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 measurement outcomes and additional partial information about the sampled state, i.e., the label of subensemble from which the state is sampled. When an ensemble consists of two subensembles, we show that the perfect distinguishability of the ensemble with the help of the post-processing can be restated as a matrix-decomposition problem. Furthermore, we give the analytical solution for the problem when both subensembles consist of two states.
As a modern approach for the foundation of quantum theory, existing studies of General Probabilistic Theories gave various models of states and measurements that are quite different from quantum theory. In this paper, to seek a more realistic situation, we investigate models approximately close to quantum theory. We define larger measurement classes that are smoothly connected with the class of POVMs via a parameter, and investigate the performance of perfect discrimination. As a result, we give a sufficient condition of perfect discrimination, which shows a significant improvement beyond the …
Discrimination task is treated in the case of only partial prior information from measurements of unknown states. The construction of the optimal discrimination device and estimation of unknown states is performed simultaneously. A communication through a noisy quantum channel is formulated in terms of the proposed discrimination protocol.
Discrimination of unitary operations is a fundamental quantum information processing task. Assisted with linear optical elements, we experimentally demonstrate perfect discrimination between single-bit unitary operations using two methods--sequential scheme and parallel scheme. The complexity and resource consumed in these two schemes are analyzed and compared.
A no-signalling channel transforming quantum systems in Alice's and Bob's laboratories is compatible with two different causal structures: (A < B) Alice's output causally precedes Bob's input and (B< A) Bob's output causally precedes Alice's input. I show that a quantum superposition of circuits operating within these two causal structures enables the perfect discrimination between no-signalling channels that can not be perfectly distinguished by any ordinary circuit.
Recently, the problem of discriminating multipartite unitary operations by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) has attracted significant attention. The latest work in the literature on this problem showed that two multipartite unitary operations can always be perfectly distinguished by LOCC when a finite number of runs are allowable. However, in these schemes, local entanglement (an entangled state holden by one party) was required, which seems to imply that local entanglement is necessary for perfect discrimination between unitary operations by LOCC. In this article, we show t…
We address perfect discrimination of two separable states. When available states are restricted to separable states, we can theoretically consider a larger class of measurements than the class of measurements allowed in quantum theory. The framework composed of the class of separable states and the above extended class of measurements is a typical example of general probabilistic theories. In this framework, we give a necessary and sufficient condition to discriminate two separable pure states perfectly. In particular, we derive measurements explicitly to discriminate two separable pure states…
We revisit the problem of discriminating orthogonal quantum states within the local quantum operation and classical communication (LOCC) paradigm. Our particular focus is on the asymptotic situation where the parties have infinite resources and the protocol may become arbitrarily long. Our main result is a necessary condition for perfect asymptotic LOCC discrimination. As an application, we prove that for complete product bases, unlimited resources are of no advantage. On the other hand, we identify an example, for which it still remains undecided whether unlimited resources are superior.
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…
It is shown that while entanglement remains a significant factor in discriminating a set of mutually orthogonal entangled states perfectly by local operations and classical communication (LOCC), entanglement content is not. In particular, for a class of entangled multi-qubit states, the maximum number of perfectly LOCC distinguishable orthogonal states is shown to be independent of the average entanglement of the states, and the spatial configuration with respect to which LOCC operations may be carried out. It is also pointed out that the make-up of an ensemble, that is, whether it consists on…
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…
We investigate the discrimination of two candidates of an unknown parameter in quantum systems with continuous weak measurement, inspired by the application of hypothesis testing in distinguish-ing two Hamiltonians [Kiilerich and Mølmer, Phys. Rev. A, 98, 022103 (2018)]. Based on the measurement output and stochastic master equation, temporal evolutions of posterior probabilities of two hypotheses are given by Bayes' formula. The Bayes criterion is presented by the likelihood ratio conditioned on the outcome of measurements. Different from the calculation method based on maximum a posteriori c…
Despite well-established no-go theorems on a perfect linear optical Bell state analyzer, we find a numerical trend that appears to approach a near-perfect measurement if we incorporate eight or more un-entangled ancilla photons into our device. Following this trend, we begin a promising inductive approach to building an ideal optical Bell measurement device. In the process, we determine that any Bell state analyzer that (even occasionally) bunches all photons into only two of the output modes cannot perform an ideal measurement and we find a set of conditions on our linear optical circuit that…
We show that a unitary operation (quantum circuit) secretely chosen from a finite set of unitary operations can be determined with certainty by sequentially applying only a finite amount of runs of the unknown circuit. No entanglement or joint quantum operations is required in our scheme. We further show that our scheme is optimal in the sense that the number of the runs is minimal when discriminating only two unitary operations.
We provide a simple example that illustrates the advantage of adaptive over non-adaptive strategies for quantum channel discrimination. In particular, we give a pair of entanglement-breaking channels that can be perfectly discriminated by means of an adaptive strategy that requires just two channel evaluations, but for which no non-adaptive strategy can give a perfect discrimination using any finite number of channel evaluations.
We present an in-depth study of the problem of multiple-shot discrimination of von Neumann measurements in finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces. Specifically, we consider two scenarios: minimum error and unambiguous discrimination. In the case of minimum error discrimination, we focus on discrimination of measurements with the assistance of entanglement. We provide an alternative proof of the fact that all pairs of distinct von Neumann measurements can be distinguished perfectly (i.e. with the unit success probability) using only a finite number of queries. Moreover, we analytically find the mini…
Distinguishability is a fundamental and operational task generally connected to information applications. In quantum information theory, from the postulates of quantum mechanics it often has an intrinsic limitation, which then dictates and also characterises capabilities of related information tasks. In this work, we consider discrimination between bipartite two-qubit unitary transformations by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) and its relations to entangling capabilities of given unitaries. We show that a pair of entangling unitaries which do not contain local parts, if they…
In this paper, we address the problem of discriminating two given quantum operations. Firstly, based on the Bloch representation of single qubit systems, we give the exact minimum error probability of discriminating two single qubit quantum operations by unentangled input states. In particular, for the Pauli channels discussed in [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 71}, 062340 (2005)], we use a more intuitional and visual method to deal with their discrimination problem. Secondly, we consider the condition for perfect discrimination of two quantum operations. Specially, we get that two generalized Pauli channe…
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…
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…
The intrinsic idea of superdense coding is to find as many gates as possible such that they can be perfectly discriminated. In this paper, we consider a new scheme of discrimination of quantum gates, called ancilla-assisted discrimination, in which a set of quantum gates on a $d-$dimensional system are perfectly discriminated with assistance from an $r-$dimensional ancilla system. The main contribution of the present paper is two-fold: (1) The number of quantum gates that can be discriminated in this scheme is evaluated. We prove that any $rd+1$ quantum gates cannot be perfectly discriminated …
We address the problem of unambiguous discrimination and identification among quantum observables. We set a general framework and investigate in details the case of qubit observables. In particular, we show that perfect discrimination with two shots is possible only for sharp qubit observables (e.g. Stern-Gerlach apparatuses) associated with mutually orthogonal directions. We also show that for sharp qubit observables associated to nonorthogonal directions unambiguous discrimination with an inconclusive result is always possible.
In this work we relate the well-known no-go theorem that two non-orthogonal (mixed) quantum states cannot be perfectly discriminated, to the general principle in physics, the no-signalling condition. In fact, we derive the minimum error in discrimination between two quantum states, using the no-signalling condition.
We solve the long-standing problem of making n perfect clones from m copies of one of two known pure states with minimum failure probability in the general case where the known states have arbitrary a priori probabilities. The solution emerges from a geometric formulation of the problem. This formulation also reveals a deeper connection between cloning and state discrimination. The convergence of cloning to state discrimination as the number of clones goes to infinity exhibits a phenomenon analogous to a second order symmetry breaking phase transition.
In this work we study the problem of single-shot discrimination of von Neumann measurements, which we associate with measure-and-prepare channels. There are two possible approaches to this problem. The first one is simple and does not utilize entanglement. We focus only on the discrimination of classical probability distributions, which are outputs of the channels. We find necessary and sufficient criterion for perfect discrimination in this case. A more advanced approach requires the usage of entanglement. We quantify the distance between two measurements in terms of the diamond norm (called …
In this work, we investigate the question, which objects one can discriminate perfectly by 'interaction-free' measurements. To this end, we interpret the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-tester experiment as a quantum channel discrimination problem and generalize the notion of 'interaction-free' measurement to arbitrary quantum channels. Our main result is a necessary and sufficient criterion for when it is possible or impossible to discriminate quantum channels in an 'interaction-free' manner (i.e., such that the discrimination error probability and the 'interaction' probability can be made arbitrarily s…
We prove that the states secretly chosen from a mixed state set can be perfectly discriminated if and only if these states are orthogonal. The sufficient and necessary condition when nonorthogonal quantum mixed states can be unambiguously discriminated is also presented. Furthermore, we derive a series of lower bounds on the inconclusive probability of unambiguous discrimination of states from a mixed state set with \textit{a prior} probabilities.
Strategies to optimally discriminate between quantum states are critical in quantum technologies. We present an experimental demonstration of minimum error discrimination between entangled states, encoded in the polarization of pairs of photons. Although the optimal measurement involves projecting onto entangled states, we use a result of Walgate et al. to design an optical implementation employing only local polarization measurements and feed-forward, which performs at the Helstrom bound. Our scheme can achieve perfect discrimination of orthogonal states and minimum error discrimination of no…
One of the most fundamental results in quantum information theory is that no measurement can perfectly discriminate between non-orthogonal quantum states. In this work, we investigate quantum advantages for discrimination tasks over noncontextual theories by considering a maximum confidence measurement that unifies different strategies of quantum state discrimination, including minimum-error and unambiguous discrimination. We first show that maximum confidence discrimination, as well as unambiguous discrimination, contains contextual advantages. We then consider a semi-device independent scena…
We provide a bound on the minimum error when discriminating among quantum states, using the no-signaling principle. The bound is general in that it depends on neither dimensions nor specific structures of given quantum states to be discriminated among. We show that the bound is tight for the minimum-error state discrimination between symmetric (both pure and mixed) qubit states. Moreover, the bound can be applied to a set of quantum states for which the minimum-error state discrimination is not known yet. Finally, our results strengthen the quantitative connection between two no-go theorems, t…
In the quantum system, perfect copying is impossible without prior knowledge. But, perfect copying is possible, if it is known that unknown states to be copied is contained by the set of orthogonal states, which is called the copied set. However, if our operation is limited to local operations and classical communications, this problem is not trivial. Recently, F. Anselmi, A. Chefles and M.B. Plenio constructed theory of local copying when the copied set consists of maximally entangled states. They also classified the copied set when it consists of two orthogonal states (New. J. Phys. 6, 164 (…
Nonlocality without entanglement(NLWE) is a nonlocal phenomenon that occurs in quantum state discrimination of multipartite separable states. In the discrimination of orthogonal separable states, the term NLWE is used when the quantum states cannot be discriminated perfectly by local operations and classical communication. In this case, the occurrence of NLWE is independent of nonzero prior probabilities of quantum states being prepared. Recently, it has been found that the occurrence of NLWE can depend on nonzero prior probabilities in minimum-error discrimination of nonorthogonal separable s…
For distinguishing quantum states sampled from a fixed ensemble, the gap in bipartite and single-party distinguishability can be interpreted as a nonlocality of the ensemble. In this paper, we consider bipartite state discrimination in a composite system consisting of $N$ subsystems, where each subsystem is shared between two parties and the state of each subsystem is randomly sampled from a particular ensemble comprising the Bell states. We show that the success probability of perfectly identifying the state converges to $1$ as $N\rightarrow\infty$ if the entropy of the probability distributi…
The problem of discriminating the state of a quantum system among a number of hypothetical states is usually addressed under the assumption that one has perfect knowledge of the possible states of the system. In this thesis, I analyze the role of the prior information available in facing such problems, and consider scenarios where the information regarding the possible states is incomplete. In front of a complete ignorance of the possible states' identity, I discuss a quantum "programmable" discrimination machine for qubit states that accepts this information as input programs using a quantum …
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…
The fidelity function of quantum states have been widely used in quantum information science and frequently arises in the quantification of optimal performances for the estimation and distinguish of quantum states. A fidelity function on quantum channel is expected to have same wide applications in quantum information science. In this paper we propose a fidelity function on quantum channels and show that various distance measures on quantum channels can be obtained from this fidelity function, for example the Bures angle and the Bures distance can be extended to quantum channels via this fidel…
Ensembles of composite quantum states can exhibit nonlocal behaviour in the sense that their optimal discrimination may require global operations. Such an ensemble containing N pairwise orthogonal pure states, however, can always be perfectly distinguished under adaptive local scheme if (N-1) copies of the state are available. In this letter, we provide examples of orthonormal bases in two-qubit Hilbert space whose adaptive discrimination require 3 copies of the state. For this composite system we analyze multi-copy adaptive local distinguishability of orthogonal ensembles in full generality w…
We investigate the ability of a quantum measurement device to discriminate two states or, generically, two hypothesis. In full generality, the measurement can be performed a number $n$ of times, and arbitrary pre-processing of the states and post-processing of the obtained data is allowed. Even if the two hypothesis correspond to orthogonal states, perfect discrimination is not always possible. There is thus an intrinsic error associated to the measurement device, which we aim to quantify, that limits its discrimination power. We minimize various error probabilities (averaged or constrained) o…
We introduce a new state discrimination problem in which we are given additional information about the state after the measurement, or more generally, after a quantum memory bound applies. In particular, the following special case plays an important role in quantum cryptographic protocols in the bounded storage model: Given a string x encoded in an unknown basis chosen from a set of mutually unbiased bases, you may perform any measurement, but then store at most q qubits of quantum information. Later on, you learn which basis was used. How well can you compute a function f(x) of x, given the i…
In this paper we consider the conditions under which a given ensemble of two-qubit states can be optimally distinguished by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). We begin by completing the \emph{perfect} distinguishability problem of two-qubit ensembles - both for separable operations and LOCC - by providing necessary and sufficient conditions for the perfect discrimination of one pure and one mixed state. Then for the well-known task of minimum error discrimination, it is shown that \textit{almost all} two-qubit ensembles consisting of three pure states cannot be optimally disc…
It is known that a party with access to a Deutschian closed timelike curve (D-CTC) can perfectly distinguish multiple non-orthogonal quantum states. In this paper, we propose a practical method for discriminating multiple non-orthogonal states, by using a previously known quantum circuit designed to simulate D-CTCs. This method relies on multiple copies of an input state, multiple iterations of the circuit, and a fixed set of unitary operations. We first characterize the performance of this circuit and study its asymptotic behavior. We also show how it can be equivalently recast as a local, ad…
An unknown unitary gates, which is secretly chosen from several known ones, can always be distinguished perfectly. In this paper, we implement such a task on IBM's quantum processor. More precisely, we experimentally demonstrate the discrimination of two qubit unitary gates, the identity gate and the $\frac{2}{3}π$-phase shift gate, using two discrimination schemes -- the parallel scheme and the sequential scheme. We program these two schemes on the \emph{ibmqx4}, a $5$-qubit superconducting quantum processor via IBM cloud, with the help of the $QSI$ modules [S. Liu et al.,~arXiv:1710.09500, 2…
Power and Limits of Collective Local Measurements in Multicopy State Discrimination
School of Mathematics, South China University of Technology（华南理工大学数学学院）；School of Computer Science and Technology, Dongguan University of Technology（东莞理工学院计算机科学与技术学院）
We prove limitations on LOCC and separable measurements in bipartite state discrimination problems using techniques from convex optimization. Specific results that we prove include: an exact formula for the optimal probability of correctly discriminating any set of either three or four Bell states via LOCC or separable measurements when the parties are given an ancillary partially entangled pair of qubits; an easily checkable characterization of when an unextendable product set is perfectly discriminated by separable measurements, along with the first known example of an unextendable product s…
Quantum mechanics forbids perfect discrimination among nonorthogonal states through a single shot measurement. To optimize this task, many strategies were devised that later became fundamental tools for quantum information processing. Here, we address the pioneering minimum-error (ME) measurement and give the first experimental demonstration of its application for discriminating nonorthogonal states in high dimensions. Our scheme is designed to distinguish symmetric pure states encoded in the transverse spatial modes of an optical field; the optimal measurement is performed by a projection ont…
Efficient discrimination schemes for unextendible product bases with strong quantum nonlocality
School of Mathematics and Science, Hebei GEO University（河北地质大学数理学院）；Hebei Province Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Data Processing for Geo-environment, Hebei GEO University（河北省Geo环境智能感知与数据处理重点实验室）
Nonlinear variants of quantum mechanics can solve tasks that are impossible in standard quantum theory, such as perfectly distinguishing nonorthogonal states. Here we derive the optimal protocol for distinguishing two states of a qubit using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, a model of nonlinear quantum mechanics that arises as an effective description of Bose-Einstein condensates. Using this protocol, we present an algorithm for unstructured search in the Gross-Pitaevskii model, obtaining an exponential improvement over a previous algorithm of Meyer and Wong. This result establishes a limitation…
