Group structures and representations of graph states

Abstract

A special configuration of graph state stabilizers, which contains only Pauli $σ_X$ operators, is studied. The vertex sets $ξ$ associated with such configurations are defined as what we call X-chains of graph states. The X-chains of a general graph state can be determined efficiently. They form a group structure such that one can obtain the explicit representation of graph states in the X-basis via the so-called X-chain factorization diagram. We show that graph states with different X-chain groups can have different probability distributions of X-measurement outcomes, which allows one to distinguish certain graph states with X-measurements. We provide an approach to find the Schmidt decomposition of graph states in the X-basis. The existence of X-chains in a subsystem facilitates error correction in the entanglement localization of graph states. In all of these applications, the difficulty of the task decreases with increasing number of X-chains. Furthermore, we show that the overlap of two graph states can be efficiently determined via X-chains, while its computational complexity with other known methods increases exponentially.

This is the version after the publication of the paper in PRA. The title is changed according to PRA standard. Some typos are corrected