Geometry of density sates

Abstract

We reconsider the geometry of pure and mixed states in a finite quantum system. The rangesof eigenvalues of the density matrices delimit a regular simplex (Hypertetrahedron TN) in any dimension N; the polytope isometry group is the symmetric group SN+1, and splits TN in chambers, the orbits of the states under the projective group PU(N + 1). The type of states correlates with the vertices, edges, faces, etc. of the polytope, with the vertices making up a base of orthogonal pure states. The entropy function as a measure of the purity of these states is also easily calculable; we draw and consider some isentropic surfaces. The Casimir invariants acquire then also a more transparent interpretation.

7 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Bloch vectors for qudits
• Geometry of quantum systems: density states and entanglement
• Geometry of depolarizing channels