Qutrit
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A qutrit is a unit of quantum information. Just as the qubit is analogous to the classical bit, the qutrit is analogous to the classical trit. A qutrit is 3-level, or ternary system which has 3 basis states, often denoted 
, 
and 
. Unlike the trit, and like its cousin the qubit, a qutrit can exist in superpositions of the three basis states. Consequently, a string of n qutrits is able to represent 3n different states simultaneously.
Since basis states in quantum systems must be orthogonal to be reliably distinguished, the qutrit's basis states must also be orthogonal. Qubits achieve this by utilizing Hilbert space H2, corresponding to spin-up and spin-down. Qutrits require a Hilbert space of higher dimension, namely H3.
As with qubits, a qutrit can be expressed as a linear combination of the basis states, given as:
.Qutrits have several peculiar features when used for storing quantum information. For example, they are more robust to decoherence under certain environmental interactions.[1] In reality, manipulating qutrits directly might be tricky, and one way to do that is by using an entanglement with a qubit.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ A. Melikidze, V. V. Dobrovitski, H. A. De Raedt, M. I. Katsnelson, and B. N. Harmon, Parity effects in spin decoherence, Phys. Rev. B 70, 014435 (2004) (link)
- ^ B. P. Lanyon,1 T. J. Weinhold, N. K. Langford, J. L. O'Brien, K. J. Resch, A. Gilchrist, and A. G. White, Manipulating Biphotonic Qutrits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 060504 (2008) (link)
- Physicists Demonstrate Qubit-Qutrit Entanglement by Lisa Zyga at Physorg.com, February 26, 2008 . Accessed March 2008
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