SIC-POVMs and the Stark Conjectures

Abstract

Abstract The existence of $d^2$ pairwise equiangular complex lines [equivalently, a symmetric informationally complete positive operator-valued measure (SIC-POVM)] in $d$-dimensional Hilbert space is known only for finitely many dimensions $d$. We prove that, if there exists a set of real units in a certain ray class field (depending on $d$) satisfying certain algebraic properties, a SIC-POVM exists, when $d$ is an odd prime congruent to 2 modulo 3. We give an explicit analytic formula that we expect to yield such a set of units. Our construction uses values of derivatives of zeta functions at $s=0$ and is closely connected to the Stark conjectures over real quadratic fields. We verify numerically that our construction yields SIC-POVMs in dimensions 5, 11, 17, and 23, and we give the first exact SIC-POVM in dimension 23.