---
title: Stinespring (v1.1)
description: API reference for qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring in qiskit v1.1
source: https://eu-de.quantum.cloud.ibm.com/docs/en/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring
---

# Stinespring

*class* `qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring(data, input_dims=None, output_dims=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L36-L292)

Bases: `QuantumChannel`

Stinespring representation of a quantum channel.

The Stinespring representation of a quantum channel $\mathcal{E}$ is a rectangular matrix $A$ such that the evolution of a [`DensityMatrix`](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.DensityMatrix "qiskit.quantum_info.DensityMatrix") $\rho$ is given by

$$
\mathcal{E}(ρ) = \mbox{Tr}_2\left[A ρ A^\dagger\right]
$$

where $\mbox{Tr}_2$ is the [`partial_trace()`](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/quantum_info#qiskit.quantum_info.partial_trace "qiskit.quantum_info.partial_trace") over subsystem 2.

A general operator map $\mathcal{G}$ can also be written using the generalized Stinespring representation which is given by two matrices $A$, $B$ such that

$$
\mathcal{G}(ρ) = \mbox{Tr}_2\left[A ρ B^\dagger\right]
$$

See reference \[1] for further details.

**References**

1. C.J. Wood, J.D. Biamonte, D.G. Cory, *Tensor networks and graphical calculus for open quantum systems*, Quant. Inf. Comp. 15, 0579-0811 (2015). [arXiv:1111.6950 \[quant-ph\]](https://arxiv.org/abs/1111.6950)

Initialize a quantum channel Stinespring operator.

**Parameters**

- **or** (*data (*[*QuantumCircuit*](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.circuit.QuantumCircuit "qiskit.circuit.QuantumCircuit")) – Instruction or BaseOperator or matrix): data to initialize superoperator.
- **input\_dims** ([*tuple*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#tuple)) – the input subsystem dimensions. \[Default: None]
- **output\_dims** ([*tuple*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#tuple)) – the output subsystem dimensions. \[Default: None]

**Raises**

[**QiskitError**](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/exceptions#qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError "qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError") – if input data cannot be initialized as a a list of Kraus matrices.

**Additional Information:**

If the input or output dimensions are None, they will be automatically determined from the input data. This can fail for the Stinespring operator if the output dimension cannot be automatically determined.

## Attributes

### atol

Default value: `1e-08`

### data

### dim

Return tuple (input\_shape, output\_shape).

### num\_qubits

Return the number of qubits if a N-qubit operator or None otherwise.

### qargs

Return the qargs for the operator.

### rtol

Default value: `1e-05`

### settings

Return settings.

## Methods

### adjoint

`adjoint()`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L130-L140)

Return the adjoint quantum channel.

> **Note**
>
> This is equivalent to the matrix Hermitian conjugate in the [`SuperOp`](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp "qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp") representation ie. for a channel $\mathcal{E}$, the SuperOp of the adjoint channel $\mathcal{{E}}^\dagger$ is $S_{\mathcal{E}^\dagger} = S_{\mathcal{E}}^\dagger$.

**Return type**

*Self*

### compose

`compose(other, qargs=None, front=False)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L197-L206)

Return the operator composition with another Stinespring.

**Parameters**

- **other** ([*Stinespring*](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring")) – a Stinespring object.
- **qargs** ([*list*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#list) *or None*) – Optional, a list of subsystem positions to apply other on. If None apply on all subsystems (default: None).
- **front** ([*bool*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)) – If True compose using right operator multiplication, instead of left multiplication \[default: False].

**Returns**

The composed Stinespring.

**Return type**

[Stinespring](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring")

**Raises**

[**QiskitError**](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/exceptions#qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError "qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError") – if other cannot be converted to an operator, or has incompatible dimensions for specified subsystems.

> **Note**
>
> Composition (`&`) by default is defined as left matrix multiplication for matrix operators, while `@` (equivalent to [`dot()`](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring.dot "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring.dot")) is defined as right matrix multiplication. That is that `A & B == A.compose(B)` is equivalent to `B @ A == B.dot(A)` when `A` and `B` are of the same type.
>
> Setting the `front=True` kwarg changes this to right matrix multiplication and is equivalent to the [`dot()`](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring.dot "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring.dot") method `A.dot(B) == A.compose(B, front=True)`.

### conjugate

`conjugate()`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L174-L181)

Return the conjugate quantum channel.

> **Note**
>
> This is equivalent to the matrix complex conjugate in the [`SuperOp`](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp "qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp") representation ie. for a channel $\mathcal{E}$, the SuperOp of the conjugate channel $\overline{{\mathcal{{E}}}}$ is $S_{\overline{\mathcal{E}^\dagger}} = \overline{S_{\mathcal{E}}}$.

### copy

`copy()`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/base_operator.py#L143-L145)

Make a deep copy of current operator.

### dot

`dot(other, qargs=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/mixins/group.py#L133-L149)

Return the right multiplied operator self \* other.

**Parameters**

- **other** ([*Operator*](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.Operator "qiskit.quantum_info.Operator")) – an operator object.
- **qargs** ([*list*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#list) *or None*) – Optional, a list of subsystem positions to apply other on. If None apply on all subsystems (default: None).

**Returns**

The right matrix multiplied Operator.

**Return type**

[Operator](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.Operator "qiskit.quantum_info.Operator")

> **Note**
>
> The dot product can be obtained using the `@` binary operator. Hence `a.dot(b)` is equivalent to `a @ b`.

### expand

`expand(other)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L213-L216)

Return the reverse-order tensor product with another Stinespring.

**Parameters**

**other** ([*Stinespring*](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring")) – a Stinespring object.

**Returns**

**the tensor product $b \otimes a$, where $a$**

is the current Stinespring, and $b$ is the other Stinespring.

**Return type**

[Stinespring](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring")

### input\_dims

`input_dims(qargs=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/base_operator.py#L135-L137)

Return tuple of input dimension for specified subsystems.

### is\_cp

`is_cp(atol=None, rtol=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L221-L224)

Test if Choi-matrix is completely-positive (CP)

**Return type**

[bool](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)

### is\_cptp

`is_cptp(atol=None, rtol=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L156-L165)

Return True if completely-positive trace-preserving.

### is\_tp

`is_tp(atol=None, rtol=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L216-L219)

Test if a channel is trace-preserving (TP)

**Return type**

[bool](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)

### is\_unitary

`is_unitary(atol=None, rtol=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L226-L232)

Return True if QuantumChannel is a unitary channel.

**Return type**

[bool](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#bool)

### output\_dims

`output_dims(qargs=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/base_operator.py#L139-L141)

Return tuple of output dimension for specified subsystems.

### power

`power(n)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L142-L177)

Return the power of the quantum channel.

**Parameters**

**n** ([*float*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#float)) – the power exponent.

**Returns**

the channel $\mathcal{{E}} ^n$.

**Return type**

[SuperOp](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp "qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp")

**Raises**

[**QiskitError**](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/exceptions#qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError "qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError") – if the input and output dimensions of the SuperOp are not equal.

> **Note**
>
> For non-positive or non-integer exponents the power is defined as the matrix power of the [`SuperOp`](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp "qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp") representation ie. for a channel $\mathcal{{E}}$, the SuperOp of the powered channel $\mathcal{{E}}^\n$ is $S_{{\mathcal{{E}}^n}} = S_{{\mathcal{{E}}}}^n$.

### reshape

`reshape(input_dims=None, output_dims=None, num_qubits=None)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/base_operator.py#L106-L133)

Return a shallow copy with reshaped input and output subsystem dimensions.

**Parameters**

- **input\_dims** (*None or* [*tuple*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#tuple)) – new subsystem input dimensions. If None the original input dims will be preserved \[Default: None].
- **output\_dims** (*None or* [*tuple*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#tuple)) – new subsystem output dimensions. If None the original output dims will be preserved \[Default: None].
- **num\_qubits** (*None or* [*int*](https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#int)) – reshape to an N-qubit operator \[Default: None].

**Returns**

returns self with reshaped input and output dimensions.

**Return type**

BaseOperator

**Raises**

[**QiskitError**](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/exceptions#qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError "qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError") – if combined size of all subsystem input dimension or subsystem output dimensions is not constant.

### tensor

`tensor(other)`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L208-L211)

Return the tensor product with another Stinespring.

**Parameters**

**other** ([*Stinespring*](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring")) – a Stinespring object.

**Returns**

**the tensor product $a \otimes b$, where $a$**

is the current Stinespring, and $b$ is the other Stinespring.

**Return type**

[Stinespring](#qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring "qiskit.quantum_info.Stinespring")

> **Note**
>
> The tensor product can be obtained using the `^` binary operator. Hence `a.tensor(b)` is equivalent to `a ^ b`.

### to\_instruction

`to_instruction()`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L239-L268)

Convert to a Kraus or UnitaryGate circuit instruction.

If the channel is unitary it will be added as a unitary gate, otherwise it will be added as a kraus simulator instruction.

**Returns**

A kraus instruction for the channel.

**Return type**

[qiskit.circuit.Instruction](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.circuit.Instruction "qiskit.circuit.Instruction")

**Raises**

[**QiskitError**](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/exceptions#qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError "qiskit.exceptions.QiskitError") – if input data is not an N-qubit CPTP quantum channel.

### to\_operator

`to_operator()`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/quantum_channel.py#L234-L237)

Try to convert channel to a unitary representation Operator.

**Return type**

[*Operator*](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.Operator "qiskit.quantum_info.operators.operator.Operator")

### transpose

`transpose()`

[GitHub](https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit/tree/stable/1.1/qiskit/quantum_info/operators/channel/stinespring.py#L183-L195)

Return the transpose quantum channel.

> **Note**
>
> This is equivalent to the matrix transpose in the [`SuperOp`](/docs/api/qiskit/1.1/qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp "qiskit.quantum_info.SuperOp") representation, ie. for a channel $\mathcal{E}$, the SuperOp of the transpose channel $\mathcal{{E}}^T$ is $S_{mathcal{E}^T} = S_{\mathcal{E}}^T$.