We initiate the study of zero-error communication via quantum channels when the receiver and the sender have at their disposal a noiseless feedback channel of unlimited quantum capacity, generalizing Shannon's zero-error communication theory with instantaneous feedback. We first show that this capacity is only a function of the linear span of Choi-Kraus operators of the channel, which generalizes the bipartite equivocation graph of a classical channel, and which we dub non-commutative bipartite graph. Then, we go on to show that the feedback-assisted capacity is non-zero (allowing for a constant amount of activating noiseless communication) if and only if the non-commutative bipartite graph is non-trivial, and give a number of equivalent characterizations. This result involves a far-reaching extension of the conclusive exclusion of quantum states. We then present an upper bound on the feedback-assisted zero-error capacity, motivated by a conjecture originally made by Shannon and proved later by Ahlswede. We demonstrate that this bound to have many good properties, including being additive and given by a minimax formula. We also prove a coding theorem showing that this quantity is the entanglement-assisted capacity against an adversarially chosen channel from the set of all channels with the same Choi-Kraus span, which can also be interpreted as the feedback-assisted unambiguous capacity. The proof relies on a generalization of the Postselection Lemma (de Finetti reduction) that allows to reflect additional constraints, and which we believe to be of independent interest. This capacity is a relaxation of the feedback-assisted zero-error capacity; however, we have to leave open the question of whether they coincide in general. We illustrate our ideas with a number of examples, including classical-quantum channels and Weyl diagonal channels, and close with an extensive discussion of open questions.
We initiate the study of zero-error communication via quantum channels when the receiver and the sender have at their disposal a noiseless feedback channel of unlimited quantum capacity, generalizing Shannon's zero-error communication theory with instantaneous feedback. We first show that this capacity is only a function of the linear span of Choi-Kraus operators of the channel, which generalizes the bipartite equivocation graph of a classical channel, and which we dub non-commutative bipartite graph. Then, we go on to show that the feedback-assisted capacity is non-zero (allowing for a constant amount of activating noiseless communication) if and only if the non-commutative bipartite graph is non-trivial, and give a number of equivalent characterizations. This result involves a far-reaching extension of the conclusive exclusion of quantum states. We then present an upper bound on the feedback-assisted zero-error capacity, motivated by a conjecture originally made by Shannon and proved later by Ahlswede. We demonstrate that this bound to have many good properties, including being additive and given by a minimax formula. We also prove a coding theorem showing that this quantity is the entanglement-assisted capacity against an adversarially chosen channel from the set of all channels with the same Choi-Kraus span, which can also be interpreted as the feedback-assisted unambiguous capacity. The proof relies on a generalization of the Postselection Lemma (de Finetti reduction) that allows to reflect additional constraints, and which we believe to be of independent interest. This capacity is a relaxation of the feedback-assisted zero-error capacity; however, we have to leave open the question of whether they coincide in general. We illustrate our ideas with a number of examples, including classical-quantum channels and Weyl diagonal channels, and close with an extensive discussion of open questions.
Recently the one-shot quantum no-signalling assisted zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel has been formulated as a semidefinite programming (SDP) depending only on the Choi-Kraus operator space of the channel. In this paper, we study the \textit{activated quantum no-signalling assisted zero-error classical capacity} by first allowing the assistance from some noiseless forward communication channel and later paying back the cost of the helper. We show that the one-shot activated capacity can also be formulated as a SDP and derive a number of striking properties of this number. In particular, this number is additive under direct sum, and is always greater than or equal to the super-dense coding bound. An a remarkable consequence, we find that one bit noiseless classical communication is able to fully activate any classical-quantum channel to achieve its asymptotic capacity, or the semidefinite fractional packing number. We also discuss the condition under which a noisy channel can activate an activatable channel. Interestingly, a channel is able to activate itself if its one-shot capacity is greater than or equal to the Golden Ratio - (1+5)/2. We also show that the asymptotic activated capacity is still equal to the usual no-signalling assisted capacity. Finally, we show that general the asymptotic no-signalling assisted zero-error capacity does not equal to the semidefinite (fractional) packing number by an explicit construction.
We study the quantum channel version of Shannon's zero-error capacity problem. Motivated by recent progress on this question, we propose to consider a certain linear space operators as the quantum generalisation of the adjacency matrix, in terms of which the plain, quantum and entanglement-assisted capacity can be formulated, and for which we show some new basic properties. Most importantly, we define a quantum version of Lovász' famous υ function, as the norm-completion (or stabilisation) of a “naive” generalisation of υ. We go on to show that this function upper bounds the number of entanglement-assisted zero-error messages, that it is given by a semidefinite programme, whose dual we write down explicitly, and that it is multiplicative with respect to the natural (strong) graph product. We explore various other properties of the new quantity, which reduces to Lovász' original υ in the classical case, give several applications, and propose to study the linear spaces of operators associated to channels as “non-commutative graphs”, using the language of operator systems and Hilbert modules.
The theory of zero-error communication is re-examined in the broader setting of using one classical channel to simulate another exactly in the presence of various classes of nonsignalling correlations between sender and receiver i.e., shared randomness, shared entanglement and arbitrary nonsignalling correlations. When the channel being simulated is noiseless, this is zero-error coding assisted by correlations. When the resource channel is noiseless, it is the reverse problem of simulating a noisy channel exactly by a noiseless one, assisted by correlations. In both cases, separations between the power of the different classes of assisting correlations are exhibited for finite block lengths. The most striking result here is that entanglement can assist in zero-error communication. In the large block length limit, shared randomness is shown to be just as powerful as arbitrary nonsignalling correlations for exact simulation, but not for asymptotic zero-error coding. For assistance by arbitrary nonsignalling correlations, linear programming formulas for the asymptotic capacity and simulation rates are derived, the former being equal (for channels with nonzero unassisted capacity) to the feedback-assisted zero-error capacity derived by Shannon. Finally, a kind of reversibility between nonsignalling-assisted zero-error capacity and exact simulation is observed, mirroring the usual reverse Shannon theorem.
We study the quantum channel version of Shannon's zero-error capacity problem. Motivated by recent progress on this question, we propose to consider a certain subspace of operators (so-called operator systems) as the quantum generalization of the adjacency matrix, in terms of which the zero-error capacity of a quantum channel, as well as the quantum and entanglement-assisted zero-error capacities can be formulated, and for which we show some new basic properties. Most importantly, we define a quantum version of Lovász' famous ϑ function on general operator systems, as the norm-completion (or stabilization) of a “naive” generalization of ϑ. We go on to show that this function upper bounds the number of entanglement-assisted zero-error messages, that it is given by a semidefinite program, whose dual we write down explicitly, and that it is multiplicative with respect to the tensor product of operator systems (corresponding to the tensor product of channels). We explore various other properties of the new quantity, which reduces to Lovász' original ϑ in the classical case, give several applications, and propose to study the operator systems associated with channels as “noncommutative graphs,” using the language of Hilbert modules.
The theory of zero-error communication is re-examined \nin the broader setting of using one classical channel to \nsimulate another exactly in the presence of various classes of nonsignalling correlations between sender and receiver i.e., shared randomness, shared entanglement and arbitrary nonsignalling correlations. When the channel being simulated is noiseless, this is zero-error coding assisted by correlations. When the resource channel is noiseless, it is the reverse problem of simulating a noisy channel exactly by a noiseless one, assisted by correlations. \nIn both cases, separations between the power of the different classes of assisting correlations are exhibited for finite block lengths. The most striking result here is that entanglement can assist in zero-error communication. In the large block length limit, shared randomness is shown to be just as powerful as arbitrary nonsignalling correlations for exact simulation, but not for asymptotic zero-error coding. For assistance by arbitrary nonsignalling correlations, linear programming formulas for the asymptotic capacity and simulation rates are derived, the former being equal (for channels with nonzero unassisted capacity) to the feedback-assisted zero-error capacity derived by Shannon. \nFinally, a kind of reversibility between nonsignalling-assisted zero-error capacity and exact simulation is observed, mirroring the usual reverse Shannon theorem.
Alice and Bob receive a bipartite state (possibly entangled) from some finite collection or from some subspace. Alice sends a message to Bob through a noisy quantum channel such that Bob may determine the initial state, with zero chance of error. This framework encompasses, for example, teleportation, dense coding, entanglement assisted quantum channel capacity, and one-way communication complexity of function evaluation. With classical sources and channels, this problem can be analyzed using graph homomorphisms. We show this quantum version can be analyzed using homomorphisms on non-commutative graphs (an operator space generalization of graphs). Previously the Lovász ϑ number has been generalized to non-commutative graphs; we show this to be a homomorphism monotone, thus providing bounds on quantum source-channel coding. We generalize the Schrijver and Szegedy numbers, and show these to be monotones as well. As an application, we construct a quantum channel whose entanglement assisted zero-error one-shot capacity can only be unlocked using a non-maximally entangled state. These homomorphisms allow definition of a chromatic number for non-commutative graphs. Many open questions are presented regarding the possibility of a more fully developed theory.