Optimal two-qubit gates in recurrence protocols of entanglement purification

TL;DR

This paper introduces a numerical optimization method for two-qubit entanglement purification protocols, revealing that optimal solutions may differ from traditional CNOT-based approaches, thus offering more flexible experimental options.

Contribution

The authors develop a quasi-Newton based numerical search over SU(4) to optimize recurrence entanglement purification, challenging the assumption that CNOT gates are always optimal.

Findings

Optimal protocols are not always CNOT-based.

The method finds multiple optimal solutions.

Enhanced flexibility for experimental implementations.

Abstract

We propose and investigate a method to optimize recurrence entanglement purification protocols. The approach is based on a numerical search in the whole set of SU(4) matrices with the aid of a quasi-Newton algorithm. Our method evaluates average concurrences where the probabilistic occurrence of mixed entangled states is also taken into account. We show for certain families of states that optimal protocols are not necessarily achieved by bilaterally applied controlled-NOT gates. As we discover several optimal solutions, the proposed method offers some flexibility in experimental implementations of entanglement purification protocols and interesting perspectives in quantum information processing.