Depolarizing behavior of quantum channels in higher dimensions

Easwar Magesan

Published 2010-02-18, updated 2010-10-03Version 2

The paper analyzes the behavior of quantum channels, particularly in large dimensions, by proving various properties of the quantum gate fidelity. Many of these properties are of independent interest in the theory of distance measures on quantum operations. A non-uniqueness result for the gate fidelity is proven, a consequence of which is the existence of non-depolarizing channels that produce a constant gate fidelity on pure states. Asymptotically, the gate fidelity associated with any quantum channel is shown to converge to that of a depolarizing channel. Methods for estimating the minimum of the gate fidelity are also presented.