Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation

    Measure of set imaginarity

    Yu Guo1,2,*, Jiabo Pan1,2, Yuqin Wang1,2, and Shuanping Du3

    • 1School of Mathematical Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010021, People's Republic of China
    • 2Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Mathematical Modeling and Scientific Computing, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010021, People's Republic of China
    • 3School of Mathematical Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361000, People's Republic of China

    • *Contact author: guoyu3@aliyun.com

    Phys. Rev. A 114, 022453 – Published 24 August, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1yc6-lzfk

    Abstract

    Recent studies have shown that Bargmann invariants provide effective detectors of set imaginarity. In this paper, we investigate set imaginarity as a quantum resource in qubit systems. By exploiting the structure of Bargmann invariants, we show that the free operations for qubit set imaginarity consist precisely of common unital operations and common planarized operations. Based on this characterization, we introduce an axiomatic framework for set-imaginarity measures (SIMs). In particular, we propose two refined notions, namely unified SIMs and complete SIMs, which allow a more fine-grained quantification of set imaginarity. To make these notions concrete, we construct two qubit SIMs from the Bargmann invariants of three-state subsets. We prove that one of them is a unified SIM, while the other satisfies the stronger requirements of a complete SIM. Furthermore, we revisit the robustness of set imaginarity previously introduced in the literature. We show that, although this robustness is a valid SIM for qubit systems, it is neither a unified SIM nor a complete SIM. To overcome this limitation, we propose an improved robustness-type measure and rigorously prove that it defines a complete qubit SIM.

    Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

    Authorization Required

    We need you to provide your credentials before accessing this content.

    References (Subscription Required)

    Outline

    Information

    Sign In to Your Journals Account

    Filter

    Filter

    Article Lookup

    Enter a citation