Open Quantum Systems 2023/2024

Problem Sheet 0
(Deadline for Moodle Submission: None, Wednesday 25.11.2023 in class discussion)

Exercise 1 (States of the qubit [5p]). Consider a qubit, that is a quantum two-level system, so that
the corresponding Hilbert space is H = C2 . A statistical operator, ρ : C2 7→ C2 , can be thus described
as a 2 × 2 complex matrix1 .

(a) [2p] Which properties of the density matrix elements follow from the defining properties of the
statistical operator? Recall that the latter are
ρ† = ρ, hψ| ρ |ψi ≥ 0 ∀ |ψi ∈ H, Tr {ρ} = 1.

A useful geometric picture of the states of a qubit is obtained representing the density matrix as
a linear combination of the identity matrix, 1, and the 3 Pauli matrices
     
0 1 0 −i 1 0
σx = , σy = , σz = , (1)
1 0 i 0 0 −1
according to
ρ = α (1 + ~v · ~σ ) , (2)
where ~v is a 3-dimensional vector and ~σ is a vector containing the 3 Pauli matrices, so that ~v · ~σ is a
short-hand notation for vx σx + vy σy + vz σz .

(b) [2p] Which value of α is fixed by the unit trace of ρ? Which constraints on ~v are imposed by
the hermiticity and positivity of ρ?

(c) [1p] Which geometric figure is then in one-to-one correspondence with the set of states of a
qubit? Which part of such figure represents the set of pure states? What is the state in the
center of the figure?
Exercise 2 (Unitary evolution in Quantum Mechanics [6p]). Given a closed quantum systems, its
state ρ(t) at any time t evolves according to the Liouville-von Neumann equation
d ih i
ρ(t) = − Ĥ(t), ρ(t) , (3)
dt ~
where the Hamiltonian Ĥ(t) can be in general time-dependent; the system is said to be isolated if the
Hamiltonian does not depend on time.
The time-evolution unitary operator U (t) connects the state at the initial time (which we will always
set as t0 = 0) to the state at time t, according to
ρ(t) = U (t)ρ(0)U † (t). (4)
Formally, one can write U (t) as
 Z t 
U (t) = T← exp −i dsĤ(s) , (5)
0

where T← is the time-ordering operator, which reduces to

h i
U (t) = exp −iĤt (6)

for isolated systems.

1 The matrix representation of any (finite-dimensional) statistical operator is called density matrix. Often the terms

‘statistical operator’, ‘density operator’ and ‘density matrix’ are used interchangeably in the literature.

1
 (a) [2p] Show that the Liouville-von Neumann equation preserves the purity of the state, i.e. if ρ(0)
is a pure state, also ρ(t) is a pure state at any time t. (Hint: Recall that a state is pure if and
only if ....)
Show that the Schrödinger equation for pure states implies the Liouville-von Neumann equation
for every mixed state, assuming the linearity of the evolution.

~ = B x̂,
Now, consider a spin 1/2 particle subject to an external magnetic field along the x̂-axis, B
so that the Hamiltonian of the system is

Ĥ = ω0 σ̂x , (7)

with ω0 = −µB/~ and µ is the magnitude of the particle’s magnetic momentum.

(b) [2p] Write the solution of the corresponding Liouville-von Neumann equation for a generic initial
condition.

(c) [1p] Which kind of transformation of the Bloch sphere is induced by such a unitary evolution?
Can you explain now, from a geometrical point of view, why unitary (i.e., closed) evolutions
preserve the purity of quantum states?

(d) [1p] If the system is initially in the pure state |0i, after how long will it be with certainty in
the orthogonal pure state |1i? (Recall that |0i and |1i denote the two eigenvectors of the Pauli
matrix σ̂z ).

Exercise 3 (Composite systems [5p+4p]). Given the Hilbert space HA associated to the quantum
system SA and the Hilbert space HB associated to the quantum system SB , the total Hilbert space
associated to the overall system SA + SB is given by the tensor product HA ⊗ HB . Given a basis
{|ui i}i=1,2,... in HA and a basis {|vj i}j=1,2,... in HB , the tensor product space HA ⊗ HB is the (sepa-
rable) Hilbert space spanned by {|ui i ⊗ |vj i ≡ |ui vj i}i,j=1,2,... .
For more details about composite Hilbert spaces, the definition of composite operators, as well as the
notion of partial trace, see for example the book The theory of open quantum systems, by H.P. Breuer
and F. Petruccione, or the book Quantum computation and quantum information, by M.A. Nielsen
and I.L. Chuang.
Consider now the composite system associated to two qubits C2 ⊗ C2 and, in particular, the Bell
state
1
|Φi = √ (|01i − |10i) , (8)
2
where, as usual, we denote as |0i and |1i the eigenvectors of σz with respect to the eigenvalues,
respectively, -1 and 1.

(a) [1p] Determine the two reduced states associated with the qubit A and the qubit B via the partial
trace, according to
ρA = trB {|ΦihΦ| Φ} , ρB = trA {|ΦihΦ| Φ} . (9)

(b) [1p] Evaluate the expectation values of the two local observables ~σA · n̂a and ~σB · n̂b , where
n̂a and n̂b denote two generic directions, i.e., they are real vectors with magnitude 1; the same
notation of Exercise 1 is adopted here.

(c) [2p] Evaluate now the expectation value of the global observable ~σA · n̂a ⊗ ~σB · n̂b , showing that

hΦ| ((~σA · n̂a ) ⊗ (~σB · n̂b )) |Φi = −n̂a · n̂b . (10)

This kind of expectation values define the well-known Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt (CHSH)

inequality.

2
 Remember that a pure state, ρ = |ψi hψ| with |ψi ∈ HA ⊗ HB is said to be a product state,
whenever there exist |φA i ∈ HA and |φB i ∈ HB such that |ψi = |φA φB i, and it is said to be entangled
otherwise.

(d) [1p] Which of the following states are product states and which are entangled? (We use the
notation |±i = √12 (|0i ± |1i))

1 1 1
|ψ1 i = √ (|00i + |01i) ; |ψ2 i = √ (|00i + |11i) ; |ψ3 i = √ (|0+i + |−1i) . (11)
2 2 3

(Bonus) [2p] A mixed state ρ is said to be separable if it can be written as a convex mixture of pure
product states:
(i) (i) (i) (i) (i) (i)
X
ρsep = pi |φA ihφA | φA ⊗ |φB ihφB | φB , (12)
i

where {pi }i is a probability distribution. A state that is not separable is said to be entangled.
Show that this definition of entanglement reduces to the one given above for pure states.
(Bonus) [2p] Prove that every separable state of two qubits satisfies
1
hΦ|ρsep |Φi ≤ , (13)
2
where |Φi is the Bell state of (8). Is the state below separable?
 
1/8 0 0 0
 0 3/8 −1/4 0 
ρ=  0 −1/4 3/8
. (14)
0 
0 0 0 1/8

(The representation is with respect to the lexicographically ordered basis {|00i , |01i , |10i , |11i})