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arXiv:1705.01394 · IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT)

A characterization of the Shannon ordering of communication channels

Rajai Nasser

Published Jun 1, 2017• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The ordering of communication channels was first introduced by Shannon. In this paper, we aim to find a characterization of the Shannon ordering. We show that W' contains W if and only if W is the skew-composition of W' with a convex-product channel. This fact is used to derive a characterization of the Shannon ordering that is similar to the Blackwell-Sherman-Stein theorem. Two channels are said to be Shannon-equivalent if each one is contained in the other. We investigate the topologies that can be constructed on the space of Shannon-equivalent channels. We introduce the strong topology and the BRM metric on this space. Finally, we study the continuity of a few channel parameters and operations under the strong topology.

DOI
10.1109/isit.2017.8006969

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The ordering of communication channels was first introduced by Shannon. In this paper, we aim to find a characterization of the Shannon ordering. We show that W' contains W if and only if W is the skew-composition of W' with a convex-product channel. This fact is used to derive a characterization of the Shannon ordering that is similar to the Blackwell-Sherman-Stein theorem. Two channels are said to be Shannon-equivalent if each one is contained in the other. We investigate the topologies that can be constructed on the space of Shannon-equivalent channels. We introduce the strong topology and the BRM metric on this space. Finally, we study the continuity of a few channel parameters and operations under the strong topology.
One of the central problems of quantum information theory [1] is the additivity conjecture for the channel capacity of quantum communication channels [2]–[4]. Recently Shor showed [5] that the validity of this conjecture for all quantum channels was equivalent to a whole series of (super)additivity properties for other important characteristics such as minimal output entropy and entanglementof formation. The present paper introduces the new property of strong additivity (additivity for channels with input constraints) with several equivalent formulations, establishes that it is satisfied for some nontrivial classes of channels and notes that the validity of the additivity conjecture for all channels implies strong additivity. Let H, H′ be finite-dimensional unitary spaces. By a quantum channel we mean a completely positive trace-preserving linear map Φ: B(H) → B(H′), where B(H) is the algebra of all operators on H. In particular, Φ generates an affine map of the convex set S(H) of states (density operators) on the space H into the set S(H′) of states on H′ [1]. The quantum analogue of Shannon’s theorem, established in [4], gives the following expression for the classical channel capacity:
The aim of the manuscript is to characterize monotone `metric' in the space of Markov map. Here, `metric' means the square of the norm defined on the tangent space, and not necessarily induced from an inner product (this property hereafter will be called inner-product-assumption), different from usual metric used in differential geometry. As for metrics in So far, there have been plenty of literatures on the metric in the space of probability distributions and quantum states. Among them, Cencov proved the monotone metric in probability distribution space is unique up to constant multiple, and identical to Fisher information metric. Petz characterized all the monotone metrics in the quantum state space using operator mean. As for channels, however, only a little had been known. In this paper, we impose monotonicity by concatenation of channels before and after the given channel families, and invariance by tensoring identity channels. (Notably, we do not use the inner-product-assumption.) To obtain this result, `resource conversion' technique, which is widely used in quantum information, is used. We consider distillation from and formation to a family of channels. Under these axioms, we identify the largest and the smallest `metrics'. Interestingly, they are not induced from any inner product, i.e., not a metric. Indeed, one can prove that any `metric' satisfying our axioms can not be a metric. This result has some impact on the axiomatic study of the monotone metric in the space of classical and quantum states, since both conventional theory relies on the inner-product-assumption. Also, we compute the lower and the upper bound for some concrete examples.
Studies two problems in the theory of identification via channels. The first problem concerns the identification via channels with noisy feedback. Whereas for Shannon's transmission problem the capacity of a discrete memoryless channel does not change with feedback, it is known that the identification capacity is affected by feedback. The authors study its dependence on the feedback channel. They prove both, a direct and a converse coding theorem. Although a gap exists between the upper and lower bounds provided by these two theorems, the known result for channels without feedback and the known result for channels with complete feedback, are both special cases of these two new theorems, because in these cases the bounds coincide. The second problem is the identification via wiretap channels. A secrecy identification capacity is defined for the wiretap channel. A "dichotomy theorem" is proved which says that the second-order secrecy identification capacity is the same as Shannon's capacity for the main channel as long as the secrecy transmission capacity of the wiretap channel is not zero, and zero otherwise. Equivalently, one can say that the identification capacity is not lowered by the presence of a wiretapper as long as 1 bit can be transmitted (or identified) correctly with arbitrarily small error probability. This is in strong contrast to the case of transmission.>
The aim of the manuscript is to characterize monotone metric in the space of Markov map. Here, metric may not be Riemanian, or equivalently, may not be induced from an inner product. So far, there have been plenty of literatures on the metric in the space of probability distributions and quantum states. Among them, Cencov and Petz characterized all the monotone metrics in the classical and quantum state space. As for channels, however, only a little is known about its geometrical structures. In that author's previous manuscript, the upper and the lower bound of monotone channel metric was derived using resource conversion theory, and it is proved that any monotone metric cannot be Riemanian. . Due to the latter result, we cannot rely on Cencov's theory, to build a geometric theory consistent across probability distributions and channels. To dispense with the assumption that a metric is Riemanian, we introduce some assumptions on asymptotic behavior;weak asymptotic additivity and lower asymptotic continuity. The proof utilizes resource conversion technique. In the end of the paper, an implication on quantum state metrics is discussed.
In quantum Shannon theory, the way information is encoded and decoded takes advantage of the laws of quantum mechanics, while the way communication channels are interlinked is assumed to be classical. In this Letter, we relax the assumption that quantum channels are combined classically, showing that a quantum communication network where quantum channels are combined in a superposition of different orders can achieve tasks that are impossible in conventional quantum Shannon theory. In particular, we show that two identical copies of a completely depolarizing channel become able to transmit information when they are combined in a quantum superposition of two alternative orders. This finding runs counter to the intuition that if two communication channels are identical, using them in different orders should not make any difference. The failure of such intuition stems from the fact that a single noisy channel can be a random mixture of elementary, noncommuting processes, whose order (or lack thereof) can affect the ability to transmit information.