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A field-by-field archive of research questions that still need answers.

Open problems, grouped by the same fields as the paper archive.

Why this exists

Papers show what has been done. Open problems show what is still unresolved.

The goal is to keep both in the same product.

Open problems by field.

Starting with a curated quantum source.

Quantum

A curated quantum list drawn from IQOQI Vienna’s Open Quantum Problems archive, spanning foundations, entanglement theory, communication, computation, complexity, thermodynamics, cryptography, and adjacent quantum-information questions.

IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum Problems
Quantum foundations1999
All the Bell Inequalities

A foundational problem about classifying Bell inequalities and understanding the full boundary between classical and quantum correlations.

Contact R.F. WernerAdded 1999Last progress 2010
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2000
Undistillability implies ppt?

An entanglement-theory question asking whether every undistillable state must necessarily have positive partial transpose.

Contact D. BrußAdded 2000Last progress 2006/08/16
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2003
Qubit formula for Relative Entropy of Entanglement

A request for a clearer or closed-form characterization of relative entropy of entanglement in qubit settings.

Contact J. EisertAdded 2003
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2002
Bell Inequalities for long range vacuum correlations

A foundations problem probing whether vacuum correlations at long range can be captured or constrained through Bell-type inequalities.

Contact R. VerchAdded 2002
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum communication2003
Mutually unbiased bases

A quantum-information problem about the existence and construction of mutually unbiased bases in unresolved dimensions.

Contact B.-G. EnglertAdded 2003Last progress 2004/01/07
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum computation2003
Tough error models

A quantum-computing challenge around identifying error models that remain genuinely hard for fault-tolerant architectures to handle.

Contact E. KnillAdded 2003
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2003
Separability from spectrum

An entanglement problem asking how much can be inferred about separability or entanglement from spectral data alone.

Contact E. KnillAdded 2003Last progress 2013/09/08
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum computation2003
Complexity of product preparations

A computation problem about the resources required to prepare product-structured quantum states or decompositions.

Contact E. KnillAdded 2003
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2005
Reversible entanglement manipulation

An entanglement-theory problem on when entanglement transformations can be made reversible under reasonable operational constraints.

Contact M. PlenioAdded 2005Last progress 2023/01/23
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum communication2005
SIC POVMs and Zauner's Conjecture

A major measurement-theory problem on the existence and structure of symmetric informationally complete POVMs in all dimensions.

Contact D. GrossAdded 2005
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum communication2005
Secret key from all entangled states

A communication problem asking whether every entangled state can in principle yield secret key under suitable protocols.

Contact P. HorodeckiAdded 2005
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2005
Lockable entanglement measures

An entanglement question about which entanglement measures can change dramatically under the loss of a small subsystem.

Contact P. HorodeckiAdded 2005
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2010
Bell inequalities holding for all quantum states

A foundations problem on identifying Bell inequalities that remain valid across the entire quantum state space.

Contact R. GillAdded 2010
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2006
The power of CGLMP inequalities

A nonlocality problem on what CGLMP inequalities really certify and how strong they are compared with other Bell witnesses.

Contact R. GillAdded 2006
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2005
Entanglement of formation for Gaussian states

An entanglement problem aimed at understanding or explicitly characterizing formation costs in Gaussian-state settings.

Contact O. KrügerAdded 2005
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum communication2005
Individual measurement strategies on geometrically uniform states

A communication problem about optimal or near-optimal single-copy measurement strategies for geometrically uniform ensembles.

Contact J. BaeAdded 2005
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2007
Bell inequalities: many questions, a few answers

A broad foundations entry collecting unresolved structural and operational questions around Bell inequalities and nonlocality.

Contact N. GisinAdded 2007Last progress 2016/12/01
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2017
The geometry of quantum nonlocality

A foundations problem about the shape, extremal structure, and constraints of the quantum nonlocal set.

Contact W. Slofstra and M. NavascuésAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum computation2017
Existence of absolutely maximally entangled pure states

A computation and many-body problem on when absolutely maximally entangled states exist for given system sizes and local dimensions.

Contact F. HuberAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2017
Composition of decoherence functionals

A foundations problem exploring how decoherence functionals behave under composition and whether composition preserves physicality.

Contact M. NavascuésAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum communication2017
The PPT-squared conjecture

A communication and entanglement problem asking whether composing PPT channels always produces an entanglement-breaking channel.

Contact M. ChristandlAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2017
Steering bound for qubits and POVMs

An entanglement and steering problem on characterizing steering limits for qubits under general POVM measurements.

Contact R. F. WernerAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Many-body quantum information theory2017
Refinement of the Bessis-Moussa-Villani conjecture

A many-body and information-theory problem tied to stronger refinements or extensions of the Bessis-Moussa-Villani conjecture.

Contact D. HägeleAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Entanglement theory2017
All rank inequalities for reduced states of quadripartite quantum states

An entanglement problem asking for a complete picture of rank inequalities governing quadripartite reduced states.

Contact M. Huber, N. Linden and A. WinterAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2017
Reversible dynamics on composite systems

A foundations problem about what reversible dynamics are possible once systems are composed under generalized physical principles.

Contact B. Dakic and M. MüllerAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum foundations2017
Are all extensibly causal processes purifiable?

A foundations problem on whether causally well-behaved processes always admit purification in a larger theory.

Contact M. Araújo and C. BruknerAdded 2017
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum complexity theory2023
Complexity of the separability problem

A quantum complexity problem asking for the true computational complexity of deciding whether a bipartite mixed state is separable or far from separable.

Contact Henry YuenAdded 2023
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum complexity theory2023
Single-prover interactive proofs for quantum computations

A complexity-theory problem on whether single-prover protocols can verify quantum computations with strong guarantees and realistic assumptions.

Contact Henry YuenAdded 2023
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum thermodynamics2023
Thermodynamic implementation of Gibbs-Preserving Maps

A thermodynamics problem about whether Gibbs-preserving maps always admit a physically meaningful thermodynamic realization.

Contact Philippe FaistAdded 2023
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum cryptography2023
Is there bound information?

A quantum-cryptography problem asking whether classical secret correlations can exist in a bound form that cannot be distilled into key.

Contact Matthias ChristandlAdded 2023
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem
Quantum cryptography2026
The entanglement cost of f-routing

A recent cryptography and quantum-networking problem about the entanglement resources required for constrained routing tasks.

Contact Alex MayAdded 2026
IQOQI Vienna · Open Quantum ProblemsOpen problem