Bell pair extraction using graph foliage techniques

Abstract: Future quantum networks can facilitate communication of quantum information between various nodes. We are particularly interested in whether multiple pairs can communicate simultaneously across a network. Quantum networks can be represented with graph states, and producing communication links amounts to performing certain quantum operations on graph states. This problem can be formulated in a graph-theoretic sense with the (Bell) vertex-minor problem. We discuss the recently introduced foliage partition and provide a generalization. This generalization leads us to a useful result for approaching the vertex-minor problem. We apply this result to identify the exact solution for the Bell vertex-minor problem on line, tree, and ring graphs.