Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Three-qubit-state preparation: Classification and explicit circuits

Yonghae Lee1,* and Taewan Kim2,†

  • *Contact author: yonghaelee@kangwon.ac.kr
  • †Contact author: TaewanKim@etri.re.kr

Phys. Rev. A 113, 062444 – Published 16 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/5bw6-339b

Abstract

We develop a deterministic and fully explicit framework for preparing an arbitrary three-qubit pure state from its computational-basis amplitudes. Our approach exploits bipartite Schmidt structure: we classify three-qubit states into five types with respect to a 1|2 bipartition and provide concrete, concurrence-based criteria that identify the type and extract the required Schmidt data directly from the target amplitudes. For each type, we derive an explicit circuit template built from elementary single-qubit rotations and cnot gates, together with an end-to-end parameter map that specifies all gate angles and phases without procedural ambiguity. The resulting constructions are arranged to use only cnot gates between adjacent qubits, making them directly deployable on restricted-connectivity hardware. As an application, we group widely used three-qubit states into four representative classes and obtain class-adapted circuits whose parameters are read off from the amplitude and phase data; in several regimes, these specialized circuits reduce entangling-gate count and overall depth relative to universal templates.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (58)

  1. J. Preskill, Quantum computing in the NISQ era and beyond, Quantum 2, 79 (2018).
  2. D. Aharonov and M. Ben-Or, Fault-tolerant quantum computation with constant error rate, SIAM J. Comput. 38, 1207 (2008).
  3. E. Knill, R. Laflamme, and W. H. Zurek, Resilient quantum computation, Science 279, 342 (1998).
  4. S. Bravyi and A. Kitaev, Universal quantum computation with ideal Clifford gates and noisy ancillas, Phys. Rev. A 71, 022316 (2005).
  5. M. Plesch and Č. Brukner, Quantum-state preparation with universal gate decompositions, Phys. Rev. A 83, 032302 (2011).
  6. M. Möttönen, J. J. Vartiainen, V. Bergholm, and M. M. Salomaa, Transformation of quantum states using uniformly controlled rotations, Quantum Inf. Comput. 5, 467 (2005).
  7. V. V. Shende, S. S. Bullock, and I. L. Markov, Synthesis of quantum-logic circuits, IEEE Trans. Comput. Aided Des. Integr. Circuits Syst. 25, 1000 (2006).
  8. R. Iten, R. Colbeck, I. Kukuljan, J. Home, and M. Christandl, Quantum circuits for isometries, Phys. Rev. A 93, 032318 (2016).
  9. O. Giraud, M. Žnidarič, and B. Georgeot, Quantum circuit for three-qubit random states, Phys. Rev. A 80, 042309 (2009).
  10. O. Perdomo, N. Castaneda, and R. Vogeler, Preparation of 3-qubit states, arXiv:2201.03724 [quant-ph].
  11. W. Dür, G. Vidal, and J. I. Cirac, Three qubits can be entangled in two inequivalent ways, Phys. Rev. A 62, 062314 (2000).
  12. C. H. Bennett, G. Brassard, C. Crépeau, R. Jozsa, A. Peres, and W. K. Wootters, Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1895 (1993).
  13. H. J. Briegel and R. Raussendorf, Persistent entanglement in arrays of interacting particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 910 (2001).
  14. M. Hein, J. Eisert, and H. J. Briegel, Multiparty entanglement in graph states, Phys. Rev. A 69, 062311 (2004).
  15. R. Raussendorf and H. J. Briegel, A one-way quantum computer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5188 (2001).
  16. F. Verstraete, J. Dehaene, B. De Moor, and H. Verschelde, Four qubits can be entangled in nine different ways, Phys. Rev. A 65, 052112 (2002).
  17. M. Žnidarič, O. Giraud, and B. Georgeot, Optimal number of controlled-not gates to generate a three-qubit state, Phys. Rev. A 77, 032320 (2008).
  18. M. A. Nielsen and I. L. Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th Anniversary edition (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010).
  19. M. M. Wilde, Quantum information theory (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013).
  20. B. Murta, P. M. Q. Cruz, and J. Fernández-Rossier, Preparing valence-bond-solid states on noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers, Phys. Rev. Res. 5, 013190 (2023).
  21. S. A. Hill and W. K. Wootters, Entanglement of a pair of quantum bits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 5022 (1997).
  22. W. K. Wootters, Entanglement of formation of an arbitrary state of two qubits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 2245 (1998).
  23. Y. Lee, Y. Min, S. Bae, and Y. Lim, Formulas for Schmidt decompositions of mutually orthogonal quantum states in two-qubit systems, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 58, 445303 (2025).
  24. A. Barenco, C. H. Bennett, R. Cleve, D. P. DiVincenzo, N. Margolus, P. Shor, T. Sleator, J. A. Smolin, and H. Weinfurter, Elementary gates for quantum computation, Phys. Rev. A 52, 3457 (1995).
  25. G. Vidal and C. M. Dawson, Universal quantum circuit for two-qubit transformations with three controlled-not gates, Phys. Rev. A 69, 010301(R) (2004).
  26. F. Vatan and C. Williams, Optimal quantum circuits for general two-qubit gates, Phys. Rev. A 69, 032315 (2004).
  27. M. Möttönen, J. J. Vartiainen, V. Bergholm, and M. M. Salomaa, Quantum circuits for general multiqubit gates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 130502 (2004).
  28. N. Khaneja, R. Brockett, and S. J. Glaser, Time optimal control in spin systems, Phys. Rev. A 63, 032308 (2001).
  29. B. Kraus and J. I. Cirac, Optimal creation of entanglement using a two-qubit gate, Phys. Rev. A 63, 062309 (2001).
  30. J. Zhang, J. Vala, S. Sastry, and K. B. Whaley, Geometric theory of nonlocal two-qubit operations, Phys. Rev. A 67, 042313 (2003).
  31. L. Funcke, T. Hartung, K. Jansen, S. Kühn, and P. Stornati, Dimensional expressivity analysis of parametric quantum circuits, Quantum 5, 422 (2021).
  32. D. M. Greenberger, M. A. Horne, A. Shimony, and A. Zeilinger, Bell's theorem without inequalities, Am. J. Phys. 58, 1131 (1990).
  33. B. Fortescue and H.-K. Lo, Random bipartite entanglement from W and W-like states, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 260501 (2007).
  34. D. Singh, S. Kumar, and B. K. Behera, Complexity analysis of quantum teleportation via different entangled channels in the presence of noise, IET Quantum Commun. 4, 1 (2023).
  35. S. Roy and B. Ghosh, Study of controlled dense coding with some discrete tripartite and quadripartite states, Int. J. Quantum Inf. 13, 1550033 (2015).
  36. C. Eltschka, A. Osterloh, J. Siewert, and A. Uhlmann, Three-tangle for mixtures of generalized GHZ and generalized W states, New J. Phys. 10, 043014 (2008).
  37. C. Sabín and G. García-Alcaine, A classification of entanglement in three-qubit systems, Eur. Phys. J. D 48, 435 (2008).
  38. X.-H. Li and S. Ghose, Control power in perfect controlled teleportation via partially entangled channels, Phys. Rev. A 90, 052305 (2014).
  39. S. Luna-Hernández, M. Enríquez, and O. Rosas-Ortiz, A geometric formulation to measure global and genuine entanglement in three-qubit systems, Sci. Rep. 14, 25684 (2024).
  40. Z.-X. Man, Y.-J. Xia, and N. B. An, Quantum teleportation of an unknown N-qubit W-like state, JETP Lett. 85, 662 (2007).
  41. L.-L. Sun, H.-F. Wang, S. Zhang, and K.-H. Yeon, Entanglement purification for a three-qubit W-like state in amplitude damping, J. Korean Phys. Soc. 61, 1938 (2012).
  42. Y.-Y. Nie, Y.-h. Li, J.-c. Liu, and M.-h. Sang, Quantum state sharing of an arbitrary three-qubit state by using four sets of W-class states, Opt. Commun. 284, 1457 (2011).
  43. I. N. Artawan and A. Purwanto, Quantum teleportation of a three-qubit entangled states via W-class states, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1170, 012016 (2019).
  44. C. Marconi, G. Müller-Rigat, J. Romero-Pallejà, J. Tura, and A. Sanpera, Symmetric quantum states: A review of recent progress, Rep. Prog. Phys. 89, 024001 (2026).
  45. A. M. Frydryszak, η-trigonometric states of four qubits and entanglement measures, arXiv:0902.3553 [quant-ph].
  46. H. Prakash and A. K. Maurya, Quantum teleportation using entangled 3-qubit states and the ‘magic bases', Opt. Commun. 284, 5024 (2011).
  47. K. Yang, L. Huang, W. Yang, and F. Song, Quantum teleportation via GHZ-like state, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 48, 516 (2009).
  48. H.-p. Zhu, Perfect teleportation of an arbitrary two-qubit state via GHZ-like states, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 53, 4095 (2014).
  49. A. Acín, J. I. Latorre, and P. Pascual, Three-party entanglement from positronium, Phys. Rev. A 63, 042107 (2001).
  50. D. Singh, V. Gulati, Arvind, and K. Dorai, Experimental construction of a symmetric three-qubit entangled state and its utility in testing the violation of a Bell inequality on an NMR quantum simulator, Europhys. Lett. 140, 68001 (2022).
  51. M. Aulbach, D. Markham, and M. Murao, The maximally entangled symmetric state in terms of the geometric measure, New J. Phys. 12, 073025 (2010).
  52. F. Nusur, Quantum teleportation of two-qubit states via W-state and GHZ-like states, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1951, 012070 (2021).
  53. L. Huang and X. Wu, New construction of nine-qubit error-correcting code, arXiv:2110.05130 [quant-ph].
  54. L. Huang, The advantage of the concatenated three-qubit codes, arXiv:2209.15435 [quant-ph].
  55. P. Nation, H. Paik, A. Cross, and Z. Nazarioc, The IBM Quantum heavy hex lattice, IBM Quantum Blog, July 7, 2021, https://www.ibm.com/quantum/blog/heavy-hex-lattice.
  56. G. Li, Y. Ding, and Y. Xie, Tackling the qubit mapping problem for NISQ-era quantum devices, in Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth International Conference on Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, ASPLOS '19 (Association for Computing Machinery, New York, 2019), pp. 1001–1014.
  57. Sabreswap (latest version) | IBM quantum documentation, IBM Quantum Documentation (Qiskit API) https://quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/en/api/qiskit/qiskit.transpiler.passes.SabreSwap.
  58. X.-M. Zhang, T. Li, and X. Yuan, Quantum state preparation with optimal circuit depth: Implementations and applications, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 230504 (2022).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation