QUANTUM

ENTANGLEMENT
JOHN DONOHUE
The Postulates of Quantum Mechanics
1)Quantum states are described by unit vectors in complex,
potentially high-dimensional Hilbert spaces.

2)The probability of measuring a system in a given state is

given by the absolute-value-squared of the inner product
of the output state and the current state of the system.
Immediately after the measurement, the wavefunction
collapses into that state.

3)Valid quantum state transformations are given by

unitary operations.

4)Separate quantum systems are described by the tensor

product of the separate, individual Hilbert spaces.

5)Physical observables are represented by the eigenvalues

of Hermitian Operators on the Hilbert space.

It’s time!
 What is Entanglement?
Entangled Separable
e-
e- ≠ &
Cannot describe one Clear line
without the other of separation

NASA/JPL-Caltech
 What is Entanglement?

www.wired.com/2011/05/keats-quantum-marriage
Images: Jonathan Keats
What is Entanglement?

• Two-Player Quantum Systems

• Entanglement, mathematically speaking
• Observables and Expectation Values
• The Bell-CHSH Game

Detailed notes posted in Slack

 Two-Player
Quantum Mechanics
 Two-Player Quantum Systems
Separate quantum systems are described by the

e-
tensor product of the separate, e-
individual Hilbert spaces.

Alice & Bob’s

Two-Qubit System

Alice’s Qubit Bob’s Qubit

Two-Player Quantum Systems
New Computational Basis
e- e-

Alice & Bob’s

Two-Qubit System
Two-Player Quantum Systems
We can use bra-ket notation to simplify
composite system problems.

Find the state

in the computational basis
 Two-Player Born’s Rule
We can make measurements on both Alice and Bob’s
systems individually, with outcome probabilities defined by
the two-qubit version of Born’s rule.
Entanglement
Entangled Separable

≠ &

Entanglement is defined in reverse

If a state is not separable, it is entangled
Are they entangled?

Is this state entangled?

Is this state entangled?

Can show by contradiction

The Bell State

This is a maximally entangled state for two qubits.

Bell State Correlations
What are the two-qubit measurement probabilities
for the entangled states?

Alice and Bob’s measurement results are individually random, but correlated
Entanglement vs. Correlation

CORRELATION

Correlation is nothing “spooky” at all

Entanglement is correlation plus superposition

Entanglement vs. Correlation
What separates

from

Entanglement is only distinguishable from classical correlations

when measuring in multiple bases
Question Break
 Two-Play Quantum Operations
What if Alice and Bob perform unitary transformations on their states?
e-
e- Alice & Bob’s
Two-Qubit System

Alice’s Qubit Bob’s Qubit

 Two-Player Quantum Systems
We can use bra-ket notation to simplify
composite system problems.

Find the matrix

Similarly,
 Proving Entanglement

So if we measure correlations in both the 0/1 and +/- basis, the state
is entangled!

But what if it’s all a trick and there’s another way to explain our
results with some kind of conspiracy or hidden variable?

We need something strong to prove we have entanglement.

 Observables and
Expectation Values
Expectation Values
You’re at a carnival and asked to pay $5 to
pick a marble out of a jar containing:

10 blue marbles 5 red marbles 1 purple marble

worth nothing worth $10 worth $50

Should you pay for a random marble?

The expectation value of the payout is larger than the cost,

so you should buy a marble.
 Expectation Values
The expectation value is the average value you would measure if
you repeated an experiment many times
Value associated
with each event

Expectation
value Probability of
each event
 If we have a piggy bank with:
15 nickels (5¢), 10 dimes (10¢), and 5 quarters (25¢),
what is the expected value if we randomly take out one coin?

A. 5¢ B. 7.5¢

C. 10¢ D. 15¢

E. 25¢
 Expectation Values
The expectation value is the average value you would measure if
you repeated an experiment many times
Value associated
with each event

Expectation
value Probability of
each event

Quantum
state Matrix Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
Observables (Postulate #5)
Physical observables are represented by the eigenvalues of
Hermitian operators on the Hilbert space.

Essentially, while complex numbers and vectors are important for calculation,
when we measure something in the lab, we get a real number out

A Hermitian operator is it’s own conjugate transpose

Basically the matrix equivalent of a “real number”

Implies that all of its eigenvalues are real numbers
Observables
We observe if an electron is in the ground state or the excited state

We assign different energies E to each state

The expected value of the energy is found for different states as:

?
Binary Quantum Observables
We want to quantify in one number how
+1 likely each detector is to go off.
φ
We can assign a value of “+1” to the top
detector, and “-1” to the bottom.

-1 Every time the top detector goes off, we

write down “+1”, and we write “-1” when the
bottom detector goes off.

If we average all the results up after many

tries, what value do we expect?
 Binary Quantum Observables

Binary (or ±1) quantum observables can be built in any basis using
the form above.

You’ve already seen a lot of ±1 observable matrices!

 If we have the state:

What is the expectation value of the Z operator?

A. −1 B. −
1
2

C. 0 D. +
1
2

E. +1
 If we have the state:

What is the expectation value of the Z operator?

A. −1 B. −
3
5

C. +
1
5 D. +
3
5

E. +1
Recall:

What is the matrix for the ±1 observable where the

+1 outcome is |+⟩ and the -1 outcome is |−⟩?

A. B.

C. D.

E. None exists
Question Break
 Two-Qubit Binary Observables
Alice and Bob share the entangled state

A two-qubit binary observables asks about their correlations

Negative correlations in the 0/1 basis

Negative correlations in the +/- basis

No correlations if they measure in different bases

The CHSH Game and
Bell’s Inequality
A more perfect theory…
The spookier aspects of quantum mechanics, including entanglement, took a
while to accept among scientists.

Perhaps instead of needing non-local superpositions, a more complete

theory was hiding just out of sight?

For example, maybe the photons carry an extra hidden variable that tells
them how to behave depending on how they’re measured.

John Stewart Bell

 Local Hidden Variables

A hidden variable can explain this result! Can we build an experiment

which behaves in a way that
cannot be explained by local
hidden variables?
Each photon has two bits of information:
– One bit that tells the photon how to be measured in the 0/1 basis
– One bit that tells the photon how to be measured in the +/- basis

We can’t see this information, but maybe it exists? And maybe that’s
easier to believe than entanglement?
The CHSH Game
Q0 Q0
or or
Q1 Q1

“+1” “+1”
or or
“-1” “-1”

Alice Bob
The CHSH Game
Q0 Q0
or or
Q1 Q1

“+1” “+1”
or or
“-1” “-1”

Alice B0 B1 Bob
A0 +1 +1
A1 +1 -1

What’s the probability that Alice and Bob win?

The CHSH Game
B0 B1
A0 +1 +1
A1 +1 -1

Turn the CHSH game into a maximization problem

For any non-random strategy,

the value of S is +2 or -2
The CHSH Game
B0 B1
A0 +1 +1
A1 +1 -1 THE CLASSICAL LIMIT

If we average over random strategies,

the answer must be between +2 and -2

Homework Quizzes Test

Think about it like a 60% 70% 80%
weighted average
Without know what each is worth,
Little
we can still say Timmy’s grade is
Timmy
between 60% and 80%
A Quantum Solution
Alice and Bob share the entangled state

Depending on the question they’re asked,

they make the following measurements:

What is the expected

joint measurement result?
A Quantum Solution
Alice and Bob share the entangled state
A Quantum Solution
Alice and Bob share the entangled state

Greater than the classical limit of 2!

A Quantum Solution
Q0 Q0
or or
Q1 Q1

“+1” “+1”
or or
“-1” “-1”

Alice B0 B1 Bob
A0 +1 +1
A1 +1 -1

Regular Correlations: 75% chance of winning

Quantum Correlations: 85.4% chance of winning
Question Break
Local Realism
Our local hidden variable model relied on two assumptions:
LOCALITY
REALISM
What happens in one location
The properties of objects are described
cannot have an effect on
by an element of reality,
what happens elsewhere,
independent of whether they are observed.
unless it sends a signal.

THEREFORE
Quantum mechanics is either non-local or non-realistic
Nonlocality,
you say?
Nonlocality you say?

Entanglement seems to stretch the idea of locality,

where an action taken “here” cannot effect something over “there”
without a slower-than-light signal being transferred between them.

The First Rule of

Entanglement Club

Entanglement
DOES NOT
allow information to travel
faster than the speed of light
 Nonlocality
The First Rule of
Entanglement Club Let’s re-examine what happens when Alice makes a measurement.
Entanglement
DOES NOT
allow information to travel She immediately knows Bob’s state, but her measurement result was
faster than the speed of light
completely random.

She can influence which state Bob has, but only if she can tell him which
basis to measure in, which requires communication!

A subtle distinction
Entanglement allows us to beat the CHSH game
in a way that would otherwise require faster-
than-light communication.
Creating Entanglement

Electrons have a magnetic moment, In particle-antiparticle creation,

and therefore respond to each other. properties like momentum are conserved.
By putting one in a superposition state, By measuring the momentum of one,
the other will response in superposition, I instantly collapse the momentum state of the other.
resulting in entanglement.
e-
e-

Method #2
Method #1
Two quantum objects
Two quantum objects
are born together and
need to “talk” to each other.
must satisfy a conservation law.
 Entanglement

Entanglement implies the

Entanglement is a coherent universe does not obey
superposition that exists local realism
between multiple quantum
systems

≠ &
Up next…

• How do we use programming to interact with quantum devices?

• Quantum Coding with QCSYS alum Alev Orfi today at 2:30pm
• What gives quantum algorithms their power?
• Early Quantum Computing tomorrow with Sarah Li at 10:30am
• How can we use entanglement to sell garbage to rubes?
• Quantum Bullshit with Chris Ferrie tomorrow at 1:30pm