OpenAI reports a PPT channel whose square retains entanglement

There is an explicit trace-preserving PPT channel Θ:M21(C)→M21(C) such that Θ∘Θ is not entanglement breaking.

Sources for this record

What was already known

Christandl’s 2012 PPT-squared question asked whether a PPT channel becomes entanglement breaking after composition with itself. Prior work established special cases, including low-dimensional channels, but not the general claim. The same manuscript’s dimension-ten construction uses two PPT maps and addresses a different, unrestricted two-map statement.

AI involvement AI-led

The manuscript credits OpenAI as author and its release credits an internal frontier model with the mathematics. The available account does not establish task-only autonomy or disclose every human input.

OpenAI is the manuscript author and its release attributes the mathematics to an internal frontier model. The available disclosure does not establish task-only autonomy.

Importance Major

Supplies a counterexample to the same-channel PPT-squared conjecture in dimension 21.

Limitations

This is Theorem 1.3, distinct from the paper’s dimension-ten two-map counterexample and its zero-distillable-secret-key state. It does not assert a minimal counterexample dimension. The Lean proof covers the channel claim; no Lean check is claimed for the separate secret-key theorem.

Technical verification Formal (Lean)

The official Lean solution module proves `exists_channel_fin21`: a 21-dimensional map is PPT and trace preserving, and its square is not entanglement breaking. The formalization note identifies this as the paper’s channel theorem. This is source-reported; the development was not rebuilt here.

Formal checking

Official solution module proves exists_channel_fin21 with a completed proof term, using main_channel_fin21 and publishedChoi21; the theorem asserts PPT, trace preservation, and non-entanglement-breaking square.

Checker
Lean kernel, as reported by OpenAI
Scope
An explicit trace-preserving PPT channel on M21(C) whose square is not entanglement breaking.
Basis
Reported by the linked checker
Evidence source

Checking a formal statement does not establish that it matches the original problem.

Human understanding Few

No named human account explaining the channel construction’s central reasoning was identified. This is the default for missing documentation, not a finding that people cannot understand it.

Correction and publication history

2026-10-18 · publication

Distinct Theorem 1.3 claim, prior baseline, attribution and exact Lean proof scope reviewed for non-notifying local inclusion.

Read this published revision