On an Extension Problem for Density Matrices

Abstract

We investigate the problem of the existence of a density matrix rho on the product of three Hilbert spaces with given marginals on the pair (1,2) and the pair (2,3). While we do not solve this problem completely we offer partial results in the form of some necessary and some sufficient conditions on the two marginals. The quantum case differs markedly from the classical (commutative) case, where the obvious necessary compatibility condition suffices, namely, trace_1 (rho_{12}) = \trace_3 (rho_{23}).