# Entanglement-assisted local manipulation of pure quantum states

## Abstract

We demonstrate that local transformations on a composite quantum system can be enhanced in the presence of certain entangled states. These extra states act much like catalysts in a chemical reaction: they allow otherwise impossible local transformations to be realised, without being consumed in any way. In particular, we show that this effect can considerably improve the efficiency of entanglement concentration procedures for finite states.

The rapid development of quantum information processing in recent years has led us to view quantum-mechanical entanglement as a useful physical resource . As with any such resource, there arises naturally the question of how it can be quantified and manipulated. Attempts have been made to find meaningful measures of entanglement , and also to uncover the fundamental laws of its behaviour under local quantum operations and classical communication (LQCC) . These laws are fundamentally and also practically important, since many applications of quantum information processing involve spatially separated parties who must manipulate an entangled state without performing joint operations. In this context, it is generally assumed that entanglement may be used to perform useful tasks only if it is consumed in whole or in part. Indeed, this is implicit in the common-sense notion of a “resource”.

In this Letter we demonstrate that entanglement is, in fact, a stranger kind of resource, one that can be used without being consumed at all. More precisely, we show that the mere presence of an entangled state can allow distant parties to realise local transformations that would otherwise be impossible, or less efficient. Our idea is best introduced by the following situation, illustrated in Fig. 1. Imagine that Alice and Bob share a finite-dimensional entangled state $`|\psi _1`$ of two particles, which they would like to convert, using only LQCC, into the state $`|\psi _2`$. For some choices of $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ there exists a local protocol that accomplishes this task with certainty , but for others it can only be done probabilistically, with some maximum probability $`p_{max}<1`$ . Assume the latter is the case, as indicated by the crossed arrow in the upper part of Fig. 1. Now suppose that an “entanglement banker”, let us call him Scrooge, agrees to lend Alice and Bob another entangled pair of particles $`|\varphi `$, under the condition that exactly the same state must be returned to him later on. Given this additional state, will Alice and Bob be able to transform $`|\psi _1`$ into $`|\psi _2`$ and still return the state $`|\varphi `$ to Scrooge? We suggest to call a transformation of this kind, which uses intermediate entanglement without consuming it, an entanglement-assisted local transformation, abbreviated by ELQCC. The possible existence of such a class of transformations has been conjectured by Popescu  (see also ).

The main result of this letter is the proof that entanglement-assisted local transformations are indeed more powerful than ordinary local transformations. This result is significant in a number of ways. First of all, it provides a concrete mechanism by which Alice and Bob can enhance their entanglement-manipulation ability. For example, we will demonstrate that entanglement concentration is more efficient with ELQCC than with only LQCC. Moreover, the definition of a meaningful new class of entanglement transformations demonstrates that the structure of entanglement, even for pure, bipartite states, is still not completely understood.

Let us begin then with an explicit example of the power of entanglement-assisted transformations. The central tool we will require for this is Nielsen’s theorem .

Theorem (Nielsen): Let $`|\psi _1=_{i=1}^n\sqrt{\alpha _i}|i_A|i_B`$ and $`|\psi _2=_{i=1}^m\sqrt{\alpha _i^{}}|i_A|i_B`$ be pure bipartite states, with Schmidt coefficients  respectively $`\alpha _1\mathrm{}\alpha _n>0`$ and $`\alpha _1^{}\mathrm{}\alpha _m^{}>0`$ (we can refer to such distributions as “ordered Schmidt coefficients”, or OSCs). Then a transformation $`T`$ that converts $`|\psi _1`$ to $`|\psi _2`$ with $`100\%`$ probability can be realised using LQCC iff the OSCs $`\left\{\alpha _i\right\}`$ are majorized  by $`\left\{\alpha _i^{}\right\}`$, that is, iff for $`1ln`$

$$\underset{i=1}{\overset{l}{}}\alpha _i\underset{i=1}{\overset{l}{}}\alpha _i^{}.$$
(1)   
One consequence of Nielsen’s theorem is that there exist pairs $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ where neither state is convertible into the other with certainty under LQCC. Such pairs are called incomparable , and can be indicated by $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$. Examples are the following two states:

$`|\psi _1`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{0.4}|00+\sqrt{0.4}|11+\sqrt{0.1}|22+\sqrt{0.1}|33`$ (2)   
$`|\psi _2`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{0.5}|00+\sqrt{0.25}|11+\sqrt{0.25}|22.`$ (3)   
It can easily be checked that $`\alpha _1<\alpha _1^{}`$ but $`\alpha _1+\alpha _2>\alpha _1^{}+\alpha _2^{}`$, so indeed $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$. If Alice and Bob share one of these states and wish to convert it to the other using LQCC, they must therefore run the risk of failure. Their greatest probability of success is given by 

$$p_{\mathrm{max}}\left(|\psi _1|\psi _2\right)=\mathrm{min}|_{1ln}\frac{E_l\left(|\psi _1\right)}{E_l\left(|\psi _2\right)}$$
(4)   
where $`E_l\left(|\psi _1\right)=1_{i=1}^{l1}\alpha _i`$. For instance, in the case of the pair in Eq. (3), $`p_{\mathrm{max}}`$ is only 80%.

Suppose now that Scrooge lends them the 2-qubit state

$$|\varphi =\sqrt{0.6}|44+\sqrt{0.4}|55.$$
(5)   
The Schmidt coefficients $`\gamma _k`$, $`\gamma _k^{}`$ of the product states $`|\psi _1|\varphi ,`$ $`|\psi _2|\varphi `$, given in decreasing order, are

$`|\psi _1|\varphi `$ $`:`$ $`0.24,0.24,0.16,0.16,0.06,0.06,0.04,0.04,`$ (6)   
$`|\psi _2|\varphi `$ $`:`$ $`0.30,0.20,0.15,0.15,0.10,0.10,0.00,0.00.`$ (7)   
so that $`_{i=1}^k\gamma _k_{i=1}^k\gamma _k^{},1k8`$. Nielsen’s theorem then implies that the transformation $`|\psi _1|\varphi |\psi _2|\varphi `$ can, in fact, be realised with 100% certainty using LQCC. Alice and Bob can complete their task and still return the borrowed state $`|\varphi `$ to Scrooge. This state acts therefore much like a catalyst in a chemical reaction: its presence allows a previously forbidden transformation to be realised, and since it is not consumed it can be reused as many times as desired. This represents a fundamental distinction between the present effect and previous proposals for using entanglement as an enhancing factor, such as entanglement pumping  or the activation of bound entanglement , where the extra entanglement was either used up or transformed. We shall thus adopt the “catalysis” metaphor as a convenient way of referring to our novel effect.

Nielsen’s theorem, along with its generalisation given in , provides a complete answer to the question “which transformations on a pure bipartite state are possible under LQCC?” It would, of course, be desireable to find analogous conditions for ELQCC. For instance, given $`|\psi _1`$,$`|\psi _2`$, we would like to know when there exists an appropriate catalyst state $`|\varphi `$. Mathematically, this means that given the OSCs $`\left\{\alpha _i\right\},\left\{\alpha _i^{}\right\}`$, we have to determine when there exists other OSCs $`\left\{\beta _k\right\}`$, such that $`\left\{\alpha _i\beta _k\right\}`$ is majorized by $`\left\{\alpha _j^{}\beta _k\right\}`$. Unfortunately, this problem seems in general to be hard to solve analytically . The difficulty lies in the fact that, before Nielsen’s theorem can be applied to the tensor products, their Schmidt coefficients must be sorted  into descending order. No general analytic way for doing this is known, so we are at present confined to searching numerically for appropriate catalysts. Nevertheless, it is possible to present a few interesting partial results.

Lemma 1: No transformation can be catalysed by a maximally entangled state $`|\phi _p=(1/\sqrt{p})_{i=1}^p|i_A|i_B`$.

Proof: The Schmidt coefficients $`\gamma _j`$ of $`|\psi _1|\phi _p`$ are just $`\frac{\alpha _i}{p}`$, each one being $`p`$-fold degenerate. In this case sorting them is trivial, and we can write that, for any $`l`$, $`_{j=1}^{pl}\gamma _j=_{i=1}^l\alpha _i`$. Now, by Nielsen’s theorem, if $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ under LQCC, then for some $`l=l_0`$ we have $`_{i=1}^{l_0}\alpha _i>_{i=1}^{l_0}\alpha _i^{}_{j=1}^{pl_0}\gamma _j>_{j=1}^{pl_0}\gamma _j^{}|\psi _1|\phi _p|\psi _2|\phi _p`$ under LQCC $`\mathrm{}`$

This result shows a surprising property of catalysts: they must be partially entangled. Roughly speaking, if the catalyst has “not enough” entanglement, Alice and Bob will not be able to transform $`|\psi _1`$ into $`|\psi _2`$ with certainty, but if it has “too much” then they will not be able to return it intact to Scrooge.

Lemma 2:  Two states are interconvertible (i.e., both $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ and $`|\psi _2|\psi _1`$) under ELQCC iff they are equivalent up to local unitary transformations.

Proof: Suppose that $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ under ELQCC . Then there exist $`|\eta ,|\varphi `$ such that both $`|\psi _1|\varphi |\psi _2|\varphi `$ and $`|\psi _2|\eta |\psi _1|\eta `$ are possible under LQCC. This means that $`|\psi _1|\varphi |\eta `$ and $`|\psi _2|\varphi |\eta `$ are interconvertible under LQCC, which happens iff their Schmidt coefficients are identical . This in turn implies that the Schmidt coefficients of $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ are also identical, and thus that they are equivalent under local unitary rotations $`\mathrm{}`$

One consequence of Lemma 2 is that if a transition that is forbidden under LQCC can be catalysed by extra entanglement (i.e. $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ under LQCC but $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ under ELQCC), then the reverse transition (from $`|\psi _2`$ to $`|\psi _1`$) must be impossible even under ELQCC. In particular, only transitions between incomparable states may be catalysed. Therefore, catalysis is impossible if $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ are both $`2\times 2`$ states, for in this case it is always true that either $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ or $`|\psi _2|\psi _1`$ under LQCC.

A somewhat more surprising result is that catalysis is also impossible when $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ are both $`3\times 3`$ states. In this case incomparable states do exist , so Lemma 2 does not immediately rule it out. To see that it actually cannot occur, we must look more closely at the relevant Schmidt coefficients.

Lemma 3: Let $`|\psi _1,|\psi _2`$ be $`n\times n`$-level states, with OSCs $`\{\alpha _i\},\{\alpha _i^{}\},1in`$. Then $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ under ELQCC only if both

$$\alpha _1\alpha _1^{},\alpha _n\alpha _n^{}.$$
(8)   
Proof: Let $`\left\{\beta _j\right\}_{j=1}^m`$ be the OSCs of $`|\varphi `$. Then the largest and smallest Schmidt coefficient of $`|\psi _1|\varphi `$ are, respectively, $`\gamma _1=\alpha _1\beta _1`$ and $`\gamma _{nm}=\alpha _n\beta _m`$ (analogous expressions hold for $`|\psi _2|\varphi `$ ). Nielsen’s theorem now tells us that, if $`|\psi _1|\varphi |\psi _2|\varphi `$ under LQCC, then $`\gamma _1\gamma _1^{}`$ and $`_{k=1}^{nm1}\gamma _k=1\gamma _{nm}_{k=1}^{nm1}\gamma _k^{}=1\gamma _{nm}^{}`$, from which Eq. (8) follows $`\mathrm{}`$

Suppose now that $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$ are incomparable $`3\times 3`$ states. Then Nielsen’s theorem implies that one of two possibilities must hold: either

$$\{\begin{array}{c}\alpha _1>\alpha _1^{}\\ \alpha _1+\alpha _2<\alpha _1^{}+\alpha _2^{}\end{array}\text{or }\{\begin{array}{c}\alpha _1<\alpha _1^{}\\ \alpha _1+\alpha _2>\alpha _1^{}+\alpha _2^{}\end{array}.$$
(9)   
In either case, Eq. (8) is violated, so $`|\psi _1|\psi _2`$ under ELQCC. In other words, there are pairs of states which are incomparable even in presence of extra entanglement.

In the $`4\times 4`$ case, we have seen by example (Eq. (3)) that catalysis is indeed possible. Lemma 3 shows that the only case where it can happen is when the following conditions are all satisfied

$$\alpha _1\alpha _1^{},\alpha _1+\alpha _2>\alpha _1^{}+\alpha _2^{},\alpha _4\alpha _4^{}.$$
(10)   
where the second condition ensures that the transformation is not possible under LQCC alone. Indeed, the states $`|\psi _1,|\psi _2`$ in Eq. (3) are of this type.

The concept of entanglement-assisted transformations may be extended in a number of ways. An example is when the presence of a catalyst state does not allow Alice and Bob to transform $`|\psi _1`$ into $`|\psi _2`$ with certainty, but still increases the optimal probability with which this can be done. For instance, consider the incomparable $`3\times 3`$ states $`|\psi _1=\sqrt{0.5}|00+\sqrt{0.4}|11+\sqrt{0.1}|22`$ and $`|\psi _2=\sqrt{0.6}|00+\sqrt{0.2}|11+\sqrt{0.2}|22`$. From eq. (4) the optimal probability of converting $`|\psi _1`$ into $`|\psi _2`$ under LQCC is $`80\%`$, and Lemma 3 tells us that this cannot be increased to 100% by the use of any catalyst. Nevertheless, Eq. (4) also shows that $`p_{\mathrm{max}}\left(|\psi _1|\varphi |\psi _2|\varphi \right)`$ can be as large as $`90.04\%`$ when $`|\varphi =\sqrt{0.65}|33+\sqrt{0.35}|44`$.

Even this limited enhancement is not always possible, as shown by the following result:

Lemma 4: Let $`|\psi _1,|\psi _2`$ be $`n\times n`$ bipartite states with OSCs $`\{\alpha _i\},\{\alpha _i^{}\}`$, and such that $`p_{\mathrm{max}}\left(|\psi _1|\psi _2\right)`$ under LQCC is $`\frac{\alpha _n}{\alpha _n^{}}`$. Then this probability cannot be increased by the presence of any catalyst state.

Proof: Let $`|\varphi `$ be a bipartite state with OSCs $`\left\{\beta \right\}_{i=1}^m.`$ From Eq. (4), the optimal probability of converting $`|\psi _1|\varphi `$ into $`|\psi _2|\varphi `$ under LQCC is given by

$$p_{max}=\underset{lnm}{\mathrm{min}}\frac{E_l\left(|\psi _1|\varphi \right)}{E_l\left(|\psi _2|\varphi \right)}\frac{E_{nm}\left(|\psi _1|\varphi \right)}{E_{nm}\left(|\psi _2|\varphi \right)}=\frac{\alpha _n}{\alpha _n^{}},$$
(11)   
where we have used that $`E_{nm}(|\psi _1|\varphi )=\alpha _n\beta _m`$ $`\mathrm{}`$

In particular, Lemma 4 applies when $`|\psi _1`$ has $`n`$ Schmidt coefficients and $`|\psi _2`$ is the maximally entangled state $`|\phi _n`$, for in this case $`p_{\mathrm{max}}\left(|\psi _1|\phi _n\right)=`$$`n\alpha _n`$ . At first sight, this may seem to indicate that catalytic effects cannot increase the efficiency with which entanglement can be concentrated into maximally-entangled form. It turns out, however, that the opposite is actually the case. To see this, recall first that an entanglement concentration protocol (ECP) can be defined  as any sequence of LQCC’s that transform a given partially entangled state $`|\psi _1`$ into a maximally entangled state $`|\phi _m`$ of $`m`$ levels, with probability $`p_m`$ (note that $`|\phi _1`$ is a disentangled state). Among all these protocols, the optimal is the one that yields on average the greatest amount of concentrated entanglement i.e., that maximises $`E=_{m=1}^np_m\mathrm{ln}m`$ over all possible distributions $`\{p_m\}`$ compatible with LQCC. The maximum value $`E_{max}`$ is the (finite) distillable entanglement of $`|\psi _1`$ . In  it was shown that $`E_{max}=_{m=0}^nm\mathrm{ln}m(\alpha _m\alpha _{m+1}),`$ corresponding to a probability distribution $`p_m^{opt}=m(\alpha _m\alpha _{m+1})`$, where $`\left\{\alpha _i\right\}`$ are the OSCs of $`|\psi _1`$ and $`a_{n+1}=0`$.

A catalysed ECP (Fig. 2) is then any sequence of LQCCs that transform the product $`|\psi _1|\varphi `$ (for some catalyst state $`|\varphi `$) into one of the states $`|\phi _m|\varphi `$, with probability $`p_m`$. It turns out that in this case the distillable entanglement $`E_{\mathrm{max}}(|\varphi )`$ can be larger than the value given above. To show this, we use a general technique for optimising entanglement transformations, presented in . From the generalised Nielsen’s theorem , a catalysed ECP with probability distribution $`p_m`$ can be realised using LQCCs iff the following constraints are satisfied for $`1ln`$

$$\underset{m=1}{\overset{n}{}}p_mE_l\left(|\phi _m|\varphi \right)E_l\left(|\psi _1|\varphi \right),$$
(12)   
where $`E_l`$ is the same as in Eq. (4). The optimal protocol can then be found by maximizing $`E(|\varphi )`$ with respect to $`p_m`$, given these constraints. This is a standard linear programming problem , for which an exact solution can always be found in any particular case. In Fig. 3 we plot $`E_{\mathrm{max}}(|\varphi )`$ for the case where $`|\psi _1`$ is a $`3\times 3`$ state with Schmidt coefficients $`\alpha _1=0.5`$, $`\alpha _2=0.3`$, $`\alpha _3=0.2`$, and where $`|\varphi `$ is a a $`2\times 2`$ state. We can see that some catalysts allow a substantial increase in the entanglement yield relative to the one achievable using only LQCC.

How does this happen, even under the constraints implied by Lemma 4? It turns out that, although Lemma 4 forbids $`p_n`$ from increasing in the presence of a catalyst, the same is not true for $`p_{n1}`$. For instance, in the example above the optimal probability distribution without a catalyst (i.e., with a disentangled catalyst) is  $`p_3^{opt}=0.6,p_2^{opt}=p_1^{opt}=0.2`$. On the other hand, in the presence of a catalyst with Schmidt components $`\beta _1=0.5825,\beta _2=.4175`$, it becomes $`p_3^{opt}=0.6,p_2^{opt}=0.3178,p_1^{opt}=0.0822`$. Effectively, the presence of a catalyst allows us to syphon probability away from the unwanted outcome where all the entanglement is lost and into one where a maximally entangled state is obtained.

How far can this enhancing effect be used to increase the distillable entanglement $`E_{max}(|\varphi )`$ ? Lemma 4 gives us immediately the following upper bound

$$Bn\alpha _n\mathrm{ln}n+(1n\alpha _n)\mathrm{ln}(n1)E_{max}(|\varphi )$$
(13)   
This simply corresponds to a case where $`p_n`$ is maximum, and all the remaining probability is assigned to obtaining $`|\phi _{n1}`$. Another upper bound is the asymptotic distillable entanglement per copy . These bounds are unrelated: there are states like the one in Fig. 3, for which $`B<S`$, and others for which $`S<B`$. It is an open question whether any of these bounds can in general be reached by the use of an appropriate catalyst.

To summarise: we have presented a counter-intuitive effect by means of which local entanglement transformations of finite states may be catalysed in the presence of ‘borrowed’ entanglement. Our results raise many interesting questions. For instance, what are sufficient conditions for the existence of catalysts? Are catalysts always more efficient as their dimension increases? We hope that the intricacy of this effect may convince readers that there is more to pure-state entanglement than just asymptotic properties, and that no single “measure” of entanglement can fully capture it all.

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank I. Olkin, A. Uhlmann and O. Pretzel for helpful comments on majorization and tensor products and especially S. Popescu for inspiring discussions. We acknowledge the support of the Brazilian agency Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ), the ORS Award Scheme, the United Kingdom Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, the European Science Foundation, and the European Union.