Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1109.0540 · Physical Review Letters

Entanglement can Completely Defeat Quantum Noise

Jianxin Chen, Toby S. Cubitt, Aram W. Harrow, Graeme Smith

Published Dec 15, 2011• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We describe two quantum channels that individually cannot send any classical information without some chance of decoding error. But together a single use of each channel can send quantum information perfectly reliably. This proves that the zero-error classical capacity exhibits superactivation, the extreme form of the superadditivity phenomenon in which entangled inputs allow communication over zero-capacity channels. But our result is stronger still, as it even allows zero-error quantum communication when the two channels are combined. Thus our result shows a new remarkable way in which entanglement across two systems can be used to resist noise, in this case perfectly. We also show a new form of superactivation by entanglement shared between sender and receiver.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.107.250504

Related papers

An Extreme Form of Superactivation for Quantum Zero-Error Capacities

Toby S. Cubitt, Graeme Smith

The zero-error capacity of a channel is the rate at which it can send information perfectly, with zero probability of error, and has long been studied in classical information theory. We show that the zero-error capacity of quantum channels exhibits an extreme form of nonadditivity, one which is not possible for classical channels, or even for the usual capacities of quantum channels. By combining probabilistic arguments with algebraic geometry, we prove that there exist channels and with no zero-error classical capacity whatsoever, , but whose joint zero-error quantum capacity is positive, . This striking effect is an extreme form of the superactivation phenomenon, as it implies that both the classical and quantum zero-error capacities of these channels can be superactivated simultaneously, while being a strictly stronger property of capacities. Superactivation of the quantum zero-error capacity was not previously known.

IEEE Transactions on Information Theory•Feb 28, 2012•28 citations

Superactivation of the Asymptotic Zero-Error Classical Capacity of a Quantum Channel

Toby S. Cubitt, Jianxin Chen, Aram W. Harrow

The zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the asymptotic rate at which it can be used to send classical bits perfectly so that they can be decoded with zero probability of error. We show that there exist pairs of quantum channels, neither of which individually have any zero-error capacity whatsoever (even if arbitrarily many uses of the channels are available), but such that access to even a single copy of both channels allows classical information to be sent perfectly reliably. In other words, we prove that the zero-error classical capacity can be superactivated. This result is the first example of superactivation of a classical capacity of a quantum channel.

arXiv:0906.2547•IEEE Transactions on Information Theory•Dec 1, 2011•50 citations

Super-Activation of Zero-Error Capacity of Noisy Quantum Channels

Runyao Duan

We study various super-activation effects in the following zero-error communication scenario: One sender wants to send classical or quantum information through a noisy quantum channel to one receiver with zero probability of error. First we show that there are quantum channels of which a single use is not able to transmit classical information perfectly yet two uses can. This is achieved by employing entangled input states between different uses of the given channel and thus cannot happen for classical channels. Second we exhibit a class of quantum channel with vanishing zero-error classical capacity such that when a noiseless qubit channel or one ebit shared entanglement are available, it can be used to transmit $\log_2 d$ noiseless qubits, where 2d is the dimension of input state space. Third we further construct quantum channels with vanishing zero-error classical capacity when assisted with classical feedback can be used to transmit both classical and quantum information perfectly. These striking findings not only indicate both the zero-error quantum and classical capacities of quantum channels satisfy a strong super-additivity beyond any classical channels, but also highlight the activation power of auxiliary physical resources in zero-error communication.

arXiv:0906.2527•Jun 15, 2009•54 citations

Super-duper-activation of the zero-error quantum capacity

Jianxin Chen, Toby S. Cubitt, Aram W. Harrow +1 more

The zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the asymptotic rate at which it can be used to send classical bits perfectly, so that they can be decoded with zero probability of error. The study of zero-error capacities dates right back to Shannon and the early days of information theory. We show that there exist pairs of quantum channels, neither of which individually have any zero-error capacity whatsoever (even if arbitrarily many uses of the channels are available), but such that access to even a single copy of both channels allows classical information to be sent perfectly reliably. In other words, we prove that the zero-error classical capacity can be superactivated. This result is the first example of superactivation of a classical capacity of a quantum channel. We further strengthen this result to show that there exist pairs of channels, neither of which have any zero-error classical capacity (as before), yet for which access to one copy of the joint channel even allows far more delicate quantum information to be transmitted perfectly. This subsumes the first result, and also implies that the quantum zero-error capacity can be superactivated. But it is strictly stronger than either of these. Indeed, this is the strongest conceivable form of superactivation, and nothing similar is possible for standard Shannon capacities of quantum channels or for zero-error capacities of classical channels.

IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT)•Jun 1, 2010•6 citations

Superadditivity for Entanglement-Assisted Communication

Hao-Chung Cheng, Mario Berta

The entanglement-assisted capacity of a quantum channel admits an additive single-letter characterization, implying that joint encodings across channel uses cannot increase the ultimate communication rate. Here, we show that this additive picture does not extend to communication reliability. Specifically, we prove that the Petz-Rényi channel information can be strictly superadditive for every $α\in[1/2,1)$, yielding a genuine multi-copy enhancement of the entanglement-assisted random-coding error exponent, even though the entanglement-assisted capacity remains additive. We establish this phenomenon analytically already for measurement channels, which are entanglement-breaking and have additive unassisted capacity. Remarkably, this strict superadditivity is witnessed by a separable, classically correlated two-copy channel-input marginal, demonstrating that no entanglement between the transmitted systems is required. Our results show that, although correlations across channel uses cannot increase the ultimate rate of entanglement-assisted communication, they can enhance its reliability.

quant-pharXiv:2607.15151•Jul 17, 2026•0 citations

An Extreme form of Superactivation for Quantum Zero-Error Capacities

Toby S. Cubitt, Graeme Smith

The zero-error capacity of a channel is the rate at which it can send information perfectly, with zero probability of error, and has long been studied in classical information theory. We show that the zero-error capacity of quantum channels exhibits an extreme form of non-additivity, one which is not possible for classical channels, or even for the usual capacities of quantum channels. By combining probabilistic arguments with algebraic geometry, we prove that there exist channels E1 and E2 with no zero-error classical capacity whatsoever, C_0(E1) = C_0(E2) = 0, but whose joint zero-error quantum capacity is positive, Q_0(E1 x E2) >= 1. This striking effect is an extreme from of the superactivation phenomenon, as it implies that both the classical and quantum zero-error capacities of these channels can be superactivated simultaneously, whilst being a strictly stronger property of capacities. Superactivation of the quantum zero-error capacity was not previously known.

arXiv:0912.2737•Dec 14, 2009•1 citation
We describe two quantum channels that individually cannot send any classical information without some chance of decoding error. But together a single use of each channel can send quantum information perfectly reliably. This proves that the zero-error classical capacity exhibits superactivation, the extreme form of the superadditivity phenomenon in which entangled inputs allow communication over zero-capacity channels. But our result is stronger still, as it even allows zero-error quantum communication when the two channels are combined. Thus our result shows a new remarkable way in which entanglement across two systems can be used to resist noise, in this case perfectly. We also show a new form of superactivation by entanglement shared between sender and receiver.
The zero-error capacity of a channel is the rate at which it can send information perfectly, with zero probability of error, and has long been studied in classical information theory. We show that the zero-error capacity of quantum channels exhibits an extreme form of nonadditivity, one which is not possible for classical channels, or even for the usual capacities of quantum channels. By combining probabilistic arguments with algebraic geometry, we prove that there exist channels and with no zero-error classical capacity whatsoever, , but whose joint zero-error quantum capacity is positive, . This striking effect is an extreme form of the superactivation phenomenon, as it implies that both the classical and quantum zero-error capacities of these channels can be superactivated simultaneously, while being a strictly stronger property of capacities. Superactivation of the quantum zero-error capacity was not previously known.
The zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the asymptotic rate at which it can be used to send classical bits perfectly so that they can be decoded with zero probability of error. We show that there exist pairs of quantum channels, neither of which individually have any zero-error capacity whatsoever (even if arbitrarily many uses of the channels are available), but such that access to even a single copy of both channels allows classical information to be sent perfectly reliably. In other words, we prove that the zero-error classical capacity can be superactivated. This result is the first example of superactivation of a classical capacity of a quantum channel.
We study various super-activation effects in the following zero-error communication scenario: One sender wants to send classical or quantum information through a noisy quantum channel to one receiver with zero probability of error. First we show that there are quantum channels of which a single use is not able to transmit classical information perfectly yet two uses can. This is achieved by employing entangled input states between different uses of the given channel and thus cannot happen for classical channels. Second we exhibit a class of quantum channel with vanishing zero-error classical capacity such that when a noiseless qubit channel or one ebit shared entanglement are available, it can be used to transmit log⁡2d\log_2 dlog2​d noiseless qubits, where 2d is the dimension of input state space. Third we further construct quantum channels with vanishing zero-error classical capacity when assisted with classical feedback can be used to transmit both classical and quantum information perfectly. These striking findings not only indicate both the zero-error quantum and classical capacities of quantum channels satisfy a strong super-additivity beyond any classical channels, but also highlight the activation power of auxiliary physical resources in zero-error communication.
The zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the asymptotic rate at which it can be used to send classical bits perfectly, so that they can be decoded with zero probability of error. The study of zero-error capacities dates right back to Shannon and the early days of information theory. We show that there exist pairs of quantum channels, neither of which individually have any zero-error capacity whatsoever (even if arbitrarily many uses of the channels are available), but such that access to even a single copy of both channels allows classical information to be sent perfectly reliably. In other words, we prove that the zero-error classical capacity can be superactivated. This result is the first example of superactivation of a classical capacity of a quantum channel. We further strengthen this result to show that there exist pairs of channels, neither of which have any zero-error classical capacity (as before), yet for which access to one copy of the joint channel even allows far more delicate quantum information to be transmitted perfectly. This subsumes the first result, and also implies that the quantum zero-error capacity can be superactivated. But it is strictly stronger than either of these. Indeed, this is the strongest conceivable form of superactivation, and nothing similar is possible for standard Shannon capacities of quantum channels or for zero-error capacities of classical channels.
The entanglement-assisted capacity of a quantum channel admits an additive single-letter characterization, implying that joint encodings across channel uses cannot increase the ultimate communication rate. Here, we show that this additive picture does not extend to communication reliability. Specifically, we prove that the Petz-Rényi channel information can be strictly superadditive for every α∈[1/2,1)α\in[1/2,1)α∈[1/2,1), yielding a genuine multi-copy enhancement of the entanglement-assisted random-coding error exponent, even though the entanglement-assisted capacity remains additive. We establish this phenomenon analytically already for measurement channels, which are entanglement-breaking and have additive unassisted capacity. Remarkably, this strict superadditivity is witnessed by a separable, classically correlated two-copy channel-input marginal, demonstrating that no entanglement between the transmitted systems is required. Our results show that, although correlations across channel uses cannot increase the ultimate rate of entanglement-assisted communication, they can enhance its reliability.
The zero-error capacity of a channel is the rate at which it can send information perfectly, with zero probability of error, and has long been studied in classical information theory. We show that the zero-error capacity of quantum channels exhibits an extreme form of non-additivity, one which is not possible for classical channels, or even for the usual capacities of quantum channels. By combining probabilistic arguments with algebraic geometry, we prove that there exist channels E1 and E2 with no zero-error classical capacity whatsoever, C_0(E1) = C_0(E2) = 0, but whose joint zero-error quantum capacity is positive, Q_0(E1 x E2) >= 1. This striking effect is an extreme from of the superactivation phenomenon, as it implies that both the classical and quantum zero-error capacities of these channels can be superactivated simultaneously, whilst being a strictly stronger property of capacities. Superactivation of the quantum zero-error capacity was not previously known.