Let m and n be any integers with n>m>=2. Using just the entropy function it is possible to define a partial order on S_mn (the symmetric group on mn letters) modulo a subgroup isomorphic to S_m x S_n. We explore this partial order in the case m=2, n=
3, where thanks to the outer automorphism the quotient space is actually isomorphic to a parabolic quotient of S_6. Furthermore we show that in this case it has a fairly simple algebraic description in terms of elements of the group ring.
We show that in a complex d-dimensional vector space, one can find O(d) bases whose elements form a 2-design. Such vector sets generalize the notion of a maximal collection of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs). MUBs have manifold applications in quantum
information theory (e.g. in state tomography, cloning, or cryptography) -- however it is suspected that maximal sets exist only in prime-power dimensions. Our construction offers an efficient alternative for general dimensions. The findings are based on a framework recently established in [A. Roy and A. Scott, J. Math. Phys. 48, 072110 (2007)], which reduces the construction of such bases to the combinatorial problem of finding certain highly nonlinear functions between abelian groups.
