2
$\begingroup$

Let $V$ be a finite dimensional complex inner product space. If $A_1,\dots,A_r\in L(V)$, then define a mapping $\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r):L(V)\rightarrow L(V)$ by letting $\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r)(X)=A_1XA_1^*+\dots+A_rXA_r^*$ for all operators $X\in L(V)$.

We have $$\rho(A_1\otimes B_1+\dots+A_r\otimes B_r)\leq\rho(\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r))^{1/2}\rho(\Phi(B_1,\dots,B_r))^{1/2}$$ whenever $A_1,\dots,A_r,B_1,\dots,B_r$ are matrices.

In particular,

$$\frac{\rho(A_1\otimes X_1+\dots+A_r\otimes X_r)}{\rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))^{1/2}}\leq \rho(\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r))^{1/2}$$ whenever $\rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))\neq 0.$

Define a quantity $\rho_{2,d}$ by letting $$\rho_{2,d}(A_1,\dots,A_r)$$ $$=\sup\{\frac{\rho(A_1\otimes X_1+\dots+A_r\otimes X_r)}{\rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))^{1/2}}\mid \rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))\neq 0,X_1,\dots,X_r\in M_{d}(\mathbb{C})\}.$$

Given matrices $A_1,\dots,A_r$, do there necessarily exist $d\times d$-complex matrices $X_1,\dots,X_r$ where $$\rho_{2,d}(A_1,\dots,A_r) =\frac{\rho(A_1\otimes X_1+\dots+A_r\otimes X_r)}{\rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))^{1/2}}?$$

If $d=1$, then the supremum can be reached since $$\rho_{2,1}(A_1,\dots,A_r)=\sup\{\frac{\rho(\alpha_1X_1+\dots+\alpha_rX_r)}{(|\alpha|_1^2+\dots+|\alpha_r|_1^2)^{1/2}}\mid(\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_r)\neq\mathbf{0}\}$$

$$=\sup\{\rho(\alpha_1X_1+\dots+\alpha_rX_r):|\alpha_1|^2+\dots+|\alpha_r|^2=1\}.$$

The sumpremum may also be reached when $d\geq\text{Dim}(V)$.

The value $$\frac{\rho_{2,d}(A_{1},\dots,A_r)}{\rho(\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r))^{1/2}}$$ seems to be a number in the interval $[0,1]$ that is a sort of maximum value of a kind of correlation coefficient between $(A_1,\dots,A_n)$ and a collection of $d\times d$-matrices $(X_1,\dots,X_n)$. Said differently, for $d<\text{Dim}(V)$ this value seems to be a coefficient that tells one how random $(A_1,\dots,A_n)$ is.

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

0
$\begingroup$

Yes. The equality can in fact be reached. Our strategy will be to produce a compact set $K_{d,r}\subseteq M_{d}(\mathbb{C})^{r}$ such that if $(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in K_{d,r}$, then $\rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))=1$, and where $$\rho_{2,d}(A_1,\dots,A_r)=\max\{\rho(A_1\otimes X_1+\dots+A_r\otimes X_r)\mid(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in K_{d,r}\}.$$

Let us go over a few definitions and facts to give some context to our construction. These facts can easily be found in John Watrous's 2018 book called The Theory of Quantum Information.

A mapping $\mathcal{E}:L(V)\rightarrow L(W)$ is said to be positive if whenever $X$ is positive semidefinite, $\mathcal{E}(X)$ is also positive semidefinite. A mapping $\mathcal{E}:L(V)\rightarrow L(W)$ is said to be completely positive if the mapping $\mathcal{E}\otimes 1_{U}:L(V\otimes U)\rightarrow L(W\otimes U)$ is positive for each finite dimensional complex Hilbert space $U$.

A mapping $\mathcal{E}:L(V)\rightarrow L(W)$ is said to be trace preserving if $\text{Tr}(\mathcal{E}(X))=\text{Tr}(X)$ for each $X\in L(V)$.

Proposition: Let $\mathcal{E}:L(V)\rightarrow L(W)$ be a linear operator.

  1. $\mathcal{E}$ is completely positive if and only if there are $A_1,\dots,A_r$ where $\mathcal{E}=\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r)$.

  2. If $\mathcal{E}$ is defined by letting $\mathcal{E}(X)=A_1XB_1^*+\dots+A_rXB_r^*$, then $\mathcal{E}$ is trace preserving if and only if $A_1^*B_1+\dots+A_r^*B_r=1_V$.

A quantum channel is a completely positive trace preserving operator $\mathcal{E}:L(V)\rightarrow L(W)$. In quantum information theory, the quantum channels are the main morphisms between quantum states.

Proposition: If $\mathcal{E}$ is a quantum channel, then $\rho(\mathcal{E})=1$.

Let $K_{d,r}$ be the collection of all tuples $(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in M_{d}(\mathbb{C})^r$ such that $X_1^*X_1+\dots+X_r^*X_r=1_d$. Said differently, $K_{d,r}$ is the collection of all tuples $(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in M_{d}(\mathbb{C})^r$ such that $\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r)$ is a quantum channel. The set $K_{d,r}$ is clearly a closed set, and $K_{d,r}$ is bounded since $d=\text{Tr}(X_1^*X_1+\dots+X_r^*X_r)=\|X_1\|_2^2+\dots+\|X_r\|_2^2$ where $\|\cdot\|_2$ denotes the Frobenius norm, so $K_{d,r}$ is compact.

Lemma: Let $A_1,\dots,A_r\in L(V)$. Suppose that there is no $x\in V\setminus\{0\}$ with $A_1x=\dots=A_rx=0$. Furthermore, suppose that there is no subspace $W\subseteq V$ with $W\neq\{0\},W\neq V$, and $W=A_1[W]+\dots+A_r[W]$. Then there is a $\lambda>0$ along with a positive definite $P$ with $\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r)(P)=\lambda P$.

Proof: Now, let $\mathcal{Q}$ be the collection of all positive semidefinite matrices in $L(V)$ with trace $1$, and let $F:\mathcal{Q}\rightarrow\mathcal{Q}$ be the mapping defined by letting $$F(P)=\frac{\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r)(P)}{\text{Tr}\big(\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r)(P)\big)}.$$ Then $\mathcal{Q}$ is convex, and $F$ is a continuous bijection, so by the Brouwer fixed point theorem, there is some $P\in\mathcal{Q}$ with $F(P)=P$. Therefore, we have $\Phi(A_1,\dots,A_r)(P)=\lambda P$ for some positive $\lambda$.

Now, $$\text{Im}(P)=\text{Im}(\lambda P)=\text{Im}(A_1PA_1^*+\dots+A_rPA_r^*)$$ $$=\text{Im}(A_1PA_1^*)+\dots+\text{Im}(A_rPA_r^*)=\text{Im}(A_1P)+\dots+\text{Im}(A_rP)$$ $$=A_1[\text{Im}(P)]+\dots+A_r[\text{Im}(P)].$$

This is only possible if $\text{Im}(P)=V$. $\square$

Let $O_{d,r}$ be the collection of all $(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in M_{d}(\mathbb{C})^{r}$ where $\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r)$ is not nilpotent. Let $E_{d,r}$ be the collection of all $(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in M_d(\mathbb{C})^r$ where there is no subspace $W\subseteq\mathbb{C}^d$ with $W=X_1^*[W]+\dots+X_r^*[W]$ and $W\neq\{0\},W\neq\mathbb{C}^d$ and where there is no $x$ with $X_j^*x=0$ for $1\leq j\leq r$.

The sets $O_{d,r},E_{d,r}$ are dense subsets of $M_{d}(\mathbb{C})^{r}$ with $E_{d,r}\subseteq O_{d,r}$.

Proposition: Suppose that $(X_1,\dots,X_r)\in E_{d,r}$. Then there is an invertible matrix $B$ and some positive number $\lambda$ with $(\lambda BX_1B^{-1},\dots,\lambda BX_rB^{-1})\in K_{d,r}$.

Proof: Suppose that $B$ is invertible and $\lambda$ is positive. Then $(\lambda BX_1B^{-1},\dots,\lambda BX_rB^{-1})\in K_{d,r}$ if and only if $$\sum_{k=1}^{r}\lambda^2 (B^{-1})^*X_k^*B^*BX_k^*B^{-1}=I$$ if and only if

$$\sum_{k=1}^{r}\lambda^2 X_k^*B^*BX_k=B^*B$$.

Therefore, there are $\lambda,B$ with $(\lambda BX_1B^{-1},\dots,\lambda BX_rB^{-1})\in K_{d,r}$ if and only if there is a positive $\mu$ and a positive definite $P$ with $$\mu\Phi(X_1^*,\dots,X_k^*)P=P.$$ On the other hand, the existence of such a positive definite $P$ and positive $\mu$ is guaranteed by the above lemma. $\square$

Now, define a mapping $G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}:O_{d,r}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ by letting $$G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(X_1,\dots,X_r)=\frac{\rho(A_1\otimes X_1+\dots+A_r\otimes X_r)}{\rho(\Phi(X_1,\dots,X_r))^{1/2}}.$$ Since the mapping $G$ is continuous, we have $$\rho_{2,d}(A_1,\dots,A_r)=\sup\{G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(X_1,\dots,X_r)\mid (X_1,\dots,X_r)\in E_{d,r}\}.$$

Since $$G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(X_1,\dots,X_r)=G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(\lambda BX_1B^{-1},\dots,\lambda BX_rB^{-1})$$ whenever $B$ is invertible and $\lambda$ is a non-zero complex number, by the above proposition, we know that $$\{G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(X_1,\dots,X_r)\mid (X_1,\dots,X_r)\in E_{d,r}\}$$ $$=\{G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(X_1,\dots,X_r)\mid (X_1,\dots,X_r)\in K_{d,r}\}.$$

Therefore, since $K_{d,r}$ is compact, there is some $(Z_1,\dots,Z_r)\in K_{d,r}$ with $$G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(Z_1,\dots,Z_r)=\max\{G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}(X_1,\dots,X_r)\mid (X_1,\dots,X_r)\in K_{d,r}\}$$ $$=\rho_{2,d}(A_1,\dots,A_r).$$

I have ran computations that maximize $G_{A_1,\dots,A_r}$, and in these computations the maximum seems to actually be reached.

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ As a consequence, the function $\rho_{2,d}$ is actually continuous. $\endgroup$ Jun 10, 2022 at 16:16

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.