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Confidence intervals for quantum state estimation

Robin Blume-Kohout, Los Alamos National Lab

(Session 10a : Saturday from 4:00pm-4:30pm)

Abstract. Quantum state and process tomography -- widely used to validate quantum devices -- typically yield a point estimate. The final result is a single "best guess" for the system's density matrix or process matrix. A point estimator cannot enable reliable fault-tolerant design, for the best that can be said is "The estimate is probably close to the true state." Interval estimators, on the other hand, report a convex region that contains the true state with (guaranteed) high probability. They support rigorous logical statements about the state (or process), which in turn enable fault tolerant designs. In this talk, I'll demonstrate how to design a confidence region estimator with guaranteed success probability, how to describe the result concisely, and how to derive a useful point estimator from it.