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We describe a classical model that may serve as an analog for joint and local measurements of an entanglement witness. The analogous experimental procedure and data analysis protocol of the model follow those of a previous experiment to measure an entanglement witness with polarized photons prepared in a mixed state [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{91}, 227901 (2003)]. Numerical simulations show excellent agreement with both experimental results and quantum-mechanical predictions. This agreement is made possible by the fact that the model exhibits contextuality due to the postselection of coincident detection events., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We elaborate on the notion of generalized tomograms, both in the classical and quantum domains. We construct a scheme of star-products of thick tomographic symbols and obtain in explicit form the kernels of classical and quantum generalized tomograms. Some of the new tomograms may have interesting applications in quantum optical tomography., Comment: 5 pages, 0 figures

We present a new derivation of the proof for the TCP/CPT Theorem using the Dynamical Principle and Variation of Action methods first defined by Schwinger in 1951. This new proof will significantly extend the TCP Theorem beyond the original proofs by Pauli-Luders and Jost, which were significantly constrained by limits of free quantum fields and the asymptotic condition. This paper gives a more fundamental proof based on invariance of the Variation of Action with interactions included and no free field or asymptotic condition on the quantum fields. This new proof for TCP/CPT can now be applied to more complicated quantum field systems that include n-particle bound states and unstable states., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures

Some non-linear generalizations of classical Radon tomography were recently introduced by M. Asorey et al [Phys. Rev. A 77, 042115 (2008), where the straight lines of the standard Radon map are replaced by quadratic curves (ellipses, hyperbolas, circles) or quadratic surfaces (ellipsoids, hyperboloids, spheres). We consider here the quantum version of this novel non-linear approach and obtain, by systematic use of the Weyl map, a tomographic encoding approach to quantum states. Non-linear quantum tomograms admit a simple formulation within the framework of the star-product quantization scheme and the reconstruction formulae of the density operators are explicitly given in a closed form, with an explicit construction of quantizers and dequantizers. The role of symmetry groups behind the generalized tomographic maps is analyzed in some detail. We also introduce new generalizations of the standard singular dequantizers of the symplectic tomographic schemes, where the Dirac delta-distributions of operator-valued arguments are replaced by smooth window functions, giving rise to the new concept of "thick" quantum tomography. Applications for quantum state measurements of photons and matter waves are discussed., Comment: 8 pages

After a general description of the tomographic picture for classical systems, a tomographic description of free classical scalar fields is proposed both in a finite cavity and the continuum. The tomographic description is constructed in analogy with the classical tomographic picture of an ensemble of harmonic oscillators. The tomograms of a number of relevant states such as the canonical distribution, the classical counterpart of quantum coherent states and a new family of so called Gauss--Laguerre states, are discussed. Finally the Liouville equation for field states is described in the tomographic picture offering an alternative description of the dynamics of the system that can be extended naturally to other fields.

The tomographic picture of quantum mechanics has brought the description of quantum states closer to that of classical probability and statistics. On the other hand, the geometrical formulation of quantum mechanics introduces a metric tensor and a symplectic tensor (Hermitian tensor) on the space of pure states. By putting these two aspects together, we show that the Fisher information metric, both classical and quantum, can be described by means of the Hermitian tensor on the manifold of pure states., Comment: 8 pages

We scrutinize the effects of non-ideal data acquisition on the homodyne tomograms of photon quantum states. The presence of a weight function, schematizing the effects of the finite thickness of the probing beam or equivalently noise, only affects the state reconstruction procedure by a normalization constant. The results are extended to a discrete mesh and show that quantum tomography is robust under incomplete and approximate knowledge of tomograms., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, published version

Quantum channels can be mathematically represented as completely positive trace-preserving maps that act on a density matrix. A general quantum channel can be written as a convex sum of `extremal' channels. We show that for an $N$-level system, the extremal channel can be characterized in terms of $N^2$-$N$ real parameters coupled with rotations. We give a representation for $N$= 2, 3, 4., Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure

In a recent letter one of us pointed out how differences in preparation procedures for quantum experiments can lead to non-trivial differences in the results of the experiment. The difference arise from the initial correlations between the system and environment. Therefore, any quantum experiment that is prone to the influences from the environment must be prepared carefully. In this paper, we study quantum process tomography in light of this. We suggest several experimental setups, where preparation of initial state plays a role on the final outcome of the experiment. We show that by studying the linearity and the positivity of the resulting maps the experimenter can determine the nature of the initial correlations between the system and the environment., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figs

The quasidistributions corresponding to the diagonal representation of quantum states are discussed within the framework of operator-symbol construction. The tomographic-probability distribution describing the quantum state in the probability representation of quantum mechanics is reviewed. The connection of the diagonal and probability representations is discussed. The superposition rule is considered in terms of the density-operator symbols. The separability and entanglement properties of multipartite quantum systems are formulated as the properties of the density-operator symbols of the system states., Comment: Invited talk presented at the XV Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics (Belgrade, Serbia, 30 May -- 3 June 2008), to appear in Physica Scripta T

We examine the response of a plane wave incident on a flat surface of a medium characterized by simultaneously negative electric and magnetic susceptibilities by solving Maxwell's equations explicitly and without making any assumptions on the way. In the literature up to date, it has been assumed that negative refractive materials are necessarily frequency dispersive. We propose an alternative to this assumption by suggesting that the requirement of positive energy density should be relaxed, and discuss the implications of such a proposal. More specifically, we show that once negative energy solutions are accepted, the necessity for frequency dispersion is no longer necessary. Finally, we argue that, for the purposes of discussing negative index materials, the use of group velocity as the physically significant quantity is misleading, and suggest that any discussion involving it should be carefully reconsidered., Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publication

We analyze the structure of the subset of states generated by unital completely positive quantum maps, A witness that certifies that a state does not belong to the subset generated by a given map is constructed. We analyse the representations of positive maps and their relation to quantum Perron-Frobenius theory., Comment: 14 pages

Depolarizing maps acting on an N dimensional system are completely positive maps resulting into compression of the Bloch ball along the different polarization directions. In the qubit case these maps are a convex sum of four extremal maps and form a simplex in the space of compression coefficients along the three polarization directions. We calculate the compression domain for three and four level systems. For a three level system the region has curved surfaces, but it is a simplex for a four level system. We conjecture that it is a simplex in the case of 2^n level systems., Comment: 7 pages

We construct a non-Markovian canonical dynamical map that accounts for systems correlated with the environment. The physical meaning of not completely positive maps is studied to obtain a theory of non-Markovian quantum dynamics. The relationship between inverse maps and correlations with the environment is established. A generalized non-Markovian master equation is derived from the canonical dynamical map that goes beyond the Kossakowski-Lindblad Markovian master equation. Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics can be be studied within this theory.

We introduce several possible generalizations of tomography for quadratic surfaces. We analyze different types of elliptic, hyperbolic and hybrid tomograms. In all cases it is possible to consistently define the inverse tomographic map. We find two different ways of introducing tomographic sections. The first method operates by deformations of the standard Radon transform. The second method proceeds by shifting a given quadric pattern. The most general tomographic transformation can be defined in terms of marginals over surfaces generated by deformations of complete families of hyperplanes or quadrics. We discuss practical and conceptual perspectives and possible applications., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Using general construction of star-product the q-deformed Wigner-Weyl-Moyal quantization procedure is elaborated. The q-deformed Groenewold kernel determining the product of quantum observables is given in explicit form for small nonlinearities corresponding to nonlinear vibrations of classical and quantum q-oscillators. The deformations of Groenewold kernel related to general kinds of nonlinear vibrations described by f-oscillators are considered., Comment: 11 pages - to be submitted to Physics Letters A

A Markov approximation in open quantum dynamics can give unphysical results when a map acts on a state that is not in its domain. This is examined here in a simple example, an open quantum dynamics for one qubit in a system of two interacting qubits, for which the map domains have been described quite completely. A time interval is split into two parts and the map from the exact dynamics for the entire interval is replaced by the conjunction of that same map for both parts. If there is any correlation between the two qubits, unphysical results can appear as soon as the map conjunction is used, even for infinitesimal times. If the map is repeated an unlimited number of times, every state is at risk of being taken outside the bounds of physical meaning. Treatment by slippage of initial conditions is discussed., Comment: 3 pages

We investigate the spin-statistics connection in arbitrary dimensions for hermitian spinor or tensor quantum fields with a rotationally invariant bilinear Lagrangian density. We use essentially the same simple method as for space dimension D = 3. We find the usual connection (tensors as bosons and spinors as fermions) for D = 8n + 3; 8n + 4; 8n + 5, but only bosons for spinors and tensors in dimensions 8n +/- 1 and 8n. In dimensions 4n + 2 the spinors may be chosen as bosons or fermions. The argument hinges on finding the identity representation of the rotation group either on the symmetric or the antisymmetric part of the square of the field representation., Comment: 14 pages. To be published in International Journal of Theoretical Physics

We study the effects of preparation of input states in a quantum tomography experiment. We show that maps arising from a quantum process tomography experiment (called process maps) differ from the well know dynamical maps. The difference between the two is due to the preparation procedure that is necessary for any quantum experiment. We study two preparation procedures, stochastic preparation and preparation by measurements. The stochastic preparation procedure yields process maps that are linear, while the preparations using von Neumann measurements lead to non-linear processes, and can only be consistently described by a bi-linear process map. A new process tomography recipe is derived for preparation by measurement for qubits. The difference between the two methods is analyzed in terms of a quantum process tomography experiment. A verification protocol is proposed to differentiate between linear processes and bi-linear processes. We also emphasize the preparation procedure will have a non-trivial effect for any quantum experiment in which the system of interest interacts with its environment., Comment: 13 pages, no figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. A

The positive and not completely positive maps of density matrices, which are contractive maps, are discussed as elements of a semigroup. A new kind of positive map (the purification map), which is nonlinear map, is introduced. The density matrices are considered as vectors, linear maps among matrices are represented by superoperators given in the form of higher dimensional matrices. Probability representation of spin states (spin tomography) is reviewed and U(N)-tomogram of spin states is presented. Properties of the tomograms as probability distribution functions are studied. Notion of tomographic purity of spin states is introduced. Entanglement and separability of density matrices are expressed in terms of properties of the tomographic joint probability distributions of random spin projections which depend also on unitary group parameters. A new positivity criterion for hermitian matrices is formulated. An entanglement criterion is given in terms of a function depending on unitary group parameters and semigroup of positive map parameters. The function is constructed as sum of moduli of U(N)-tomographic symbols of the hermitian matrix obtained after action on the density matrix of composite system by a positive but not completely positive map of the subsystem density matrix. Some two-qubit and two-qutritt states are considered as examples of entangled states. The connection with the star-product quantisation is discussed. The structure of the set of density matrices and their relation to unitary group and Lie algebra of the unitary group are studied. Nonlinear quantum evolution of state vector obtained by means of applying purification rule of density matrices evolving via dynamical maps is considered. Some connection of positive maps and entanglement with random matrices is discussed and used., Comment: 52 pages, in: Symmetries in Science XI, Bruno J. Gruber, Giuseppe Marmo Naotaka Yoshinag (Eds), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht 2004, ''The Geometry of Density States, Positive Maps, and Tomograms'' pp. 395-443

We study the process by which quantum correlations are created when an interaction Hamiltonian is repeatedly applied to a system of two harmonic oscillators for some characteristic time interval. We show that, for the case where the oscillator frequencies are equal, the initial Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions of the uncoupled parts evolve to a new equilibrium Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution through a series of transient Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions. Further, we discuss why the equilibrium reached when the two oscillator frequencies are unequal, is not a thermal one. All the calculations are exact and the results are obtained through an iterative process, without using perturbation theory., Comment: 22 pages, 6 Figures, Added contents, to appear in PRA

Simple examples are constructed that show the entanglement of two qubits being both increased and decreased by interactions on just one of them. One of the two qubits interacts with a third qubit, a control, that is never entangled or correlated with either of the two entangled qubits and is never entangled, but becomes correlated, with the system of those two qubits. The two entangled qubits do not interact, but their state can change from maximally entangled to separable or from separable to maximally entangled. Similar changes for the two qubits are made with a swap operation between one of the qubits and a control; then there are compensating changes of entanglement that involve the control. When the entanglement increases, the map that describes the change of the state of the two entangled qubits is not completely positive. Combination of two independent interactions that individually give exponential decay of the entanglement can cause the entanglement to not decay exponentially but, instead, go to zero at a finite time., Comment: 6 Pages, new title, substantially revised

The tomographic probability distribution on the phase space (cylinder) related to a circle or an interval is introduced. The explicit relations of the tomographic probability densities and the probability densities on the phase space for the particle motion on a torus are obtained and the relation of the suggested map to the Radon transform on the plane is elucidated. The generalization to the case of a multidimensional torus is elaborated and the geometrical meaning of the tomographic probability densities as marginal distributions on the helix discussed., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

We expand the set of initial states of a system and its environment that are known to guarantee completely positive reduced dynamics for the system when the combined state evolves unitarily. We characterize the correlations in the initial state in terms of its quantum discord [H. Ollivier and W. H. Zurek, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 017901 (2001)]. We prove that initial states that have only classical correlations lead to completely positive reduced dynamics. The induced maps can be not completely positive when quantum correlations including, but not limited to, entanglement are present. We outline the implications of our results to quantum process tomography experiments., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure

From the time dependence of states of one of them, the dynamics of two interacting qubits is determined to be one of two possibilities that differ only by a change of signs of parameters in the Hamiltonian. The only exception is a simple particular case where several parameters in the Hamiltonian are zero and one of the remaining nonzero parameters has no effect on the time dependence of states of the one qubit. The mean values that describe the initial state of the other qubit and of the correlations between the two qubits also are generally determined to within a change of signs by the time dependence of states of the one qubit, but with many more exceptions. An example demonstrates all the results. Feedback in the equations of motion that allows time dependence in a subsystem to determine the dynamics of the larger system can occur in both classical and quantum mechanics. The role of quantum mechanics here is just to identify qubits as the simplest objects to consider and specify the form that equations of motion for two interacting qubits can take., Comment: 6 pages with new and updated material

Simple examples are presented of Lorentz transformations that entangle the spins and momenta of two particles with positive mass and spin 1/2. They apply to indistinguishable particles, produce maximal entanglement from finite Lorentz transformations of states for finite momenta, and describe entanglement of spins produced together with entanglement of momenta. From the entanglements considered, no sum of entanglements is found to be unchanged., Comment: 5 Pages, 2 Figures, One new paragraph and reference added

The method of constructing the tomographic probability distributions describing quantum states in parallel with density operators is presented. Known examples of Husimi-Kano quasi-distribution and photon number tomography are reconsidered in the new setting. New tomographic schemes based on coherent states and nonlinear coherent states of deformed oscillators, including q-oscillators, are suggested. The associated identity decompositions providing Gram-Schmidt operators are explicitly given, and contact with the Agarwal-Wolf $\Omega$-operator ordering theory is made., Comment: A slightly enlarged version in which contact with the Agarwal-Wolf $\Omega$-operator ordering theory is made

The example of nonpositive trace-class Hermitian operator for which Robertson-Schroedinger uncertainty relation is fulfilled is presented. The partial scaling criterion of separability of multimode continuous variable system is discussed in the context of using nonpositive maps of density matrices., Comment: 11 pages, to be submitted to Physics Letters A

The relation between completely positive maps and compound states is investigated in terms of the notion of quantum conditional probability.

Lorentz transformations of spin density matrices for a particle with positive mass and spin 1/2 are described by maps of the kind used in open quantum dynamics. They show how the Lorentz transformations of the spin depend on the momentum. Since the spin and momentum generally are entangled, the maps generally are not completely positive and act in limited domains. States with two momentum values are considered, so the maps are for the spin qubit entangled with the qubit made from the two momentum values, and results from the open quantum dynamics of two coupled qubits can be applied. Inverse maps are used to show that every Lorentz transformation completely removes the spin polarization, and so completely removes the information, from a number of spin density matrices. The size of the spin polarization that is removed is calculated for particular cases., Comment: 7 Pages, 3 Figures

The mechanism of describing quantum states by standard probability (tomographic one) instead of wave function or density matrix is elucidated. Quantum tomography is formulated in an abstract Hilbert space framework, by means of the identity decompositions in the Hilbert space of hermitian linear operators, with trace formula as scalar product of operators. Decompositions of identity are considered with respect to over-complete families of projectors labeled by extra parameters and containing a measure, depending on these parameters. It plays the role of a Gram-Schmidt orthonormalization kernel. When the measure is equal to one, the decomposition of identity coincides with a positive operator valued measure (POVM) decomposition. Examples of spin tomography, photon number tomography and symplectic tomography are reconsidered in this new framework., Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett. A

The partial scaling transform of the density matrix for multiqubit states is introduced to detect entanglement of quantum states. The transform contains partial transposition as a special case. The scaling transform corresponds to partial time scaling of subsystem (or partial Planck's constant scaling) which was used to formulate recently separability criterion for continous variables.A measure of entanglement which is a generalization of negativity measure is introduced being based on tomographic probability description of spin states., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Phys. A: Math. Gen

Using pure entangled Schmidt states, we show that m-positivity of a map is bounded by the ranks of its negative Kraus matrices. We also give an algebraic condition for a map to be m-positive. We interpret these results in the context of positive maps as entanglement witnesses, and find that only 1-positive maps are needed for testing entanglement., Comment: 7 pages

For systems described by finite matrices, an affine form is developed for the maps that describe evolution of density matrices for a quantum system that interacts with another. This is established directly from the Heisenberg picture. It separates elements that depend only on the dynamics from those that depend on the state of the two systems. While the equivalent linear map is generally not completely positive, the homogeneous part of the affine maps is, and is shown to be composed of multiplication operations that come simply from the Hamiltonian for the larger system. The inhomogeneous part is shown to be zero if and only if the map does not increase the trace of the square of any density matrix. Properties are worked out in detail for two-qubit examples., Comment: 10 pages, 3 Figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A

The evolution of two qubits coupled by a general nonlocal interaction is studied in two distinct regimes. In the first regime the purity of the individual qubits is interchanged through the entanglement shared by the two. We illustrate how this can be a mechanism for decoherence. In the second regime, the interaction entangles two initially pure qubits. The dynamical maps for the reduced unitary evolution of both initially simply separable and not-simply-separable states are found. We outline a protocol for optimizing the entanglement generation subject to constraints., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Changed the format and added one whole section. Title slightly changed

We define extension maps as maps that extend a system (through adding ancillary systems) without changing the state in the original system. We show, using extension maps, why a completely positive operation on an initially entangled system results in a non positive mapping of a subsystem. We also show that any trace preserving map, either positive or negative, can be decomposed in terms of an extension map and a completely positive map., Comment: 6 pages

We consider a geometrization, i.e., we identify geometrical structures, for the space of density states of a quantum system. We also provide few comments on a possible application of this geometrization for composite systems., Comment: 21 pages, to appear in Rep. Math. Phys

The problem of constructing a necessary and sufficient condition for establishing the separability of continuous variable systems is revisited. Simon [R. Simon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2726 (2000)] pointed out that such a criterion may be constructed by drawing a parallel between the Peres' partial transpose criterion for finite dimensional systems and partial time reversal transformation for continuous variable systems. We generalize the partial time reversal transformation to a partial scaling transformation and re-examine the problem using a tomographic description of the continuous variable quantum system. The limits of applicability of the entanglement criteria obtained from partial scaling and partial time reversal are explored., Comment: Submitted for publication to Phys. Lett. A

We reply to the critique by Pucchini and Vucetich of our construction of a non-relativistic proof of the spin-statistics connection using SU(2) invariance and a Weiss-Schwinger action principle., Comment: Reply to Puccini and Vucetich, arXiv:quant-ph/0407208

Linear maps of matrices describing evolution of density matrices for a quantum system initially entangled with another are identified and found to be not always completely positive. They can even map a positive matrix to a matrix that is not positive, unless we restrict the domain on which the map acts. Nevertheless, their form is similar to that of completely positive maps. Only some minus signs are inserted in the operator-sum representation. Each map is the difference of two completely positive maps. The maps are first obtained as maps of mean values and then as maps of basis matrices. These forms also prove to be useful. An example for two entangled qubits is worked out in detail. Relation to earlier work is discussed., Comment: 4 figures

The claim that there is an inconsistency of quantum-classical dynamics [1] is investigated. We point out that a consistent formulation of quantum and classical dynamics which can be used to describe quantum measurement processes is already available in the literature [2]. An example in which a quantum system is interacting with a classical system is worked out using this formulation., Comment: 2 pages