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arXiv:0812.3832 · Physical Review A

Distinguishability measures between ensembles of quantum states

Ognyan Oreshkov, John Calsamiglia

Published Mar 27, 2009• 29 citations
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Abstract

A quantum ensemble ${({p}_{x},{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{x})}$ 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 optimal transportation problem, while the second one uses the idea of extended-Hilbert-space (EHS) representations which introduce auxiliary pointer (or flag) states. Both types of measures enjoy a number of desirable properties. The Kantorovich measures, albeit monotonic under deterministic quantum operations, are not monotonic under generalized measurements. In contrast, the EHS measures are. This property can be regarded as a generalization of the monotonicity under deterministic maps of the trace distance and the fidelity between states. The EHS measures are equivalent to convex optimization problems and are bounded by the Kantorovich measures which are equivalent to linear programs. We present operational interpretations for both types of measures. We also show that the EHS fidelity between ensembles provides an interpretation of the fidelity between mixed states as the fidelity between all pure-state ensembles whose averages are equal to the mixed states being compared. We finally use the measures to define distance and fidelity for stochastic quantum channels and positive operator-valued measures. These quantities may be useful in the context of tomography of stochastic quantum channels and quantum detectors.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.79.032336

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A quantum ensemble (px,\ensuremathρx){({p}_{x},{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{x})}(px​,\ensuremathρx​) 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 optimal transportation problem, while the second one uses the idea of extended-Hilbert-space (EHS) representations which introduce auxiliary pointer (or flag) states. Both types of measures enjoy a number of desirable properties. The Kantorovich measures, albeit monotonic under deterministic quantum operations, are not monotonic under generalized measurements. In contrast, the EHS measures are. This property can be regarded as a generalization of the monotonicity under deterministic maps of the trace distance and the fidelity between states. The EHS measures are equivalent to convex optimization problems and are bounded by the Kantorovich measures which are equivalent to linear programs. We present operational interpretations for both types of measures. We also show that the EHS fidelity between ensembles provides an interpretation of the fidelity between mixed states as the fidelity between all pure-state ensembles whose averages are equal to the mixed states being compared. We finally use the measures to define distance and fidelity for stochastic quantum channels and positive operator-valued measures. These quantities may be useful in the context of tomography of stochastic quantum channels and quantum detectors.
Probability theory is a measure theory – with a soul. Mark Kac Section 2.6 was devoted to classical ensembles , that is to say ensembles defined by probability measures on the set of classical probability distributions over N events. In this chapter quantum ensembles are defined by choosing probability measures on the set of density matrices of size N . A warning should be issued first: there is no single, naturally distinguished measure in M ( N ) , so we have to analyse several measures, each of them with different physical motivations, advantages and drawbacks. This is in contrast to the set of pure quantum states, where the Fubini–Study measure is the only natural choice for a measure that defines ‘random states’. A simple way to define a probability measure goes through a metric. Hence we will start this chapter with a review of the metrics defined on the set of mixed quantum states. Monotone metrics In Section 2.5 we explained how the Fisher metric holds its distinguished position due to the theorem of Čencov, which states that the Fisher metric is the unique monotone metric on the probability simplex Δ N –1 . Now that the latter has been replaced by the space of quantum states M ( N ) we must look again at the question of metrics. Since the uniqueness in the classical case came from the behaviour under stochastic maps, we turn our attention to stochastic quantum maps – the completely positive, trace preserving maps discussed in Chapter 10. A distance D in the space of quantum states M ( N ) is called monotone if it does not grow under the action of a stochastic map Φ, If a monotone distance is geodesic the corresponding metric on M ( N ) is called monotone.
Introducing contravariant trace-densities for quantum states, we restore one to one correspondence between quantum operations described by normal CP maps and their trace densities as Hermitian positive operator-valued contravariant kernels. The CB-norm distance between two quantum operations with type one input algebras is explicitly expressed in terms of these densities, and this formula is also extended to a generalized CB-distances between quantum operations with type two inputs. A larger C-distance is given as the natural norm-distance for the channel densities, and another, Helinger type distance, related to minimax mean square optimization problem for purification of quantum channels, is also introduced and evaluated in terms of their contravariant trace-densities. It is proved that the Helinger type complete fidelity distance between two channels is equivalent to the CB distance at least for type one inputs, and this equivalence is also extended to type two for the generalized CB distance. An operational meaning for these distances and relative complete fidelity for quantum channels is given in terms of quantum encodings as generalized entanglements of quantum states opposite to the inputs and the output states.
We present a measure of quantum correlation of an ensemble of multiparty states. It is based on the idea of minimal entropy production in a measurement whose elements are locally distinguishable. It is shown, for pure ensembles, to be a relative entropy distance from a set of ensembles. For pure bipartite ensembles, which span the whole bipartite Hilbert space, the measure is bounded below by the average entanglement. We naturally obtain a monotonicity axiom for any measure of quantum correlation of ensembles for single systems. We evaluate the measure for certain cases. Subsequently we use this measure to propose a complementarity relation between our measure and the accessible information obtainable about the ensemble under local operations. The measure is well defined even for the case of a single system, where the complementarity relation is seen to be yet another face of the ``Heisenberg uncertainty relation.''
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 as a whole are less distinguishable while all pairwise are more distinguishable in an ensemble of quantum states, also occurs in an ensemble of quantum operations, even in the minimal dimensional case SU(2) ensemble.
We introduce and apply Hilbert's projective metric in the context of quantum information theory. The metric is induced by convex cones such as the sets of positive, separable or positive partial transpose operators. It provides bounds on measures for statistical distinguishability of quantum states and on the decrease of entanglement under protocols involving local quantum operations and classical communication or under other cone-preserving operations. The results are formulated in terms of general cones and base norms and lead to contractivity bounds for quantum channels, for instance, improving Ruskai's trace-norm contraction inequality. A new duality between distinguishability measures and base norms is provided. For two given pairs of quantum states we show that the contraction of Hilbert's projective metric is necessary and sufficient for the existence of a probabilistic quantum operation that maps one pair onto the other. Inequalities between Hilbert's projective metric and the Chernoff bound, the fidelity and various norms are proven.
We study measures of quantum information when the space spanned by the set of accessible observables is not closed under products, i.e., we consider systems where an observer may be able to measure the expectation values of two operators, ⟨O1⟩⟨{O}_{1}⟩⟨O1​⟩ and ⟨O2⟩⟨{O}_{2}⟩⟨O2​⟩, but may not have access to ⟨O1O2⟩⟨{O}_{1}{O}_{2}⟩⟨O1​O2​⟩. This problem is relevant for the study of localized quantum information in gravity since the set of approximately local operators in a region may not be closed under arbitrary products. While we cannot naturally associate a density matrix with a state in this setting, it is still possible to define a modular operator for a state, and distinguish between two states using a relative modular operator. These operators are defined on a ``little Hilbert space,'' which parametrizes small deformations of the system away from its original state, and they do not depend on the structure of the full Hilbert space of the theory. We extract a class of relative-entropy-like quantities from the spectrum of these operators that measure the distance between states, are monotonic under contractions of the set of available observables, and vanish only when the states are equal. Consequently, these distance measures can be used to define measures of bipartite and multipartite entanglement. We describe applications of our measures to ``coarse-grained'' and ``fine-grained'' subregion dualities in AdS/CFT\mathrm{AdS}/\mathrm{CFT}AdS/CFT and provide a few sample calculations to illustrate our formalism.