum algorithms and to show how they are related to different instances of quantum phase estimation. We provide an explicit algorithm for generating any prescribed interference pattern with an arbitrary precision.

Abstract:

We present a universal algorithm for the optimal quantum state estimation of an arbitrary finite dimensional system. The algorithm specifies a physically realizable positive operator valued measurement (POVM) on a finite number of identically prepared systems. We illustrate the general formalism by applying it to different scenarios of the state estimation of N independent and identically prepared two-level systems (qubits).