The main goal of this work is to provide an insight into the problem of discrimination of positive operator valued measures with rank-one effects. It is our intention to study multiple shot discrimination of such measurements, that is the case when we are able to use to unknown measurement a given number of times. Furthermore, we are interested in comparing two possible discrimination schemes: the parallel and adaptive ones. To this end we construct a pair of symmetric, information complete positive operator valued measures which can be perfectly discriminated in a two-shot adaptive scheme. On top of this we provide an explicit algorithm which allows us to find this adaptive scheme.
Unambiguous non-orthogonal state discrimination has fundamental importance in quantum information and quantum cryptography. The discrimination is carried out by POVM generalized measurements. For this process, we find a tradeoff between the needed energy resources and the evolution time, and express it in terms of action-like cost inequality. We find the realization that minimizes this action-like cost and show that in this case the cost is determined by the maximal population transfer from the system to the ancilla needed for the POVM implementation.
Evaluating the amount of information obtained from non-orthogonal quantum states is an important topic in the field of quantum information. The commonly used evaluation method is Holevo bound, which only provides a loose upper bound for quantum measurement. In this paper, we provide a theoretical study of the positive operator-valued measure (POVM) for discriminating nonorthogonal states. We construct a generalized POVM measurement operation, and derive the optimal one for state discrimination by Lagrange multiplier method. With simulation, we find that the optimal POVM measurement provides a …
Loss induced generalized measurements have been introduced years ago as a mean to implement generalized quantum measurements (POVM). Here the original idea is extended to a complete equivalence of lossy evolution and a certain widely used class of POVM. This class includes POVM used for unambiguous state discrimination and entanglement concentration. One implication of this equivalence is that unambiguous state discrimination schemes based on PT-symmetric and non-Hermitian Hamiltonians have the same performance as those of standard POVM. After discussing several key points of this equivalence …
In this paper we shall introduce the mathematical framework for the description of measurements of quantum processes. Using this framework the process estimation problems can be treated in the similar way as the state estimation problems, only replacing the concept of positive operator valued measure (POVM) by the concept of process POVM (PPOVM). In particular, we will show that any measurement of qudit channels can be described by a collection of effects (positive operators) defined on two-qudit system. However, the effects forming a PPOVM are not normalized in the usual sense. We will demons…
We consider a protocol to perform the optimal quantum state discrimination of $N$ linearly independent non-orthogonal pure quantum states and present a computational code. Through the extension of the original Hilbert space, it is possible to perform an unitary operation yielding a final configuration, which gives the best discrimination without ambiguity by means of von Neumann measurements. Our goal is to introduce a detailed general mathematical procedure to realize this task by means of semidefinite programming and norm minimization. The former is used to fix which is the best detection pr…
The optimization conditions for minimum error discrimination of linearly independent pure states comprise of two kinds: stationary conditions over the space of rank one projective measurements and the global maximization conditions. A discrete number of projective measurments will solve th former of which a unique one will solve the latter. In the case of three real linearly independent pure states we show that the stationary conditions translate to a system of simultaneous polynomial (non linear) equations in three variabes thus explaining why it's so difficult to obtain a closed-form solutio…
Research in non-orthogonal state discrimination has given rise to two conventional optimal strategies: unambiguous discrimination (UD) and minimum error (ME) discrimination. This paper explores the experimentally relevant range of measurement strategies between the two, where the rate of inconclusive results is minimized for a bounded-error rate. We first provide some constraints on the problem that apply to generalized measurements (POVMs). We then provide the theory for the optimal projective measurement (PVM) in this range. Through analytical and numerical results we investigate this family…
We discuss the problem of implementing generalized measurements (POVMs) with linear optics, either based upon a static linear array or including conditional dynamics. In our approach, a given POVM shall be identified as a solution to an optimization problem for a chosen cost function. We formulate a general principle: the implementation is only possible if a linear-optics circuit exists for which the quantum mechanical optimum (minimum) is still attainable after dephasing the corresponding quantum states. The general principle enables us, for instance, to derive a set of necessary conditions f…
In the present paper, an exact analytic solution for the optimal unambiguous state discrimination (OPUSD) problem involving an arbitrary number of pure linearly independent quantum states with real and complex inner product is presented. Using semidefinite programming and Karush-Kuhn-Tucker convex optimization method, we derive an analytical formula which shows the relation between optimal solution of unambiguous state discrimination problem and an arbitrary number of pure linearly independent quantum states.
The minimum error discrimination problem for ensembles of linearly independent pure states are known to have an interesting structure; for such a given ensemble the optimal POVM is given by the pretty good measurment of another ensemble which can be related to the former ensemble by a bijective mapping $\mathscr{R}$ on the "space of ensembles". In this paper we generalize this result to ensembles of general linearly independent states (not necessarily pure) and also give an analytic expression for the inverse of the map, i.e., for $\mathscr{R}^{-1}$. In the process of proving this we also simp…
We revisit the problem of finding the Naimark extension of a probability operator-valued measure (POVM), i.e. its implementation as a projective measurement in a larger Hilbert space. In particular, we suggest an iterative method to build the projective measurement from the sole requirements of orthogonality and positivity. Our method improves existing ones, as it may be employed also to extend POVMs containing elements with rank larger than one. It is also more effective in terms of computational steps.
We show how an upper bound for the ability to discriminate any number N of candidates for the Hamiltonian governing the evolution of an open quantum system may be calculated by numerically efficient means. Our method applies an effective master equation analysis to evaluate the pairwise overlaps between candidate full states of the system and its environment pertaining to the Hamiltonians. These overlaps are then used to construct an N -dimensional representation of the states. The optimal positive-operator valued measure (POVM) and the corresponding probability of assigning a false hypothesis…
There has been much interest in so-called SIC-POVMs: rank 1 symmetric informationally complete positive operator valued measures. In this paper we discuss the larger class of POVMs which are symmetric and informationally complete but not necessarily rank 1. This class of POVMs is of some independent interest. In particular it includes a POVM which is closely related to the discrete Wigner function. However, it is interesting mainly because of the light it casts on the problem of constructing rank 1 symmetric informationally complete POVMs. In this connection we derive an extremal condition alt…
Concentrating on finite dimensional systems, we show that one can limit to extremal rank-1 POVMs if two simple procedures of mixing and relabeling are permitted. We demonstrate that any finite outcome POVM can be obtained from extremal rank-1 POVMs with these two procedures. In particular, extremal POVMs with higher rank are just relabelings of extremal rank-1 POVMs and their structure is therefore clarified.
We present a general scheme to realize the POVMs for the unambiguous discrimination of quantum states. For any set of pure states it enables us to set up a feasible linear optical circuit to perform their optimal discrimination, if they are prepared as single-photon states. An example of unknown states discrimination is discussed as the illustration of the general scheme.
In this paper, we treat a local discrimination problem in the framework of asymmetric hypothesis testing. We choose a known bipartite pure state $\ketΨ$ as an alternative hypothesis, and the completely mixed state as a null hypothesis. As a result, we analytically derive an optimal type 2 error and an optimal POVM for one-way LOCC POVM and Separable POVM. For two-way LOCC POVM, we study a family of simple three-step LOCC protocols, and show that the best protocol in this family has strictly better performance than any one-way LOCC protocol in all the cases where there may exist difference betw…
We show that a one-dimensional discrete time quantum walk can be used to implement a generalized measurement in terms of positive operator value measure (POVM) on a single qubit. More precisely, we show that for a single qubit any set of rank 1 and rank 2 POVM elements can be generated by a properly engineered quantum walk. In such a scenario the measurement of particle at position x=i corresponds to a measurement of a POVM element E_i on a qubit. We explicitly construct quantum walks implementing unambiguous state discrimination and SIC-POVM.
In a recent paper, Buscemi and al. defined a notion of clean positive operator valued measures (POVMs). We here characterize which POVMs are clean in some class that we call quasi-qubit POVMs, namely POVMs whose elements are all rank-one or full-rank. We give an algorithm to check whether a given quasi-qubit POVM satisfies to this condition. We describe explicitely all the POVMs that are clean for the qubit. On the way we give a sufficient condition for a general POVM to be clean.
In this paper, we treat an asymptotic hypothesis testing (or state discrimination with asymmetric treatment of errors) between an arbitrary fixed bipartite pure state and the completely mixed state by one-way LOCC, two-way LOCC, and separable POVMs. As a result, we derive single-letterized formulas for the Stein's lemma type of optimal error exponents under one-way LOCC, two-way LOCC and separable POVMs, the Chernoff bounds under one-way LOCC POVMs and separable POVMs, and the Hoeffding bounds under one-way LOCC POVMs in the whole region of a parameter and under separable POVMs on a restricted…
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 …
We consider the convex set of positive operator valued measures (POVM) which are covariant under a finite dimensional unitary projective representation of a group. We derive a general characterization for the extremal points, and provide bounds for the ranks of the corresponding POVM densities, also relating extremality to uniqueness and stability of optimized measurements. Examples of applications are given.
We consider the convex sets of QO's (quantum operations) and POVM's (positive operator valued measures) which are covariant under a general finite-dimensional unitary representation of a group. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for extremality, and give general bounds for ranks of the extremal POVM's and QO's. Results are illustrated on the basis of simple examples.
We introduce and study the entanglement breaking rank of an entanglement breaking channel. We show that the entanglement breaking rank of the channel $\mathfrak Z: M_d \to M_d$ defined by \begin{align*} \mathfrak Z(X) = \frac{1}{d+1}(X+\text{Tr}(X)\mathbb I_d) \end{align*} is $d^2$ if and only if there exists a symmetric informationally-complete POVM in dimension $d$.
Given a collection of states (rho_1, ..., rho_N) with pairwise fidelities F(rho_i, rho_j) <= F < 1, we show the existence of a POVM that, given rho_i^{otimes n}, will identify i with probability >= 1-epsilon, as long as n>=2(log N/eps)/log (1/F). This improves on previous results which were either dimension-dependent or required that i be drawn from a known distribution.
We propose an oversimplified scheme to unambiguously discriminate nonorthogonal quantum field states inside high-Q cavities. Our scheme, which is based on positive operator-valued mea- sures (POVM) technique, uses a single three-level atom interacting resonantly with a single mode of a cavity-field and selective atomic state detectors. While the single three-level atom takes the role of the ancilla, the single cavity mode field represents the system we want to obtain information. The efficiency of our proposal is analyzed considering the nowadays achievements in the context of cavity QED.
We consider one copy of a quantum system prepared with equal prior probability in one of two non-orthogonal entangled states of multipartite distributed among separated parties. We demonstrate that these two states can be optimally distinguished in the sense of conclusive discrimination by local operations and classical communications(LOCC) alone. And this proves strictly the conjecture that Virmani et.al. [8] confirmed numerically and analytically. Generally, the optimal protocol requires local POVM operations which are explicitly constructed. The result manifests that the distinguishable inf…
We study extreme points of the set of finite-outcome positive-operator-valued measures (POVMs) on finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces and particularly the possible ranks of the effects of an extreme POVM. We give results discussing ways of deducing new rank combinations of extreme POVMs from rank combinations of known extreme POVMs and, using these results, show ways to characterize rank combinations of extreme POVMs in low dimensions. We show that, when a rank combination together with a given dimension of the Hilbert space solve a particular packing problem, there is an extreme POVM on the Hil…
I construct a POVM which has 2d rank-one elements and which is informationally complete for generic pure states in d dimensions, thus confirming a conjecture made by Flammia, Silberfarb, and Caves (quant-ph/0404137). I show that if a rank-one POVM is required to be informationally complete for all pure states in d dimensions, it must have at least 3d-2 elements. I also show that, in a POVM which is informationally complete for all pure states in d dimensions, for any vector there must be at least 2d-1 POVM elements which do not annihilate that vector.
We address the implementation of the positive operator-valued measure (POVM) describing the optimal M-outcomes discrimination of the polarization state of a single photon. Initially, the POVM elements are extended to projective operators by Naimark theorem, then the resulting projective measure is implemented by a Knill-Laflamme-Milburn scheme involving an optical network and photon counters. We find the analytical expression of the Naimark extension and the detection scheme that realise it for an arbitrary number of outcomes M = 2^N.
Optimization of the mean efficiency for unambiguous (or error free)discrimination among $N$ given linearly independent nonorthogonal states should be realized in a way to keep the probabilistic quantum mechanical interpretation. This imposes a condition on a certain matrix to be positive semidefinite. We reformulated this condition in such a way that the conditioned optimization problem for the mean efficiency was reduced to finding an unconditioned maximum of a function defined on a unit $N$-sphere for equiprobable states and on an $N$-ellipsoid if the states are given with different probabil…
What is the minimal number of elements in a rank-1 positive-operator-valued measure (POVM) which can uniquely determine any pure state in $d$-dimensional Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}_d$? The known result is that the number is no less than $3d-2$. We show that this lower bound is not tight except for $d=2$ or 4. Then we give an upper bound of $4d-3$. For $d=2$, many rank-1 POVMs with four elements can determine any pure states in $\mathcal{H}_2$. For $d=3$, we show eight is the minimal number by construction. For $d=4$, the minimal number is in the set of $\{10,11,12,13\}$. We show that if this n…
We mainly study the block-coherence measures based on resource theory of block-coherence and the coherence measures based on positive-operator-valued measures (POVM). Several block-coherence measures including a block-coherence measure based on maximum relative entropy, the one-shot block coherence cost under the maximally block-incoherent operations, and a coherence measure based on coherent rank have been introduced and the relationships between these block-coherence measures have been obtained. We also give the definition of the maximally block-coherent state and describe the deterministic …
The concept of quantum coherence and its possible use as a resource are currently the subject of active researches. Uncertainty and complementarity relations for quantum coherence allow one to study its changes with respect to other characteristics of the process of interest. Protocols of quantum information processing often use measurements that have a special inner structure. Quantum designs are considered as tools with a perspective of fruitful applications in quantum information processing. We obtain uncertainty and certainty relations for coherence averaged with respect to a set of design…
We study the local implementation of POVMs when we require only the faithful reproduction of the statistics of the measurement outcomes for all initial states. We first demonstrate that any POVM with separable elements can be implemented by a separable super-operator, and develop techniques for calculating the extreme points of POVMs under a certain class of constraint that includes separability and PPT-ness. As examples we consider measurements that are invariant under various symmetry groups (Werner, Isotropic, Bell-diagonal, Local Orthogonal), and demonstrate that in these cases separabilit…
This paper deals with the quantum optimal discrimination among mixed quantum states enjoying geometrical uniform symmetry with respect to a reference density operator $ρ_0$. It is well-known that the minimal error probability is given by the positive operator-valued measure (POVM) obtained as a solution of a convex optimization problem, namely a set of operators satisfying geometrical symmetry, with respect to a reference operator $Π_0$, and maximizing $\textrm{Tr}(ρ_0 Π_0)$. In this paper, by resolving the dual problem, we show that the same result is obtained by minimizing the trace of a sem…
We consider the problem of quantum-state tomography under the assumption that the state is pure, and more generally that its rank is bounded by a given value. In this scenario, new notions of informationally complete POVMs emerge, which allow for high-fidelity state estimation with fewer measurement outcomes than are required for an arbitrary rank state. We study this in the context of matrix completion, where the POVM outcomes determine only a few of the density matrix elements. We give an analytic solution that fully characterizes informational completeness and elucidates the important role …
We construct the set of all general (i.e. not necessarily rank 1) symmetric informationally complete (SIC) positive operator valued measures (POVMs). In particular, we show that any orthonormal basis of a real vector space of dimension d^2-1 corresponds to some general SIC POVM and vice versa. Our constructed set of all general SIC-POVMs contains weak SIC-POVMs for which each POVM element can be made arbitrarily close to a multiple times the identity. On the other hand, it remains open if for all finite dimensions our constructed family contains a rank 1 SIC-POVM.
We consider the existence in arbitrary finite dimensions d of a POVM comprised of d^2 rank-one operators all of whose operator inner products are equal. Such a set is called a ``symmetric, informationally complete'' POVM (SIC-POVM) and is equivalent to a set of d^2 equiangular lines in C^d. SIC-POVMs are relevant for quantum state tomography, quantum cryptography, and foundational issues in quantum mechanics. We construct SIC-POVMs in dimensions two, three, and four. We further conjecture that a particular kind of group-covariant SIC-POVM exists in arbitrary dimensions, providing numerical res…
We study an optimized measurement that discriminates two mixed quantum states with maximum confidence for each conclusive result, thereby keeping the overall probability of inconclusive results as small as possible. When the rank of the detection operators associated with the two different conclusive outcomes does not exceed unity we obtain a general solution. As an application, we consider the discrimination of two mixed qubit states. Moreover, for the case of higher-rank detection operators we give a solution for particular states. The relation of the optimized measurement to other discrimin…
We study the geometric measure of entanglement (GM) of pure symmetric states related to rank-one positive-operator-valued measures (POVMs) and establish a general connection with quantum state estimation theory, especially the maximum likelihood principle. Based on this connection, we provide a method for computing the GM of these states and demonstrate its additivity property under certain conditions. In particular, we prove the additivity of the GM of pure symmetric multiqubit states whose Majorana points under Majorana representation are distributed within a half sphere, including all pure …
Quantum discord is a measure based on local projective measurements which captures quantum correlations that may not be fully captured by entanglement. A change in the measurement process, achieved by replacing rank-one projectors with a weak positive operator-valued measure (POVM), allows one to define weak variants of quantum discord. In this work, we experimentally simulate the effect of a weak POVM on a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum information processor. The two-qubit system under investigation is part of a three-qubit system, where one of the qubits is used as an ancillary to implem…
We consider the sequential quantum channel discrimination problem using adaptive and non-adaptive strategies. In this setting the number of uses of the underlying quantum channel is not fixed but a random variable that is either bounded in expectation or with high probability. We show that both types of error probabilities decrease to zero exponentially fast and, when using adaptive strategies, the rates are characterized by the measured relative entropy between two quantum channels, yielding a strictly larger region than that achievable by non-adaptive strategies. Allowing for quantum memory,…
The characterization of the evolution of a quantum system is one of the main tasks to accomplish to achieve quantum information processing. The standard quantum process tomography (SQPT) has the unique property that it can be applied without introducing any additional quantum resources. In present work, we shall focus on the following two topics about the SQPT. At first, in the SQPT protocol for a $d$-dimensional system, one should encounter a problem in solving of a set of $d^4$ linear equations in order to get the matrix containing the complete information about the unknown quantum channel. …
We propose a scheme to implement general quantum measurements, also known as Positive Operator Valued Measures (POVMs) in dimension $d$ using only classical resources and a single ancillary qubit. Our method is based on the probabilistic implementation of $d$-outcome measurements which is followed by postselection of some of the received outcomes. We conjecture that the success probability of our scheme is larger than a constant independent of $d$ for all POVMs in dimension $d$. Crucially, this conjecture implies the possibility of realizing arbitrary nonadaptive quantum measurement protocol o…
We show that a rank-1 quantum observable (POVM) M is jointly measurable with a quantum observable M' exactly when M' is a smearing of M. If M is extreme, rank-1 and discrete then M and M' are coexistent if and only if they are jointly measurable.
Unsharp Measurement with Adaptive Gaussian POVMs for Quantum-Inspired Image Processing
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research（印度科学教育与研究学院物理系）；Bikash’s Quantum (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.（比克什量子（OPC）私人有限公司）；Università degli Studi di Cagliari（卡利阿里大学）；ABB Ability Innovation Center, Asea Brown Boveri Company（ABB Ability创新中心，阿西亚布朗博世公司）；Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Siksha O Anusandhan University（量子科学与技术中心，希沙奥安萨桑大学）；Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata（印度科学教育与研究（IISER）学院物理系，加尔各答）
We analyze the optimal unambiguous discrimination of two arbitrary mixed quantum states. We show that the optimal measurement is unique and we present this optimal measurement for the case where the rank of the density operator of one of the states is at most 2 ("solution in 4 dimensions"). The solution is illustrated by some examples. The optimality conditions proved by Eldar et al. [Phys. Rev. A 69, 062318 (2004)] are simplified to an operational form. As an application we present optimality conditions for the measurement, when only one of the two states is detected. The current status of op…
SIC-POVMs are configurations of points or rank-one projections arising from the action of a finite Heisenberg group on $\mathbb C^d$. The resulting equations are interpreted in terms of moment maps by focussing attention on the orbit of a cyclic subgroup and the maximal torus in $\mathrm U(d)$ that contains it. The image of a SIC-POVM under the associated moment map lies in an intersection of real quadrics, which we describe explicitly. We also elaborate the conjectural description of the related number fields and describe the structure of Galois orbits of overlap phases.
