Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Johnston, Nathaniel, Li, Chi-Kwong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.08463
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866918300823322624
author Johnston, Nathaniel
Li, Chi-Kwong
author_facet Johnston, Nathaniel
Li, Chi-Kwong
contents Given a positive integer k, it is natural to ask for a formula for the distance between a given density matrix (i.e., mixed quantum state) and the set of density matrices of rank at most k. This problem has already been solved when "distance" is measured in the trace or Frobenius norm. We solve it for all other unitary similarity invariant norms. We also present some consequences of our formula. For example, in the trace and Frobenius norms, the density matrix that is farthest from the set of low-rank density matrices is the maximally-mixed state, but this is not true in many other unitary similarity invariant norms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_08463
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Approximating quantum states by states of low rank
Johnston, Nathaniel
Li, Chi-Kwong
Quantum Physics
Given a positive integer k, it is natural to ask for a formula for the distance between a given density matrix (i.e., mixed quantum state) and the set of density matrices of rank at most k. This problem has already been solved when "distance" is measured in the trace or Frobenius norm. We solve it for all other unitary similarity invariant norms. We also present some consequences of our formula. For example, in the trace and Frobenius norms, the density matrix that is farthest from the set of low-rank density matrices is the maximally-mixed state, but this is not true in many other unitary similarity invariant norms.
title Approximating quantum states by states of low rank
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.08463