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Catalytic entanglement transformations with noisy hardware

Quantum Science and Technology (arXiv overlay)

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Researchers extended catalytic entanglement concentration (EC) from pure to mixed quantum states, demonstrating its viability under real-world noise conditions. The study marks the first practical adaptation of this technique for imperfect quantum hardware. A novel method for constructing positive-operator valued measurements (POVMs) enables flexible tradeoffs between communication rounds and auxiliary qubit requirements. This optimization reduces resource overhead while maintaining high conversion efficiency. Numerical benchmarks show catalytic EC outperforms both non-catalytic EC and standard entanglement distillation under low operational errors and depolarizing noise. The technique achieves superior conversion rates in noisy environments. The team analyzed catalyst reusability, characterizing performance degradation under state-preparation and operational errors. Findings suggest catalysts remain effective through multiple cycles despite noise accumulation. This work advances quantum network protocols by providing a noise-resilient framework for entanglement concentration. The approach could improve quantum communication systems and distributed quantum computing architectures.

Catalytic entanglement transformations with noisy hardware

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AbstractThe availability of certain entangled resource states (catalyst states) can enhance the rate of converting several less entangled states into fewer highly entangled states in a process known as catalytic entanglement concentration (EC). Here, we extend catalytic EC from pure states to mixed states and numerically benchmark it against non-catalytic EC and distillation in the presence of state-preparation errors and operational errors. Furthermore, we analyse the re-usability of catalysts in the presence of such errors. To do this, we introduce a novel recipe for determining the positive-operator valued measurements (POVM) required for EC transformations, which allows for making tradeoffs between the number of communication rounds and the number of auxiliary qubits required. We find that in the presence of low operational errors and depolarising noise, catalytic EC can provide better rates than distillation and non-catalytic EC.Popular summaryIn this work, we extend catalytic entanglement concentration (EC) from pure to mixed states and benchmarks its performance under state-preparation and operational noise. We introduce a method for constructing the required POVMs, enabling tradeoffs between communication rounds and auxiliary-qubit overhead. Numerical results show that, under low operational error and depolarising noise, catalytic EC can achieve higher conversion rates than both non-catalytic EC and entanglement distillation. Moreover, we study and characterise the reusability of catalysts in presence of noise.► BibTeX data@article{Sharma2026catalytic, doi = {10.22331/q-2026-05-29-2117}, url = {https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2026-05-29-2117}, title = {Catalytic entanglement transformations with noisy hardware}, author = {Sharma, Hemant and Mokeev, Aleksandr and Helsen, Jonas and Borregaard, Johannes}, journal = {{Quantum}}, issn = {2521-327X}, publisher = {{Verein zur F{\"{o}}rderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften}}, volume = {10}, pages = {2117}, month = may, year = {2026} }► References [1] S. Pirandola, U. L. Andersen, L. Banchi, M. Berta, D. Bunandar, R. Colbeck, D. Englund, T. Gehring, C. Lupo, C. Ottaviani, J. L. Pereira, M. Razavi, J. Shamsul Shaari, M. Tomamichel, V. C. Usenko, G. Vallone, P. Villoresi, and P. Wallden. ``Advances in quantum cryptography''. Advances in Optics and Photonics 12, 1012 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1364/aop.361502 [2] Stephanie Wehner, David Elkouss, and Ronald Hanson. ``Quantum internet: A vision for the road ahead''. Science 362, eaam9288 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9288 [3] Harry Buhrman and Hein Röhrig. ``Distributed quantum computing''.

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Springer New York, NY. (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0653-8 [48] M. A. Naimark, A. I. Loginov, and V. S. Shul'man. ``Non-self-adjoint operator algebras in hilbert space''. Journal of Soviet Mathematics 5, 250–278 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01247398 [49] Asher Peres. ``Neumark's theorem and quantum inseparability''. Foundations of Physics 20, 1441–1453 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01883517Cited byCould not fetch Crossref cited-by data during last attempt 2026-05-29 07:17:25: Could not fetch cited-by data for 10.22331/q-2026-05-29-2117 from Crossref. This is normal if the DOI was registered recently. Could not fetch ADS cited-by data during last attempt 2026-05-29 07:17:26: Cannot retrieve data from ADS due to rate limitations.This Paper is published in Quantum under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Copyright remains with the original copyright holders such as the authors or their institutions. AbstractThe availability of certain entangled resource states (catalyst states) can enhance the rate of converting several less entangled states into fewer highly entangled states in a process known as catalytic entanglement concentration (EC). Here, we extend catalytic EC from pure states to mixed states and numerically benchmark it against non-catalytic EC and distillation in the presence of state-preparation errors and operational errors. Furthermore, we analyse the re-usability of catalysts in the presence of such errors. To do this, we introduce a novel recipe for determining the positive-operator valued measurements (POVM) required for EC transformations, which allows for making tradeoffs between the number of communication rounds and the number of auxiliary qubits required. We find that in the presence of low operational errors and depolarising noise, catalytic EC can provide better rates than distillation and non-catalytic EC.Popular summaryIn this work, we extend catalytic entanglement concentration (EC) from pure to mixed states and benchmarks its performance under state-preparation and operational noise. We introduce a method for constructing the required POVMs, enabling tradeoffs between communication rounds and auxiliary-qubit overhead. Numerical results show that, under low operational error and depolarising noise, catalytic EC can achieve higher conversion rates than both non-catalytic EC and entanglement distillation. Moreover, we study and characterise the reusability of catalysts in presence of noise.► BibTeX data@article{Sharma2026catalytic, doi = {10.22331/q-2026-05-29-2117}, url = {https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2026-05-29-2117}, title = {Catalytic entanglement transformations with noisy hardware}, author = {Sharma, Hemant and Mokeev, Aleksandr and Helsen, Jonas and Borregaard, Johannes}, journal = {{Quantum}}, issn = {2521-327X}, publisher = {{Verein zur F{\"{o}}rderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften}}, volume = {10}, pages = {2117}, month = may, year = {2026} }► References [1] S. Pirandola, U. L. Andersen, L. Banchi, M. Berta, D. Bunandar, R. Colbeck, D. Englund, T. Gehring, C. Lupo, C. Ottaviani, J. L. Pereira, M. Razavi, J. Shamsul Shaari, M. Tomamichel, V. C. Usenko, G. Vallone, P. Villoresi, and P. Wallden. ``Advances in quantum cryptography''. Advances in Optics and Photonics 12, 1012 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1364/aop.361502 [2] Stephanie Wehner, David Elkouss, and Ronald Hanson. ``Quantum internet: A vision for the road ahead''. Science 362, eaam9288 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aam9288 [3] Harry Buhrman and Hein Röhrig. ``Distributed quantum computing''.

In Branislav Rovan and Peter Vojtáš, editors, Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science 2003. Pages 1–20. Berlin, Heidelberg (2003).

Physical Review Letters 83, 1046–1049 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.83.1046 [24] M. A. Nielsen. ``Conditions for a class of entanglement transformations''.

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Catalytic entanglement transformations with noisy hardware

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