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:1207.5435 · Reviews of Modern Physics

Quantum channels and memory effects

Filippo Caruso, Vittorio Giovannetti, Cosmo Lupo, Stefano Mancini

Published Dec 10, 2014• 329 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Any physical process can be represented as a quantum channel mapping an initial state to a final state. Hence it can be characterized from the point of view of communication theory, i.e., in terms of its ability to transfer information. Quantum information provides a theoretical framework and the proper mathematical tools to accomplish this. In this context the notion of codes and communication capacities have been introduced by generalizing them from the classical Shannon theory of information transmission and error correction. The underlying assumption of this approach is to consider the channel not as acting on a single system, but on sequences of systems, which, when properly initialized allow one to overcome the noisy effects induced by the physical process under consideration. While most of the work produced so far has been focused on the case in which a given channel transformation acts identically and independently on the various elements of the sequence (memoryless configuration in jargon), correlated error models appear to be a more realistic way to approach the problem. A slightly different, yet conceptually related, notion of correlated errors applies to a single quantum system which evolves continuously in time under the influence of an external disturbance which acts on it in a non-Markovian fashion. This leads to the study of memory effects in quantum channels: a fertile ground where interesting novel phenomena emerge at the intersection of quantum information theory and other branches of physics. A survey is taken of the field of quantum channels theory while also embracing these specific and complex settings.

DOI
10.1103/revmodphys.86.1203

Related papers

Discrimination of noise channels on the basis of quantum memory

Natasha Awasthi, Dheeraj Kumar Joshi, Surbhi Sachdev

From the point of view of communication theory, a quantum channel can be defined as a physical process mapping from initial to final state in the form of CPTP (Completely positive trace preserving) map. Quantum information theory provide a theoretical framework and some mathematical methods to accomplish this. In order to preserve information, we proposed a scheme for the protection of two-qubit state through various noise channel, where successive uses of noise channels are correlated. These successive uses of channels are called memory. Different types of noise channels with memory have been discussed in details. We compare the dynamics of entanglement of two-qubit state under different noise channel and it has been seen that one can preserve two-qubit steady state quantum correlation under noise channels with memory. The study of memory effect in quantum channel will emerge as an interesting phenomena to trace back information from the surrounding which is considered as a resource in quantum information task. However, we also define some mores measures of entanglement and their preservation. We hope that our new findings may help to study the two-qubit entanglement structure.

International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communication and Materials (ICACCM)•Aug 21, 2020•1 citation

Dynamical memory effects in correlated quantum channels

Carole Addis, Göktuğ Karpat, Chiara Macchiavello +1 more

Memory effects play a fundamental role in the study of the dynamics of open quantum systems. There exist two conceptually distinct notions of memory discussed for quantum channels in the literature. In quantum information theory quantum channels with memory are characterized by the existence of correlations between successive applications of the channel on a sequence of quantum systems. In open quantum systems theory memory effects arise dynamically during the time evolution of quantum systems and define non-Markovian dynamics. Here we relate and combine these two different concepts of memory. In particular, we study the interplay between correlations between multiple uses of quantum channels and non-Markovianity as nondivisibility of the $t$-parametrized family of channels defining the dynamical map.

arXiv:1607.00134•Physical Review A•Sep 23, 2016•45 citations

Non-Markovianity and reservoir memory of quantum channels: a quantum information theory perspective

Bogna Bylicka, Dariusz Chruściński, Sabrina Maniscalco

Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently transfer information encoded in quantum states along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment sets limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol. Generally, the longer a quantum channel is the worse its capacity is. We show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than of a shorter one. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels and demonstrate how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.

Scientific Reports•Jul 21, 2014•329 citations

Memory effects in quantum processes

Philip Taranto

Understanding temporal processes and their correlations in time is of paramount importance for the development of near-term technologies that operate under realistic conditions. Capturing the complete multi-time statistics that define a stochastic process lies at the heart of any proper treatment of memory effects. This is well understood in classical theory, where a hierarchy of joint probability distributions completely characterizes the process at hand. However, attempting to generalize this notion to quantum mechanics is problematic: observing realizations of a quantum process necessarily disturbs the state of the system, breaking an implicit, and crucial, assumption in the classical setting. This issue can be overcome by separating the experimental interventions from the underlying process, enabling an unambiguous description of the process itself and accounting for all possible multi-time correlations for any choice of interrogating instruments. In this paper, using a novel framework for the characterization of quantum stochastic processes, we first solve the long standing question of unambiguously describing the memory length of a quantum processes. This is achieved by constructing a quantum Markov order condition, which naturally generalizes its classical counterpart for the quantification of finite-length memory effects. As measurements are inherently invasive in quantum mechanics, one has no choice but to define Markov order with respect to the interrogating instruments that are used to probe the process at hand: different memory effects are exhibited depending on how one addresses the system, in contrast to the standard classical setting. We then fully characterize the structural constraints imposed on quantum processes with finite Markov order, shedding light on a variety of memory effects that can arise through various examples. Finally, we introduce an instrument-specific notion of memory strength that allows for a meaningful quantification of the temporal correlations between the history and the future of a process for a given choice of experimental intervention. These findings are directly relevant to both characterizing and exploiting memory effects that persist for a finite duration. In particular, immediate applications range from developing efficient compression and recovery schemes for the description of quantum processes with memory to designing coherent control protocols that efficiently perform information-theoretic tasks, amongst a plethora of others.

arXiv:1909.05245•International Journal of Quantum Information•Jan 7, 2020•12 citations

Forgetfulness of continuous Markovian quantum channels

Cosmo Lupo, Laleh Memarzadeh, Stefano Mancini

The notion of forgetfulness, used in discrete quantum memory channels, is slightly weakened in order to be applied to the case of continuous channels. This is done in the context of quantum memory channels with Markovian noise. As a case study, we apply the notion of weak forgetfulness to a bosonic memory channel with additive noise. A suitable encoding and decoding unitary transformation allows us to unravel the effects of the memory, hence the channel capacities can be computed using known results from the memoryless setting.

arXiv:0907.1544•Physical Review A•Oct 27, 2009•15 citations

Non-Markovianity as a Resource for Quantum Technologies

Bogna Bylicka, Dariusz Chruściński, Sabrina Maniscalco

Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently manipulate, process and transfer information, encoded in quantum states, along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment introduces errors, thus setting limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol or device. A fundamental bound on the ability of a noisy quantum channel to transmit quantum (classical) information is given by its quantum (classical) capacity. Generally, the longer is a quantum channel the more are the introduced errors, and hence the worse is its capacity. In this Letter we show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than the one of a shorter channel. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels, and demonstrate in full generality how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.

arXiv:1301.2585•Jan 11, 2013•16 citations
Any physical process can be represented as a quantum channel mapping an initial state to a final state. Hence it can be characterized from the point of view of communication theory, i.e., in terms of its ability to transfer information. Quantum information provides a theoretical framework and the proper mathematical tools to accomplish this. In this context the notion of codes and communication capacities have been introduced by generalizing them from the classical Shannon theory of information transmission and error correction. The underlying assumption of this approach is to consider the channel not as acting on a single system, but on sequences of systems, which, when properly initialized allow one to overcome the noisy effects induced by the physical process under consideration. While most of the work produced so far has been focused on the case in which a given channel transformation acts identically and independently on the various elements of the sequence (memoryless configuration in jargon), correlated error models appear to be a more realistic way to approach the problem. A slightly different, yet conceptually related, notion of correlated errors applies to a single quantum system which evolves continuously in time under the influence of an external disturbance which acts on it in a non-Markovian fashion. This leads to the study of memory effects in quantum channels: a fertile ground where interesting novel phenomena emerge at the intersection of quantum information theory and other branches of physics. A survey is taken of the field of quantum channels theory while also embracing these specific and complex settings.
From the point of view of communication theory, a quantum channel can be defined as a physical process mapping from initial to final state in the form of CPTP (Completely positive trace preserving) map. Quantum information theory provide a theoretical framework and some mathematical methods to accomplish this. In order to preserve information, we proposed a scheme for the protection of two-qubit state through various noise channel, where successive uses of noise channels are correlated. These successive uses of channels are called memory. Different types of noise channels with memory have been discussed in details. We compare the dynamics of entanglement of two-qubit state under different noise channel and it has been seen that one can preserve two-qubit steady state quantum correlation under noise channels with memory. The study of memory effect in quantum channel will emerge as an interesting phenomena to trace back information from the surrounding which is considered as a resource in quantum information task. However, we also define some mores measures of entanglement and their preservation. We hope that our new findings may help to study the two-qubit entanglement structure.
Memory effects play a fundamental role in the study of the dynamics of open quantum systems. There exist two conceptually distinct notions of memory discussed for quantum channels in the literature. In quantum information theory quantum channels with memory are characterized by the existence of correlations between successive applications of the channel on a sequence of quantum systems. In open quantum systems theory memory effects arise dynamically during the time evolution of quantum systems and define non-Markovian dynamics. Here we relate and combine these two different concepts of memory. In particular, we study the interplay between correlations between multiple uses of quantum channels and non-Markovianity as nondivisibility of the ttt-parametrized family of channels defining the dynamical map.
Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently transfer information encoded in quantum states along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment sets limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol. Generally, the longer a quantum channel is the worse its capacity is. We show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than of a shorter one. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels and demonstrate how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.
Understanding temporal processes and their correlations in time is of paramount importance for the development of near-term technologies that operate under realistic conditions. Capturing the complete multi-time statistics that define a stochastic process lies at the heart of any proper treatment of memory effects. This is well understood in classical theory, where a hierarchy of joint probability distributions completely characterizes the process at hand. However, attempting to generalize this notion to quantum mechanics is problematic: observing realizations of a quantum process necessarily disturbs the state of the system, breaking an implicit, and crucial, assumption in the classical setting. This issue can be overcome by separating the experimental interventions from the underlying process, enabling an unambiguous description of the process itself and accounting for all possible multi-time correlations for any choice of interrogating instruments. In this paper, using a novel framework for the characterization of quantum stochastic processes, we first solve the long standing question of unambiguously describing the memory length of a quantum processes. This is achieved by constructing a quantum Markov order condition, which naturally generalizes its classical counterpart for the quantification of finite-length memory effects. As measurements are inherently invasive in quantum mechanics, one has no choice but to define Markov order with respect to the interrogating instruments that are used to probe the process at hand: different memory effects are exhibited depending on how one addresses the system, in contrast to the standard classical setting. We then fully characterize the structural constraints imposed on quantum processes with finite Markov order, shedding light on a variety of memory effects that can arise through various examples. Finally, we introduce an instrument-specific notion of memory strength that allows for a meaningful quantification of the temporal correlations between the history and the future of a process for a given choice of experimental intervention. These findings are directly relevant to both characterizing and exploiting memory effects that persist for a finite duration. In particular, immediate applications range from developing efficient compression and recovery schemes for the description of quantum processes with memory to designing coherent control protocols that efficiently perform information-theoretic tasks, amongst a plethora of others.
The notion of forgetfulness, used in discrete quantum memory channels, is slightly weakened in order to be applied to the case of continuous channels. This is done in the context of quantum memory channels with Markovian noise. As a case study, we apply the notion of weak forgetfulness to a bosonic memory channel with additive noise. A suitable encoding and decoding unitary transformation allows us to unravel the effects of the memory, hence the channel capacities can be computed using known results from the memoryless setting.
Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently manipulate, process and transfer information, encoded in quantum states, along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment introduces errors, thus setting limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol or device. A fundamental bound on the ability of a noisy quantum channel to transmit quantum (classical) information is given by its quantum (classical) capacity. Generally, the longer is a quantum channel the more are the introduced errors, and hence the worse is its capacity. In this Letter we show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than the one of a shorter channel. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels, and demonstrate in full generality how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.