Local unitary classification of sets of generalized Bell states in $\mathbb{C}^{d}\otimes\mathbb{C}^{d}$

Abstract

Two sets of quantum entangled states that are equivalent under local unitary transformations may exhibit identical effectiveness and versatility in various quantum information processing tasks. Consequently, classification under local unitary transformations has become a fundamental issue in the theory of quantum entanglement. The primary objective of this work is to establish a complete LU-classification of all sets of generalized Bell states (GBSs) in bipartite quantum systems $\mathbb{C}^{d}\otimes \mathbb{C}^{d}$ with $d\geq 3$. Based on this classification, we determine the minimal cardinality of indistinguishable GBS sets in $\mathbb{C}^{6}\otimes \mathbb{C}^{6}$ under one-way local operations and classical communication (one-way LOCC). We propose first two classification methods based on LU-equivalence for all $l$-GBS sets for $l\geq 2$. We then establish LU-classification for all 2-GBS, 3-GBS, 4-GBS and 5-GBS sets in $\mathbb{C}^{6}\otimes \mathbb{C}^{6}$. Since LU-equivalent sets share identical local distinguishability, it suffices to examine representative GBS sets from equivalent classes. Notably, we identify a one-way LOCC indistinguishable 4-GBS set among these representatives, thereby resolving the case of $d = 6$ for the problem of determining the minimum cardinality of one-way LOCC indistinguishable GBS sets in [Quant. Info. Proc. 18, 145 (2019)] or [Phys. Rev. A 91, 012329 (2015)].