Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 323 3 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let denote the partial transpose. The partial transpose of a maximally entangled projector iswhere is the swap operator, satisfying and . If has positive partial transpose, then is a positive operator of trace one, hence .
For a pure state , the unsquared quantum fidelity obeys . Using the trace-adjoint identity for partial transpose and part (i),The overlap is nonnegative, so taking its square root proves the PPT maximally entangled overlap bound:The product state attains the bound, so it is sharp.
PPT maximally entangled overlap bound 2026-10-06
Every density operator with positive partial transpose has squared quantum fidelity at most with a fixed maximally entangled state on . The partial transpose of a maximally entangled projector and the trace-adjoint identity for partial transpose express that squared overlap as . Since is positive of trace one and the swap operator has operator norm one, trace duality gives the bound. A matching product state attains equality.