A sequence of qubit–qudit Pauli groups as a nested structure of doilies

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Following the spirit of a recent work of one of the authors (2011 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 44 045301), the essential structure of the generalized Pauli group of a qubit–qudit, where d = 2k and an integer k ⩾ 2, is recast in the language of a finite geometry. A point of such geometry is represented by the maximum set of mutually commuting elements of the group and two distinct points are regarded as collinear if the corresponding sets have exactly 2k − 1 elements in common. The geometry comprises 2k − 1 copies of the generalized quadrangle of order 2 (‘the doily’) that form 2k − 1 − 1 pencils arranged into a remarkable nested configuration. This nested structure reflects the fact that maximum sets of mutually commuting elements are of two different kinds (ordinary and exceptional) and exhibits an intriguing alternating pattern: the subgeometry of the exceptional points of the (k + 2) case is found to be isomorphic to the full geometry of the k-case. It should be stressed, however, that these generic properties of the qubit–qudit geometry were inferred from purely computer-handled cases of k = 2, 3, 4 and 5 only and, therefore, their rigorous, computer-free proof for k ⩾ 6 still remains a mathematical challenge.