English

Quantum and classical bounds for two-state overlaps

Quantum Physics 2020-06-23 v3

Abstract

Suppose we have NN quantum systems in unknown states ψi\lvert\psi_i \rangle , but know the value of some pairwise overlaps ψkψl2\left| \langle \psi_k \lvert \psi_l \rangle \right|^2. What can we say about the values of the unknown overlaps? We provide a complete answer to this problem for three pure states and two given overlaps, and a way to obtain bounds for the general case. We discuss how the answer contrasts from that of a classical model featuring only coherence-free, diagonal states, and describe three applications: basis-independent coherence witnesses, dimension witnesses, and characterisation of multi-photon indistinguishability.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1902.11039,
  title  = {Quantum and classical bounds for two-state overlaps},
  author = {Ernesto F. Galvão and Daniel J. Brod},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1902.11039},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

8 pages (+8 page Appendix), 6 figures. v3: Expanded content with more examples, figures and applications

R2 v1 2026-06-23T07:54:06.537Z