Bell pair extraction using graph foliage techniques

Abstract

Future quantum networks can facilitate communication of quantum information between various nodes. We are particularly interested in whether multiple pairs can communicate simultaneously across a network. Quantum networks can be represented with graph states, and producing communication links amounts to performing certain quantum operations on graph states. This problem can be formulated in a graph-theoretic sense with the (Bell) vertex-minor problem. We discuss the recently introduced foliage partition and provide a generalization. This generalization leads us to a useful result for approaching the vertex-minor problem. We apply this result to identify the exact solution for the Bell vertex-minor problem on line, tree, and ring graphs.