Quantitative Tsirelson's Theorems via Approximate Schur's Lemma and Probabilistic Stampfli's Theorems

Abstract: Tsirelson showed that, in finite dimensions, quantum correlations generated by commuting observables--measurements associated with distinct parties whose operators mutually commute--are equivalent to those obtainable from measurements on separate tensor product factors. We generalize this foundational result to the setting of $\epsilon$-almost commuting observables, establishing two distinct quantitative approximate Tsirelson's theorems. Both theorems show that if a $d$-dimensional bipartite quantum strategy's observables $\epsilon$-almost commute, then they are within $O(\mathrm{poly}(d) \epsilon)$ (in operator norm) of observables from a genuine tensor product strategy. This provides a quantitative counterpart to the asymptotic result of [N. Ozawa, J. Math. Phys. 54, 032202 (2013)] and justifies the tensor product model as an effective model even when subsystem independence is only approximately satisfied. Our theorems arise from two different but complementary formulations of almost commutation: (i) The first approach utilizes deterministic operator norm bounds relative to specific matrix generators (such as clock and shift matrices), leading to an approximate Schur's Lemma from which the first theorem directly follows. (ii) The second approach employs probabilistic bounds, requiring small commutators only on average against Haar-random single-qubit unitaries. This method yields two novel probabilistic Stampfli's theorems, quantifying distance to scalars based on probabilistic commutation, a result which may be of independent interest. These theorems set the basis for the second approximate Tsirelson's theorem.