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Implementing high dimensional unitary representations of SU(2) on a Quantum Computer

Quantum Physics 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

In this note we consider a system with a large angular momentum l whose state we can store using some log_2(l) qubits. The problem then is how to carry out spatial rotations of the system in this representation. In other words we are looking at a unitary representation of SU(2) with dimension 2l+1 and want to implement these transformations with resources polynomial in log(l). We only give a sketch of our solution which involves ``storing'' discretised spherical harmonic functions Y_{l,m}(Theta,phi) in a quantum register. Also there are some technical gaps in the construction, but they are based on plausible assumptions. Our approach is rather cumbersome and we hope somebody will find a nicer solution. For a nice, elementary explanation of what we are trying to do (not involving physics or representation theory) see section 4.6.2.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0407140,
  title  = {Implementing high dimensional unitary representations of SU(2) on a Quantum Computer},
  author = {Christof Zalka},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0407140},
  year   = {2007}
}

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