English

Quantum marginal problem and incompatibility

Quantum Physics 2021-06-16 v3

Abstract

One of the basic distinctions between classical and quantum mechanics is the existence of fundamentally incompatible quantities. Such quantities are present on all levels of quantum objects: states, measurements, quantum channels, and even higher order dynamics. In this manuscript, we show that two seemingly different aspects of quantum incompatibility: the quantum marginal problem of states and the incompatibility on the level of quantum channels are in many-to-one correspondence. Importantly, as incompatibility of measurements is a special case of the latter, it also forms an instance of the quantum marginal problem. The generality of the connection is harnessed by solving the marginal problem for Gaussian and Bell diagonal states, as well as for pure states under depolarizing noise. Furthermore, we derive entropic criteria for channel compatibility, and develop a converging hierarchy of semi-definite programs for quantifying the strength of quantum memories.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1909.02941,
  title  = {Quantum marginal problem and incompatibility},
  author = {Erkka Haapasalo and Tristan Kraft and Nikolai Miklin and Roope Uola},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1909.02941},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

published version, 20 pages, 2 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T11:07:51.165Z