User-specified random sampling of quantum channels and its applications

Abstract: Random samples of quantum channels have many applications in quantum information processing tasks. Due to the Choi--Jamio\l{}kowski isomorphism, there is a well-known correspondence between channels and states, and one can imagine adapting \emph{state} sampling methods to sample quantum channels. Here, we discuss such an adaptation, using the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo method, a well-known classical method capable of producing high quality samples from arbitrary, user-specified distributions. Its implementation requires an exact parameterization of the space of quantum channels, with no superfluous parameters and no constraints. We construct such a parameterization, and demonstrate its use in three common channel sampling applications.