We study various optimality criteria for quantum observables. Observables are represented as covariant positive operator valued measures and we consider the case when the symmetry group is compact. Phase observables are examined as an example.
We discuss symmetric quantum measurements and the associated covariant observables modelled, respectively, as instruments and positive-operator-valued measures. The emphasis of this work are the optimality properties of the measurements, namely, extremality, informational completeness, and the rank-1 property which contrast the complementary class of (rank-1) projection-valued measures. The first half of this work concentrates solely on finite-outcome measurements symmetric w.r.t. finite groups where we derive exhaustive characterizations for the pointwise Kraus-operators of covariant instrume…
We introduce positive operator-valued measure (POVM) generated by the projective unitary representation of a direct product of locally compact Abelian group $G$ with its dual $\hat G$. The method is based upon the Pontryagin duality allowing to establish an isometrical isomorphism between the space of Hilbert-Schmidt operators in $L^2(G)$ and the Hilbert space $L^2(\hat G\times G)$. Any such a measure determines a pair of hybrid (containing classical and quantum parts) quantum channels consisting of the measurement channel and the channel transmitting an initial quantum state to the ensemble o…
We present an operationally motivated treatment of quantum reference frames in the setting that the frame is a covariant positive operator valued measure (POVM) on a finite homogeneous space, generalising the principal homogeneous spaces studied in previous work. We focus on the case that the reference observable is the canonical covariant projection valued measure on the given space, and show that this gives rise to a rank-one covariant POVM on the group, which can be seen as a system of coherent states, thereby making contact with recent work in the perspective-neutral approach to quantum re…
We prove a finite-dimensional covariant Stinespring theorem for compact quantum groups. Let G be a compact quantum group, and let T:= Rep(G) be the rigid C*-tensor category of finite-dimensional continuous unitary representations of G. Let Mod(T) be the rigid C*-2-category of cofinite semisimple finitely decomposable T-module categories. We show that finite-dimensional G-C*-algebras can be identified with equivalence classes of 1-morphisms out of the object T in Mod(T). For 1-morphisms X: T -> M1, Y: T -> M2, we show that covariant completely positive maps between the corresponding G-C*-algebr…
The imposition of symmetry upon the nature and structure of quantum observables has recently been extensively studied, with quantum reference frames playing a crucial role. In this paper, we extend this work to quantum transformations, giving quantitative results showing, in direct analogy to the case of observables, that a "large" reference frame is required for non-covariant channels to be well approximated by covariant ones. We apply our findings to the concrete setting of SU(2) symmetry.
Constructing all extreme instances of the set of completely positive trace-preserving (CPTP) maps, i.e., quantum channels, is a challenging valuable open problem in quantum information theory. Here we introduce a systematic approach that enables us to construct exactly those extreme channels that are covariant with respect to a finite discrete group or a compact connected Lie group. Innovative labeling of quantum channels by group representations enables us to identify the subset of group-covariant channels whose elements are group-covariant generalized-extreme channels. Furthermore, we exploi…