Invariant polynomial functions on k qudits

Abstract

We study the polynomial functions on tensor states in $(C^n)^{\otimes k}$ which are invariant under $SU(n)^k$. We describe the space of invariant polynomials in terms of symmetric group representations. For $k$ even, the smallest degree for invariant polynomials is $n$ and in degree $n$ we find a natural generalization of the determinant. For $n,d$ fixed, we describe the asymptotic behavior of the dimension of the space of invariants as $k\to\infty$. We study in detail the space of homogeneous degree 4 invariant polynomial functions on $(C^2)^{\otimes k}$.