Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 58 4 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Pauli X gate interchanges the two basis quantum states. Because the bit-flip outcome is a classical unobserved error rather than a coherent superposition, the quantum bit-flip channel givesFor , its explicit density matrix isFor a pure reference quantum state, the square of the paper's quantum fidelity is . ThereforeWith , the expectation is , the component of the Bloch vector. Hence“All possible quantum states” is interpreted as the rotationally invariant uniform pure-qubit average, with measure . Thusso the average pure-qubit fidelity of a bit-flip channel isEquivalently, rotational symmetry gives , since a pure-state Bloch vector has unit length. The eigenstates are unchanged as density matrices and have fidelity one, while a computational basis quantum state has ; these provide checks on the angular expression. A uniform distribution in rather than in solid angle would produce the wrong ensemble average. The requested quantity is the mean squared fidelity, not the square of the mean unsquared fidelity.