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

Resource-efficient entanglement detection in high-dimensional states via two-qubit witnesses

Josef Kadlec1,2,*, Artur Barasiński3, and Karel Lemr2

  • *Contact author: josef.kadlec@upol.cz

Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013195 – Published 19 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7swz-fdw9

Abstract

This paper presents an efficient method for detecting entanglement in high-dimensional two-qudit states by mapping the Hilbert space onto the space of two qubits. This transformation enables the use of well-established two-qubit entanglement witnesses. The proposed approach is not restricted to any specific class of states, successfully identifies a vast majority of pure entangled states, and requires a number of measurements that does not increase with the dimensionality of the qudits. The method demonstrates solid sensitivity when applied to two notable classes of states—incomplete-permutation-symmetric states and random pure states mixed with white noise—and is shown to be feasible with current experimental techniques.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (59)

  1. N. Euler and M. Gärttner, Detecting high-dimensional entanglement in cold-atom quantum simulators, PRX Quantum 4, 040338 (2023).
  2. D.-S. Ding, W. Zhang, S. Shi, Z.-Y. Zhou, Y. Li, B.-S. Shi, and G.-C. Guo, High-dimensional entanglement between distant atomic-ensemble memories, Light Sci. Appl. 5, e16157 (2016).
  3. M. Erhard, M. Krenn, and A. Zeilinger, Advances in high-dimensional quantum entanglement, Nat. Rev. Phys. 2, 365 (2020).
  4. D. Collins, N. Gisin, N. Linden, S. Massar, and S. Popescu, Bell inequalities for arbitrarily high-dimensional systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 040404 (2002).
  5. T. Vértesi, S. Pironio, and N. Brunner, Closing the detection loophole in Bell experiments using qudits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 060401 (2010).
  6. M. Zahidy, D. Ribezzo, C. De Lazzari, I. Vagniluca, N. Biagi, R. Müller, T. Occhipinti, L. K. Oxenløwe, M. Galili, T. Hayashi, D. Cassioli, A. Mecozzi, C. Antonelli, A. Zavatta, and D. Bacco, Practical high-dimensional quantum key distribution protocol over deployed multicore fiber, Nat. Commun. 15, 1651 (2024).
  7. M. Neeley, M. Ansmann, R. C. Bialczak, M. Hofheinz, E. Lucero, A. D. O'Connell, D. Sank, H. Wang, J. Wenner, A. N. Cleland, M. R. Geller, and J. M. Martinis, Emulation of a quantum spin with a superconducting phase qudit, Science 325, 722 (2009).
  8. M. S. Blok, V. V. Ramasesh, T. Schuster, K. O'Brien, J. M. Kreikebaum, D. Dahlen, A. Morvan, B. Yoshida, N. Y. Yao, and I. Siddiqi, Quantum information scrambling on a superconducting qutrit processor, Phys. Rev. X 11, 021010 (2021).
  9. S. Choi, J. Choi, R. Landig, G. Kucsko, H. Zhou, J. Isoya, F. Jelezko, S. Onoda, H. Sumiya, V. Khemani, C. von Keyserlingk, N. Y. Yao, E. Demler, and M. D. Lukin, Observation of discrete time-crystalline order in a disordered dipolar many-body system, Nature (London) 543, 221 (2017).
  10. M. Luo and X. Wang, Universal quantum computation with qudits, Sci. China Phys., Mech. Astron. 57, 1712 (2014).
  11. Y. Chi, J. Huang, Z. Zhang, J. Mao, Z. Zhou, X. Chen, C. Zhai, J. Bao, T. Dai, H. Yuan, et al., A programmable qudit-based quantum processor, Nat. Commun. 13, 1166 (2022).
  12. T.-C. Wei, I. Affleck, and R. Raussendorf, Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state on a honeycomb lattice is a universal quantum computational resource, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 070501 (2011).
  13. E. T. Campbell, Enhanced fault-tolerant quantum computing in d-level systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 230501 (2014).
  14. D.-S. Wang, D. T. Stephen, and R. Raussendorf, Qudit quantum computation on matrix product states with global symmetry, Phys. Rev. A 95, 032312 (2017).
  15. R. T. Thew, A. Acín, H. Zbinden, and N. Gisin, Bell-type test of energy-time entangled qutrits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 010503 (2004).
  16. J. Brendel, N. Gisin, W. Tittel, and H. Zbinden, Pulsed energy-time entangled twin-photon source for quantum communication, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 2594 (1999).
  17. A. K. Jha, M. Malik, and R. W. Boyd, Exploring energy-time entanglement using geometric phase, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 180405 (2008).
  18. J.-P. W. MacLean, J. M. Donohue, and K. J. Resch, Direct characterization of ultrafast energy-time entangled photon pairs, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 053601 (2018).
  19. A. Vaziri, G. Weihs, and A. Zeilinger, Experimental two-photon, three-dimensional entanglement for quantum communication, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 240401 (2002).
  20. J. Leach, B. Jack, J. Romero, A. K. Jha, A. M. Yao, S. Franke-Arnold, D. G. Ireland, R. W. Boyd, S. M. Barnett, and M. J. Padgett, Quantum correlations in optical angle–orbital angular momentum variables, Science 329, 662 (2010).
  21. M. Krenn, M. Malik, M. Erhard, and A. Zeilinger, Orbital angular momentum of photons and the entanglement of Laguerre-Gaussian modes, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 375, 20150442 (2017).
  22. M. Erhard, R. Fickler, M. Krenn, and A. Zeilinger, Twisted photons: New quantum perspectives in high dimensions, Light Sci. Appl. 7, 17146 (2018).
  23. J. C. Howell, R. S. Bennink, S. J. Bentley, and R. W. Boyd, Realization of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox using momentum- and position-entangled photons from spontaneous parametric down conversion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 210403 (2004).
  24. C. Schaeff, R. Polster, M. Huber, S. Ramelow, and A. Zeilinger, Experimental access to higher-dimensional entangled quantum systems using integrated optics, Optica 2, 523 (2015).
  25. J. Wang, S. Paesani, Y. Ding, R. Santagati, P. Skrzypczyk, A. Salavrakos, J. Tura, R. Augusiak, L. Mančinska, D. Bacco, D. Bonneau, J. W. Silverstone, Q. Gong, A. Acín, K. Rottwitt, L. K. Oxenløwe, J. L. O'Brien, A. Laing, and M. G. Thompson, Multidimensional quantum entanglement with large-scale integrated optics, Science 360, 285 (2018).
  26. M. Paris and J. Řeháček, Quantum State Estimation, Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer, Berlin, 2004).
  27. A. C. Dada, J. Leach, G. S. Buller, M. J. Padgett, and E. Andersson, Experimental high-dimensional two-photon entanglement and violations of generalized Bell inequalities, Nat. Phys. 7, 677 (2011).
  28. A. Barasiński, Exploring nonlocal correlations in arbitrarily high-dimensional systems, New J. Phys. 26, 113013 (2024).
  29. M. Bourennane, M. Eibl, C. Kurtsiefer, S. Gaertner, H. Weinfurter, O. Gühne, P. Hyllus, D. Bruß, M. Lewenstein, and A. Sanpera, Experimental detection of multipartite entanglement using witness operators, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 087902 (2004).
  30. I. D. Ivonovic, Geometrical description of quantal state determination, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 14, 3241 (1981).
  31. J. Schwinger, Unitary operator bases, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 46, 570 (1960).
  32. K. Kraus, Complementary observables and uncertainty relations, Phys. Rev. D 35, 3070 (1987).
  33. J. M. Renes, R. Blume-Kohout, A. J. Scott, and C. M. Caves, Symmetric informationally complete quantum measurements, J. Math. Phys. 45, 2171 (2004).
  34. G. Zauner, Quantum designs: Foundations of a noncommutative design theory, Int. J. Quantum Inf. 09, 445 (2011).
  35. S. Morelli, M. Huber, and A. Tavakoli, Resource-efficient high-dimensional entanglement detection via symmetric projections, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 170201 (2023).
  36. B. M. Terhal and P. Horodecki, Schmidt number for density matrices, Phys. Rev. A 61, 040301(R) (2000).
  37. K. Bartkiewicz, K. Lemr, A. Černoch, and A. Miranowicz, Bell nonlocality and fully entangled fraction measured in an entanglement-swapping device without quantum state tomography, Phys. Rev. A 95, 030102(R) (2017).
  38. V. Trávníček, J. Roik, K. Bartkiewicz, A. Černoch, P. Horodecki, and K. Lemr, Sensitivity versus selectivity in entanglement detection via collective witnesses, Phys. Rev. Res. 6, 033056 (2024).
  39. J. Řeháček, B.-G. Englert, and D. Kaszlikowski, Minimal qubit tomography, Phys. Rev. A 70, 052321 (2004).
  40. F. A. Bovino, G. Castagnoli, A. Ekert, P. Horodecki, C. M. Alves, and A. V. Sergienko, Direct measurement of nonlinear properties of bipartite quantum states, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 240407 (2005).
  41. K. Bartkiewicz, B. Horst, K. Lemr, and A. Miranowicz, Entanglement estimation from Bell inequality violation, Phys. Rev. A 88, 052105 (2013).
  42. J. Roik, K. Bartkiewicz, A. Černoch, and K. Lemr, Entanglement quantification from collective measurements processed by machine learning, Phys. Lett. A 446, 128270 (2022).
  43. P. Kok, W. J. Munro, K. Nemoto, T. C. Ralph, J. P. Dowling, and G. J. Milburn, Linear optical quantum computing with photonic qubits, Rev. Mod. Phys. 79, 135 (2007).
  44. M. Krenn, M. Huber, R. Fickler, R. Lapkiewicz, S. Ramelow, and A. Zeilinger, Generation and confirmation of a (100 × 100)-dimensional entangled quantum system, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111, 6243 (2014).
  45. J. Kysela, Arbitrary unitaries in orbital angular momentum of single photons, EPJ Quantum Technol. 9, 22 (2022).
  46. J. Leach, M. J. Padgett, S. M. Barnett, S. Franke-Arnold, and J. Courtial, Measuring the orbital angular momentum of a single photon, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 257901 (2002).
  47. M. Mirhosseini, M. Malik, Z. Shi, and R. W. Boyd, Efficient separation of the orbital angular momentum eigenstates of light, Nat. Commun. 4, 2781 (2013).
  48. Q. Yao, W. Liu, J. Cheng, Q. Liang, and C. Wan, Efficient angular separation of the dense orbital angular momentum of light, ACS Photonics 11, 2459 (2024).
  49. A. Barasiński and M. Nowotarski, Certifying separability and entanglement classes of not-completely-permutation-symmetric qudit states, Phys. Rev. A 94, 062319 (2016).
  50. A. Barasiński and M. Nowotarski, Quantifying entanglement properties of qudit mixed states with incomplete permutation symmetry, Phys. Rev. A 95, 042333 (2017).
  51. M. Horodecki and P. Horodecki, Reduction criterion of separability and limits for a class of distillation protocols, Phys. Rev. A 59, 4206 (1999).
  52. S. Ecker, F. Bouchard, L. Bulla, F. Brandt, O. Kohout, F. Steinlechner, R. Fickler, M. Malik, Y. Guryanova, R. Ursin, and M. Huber, Overcoming noise in entanglement distribution, Phys. Rev. X 9, 041042 (2019).
  53. F. Bussieres, C. Clausen, A. Tiranov, B. Korzh, V. B. Verma, S. W. Nam, F. Marsili, A. Ferrier, P. Goldner, H. Herrmann, C. Silberhorn, W. Sohler, M. Afzelius, and N. Gisin, Quantum teleportation from a telecom-wavelength photon to a solid-state quantum memory, Nat. Photonics 8, 775 (2014).
  54. Z.-Q. Zhong, X.-H. Zhan, J.-L. Chen, S. Wang, Z.-Q. Yin, J.-Q. Geng, D.-Y. He, W. Chen, G.-C. Guo, and Z.-F. Han, Hyperentanglement quantum communication over a 50 km noisy fiber channel, Optica 11, 1056 (2024).
  55. U. Singh, L. Zhang, and A. K. Pati, Average coherence and its typicality for random pure states, Phys. Rev. A 93, 032125 (2016).
  56. L. Knips, J. Dziewior, W. Kłobus, T. P. W. Laskowski, P. J. Shadbolt, H. Weinfurter, and J. D. A. Meinecke, Multipartite entanglement analysis from random correlations, npj Quantum Inf. 6, 51 (2020).
  57. K. Jiráková, A. Barasiński, A. Černoch, K. Lemr, and J. Soubusta, Measuring concurrence in qubit Werner states without an aligned reference frame, Phys. Rev. Appl. 16, 054042 (2021).
  58. J. Kadlec, A. Barasiński, and K. Lemr, Resource-efficient entanglement detection in high-dimensional states via two-qubit witnesses—Programming codes (2025), https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29254220.
  59. K. Bartkiewicz, P. Horodecki, K. Lemr, A. Miranowicz, and K. Życzkowski, Method for universal detection of two-photon polarization entanglement, Phys. Rev. A 91, 032315 (2015).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation