Geometric Algebra in Quantum Information Processing
Abstract
This paper develops a geometric model for coupled two-state quantum systems (qubits), which is formulated using geometric (aka Clifford) algebra. It begins by showing how Euclidean spinors can be interpreted as entities in the geometric algebra of a Euclidean vector space. This algebra is then lifted to Minkowski space-time and its associated geometric algebra, and the insights this provides into how density operators and entanglement behave under Lorentz transformations are discussed. The direct sum of multiple copies of space-time induces a tensor product structure on the associated algebra, in which a suitable quotient is isomorphic to the matrix algebra conventionally used in multi-qubit quantum mechanics. Finally, the utility of geometric algebra in understanding both unitary and nonunitary quantum operations is demonstrated on several examples of interest in quantum information processing.
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0004031,
title = {Geometric Algebra in Quantum Information Processing},
author = {Timothy F. Havel and Chris J. L. Doran},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0004031},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
27 pages, AMS conm-p-l documentclass, to be published in the AMS ``Contemporary Math'' series volume entitled Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Science (S. Lomonaco, ed.); version 3 includes minor corrections and was reformatted single-spaced for publisher