We provide a feasible necessary and sufficient condition for when an unknown quantum operation (quantum device) secretely selected from a set of known quantum operations can be identified perfectly within a finite number of queries, and thus complete the characterization of the perfect distinguishability of quantum operations. We further design an optimal protocol which can achieve the perfect discrimination between two quantum operations by a minimal number of queries. Interestingly, employing the techniques from the theory of $q$-numerical range we find that an optimal perfect discrimination between two isometries is always achievable without using auxiliary systems or entanglement.
We study optimal perfect distinguishability between a unitary and a general quantum operation. In 2-dimensional case we provide a simple sufficient and necessary condition for sequential perfect distinguishability and an analytical formula of optimal query time. We extend the sequential condition to general d-dimensional case. Meanwhile, we provide an upper bound and a lower bound for optimal sequential query time. In the process a new iterative method is given, the most notable innovation of which is its independence to auxiliary systems or entanglement. Following the idea, we further obtain …
The presence of an additive conserved quantity imposes a limitation on the measurement process. According to the Wigner-Araki-Yanase theorem, the perfect repeatability and the distinguishability on the apparatus cannot be attained simultaneously. Instead of the repeatability, in this paper, the distinguishability on both systems is examined. We derive a trade-off inequality between the distinguishability of the final states on the system and the one on the apparatus. The inequality shows that the perfect distinguishability of both systems cannot be attained simultaneously.
We consider the question of perfect local distinguishability of mutually orthogonal bipartite quantum states, with the property that every state can be specified by a unitary operator acting on the local Hilbert space of Bob. We show that if the states can be exactly discriminated by one-way LOCC where Alice goes first, then the unitary operators can also be perfectly distinguished by an orthogonal measurement on Bob's Hilbert space. We give examples of sets of N<=d maximally entangled states in $d \otimes d $ for d=4,5,6 that are not perfectly distinguishable by one-way LOCC. Interestingly fo…
A basic property of distinguishability is that it is non-increasing under further quantum operations. Following this, we generalize two measures of distinguishability of pure states--fidelity and von Neumann entropy, to mixed states as self-consistent measures. Then we extend these two measures to quantum operations. The information-theoretic point of the generalized Holevo quantity of an ensemble of quantum operations is constructed. Preferably it is an additive measure. The exact formula for SU(2) ensemble is presented. With the aid of the formula, we show Jozsa-Schlienz paradox that states …
We find that the perfect distinguishability of two quantum operations by a parallel scheme depends only on an operator subspace generated from their Choi-Kraus operators. We further show that any operator subspace can be obtained from two quantum operations in such a way. This connection enables us to study the parallel distinguishability of operator subspaces directly without explicitly referring to the underlining quantum operations. We obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the parallel distinguishability of an operator subspace that is either one-dimensional or Hermitian. In both …
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente（特温特大学 MESA+ 纳米技术研究所）；Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, Eindhoven University of Technology（埃因霍温理工大学应用物理与科学教育部）；Department of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology（埃因霍温理工大学电气工程系）
I design a simple way of distinguishing non-orthogonal quantum states with perfect reliability using only quantum control-not gates in one condition. In this way, we can implement pure quantum communication in directly sending classical information, Ekert quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation without the help of classical communications channel.
We show that any two different unitary operations acting on an arbitrary multipartite quantum system can be perfectly distinguishable by local operations and classical communication when a finite number of runs is allowed. We then directly extend this result into the case when the number of unitary operations to be discriminated is more than two. Intuitively, our result means that the lost identity of a nonlocal (entangled) unitary operation can be recovered locally, without any use of entanglement or joint quantum operations.
We consider a homogeneous system of linear equations of the form $A_α^{\otimes N} {\bf x} = 0$ arising from the distinguishability of two quantum operations by $N$ uses in parallel, where the coefficient matrix $A_α$ depends on a real parameter $α$. It was conjectured by Duan et al. that the system has a non-trivial nonnegative solution if and only if $α$ lies in a certain interval $R_N$ depending on $N$. We affirm the necessity part of the conjecture and establish the sufficiency of the conjecture for $N\leq 10$ by presenting explicit non-trivial nonnegative solutions for the linear system.
The problem of distinguishing two unitary transformations, or quantum gates, is analyzed and a function reflecting their statistical distinguishability is found. Given two unitary operations, $U_1$ and $U_2$, it is proved that there always exists a finite number $N$ such that $U_1^{\otimes N}$ and $U_2^{\otimes N}$ are perfectly distinguishable, although they were not in the single-copy case. This result can be extended to any finite set of unitary transformations. Finally, a fidelity for one-qubit gates, which satisfies many useful properties from the point of view of quantum information theo…
In this article we show that, in a two-arm interferometer, pure quantum states of perfect path distinguishability (particles) are geometrically equidistant from all states with constant path distinguishability D. This property is not shared by other states, such as perfect fringe-visibility (waves) or maximally entangled quantum states (entanglon). Indeed, the Bures distance between a particle and any other state depends only the distinguishability of the latter. On the contrary, the Bures distance between a wave or an entanglon, and any other single photon state depends on other set of parame…
It is not always possible to distinguish multipartite orthogonal states if only local operation and classical communication (LOCC) are allowed. We prove that we cannot distinguish the states of an unextendible product basis (UPB) by LOCC even when infinite resources (infinite-dimensional ancillas, infinite number of operations). Moreover we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the LOCC distinguishability of complete product bases.
Divisibility of dynamical maps turns out to be a fundamental notion in characterising Markovianity of quantum evolution, although the decision problem for divisibility itself is computationally intractable. In this work, we propose the operational characterisation of divisibility of dynamical maps by exploiting distinguishability of quantum channels. We prove that distinguishability for any pair of quantum channels does not increase under divisible maps, and then, in terms of channel distinguishability with entanglement between system and $k$-dimensional ancillas, provide the operational chara…
It is shown that local distinguishability of orthogonal mixed states can be completely characterized by local distinguishability of their supports irrespective of entanglement and mixedness of the states. This leads to two kinds of upper bounds on the number of perfect LOCC distinguishable orthogonal mixed states. The first one depends only on pure-state entanglement within the supports of the states, and therefore may be easy to compute in many instances. The second bound is optimal in the sense that it optimizes the bounding quantities, not necessarily function of entanglement alone, over al…
Let $s_1,s_2,\ldots s_n$ be states of a general probability theory, and $\mathcal A$ be the set of all subsets of indices $H \subset [n]\equiv\{1,2,\ldots n\}$ such that the states $(s_j)_{j\in H}$ are jointly perfectly distinguishable. All subsets with a single element are of course in $\mathcal A$, and since smaller collections are easier to distinguish, if $H\in \mathcal A$ and $L \subset H$ then $L\in \mathcal A$; in other words, $\mathcal A$ is a so-called $\textit{independence system}$ on the set of indices $[n]$. In this paper it is shown that every independence system on $[n]$ can be r…
We analyze the difference in the local distinguishability among the following three restrictions; (i) Local operations and only one-way classical communications (one-way LOCC) are permitted. (ii) Local operations and two-way classical communications (two-way LOCC) are permitted. (iii) All separable operations are permitted. We obtain two main results concerning the discrimination between a given bipartite pure state and the completely mixed state with the condition that the given state should be detected perfectly. As the first result, we derive the optimal discrimination protocol for a bipart…
We investigate local distinguishability of quantum states by use of the convex analysis about joint numerical range of operators on a Hilbert space. We show that any two orthogonal pure states are distinguishable by local operations and classical communications, even for infinite dimensional systems. An estimate of the local discrimination probability is also given for some family of more than two pure states.
In the topic of perfect local distinguishability of orthogonal multipartite quantum states, most results obtained so far pertain to bipartite systems whose subsystems are of specific dimensions. In contrast very few results for bipartite systems whose subsystems are of arbitrary dimensions, are known. This is because a rich variety of (algebraic or geometric) structure is exhibited by different sets of orthogonal states owing to which it is difficult to associate some common property underlying them all, i.e., a common property that would play a crucial role in the local distinguishability of …
Bell nonlocality can be formulated in terms of a resource theory with local-hidden variable models as resourceless objects. Two such theories are known, one built upon local operations assisted by shared randomness (LOSRs) and the other one allowing, in addition, for prior-to-input classical communication. We show that prior communication, although unable to create nonlocality, leads to wirings not only beyond LOSRs but also not contained in a much broader class of (nonlocality-generating) global wirings. Technically, this is shown by proving that it can improve the statistical distinguishabil…
We study the distinguishability of multipartite quantum states by separable operations. We first present a necessary and sufficient condition for a finite set of orthogonal quantum states to be distinguishable by separable operations. An analytical version of this condition is derived for the case of $(D-1)$ pure states, where $D$ is the total dimension of the state space under consideration. A number of interesting consequences of this result are then carefully investigated. Remarkably, we show there exists a large class of $2\otimes 2$ separable operations not being realizable by local opera…
In this paper, we consider the problem of discriminating quantum states by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) when an arbitrarily small amount of error is permitted. This paradigm is known as asymptotic state discrimination, and we derive necessary conditions for when two multipartite states of any size can be discriminated perfectly by asymptotic LOCC. We use this new criterion to prove a gap in the LOCC and separable distinguishability norms. We then turn to the operational advantage of using two-way classical communication over one-way communication in LOCC processing. With…
Local distinguishability of six bipartite orthogonal product states
College of Computer Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology（山东科技大学计算机科学与工程学院）；College of Cyberspace Science and Technology, Beijing University of Technology（北京工业大学网络空间技术学院）；College of Mathematics and Systems Science, Shandong University of Science and Technology（山东科技大学数学与系统科学学院）
Coherence measures and their operational interpretations lay the cornerstone of coherence theory. In this paper, we introduce a class of coherence measures with $α$-affinity, say $α$-affinity of coherence for $α\in (0, 1)$. Furthermore, we obtain the analytic formulae for these coherence measures and study their corresponding convex roof extension. We provide an operational interpretation for $1/2$-affinity of coherence by showing that it is equal to the error probability to discrimination a set of pure states with the least square measurement. Employing this relationship we regain the optimal…
Distinguishing physical processes is one of the fundamental problems in quantum physics. Although distinguishability of quantum preparations and quantum channels have been studied considerably, distinguishability of quantum measurements remains largely unexplored. We investigate the problem of single-shot discrimination of quantum measurements using two strategies, one based on single quantum systems and the other one based on entangled quantum systems. First, we formally define both scenarios. We then construct sets of measurements (including non-projective) in arbitrary finite dimensions tha…
In this article, we show a sufficient and necessary condition for locally distinguishable bipartite states via one-way local operations and classical communication (LOCC). With this condition, we present some minimal structures of one-way LOCC indistinguishable quantum state sets. As long as an indistinguishable subset exists in a state set, the set is not distinguishable. We also list several distinguishable sets as instances.
Local distinguishability of five orthogonal product states on bipartite and tripartite quantum systems
College of Computer Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology（山东科技大学计算机科学与工程学院）；Faculty of Information Technology, Beijing University of Technology（北京工业大学信息学部）；College of Mathematics and Systems Science, Shandong University of Science and Technology（山东科技大学数学与系统科学学院）
We consider one copy of a quantum system prepared in one of two orthogonal pure states, entangled or otherwise, and distributed between any number of parties. We demonstrate that it is possible to identify which of these two states the system is in by means of local operations and classical communication alone. The protocol we outline is both completely reliable and completely general - it will correctly distinguish any two orthogonal states 100% of the time.
Recently, the resource theory of asymmetric distinguishability for quantum strategies was introduced by [Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Research 1, 033169 (2019)]. The fundamental objects in the resource theory are pairs of quantum strategies, which are generalizations of quantum channels that provide a framework to describe an arbitrary quantum interaction. In the present paper, we provide semi-definite program characterizations of the one-shot operational quantities in this resource theory. We then apply these semi-definite programs to study the advantage conferred by adaptive strategies in discrim…
Monolithic Quantum Error Correction in the Presence of Distinguishability
Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, NIST/University of Maryland（量子信息与计算机科学联合中心，美国国家标准与技术研究院/马里兰大学）；Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校物理与天文学系量子科学与工程中心）；Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校物理与天文学系）；Joint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland（美国国家标准与技术研究院/马里兰大学联合量子研究所）
We show that a set of linearly independent quantum states $\{(U_{m,n}\otimes I)ρ^{AB}(U_{m,n}^{\dagger}\otimes I)\}_{m,n=0}^{d-1}$, where $U_{m,n}$ are generalized Pauli matrices, cannot be discriminated deterministically or probabilistically by local operations and classical communications (LOCC). On the other hand, any $l$ maximally entangled states from this set are locally distinguishable if $l(l-1)\le 2d$. The explicit projecting measurements are obtained to locally discriminate these states. As an example, we show that four Werner states are locally indistinguishable.
We investigate an original family of quantum distinguishability problems, where the goal is to perfectly distinguish between $M$ quantum states that become identical under a completely decohering map. Similarly, we study distinguishability of $M$ quantum channels that cannot be distinguished when one is restricted to decohered input and output states. The studied problems arise naturally in the presence of a superselection rule, allow one to quantify the amount of information that can be encoded in phase degrees of freedom (coherences), and are related to time-energy uncertainty relation. We p…
A family of quantum measures like the Shannon distinguishability is presented. These measures are defined over the two classes of POVM measurements and related to separate parts in the expression for mutual information. Changes of Ky Fan's norms and the partitioned trace distances under the operation of partial trace are discussed. Upper and lower bounds on the introduced quantities are obtained in terms of partitioned trace distances and Uhlmann's partial fidelities. These inequalities provide a kind of generalization of the well-known bounds on the Shannon distinguishability. The notion of c…
In this paper, we mainly study the local distinguishable multipartite quantum states by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) in $m_1\otimes m_2\otimes\ldots\otimes m_n$ , where the quantum system $m_1$ belongs to Alice, $m_2$ belongs to Bob, \ldots and $m_n$ belongs to Susan. We first present the pure tripartite distinguishable orthogonal quantum states by LOCC in $m_1\otimes m_2\otimes m_3$. With the conclusion in $m_1\otimes m_2\otimes m_3$, we prove distinguishability or indistinguishability of some quantum states. At last, we give the $n$-party distinguishable quantum states…
Entanglement is sometimes helpful in distinguishing between quantum operations, as differences between quantum operations can become magnified when their inputs are entangled with auxiliary systems. Bounds on the dimension of the auxiliary system needed to optimally distinguish quantum operations are known in several situations. For instance, the dimension of the auxiliary space never needs to exceed the dimension of the input space of the operations for optimal distinguishability, while no auxiliary system whatsoever is needed to optimally distinguish unitary operations. Another bound, which …
The are substantial studies on distinguishabilities, especially local distinguishability, of quantum states. It is shown that a necessary condition of a local distinguishable state set is the total Schmidt rank not larger than the system dimension. However, if we view states in a larger system, the restriction will be invalid. Hence, a nature problem is that can indistinguishable states become distinguishable by viewing them in a larger system without employing extra resources. In this paper, we consider this problem for (perfect or unambiguous) LOCC$_{1}$, PPT and SEP distinguishabilities. We…
We investigate the possibility of distinguishing a set of mutually orthogonal multipartite quantum states by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). We connect this problem with generators of SU(N) and present a new condition that is necessary for a set of orthogonal states to be locally distinguishable. We show that even in multipartite cases there exists a systematic way to check whether the presented condition is satisfied for a given set of orthogonal states. Based on the proposed checking method, we find that LOCC cannot distinguish three mutually orthogonal states in which t…
Bennett and Schumacher's postselected quantum teleportation is a model of closed timelike curves (CTCs) that leads to results physically different from Deutsch's model. We show that even a single qubit passing through a postselected CTC (P-CTC) is sufficient to do any postselected quantum measurement, and we discuss an important difference between "Deutschian" CTCs (D-CTCs) and P-CTCs in which the future existence of a P-CTC might affect the present outcome of an experiment. Then, based on a suggestion of Bennett and Smith, we explicitly show how a party assisted by P-CTCs can distinguish a se…
We develop a resource theory of symmetric distinguishability, the fundamental objects of which are elementary quantum information sources, i.e., sources that emit one of two possible quantum states with given prior probabilities. Such a source can be represented by a classical-quantum state of a composite system $XA$, corresponding to an ensemble of two quantum states, with $X$ being classical and $A$ being quantum. We study the resource theory for two different classes of free operations: $(i)$ ${\rm{CPTP}}_A$, which consists of quantum channels acting only on $A$, and $(ii)$ conditional doub…
In this paper we analyze the (im)possibility of the exact distinguishability of orthogonal multipartite entangled states under {\em restricted local operation and classical communication}. Based on this local distinguishability analysis we propose a new scheme for quantum secret sharing (QSS). Our QSS scheme is quite general and cost efficient compared to other schemes. In our scheme no joint quantum operation is needed to reconstruct the secret. We also present an interesting $(2,n)$-threshold QSS scheme, where any two cooperating players, one from each of two disjoint groups of players, can …
We explore the intersection of studies in quantum error correction and quantum local operations and classical communication (LOCC). We consider one-way LOCC measurement protocols as quantum channels and investigate their error correction properties, emphasizing an operator theory approach to the subject, and we obtain new applications to one-way LOCC state distinguishability as well as new derivations of some established results. We also derive conditions on when states that arise through the stabilizer formalism for quantum error correction are distinguishable under one-way LOCC.
The indistinguishability of non-orthogonal pure states lies at the heart of quantum information processing. Although the indistinguishability reflects the impossibility of measuring complementary physical quantities by a single measurement, we demonstrate that the distinguishability can be perfectly retrieved simply with the help of posterior classical partial information. We demonstrate this by showing an ensemble of non-orthogonal pure states such that a state randomly sampled from the ensemble can be perfectly identified by a single measurement with help of the post-processing of the measur…
We study discrimination of m quantum measurements in the scenario when the unknown measurement with n outcomes can be used only once. We show that ancilla-assisted discrimination procedures provide a nontrivial advantage over simple (ancilla-free) schemes for perfect distinguishability and we prove that inevitably m <= n. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions of perfect distinguishability of general binary measurements. We show that the optimization of the discrimination of projective qubit measurements and their mixtures with white noise is equivalent to the discrimination of specific…
Efficient methods for characterizing the performance of quantum measurements are important in the experimental quantum sciences. Ideally, one requires both a physically relevant distinguishability measure between measurement operations and a well-defined experimental procedure for estimating the distinguishability measure. Here, we propose the average measurement fidelity and error between quantum measurements as distinguishability measures. We present protocols for obtaining bounds on these quantities that are both estimable using experimentally accessible quantities and scalable in the size …
Quantum theory can be derived from purely informational principles. Five elementary axioms-causality, perfect distinguishability, ideal compression, local distinguishability, and pure conditioning-define a broad class of theories of information-processing that can be regarded as a standard. One postulate-purification-singles out quantum theory within this class. The main structures of quantum theory, such as the representation of mixed states as convex combinations of perfectly distinguishable pure states, are derived directly from the principles without using the Hilbert space framework.
Contextual advantage implies limited distinguishability in any physical theory
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（Perimeter理论物理研究所）；University of Gdańsk（格但斯克大学）；University of São Paulo（圣保罗大学）；Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院）
A quantum ensemble $\{(p_x, ρ_x)\}$ is a set of quantum states each occurring randomly with a given probability. Quantum ensembles are necessary to describe situations with incomplete a priori information, such as the output of a stochastic quantum channel (generalized measurement), and play a central role in quantum communication. In this paper, we propose measures of distance and fidelity between two quantum ensembles. We consider two approaches: the first one is based on the ability to mimic one ensemble given the other one as a resource and is closely related to the Monge-Kantorovich optim…
