Switching and Swapping of Quantum Information: Entropy and Entanglement Level

Entropy (Basel). 2021 Jun 4;23(6):717. doi: 10.3390/e23060717.

Abstract

Information switching and swapping seem to be fundamental elements of quantum communication protocols. Another crucial issue is the presence of entanglement and its level in inspected quantum systems. In this article, a formal definition of the operation of the swapping local quantum information and its existence proof, together with some elementary properties analysed through the prism of the concept of the entropy, are presented. As an example of the local information swapping usage, we demonstrate a certain realisation of the quantum switch. Entanglement levels, during the work of the switch, are calculated with the Negativity measure and a separability criterion based on the von Neumann entropy, spectral decomposition and Schmidt decomposition. Results of numerical experiments, during which the entanglement levels are estimated for systems under consideration with and without distortions, are presented. The noise is generated by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and the intrinsic decoherence is modelled by the Milburn equation. This work contains a switch realisation in a circuit form-built out of elementary quantum gates, and a scheme of the circuit which estimates levels of entanglement during the switch's operating.

Keywords: entropy; level of entanglement; local quantum information swapping; negativity; quantum qubit switch.