English

MUBs, polytopes, and finite geometries

Quantum Physics 2009-11-10 v2

Abstract

A complete set of N+1 mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) exists in Hilbert spaces of dimension N = p^k, where p is a prime number. They mesh naturally with finite affine planes of order N, that exist when N = p^k. The existence of MUBs for other values of N is an open question, and the same is true for finite affine planes. I explore the question whether the existence of complete sets of MUBs is directly related to the existence of finite affine planes. Both questions can be shown to be geometrical questions about a convex polytope, but not in any obvious way the same question.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0406174,
  title  = {MUBs, polytopes, and finite geometries},
  author = {Ingemar Bengtsson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0406174},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

15 pages; talk at the Vaxjo conference on probability and physics

R2 v1 2026-07-22T19:44:45.488Z