Quantum energy teleportation in phase space

quantum mechanics
arXiv:2408.02905v1 [quant-ph] 6 Aug 2024

MM Sánchez-Córdova1 and Jasel Berra-Montiel1,2

1
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosı́
Campus Pedregal, Av. Parque Chapultepec 1610, Col. Privadas del Pedregal, San
Luis Potosı́, SLP, 78217, Mexico
2
Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini”, Universitá degli studi di Napoli “Federico
II”, Complesso Univ. Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. In this paper, we investigate the Quantum Energy Teleportation protocol

within the phase space formulation of quantum mechanics. By employing the Wigner
quasi-probability distribution and the star product, we show that the teleported energy
is proportional to the amount of entanglement present in the initial ground state.
Further, we introduce the Husimi Q-function on a Bloch coherent state in order to
determine the Wehrl entropy of the system. Finally, the Wherl entropy enable us to
compute the consumption of coherence and entanglement throughout the protocol.

Keywords: quasi-probability distribution, star product, quantum energy teleportation,

Wehrl entropy

1. Introduction

The phase space representation of quantum mechanics, also referred as deformation

quantization by many authors, provides a general method to investigate quantum
systems implementing notions from classical physics [1],[2]. The distinctive
characteristic of this quantization approach lies in the role assumed by the algebra
of quantum observables, which is not represented by a set of operators defined on a
Hilbert space [3]. Instead the observables are associated with smooth complex-valued
functions on the classical phase space, where the usual commutative point-wise product
is replaced by a non-commutative product termed as the star-product [4]. A central
feature within this formulation is determined by the Wigner distribution function. This
function provides a phase space representation of the density operator and captures
all auto-correlation properties and transition amplitudes of a quantum system. The
phase space formalism has undoubtedly made significant contributions not only to
pure mathematics [5], [6], but it has also proved to be a reliable technique in the
understanding of many physical complex systems [7],[8], including more recently, finite
dimensional multi-qubit systems [9],[10], distinct aspects of the loop representation of
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 2

quantum cosmology and quantum gravity [11],[12],[13],[14] and novel connections with
the path integral formalism [15], [16], to cite a few examples. However, despite the broad
relevance of the phase space formalism, a limited understanding remains regarding its
applicability to recent discovered phenomena involving the interplay between quantum
information theory and quantum field theory, such as Quantum Energy Teleportation
(QET) [17],[18], black hole loss information problem [20] and entanglement harvesting
[19], among others.
Following some ideas formulated in [9],[21], in this paper we propose to analyse the
protocol of Quantum Energy Teleportation within the phase space formalism of quantum
mechanics. This protocol, originally developed within the framework of quantum field
theory and many body systems, were first propose by Hotta [17] as a method to
transfer energy, through local operations and classical communication (LOCC) with
an entangled partner, by locally generating regions with negative energy density. This
technique, based on the entanglement of the ground state, has recently found many
applications in cold trapped ions [22], relativistic quantum information [23] and black
hole evaporation [24]. With the aim to describe the QET protocol, we compute the
variation of its associated Wigner quasi-probability distribution under the sequence of
local unitarities applied on the initial ground state. As we will demonstrate below,
the Wigner and the Husimi phase space functions enable us to quantify the amount of
coherence and entanglement consumed throughout the protocol, with the aim to extract
energy without requiring any physical transport between the source and the receiver.
Finally, a correlation between the entanglement negativity and the Wehrl entropy for
the system is discussed.
The paper is organized as follows, in section 2 we briefly introduce the fundamental
concepts of phase space quantization, Wigner functions and star products in multi-
qubit systmes. Then, in section 3 we analyse the QET protocol within the phase space
formalism, focusing our attention on the evolution of the entanglement. Finally, we
introduce some concluding remarks in section 4.

2. Phase space quantization and Wigner functions

The phase space formulation of quantum mechanics possesses an extensive history.

In 1932 Wigner introduced his renowned function, which has been widely applied in
numerous fields of physics, mathematics, electronics and geophysics [1],[2]. In 1949,
Moyal found that the inverse of the Weyl correspondence rule can be obtained by using
the Wigner transform, enabling the association of an operator defined on a Hilbert space
with a function on the classical phase space [3]. Consequently, the expectation value of
an operator can be expressed as the statistical average of the corresponding phase-space
function, where the probability density is determined by the Wigner function related
to the density matrix of the quantum state. In this manner, quantum mechanics can
be formally framed as a statistical-like theory on classical phase space. This formalism,
known as phase space quantum mechanics proves to be equivalent to the standard
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 3

Schrödinger and Heisenberg representations. Lately, in the seminal papers [4], it was
shown that the phase space formulation of quantum mechanics inherently possesses a
noncommutative deformation of the algebraic structure of classical observables, where
the usual pointwise product of functions should be replaced by the so called star
product (also known as the Moyal product) in order to recover the operator algebra
structure of quantum mechanics. This approach currently referred to as deformation
quantization consists in a entirely new formulation of quantum mechanics in terms of
phase space algebras instead of employing operators on Hilbert spaces. Most recently,
M. Kontsevich proved that there is a one-to-one correspondence between equivalent
classes of star products and Poisson structures, showing that every Poisson manifold,
and as a consequence every classical system, admits a canonical quantization, which is
in fact unique up to formal equivalence [5].
Originally, the conventional expression for the Wigner function was restricted to
continuous non-relativistic spinless systems, such as quantum particles on flat phase
spaces. It is customarily introduced via the Weyl-Wigner transform, which maps an
operator  defined on a Hilbert space to a classical phase space function W (x, p) [2],
as
Z
i y y
WÂ (x, p) = dy e− ~ yp hx − |Â|x − i . (1)
R 2 2
For simplicity, we will focus on systems with a single degree of freedom, but the
generalization to more dimensions follows straightforwardly. Now, let ρ̂ be a normalized
density operator associated with the quantum state ψ(x), that is, a self-adjoint positive
semi-definite operator with trace one. By making use of the Weyl-Wigner transform
(1), one may see that its corresponding phase space function up to multiplication by a
constant reads
1 y y
Z    
− ~i yp ∗
Wρ̂ (x, p) = dy e ψ x− ψ x+ . (2)
2π~ R 2 2
This special representation of the density operator embodies the celebrated Wigner
function [1], which allows us to characterize both pure and mixed quantum states
by using probability distributions in phase space. However, in order to reflect the
probabilistic nature of quantum theory, the Wigner distribution may take negative
values in certain regions of phase space. As a result, it cannot be interpreted as a true
probability density and is often referred to as a quasi-probability distribution in the
literature [7]. Furthermore, the Wigner function plays an essential role in determining
the expectation values of operators. This is achieved by integrating the associated
functions over the phase space as follows
Z
hψ, Âψi = dx dp Wρ̂(x, p)WÂ (x, p). (3)
R2
Moreover, the Wigner function obeys the normalization condition
Z
dx dp Wρ̂ (x, p) = tr ρ̂ = 1. (4)
R2
These expressions underscore the utility of the Wigner function in connecting quantum
mechanical operators with their classical counterparts, enabling a bridge between both
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 4

classical and quantum descriptions. This formalism can also be written in terms of the
displacement and parity operators given by the relation
1 h i
Wρ̂ (x, p) = tr ρ̂D̂(x, p)Π̂D̂ † (x, p) , (5)
π~
where the operator D̂(x, p) denotes the unitary displacement operator and Π̂ represents
the parity operator which acts according to
Π̂ |xi = − |xi , Π̂ |pi = − |pi , (6)
where |xi and |pi comprise a complete set of eigenstates of the position and momentum
operators respectively [25]. It has been recently understood that a generalization of the
phase space quantization approach for quantum systems with intrinsic symmetry groups,
such as spin systems, can be achieved by using the Stratonovich-Weyl correspondence
[21]. The premise behind the Stratonovich-Weyl correspondence implies that a linear
bijective mapping between operators acting on a Hilbert space and functions defined
ˆ
on phase space, also called symbols, can be realized via an appropriate kernel ∆(Ω),
where Ω is any parametrization of the phase space, which satisfies the following physical
motivated postulates [26]:
ˆ
h i
(i) The mapping W (Ω) = tr Â∆(Ω) is a one-to-one linear map.
ˆ
(ii) WÂ (Ω) is a real valued function, which implies that the operator kernel ∆(Ω) must
be hermitian.
(iii) WÂ (Ω) satisfies standarization, which means that the integral over all phase space
ˆ
Ω W (Ω)dΩ = tr  exists and Ω ∆(Ω)dΩ = 1̂.
R R
h i
(iv) Traciality, that is WÂ (Ω)WB̂ (Ω)dΩ = tr ÂB̂ .
R
Ω

(v) Covariance, which indicates that if an operator  is invariant under global unitary
operators, then WÂ (Ω) also remains invariant.
ˆ
In the case of systems with continuous variables, the kernel operator ∆(Ω) proves to be
†
proportional to D̂(x, p)Π̂D̂ (x, p), where the parametrization is given by Ω = {x, p}. For
other systems, it is crucial to select both the kernel operator and the parametrization
phase space coordinates in a manner that the symmetries of the physical system under
study are precisely captured [9].
For the case of a two level quantum system, such as a qubit over the Bloch sphere with
continuous degrees of freedom, the corresponding parity operator reads
√
Π̂q = 1̂2 + 3σ̂z , (7)
where 1̂2 denotes the 2 × 2 identity matrix and σ̂z stands for the Pauli z operator.
This form of the spin parity operator arises from analysing the SU(N) coherent states
in the complex projective space [27], [28]. On the other hand, the analogous of the
displacement operator for spin systems is given by the SU(2) rotation operator
φ θ Φ
Û(φ, θ, Φ) = exp(−iσ̂z )exp(−iσ̂y )exp(−iσ̂z ), (8)
2 2 2
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 5

where 0 ≤ θ ≤ π, 0 ≤ φ ≤ 2π and 0 ≤ Φ ≤ 4π are the conventional Euler angles [29].

Then, following the Stratonovich-Weyl postulates the corresponding kernel for a qubit
system follows

∆ˆ q (θ, φ) = 1 Û (φ, θ, Φ)Π̂q Û (φ, θ, Φ)† ,

2 √ √ iφ !
1 1 + 3 cos θ 3e sin θ
= √ −iφ √ . (9)
2 3e sin θ 1 − 3 cos θ
It is noteworthy that the kernel ∆ ˆ q (θ, φ) does not depend explicitly of the parameter
Φ, this allow us to restrict the phase space functions on a 2-sphere S2 , which turns out
to be equivalent to the representation used for the Bloch sphere [9], however, for larger
Hilbert spaces the Φ degree of freedom must be considered [30]. Subsequently, by means
ˆ q (θ, φ) we can obtain the symbol associated to any operator  acting on
of the kernel ∆
the qubit Hilbert space C2 as
ˆ q (θ, φ) ,
h i
W (θ, φ)) = tr Â∆
 (10)
which in turn can be inverted according to
1 2π π
Z Z
 = ˆ q (θ, φ) sin θdθ dφ.
WÂ (θ, φ)∆ (11)
2π 0 0
In particular, the Wigner function for a general qubit state ρ̂ = |qi hq|, where
|qi = a |0i + b |1i , a, b ∈ C, |a2 | + |b2 | = 1, (12)
attains the following form
ˆ q (θ, φ) .
h i
Wρ̂ (θ, φ) = tr ρ̂∆ (13)
The previous formula can alternatively be generalized for composite multi-qubit systems
states [9], in the context of two qubits it is formulated as
Wρ̂ (~θ, φ) ˆ 2q (~θ, φ)],
~ = tr[ρ̂∆ ~ (14)
where ~θ ≡ {θ1 , θ2 }, φ
~ ≡ {φ1 , φ2 }, furthermore the kernel is defined by the tensor product
ˆ 2q (~θ, φ)
∆ ˆ q (θ1 , φ1 ) ⊗ ∆
~ =∆ ˆ q (θ2 , φ2 ) and ρ̂ stands for the density matrix associated to a
two qubit quantum state |ψi = a |00i + b |01i + c |10i + d |11i, where a, b, c, d ∈ C and
satisfy the normalization condition |a|2 + |b|2 + |c|2 + |d|2 = 1.
Finally, to close this section, it is important to point out that a noncommutative
structure on the algebra of observables arises naturally from the developed phase space
quantization formalism. Let  and B̂ two operators acting on the qubit Hilbert space
C2 , by means of the Weyl-Stratonovich kernel (9), and the equation (11), the symbol
associated to the product of operators WÂB̂ (θ, φ), determines the star product for a one
qubit quantum system written as a convolution integral as [21],
Z
WÂB̂ (θ, φ) = WÂ (θ, φ) ⋆ WB̂ (θ, φ) = dΩ′ dΩ′′ WÂ (θ′ , φ′ )WB̂ (θ′′ , φ′′ )
Ω
ˆ q (θ, φ)∆
ˆ q (θ′ , φ′ )∆
ˆ q (θ′′ , φ′′ ) ,
h i
× tr ∆ (15)
where Ω = S2 × S2 is the region given by 0 ≤ θ′ , θ′′ ≤ π and 0 ≤ φ′ , φ′′ ≤ 2π, and we
have employed the differential dΩ = (1/2π) sin θ dθ dφ, to denote the normalized Haar
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 6

measure over a qubit phase space given by a 2-sphere. In a similar manner, this can
also be generalized readily to multi-qubit systems by employing the appropriate Weyl-
Stratonovich kernel. Within this formulation, the quantum dynamics of any system or
composite systems can be described as
∂Wρ̂ 1
= (Wρ̂ ⋆ WĤ − WĤ ⋆ Wρ̂ ) , (16)
∂t i~
where WĤ corresponds to the symbol of the Hamiltonian operator. This formula, known
as the Moyal’s equation of motion for the Wigner function, proves to be analogous to
the von Neumann equation of quantum mechanics. The solution of the Moyal’s equation
is obtained by using the properties of the star product, it encodes all the information
related to correlations functions, transition amplitudes and the evolution of the quantum
dynamical system. In order to address more details on this construction we refer the
reader to [7], [31] and references therein for a detailed exposition.

3. QET protocol in Phase Space Quantum Mechanics

In this section, we analyse the protocol called Quantum Energy Teleportation

(abbreviated as QET) within the phase space formalism of quantum mechanics. The
QET model, were first propose by Hotta [17], as a method to transfer energy through
local operations and classical communication (LOCC) with an entangled partner, but
without requiring any physical transport between the source and the receiver. This
approach maintains local energy conservation and preserves causality [18],[32],[33],. The
protocol of QET was originally developed within the framework of quantum field theory
and many body systems as a technique to generate locally regions with negative energy
density [33], although it has also found applications in spin chains systems [17], entangled
qubits [18], on maximizing negative energy distributions for stress-energy tensor [23],
algorithmic cooling protocols [34] and extracting energy from black holes [24], to name
a few examples. Recently it has been experimentally confirmed using magnetic nuclear
resonance on a bipartite quantum system [35], and in a superconducting quantum
hardware [36].
In the minimal QET scenario introduced in [18], Bob is allowed to extract some energy
from a subsystem even when it starts from a passive state, such as a thermal state
or the ground state. Customarily, when Bob applies a unitary local operator on its
subsystem, by energy conservation, infuses energy instead of extracting it, this in fact
characterizes what is known as a passive state. However, if Bob’s subsystem is entangled
with another subsystem shared by Alice, by performing a local measurement on Alice’s
states, information about quantum fluctuations of the ground state can be determined.
Next, the measurement result is communicated to Bob at a speed much faster than the
diffusion velocity of the energy injected by Alice due to her measurement. Then, Bob
applies conditional operators based on the announced data. Such strategy enables Bob
to effectively extract energy via the ground state entanglement. It should be emphasize
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 7

that the amount of output energy extracted by Bob is found to be bounded by the
amount of energy infused by Alice.
In order to analyse the minimal QET model within the phase space formulation
of quantum mechanics and thus apply the techniques developed in deformation
quantization, let us consider a system represented by two qubits A and B in the presence
of a transverse magnetic field described by the Hamiltonian Ĥ = ĤA + ĤB + V̂ , where
each contribution is of the form
h2
ĤA = hσ̂zA + √ , (17)
h2 + k 2
h2
ĤB = hσ̂zB + √ . (18)
h2 + k 2
2k 2
V̂ = 2kσ̂xA σ̂xB + √ , (19)
h2 + k 2
where h and k are positive constants with dimensions of energy and the operators σzA ,
σzB , σxA and σxB denote the z and x components of the Pauli operators for Alice and
Bob respectively. Since the Hamiltonian operator is a positive-semidefinite operator,
i.e. Ĥ ≥ 0, this implies that all its eigenvalues are non-negative [37]. In particular, the
ground state is given by
s s
1 h 1 h
|gi = √ 1 − √ 2 |0iA |0iB − √ 1 + √ 2 |1i |1i ., (20)
2 h +k 2 2 h + k2 A B
where |0iA , |0iB denote the eigenstates of σzA , σzB with eigenvalue +1 and |1iA , |1iB
stand for the eigenstates with eigenvalue −1 respectively. By using expression (14) the
Wigner function associated to the ground state reads
Wρ̂g (~θ, φ) ˆ 2q (~θ, φ)],
~ = tr[ρ̂g ∆ ~ (21)
√
− 3 √  1
= √ 2 3 cos(φ 1 + φ 2 ) sin θ1 sin θ2 + (cos θ1 + cos θ2 ) + (3 cos θ1 cos θ2 + 1),
4 h +k 2 4
where ρ̂g = |gi hg| is the density operator associated to the ground state (20). From the
Wigner function Wρ̂g (~θ, φ)~ obtained above, we can observe that it cannot be factored into
two separate functions, each depending on (θ1 , φ1) or (θ2 , φ2 ) only. This property shows
that the non-factorizability of the ground state is associated with the non-factorizability
of the corresponding Wigner function. Moreover, the Wigner function depends on
the variables φ1 an φ2 only through the non-classical interference term cos(φ1 + φ2 ),
characteristic feature of entanglement within the phase space description [38], which are
related to the non-trivial topological properties of the phase space S2 × S2 . Moreover,
the Wigner function (21) satisfies the normalization condition
Z
Wρ̂g (~θ, φ)dΩ
~ 1 dΩ2 = 1, (22)
Ω
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 8

where Ω = S2 × S2 , with 0 ≤ θ1 , θ2 ≤ π and 0 ≤ φ1 , φ2 ≤ 2π, and the integral Haar

measure is written as dΩ = (1/2π) sin θ dθ dφ. The expectation value of the Hamiltonian
on the ground state can be obtained as
Z
hĤi = hg, Ĥgi = Wρ̂g (~θ, φ)W
~ ~ ~
Ĥ (θ, φ)dΩ1 dΩ2 = 0, (23)
Ω

where WĤ (~θ, φ)

~ corresponds to the phase space symbol associated to the Hamiltonian
operator Ĥ, and has de form
√ √
W (~θ, φ)
Ĥ
~ = 3h(cos θ1 + cos θ2 ) + 6k sin θ1 sin θ2 cos φ1 cos φ2 + 2 k 2 + h2 . (24)
From this expression we can observe that the first term encompasses the information
of the free Hamiltonians ĤA and ĤB , the second term incorporates the interaction V̂ ,
and the constant last term is added to reduce to zero the expectation value of the
Hamiltonian operator for the ground state. Furthermore, the Wigner function of the
ground state satisfies the star-genvalue equation
Ĥ
~ ⋆ Wρ̂g (~θ, φ)
W (~θ, φ) ~ = 0, (25)
where the star product for a two qubit system, in the integral representation reads
Z
~ ⋆ W (~θ, φ)
WÂ (~θ, φ) B̂
~ = dΩ′1 dΩ′2 dΩ′′1 dΩ′′2 WÂ (θ~′ , φ~′)WB̂ (θ~′′ , φ~′′ )
Ω
ˆ 2q (~θ, φ)
~ ∆ˆ 2q (θ~′ , φ~′ )∆
ˆ 2q (θ~′′ , φ~′′ ) ,
h i
× tr ∆ (26)
where the region Ω = (S2 × S2 )2 and dΩ represents the normalized Haar measure of a
qubit phase space as state previously.
Following the QET protocol, Alice performs a projective measurement of the observable
σ̂xA on the ground state with measurement output α = ±1. The projection operator
corresponding to each measurement outcome has the form
1 
P̂ A (α) = 1̂ + ασ̂xA , (27)
2
and its associated phase space symbol reads
√
~ = 1 1 + α 3 sin θ1 cos φ1 .
WP̂ A (α) (~θ, φ)
 
(28)
2
After the measurement, the state of the two qubits is transformed into the density
operator
ρ̂′ = P̂ A (α)ρ̂g P̂ A (α),
X
(29)
α=±1
which, within the phase space formalism, demonstrates to be equivalent to
Wρ̂′ (~θ, φ)
~ = WP̂ A (α) (~θ, φ) ~ ⋆ W A (~θ, φ),
~ ⋆ Wρ̂ (~θ, φ) ~
X
g P̂ (α)
α=±1
√
3h 3k 1
= − √ 2 cos θ2 − √ 2 sin θ1 sin θ2 cos φ1 cos φ2 + . (30)
4 h +k 2 4 h +k 2 4
Since the resultant Wigner function no longer describes the ground state, a certain
amount of energy has been infused by Alice into the system. This energy can be obtained
as
h2
Z
EA = Wρ̂′ (~θ, φ)W
~
Ĥ ( ~θ, φ)dΩ
~ 1 dΩ 2 = √ . (31)
Ω h2 + k 2
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 9

The energy EA is regarded as the QET energy input resulting from the Alice
measurement [18], and as we will discuss later, this energy proves to be proportional
to the amount of entanglement in the initial state. The key aspect of this protocol
stems form the fact that any measurement performed by Alice on her subsystem does
not increase the average energy of the Bob’s subsystem, i.e., the average values of the
operators ĤB and V̂ equate to zero, since
Z
hĤB iρ̂′ = Wρ̂′g (~θ, φ)W
~ ~ ~
ĤB (θ, φ)dΩ1 dΩ2 = 0, (32)
Ω
and
Z
hV̂ iρ̂′ = Wρ̂′g (~θ, φ)W
~ ~ ~
V̂ (θ, φ)dΩ1 dΩ2 = 0. (33)
Ω
Consequently, there are no instantaneous force acting from the subsystem A to the
subsystem B after the measurement. Because the model is non-relativistic, the protocol
allows Bob to extract energy faster than the diffusion speed of the input energy given by
Alice measurement, which proves to be proportional to k [17]. Next, according to the
QET protocol, after Alice’s measurement result is communicated to Bob, Bob applies a
local conditional unitary operator given by
Û B (α) = 1̂B cos ω − iα sin ωσ̂yB , (34)
where α = ±1 and ω is a real constant that satisfies
h2 + 2k 2
cos ω = q , (35)
(h2 + 2k 2 )2 + h2 k 2
and
hk
sin ω = q . (36)
(h2 + 2k 2 )2 + h2 k 2
The local unitary operator Û B (α) is represented by the associated Weyl symbol on the
phase space as
√
WÛ B (α) (~θ, φ)
~ = cos ω − i 3α sin ω sin θ2 sin φ2 . (37)
Then, after the application of the α-dependent local unitary operator, the Wigner
function of the system reads
Wρ̂′′ (~θ, φ)
~ = ~ ⋆ Wρ̂′ (~θ, φ)
WÛ A (α) (~θ, φ) ~ ⋆ W ∗ A (~θ, φ),
~
X
Û (α)
α=±1
√
3h 3k 1
= − √ 2 cos θ2 − √ 2 sin θ1 sin θ2 cos φ1 cos φ2 + . (38)
4 h + 4k 2 2 h + 4k 2 4
Finally, the output energy extracted by Bob using the QET protocol can be computed
as follows
Z
EB = hĤiρ̂′′ − EA = Wρ̂′′ (~θ, φ)W
~ ~ ~
Ĥ (θ, φ)dΩ1 dΩ2 − EA ,
Ω
v 
2 2
h + 2k h2 k 2
u
u
=√ 2 t1 + − 1 (39)
h + k2 (h2 + 2k 2 )2
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 10

which is evidently non-negative. It is noteworthy to observe that the teleported energy

proves to be proportional to the amount of entanglement given in the initial ground
state. To illustrate this, let us consider the negativity as an entanglement measure of
a system. It can be defined in terms of the density matrix as a monotone positive
functional defined by
||ρ̂tB || − 1
N (ρ̂) = , (40)
2
where ρ̂tB denotes the partial transpose of the density operator with respect to the
system B, and || . || denotes the trace norm [39]. The importance of this measure arises
from the fact that the logarithm of the trace norm of the partial transpose serves as an
upper bound for distillable entanglement [40]. It is straightforward to check that the
negativity of the ground state reads
k
N (ρ̂g ) = √ 2 , (41)
2 k + h2
meanwhile for the final step, the negativity is zero, i.e., N (ρ̂′′ ) = 0. Hence, the teleported
energy can be written as
2N (ρ̂g ) q 2 2
 
2 2 2 2 2
EB = h k + (h + 2k ) − (h + 2k ) , (42)
k
this means that in order to implement the QET protocol, it is required to consume some
amount of the ground state entanglement. An alternative way to understand this aspect
is using the so called Wehrl entropy in terms of the Q-function [41], [42]. In a two qubit
system, let us consider a Bloch coherent state defined as
θ1 θ2 θ1 θ2
|Φi = ei(φ1 +φ2 ) sin sin |0iA |0iB + eiφ1 sin cos |0iA |1iB
2 2 2 2
θ 1 θ2 θ 1 θ 2
+ eiφ2 cos sin |1iA |0iB + cos cos |1iA |1iB , (43)
2 2 2 2
where 0 ≤ θ1 , θ2 ≤ π and 0 ≤ φ1 , φ2 ≤ 2π. The Husimi quasi-probability distribution,
also known as the Q-function, consists of a non-negative function defined on the phase
space which, analogously to the Wigner function, enables a complete characterization of
a quantum system. The Q-function is primarily used in quantum optics and tomography
to analyse different quantum effects in the coupling of light-matter interaction and
superconductors [7], [43]. For a two qubit system, it is given by
Qρ̂ (~θ, φ)
~ = hΦ, ρ̂Φi ,
Z
= Wρ̂ (~θ, φ)
~ hΦ, ∆
ˆ 2q (~θ, φ)Φi
~ dΩ1 dΩ2 , (44)
Ω
whereas the partial Q-function of the B qubit is expressed as
Z
QB
ρ̂ (θ2 , φ2 ) = Qρ̂ (~θ, φ)
~ dΩ1 . (45)
S2
On the other hand, the Wehrl entropy was introduced in [41] as a measure of diverse
quantum properties, including quantum noise [44], decoherence and entanglement [45].
The partial Wehrl entropy of the qubit B is written in terms of the Q-function as
Z
Eρ̂B = −QB B
ρ̂ (θ2 , φ2 ) ln Qρ̂ (θ2 , φ2 ) dΩ2 . (46)
S2
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 11

Here the Wehrl entropy is used as a useful measure of the loss of entanglement of a
state as a consequence of the unitarities applied during the protocol. We can notice
that the Wehrl entropy cannot be negative and exhibits a temporal evolution similar
to the von Neumann entropy [42]. For the initially prepared ground state, the Wehrl
entropy satisfies
1
2.3379 = (1 + ln 4 + 2 ln π) ≤ Eρ̂Bg ≤ ln 4π, (47)
4π
where Eρ̂Bg takes the form
2h2 + k 2 16h2
! ! !
2h 1
Eρ̂Bg = N (ρ̂g ) arctan N (ρ̂g ) − 1 + ln 16 + 2 + 2 ln π .(48)
2πhk k 4π k
The minimal value of the Wehrl entropy for the ground state occurs at k = 0, i.e., on a
separable pure state, while the maximum value takes place at h = 0, which represents a
maximally entangled initial state. Moreover, the entropy associated to the final state of
the protocol proves to be Eρ̂B′′ = ln 4π. Since the entropy of the system cannot decrease,
it follows that
2.3379 ≤ Eρ̂Bg ≤ Eρ̂B′ ≤ Eρ̂B′′ = ln 4π. (49)
Considering that the negativity of the final state is equal to zero, this implies that
the Wehrl entropy quantifies the consumption of coherence and entanglement along the
protocol for the purpose of extracting energy. Furthermore, the amount of entropy at
the final step is fully described by classical correlations, which were originated from
the conditional operators applied by Bob, based on Alice measurements, via a classical
communication channel.

4. Conclusions

In this paper we have analysed the QET protocol within the phase space formulation of
quantum mechanics. Following some ideas introduced by the Weyl-Wigner quantization
of finite dimensional spin systems, we have obtained the Wigner function and the star-
product of the minimal QET model, which corresponds to a pair of two entangled
qubits in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. Then, by using the integral
properties of the Winger quasi-probability distribution and the symbols corresponding
to a sequence of unitarities, we showed that the teleported energy is proportional to
the amount of entanglement present in the initial ground state, which is consistent with
previous results. Finally, with the aid of the Husimi Q-function, we analysed the Wehrl
entropy of the protocol. As we have seen, the Wehrl entropy enables us to quantify the
consumption of coherence and entanglement of the initial ground state in order to extract
energy, resulting in a final state with purely classical correlations. We expect the results
established here may clarify several aspects of the energy teleportation protocols via
local operations and classical communication, found in the literature. As future work,
we pretend to implement our quantization approach to the case of quantum fields, in
order to explore how quasi-probability distributions describe the violation of classical
Quantum energy teleportation in phase space quantum mechanics 12

energy conditions. This will enable us to investigate the QET protocol in more general
scenarios. This will be done elsewhere.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge support from CONAHCYT-Mexico. JBM thanks
to the Dipartimento di Fisica “Ettore Pancini” for the kind invitation and its generous
hospitality. Computations have been made using wxMaxima.

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