Reversible simulation of bipartite product Hamiltonians

Abstract

Consider two quantum systems A and B interacting according to a product Hamiltonian H = H-A circle times H-B. We show that any two such Hamiltonians can be used to simulate each other reversibly (i.e., without efficiency losses) with the help of local unitary operations and local ancillas. Accordingly, all nonlocal features of a product Hamiltonian-including the rate at which it can be used to produce entanglement, transmit classical or quantum information, or simulate other Hamiltonians-depend only upon a single parameter. We identify this parameter and use it to obtain an explicit expression for the entanglement capacity of all product Hamiltonians. Finally, we show how the notion of simulation leads to a natural formulation of measures of the strength of a nonlocal Hamiltonian.