Paper detail

Mermin's Pentagram as an Ovoid of PG(3,2)

Mermin's pentagram, a specific set of ten three-qubit observables arranged in quadruples of pairwise commuting ones into five edges of a pentagram and used to provide a very simple proof of the Kochen-Specker theorem, is shown to be isomorphic to an ovoid (elliptic quadric) of the three-dimensional projective space of order two, PG(3,2). This demonstration employs properties of the real three-qubit Pauli group embodied in the geometry of the symplectic polar space W(5,2) and rests on the facts that: 1) the four observables/operators on any of the five edges of the pentagram can be viewed as points of an affine plane of order two, 2) all the ten observables lie on a hyperbolic quadric of the five-dimensional projective space of order two, PG(5,2), and 3) that the points of this quadric are in a well-known bijective correspondence with the lines of PG(3,2).

preprint2011arXivOpen access

Signal facts

What is known right now

Open access2 authors3 topics

Next steps

Decide what to do with this paper

Use like or dislike for the fast social read. The more specific scholarly feedback stays available below when needed.

Log in to curate

Reading frame

Keep the important context close to the paper

Keep the important signals around this paper in one place: votes, save state, collection context, reviews and the metadata you need before deciding what to do next.

Institutions

Add specific reaction

Move through the context

Research map

Open full explorer

Move through nearby people, institutions, topics and adjacent work without leaving the paper page.

Building this map preview

BZPEER is loading the nearby papers, people, topics and institutions for this page.

Structured reviews

0 review(s)

ContributeLeave structured feedbackUse the review template when you have a concrete strength, concern or method question.Open review form

No structured reviews yet. High-signal critique starts here.

Work discussion

0 comment(s)

DiscussAdd a high-signal commentKeep quick notes, caveats and replication pointers separate from formal reviews.Open comment form

No discussion yet. The first strong comment sets the tone.