Abstract We review recent results on the simulation of quantum channels, the reduction of adaptive protocols (teleportation stretching), and the derivation of converse bounds for quantum and private communication, as established in PLOB (Pirandola et al 2017 Nat. Commun. 8 15043). We start by introducing a general weak converse bound for private communication based on the relative entropy of entanglement. We discuss how combining this bound with channel simulation and teleportation stretching, PLOB established the two-way quantum and private capacities of several fundamental channels, including the bosonic lossy channel. We then provide a rigorous proof of the strong converse property of these bounds by adopting a correct use of the Braunstein–Kimble teleportation protocol for the simulation of bosonic Gaussian channels. This analysis provides a full justification of claims presented in the follow-up paper WTB (Wilde et al 2017 IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 63 1792–817) whose upper bounds for Gaussian channels would be otherwise infinitely large. Besides clarifying contributions in the area of channel simulation and protocol reduction, we also present some generalizations of the tools to other entanglement measures and novel results on the maximum excess noise which is tolerable in quantum key distribution.
Abstract We review recent results on the simulation of quantum channels, the reduction of adaptive protocols (teleportation stretching), and the derivation of converse bounds for quantum and private communication, as established in PLOB (Pirandola et al 2017 Nat. Commun. 8 15043). We start by introducing a general weak converse bound for private communication based on the relative entropy of entanglement. We discuss how combining this bound with channel simulation and teleportation stretching, PLOB established the two-way quantum and private capacities of several fundamental channels, including the bosonic lossy channel. We then provide a rigorous proof of the strong converse property of these bounds by adopting a correct use of the Braunstein–Kimble teleportation protocol for the simulation of bosonic Gaussian channels. This analysis provides a full justification of claims presented in the follow-up paper WTB (Wilde et al 2017 IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 63 1792–817) whose upper bounds for Gaussian channels would be otherwise infinitely large. Besides clarifying contributions in the area of channel simulation and protocol reduction, we also present some generalizations of the tools to other entanglement measures and novel results on the maximum excess noise which is tolerable in quantum key distribution.
We consider private communication over bosonic Gaussian channels via the most general adaptive protocols based on local operations and two-way classical communication. These protocols include all the possible strategies allowed by quantum mechanics where two remote parties have local quantum computers but do not share prior quantum entanglement. In this context, Pirandola-Laurenza-Ottaviani-Banchi (PLOB) [Nat. Commun. 8, 15043 (2017)] established weak converse upper bounds for the secret key capacity of these channels. These bounds were computed by combining teleportation stretching, able to simplify any adaptive protocol into a block form, and the channel’s relative entropy of entanglement, so that data-processing properties allow one to write simple single-letter quantities. Here we discuss an extension of these bounds to repeater-assisted quantum communications. Then, using an energy-constrained version of the diamond norm and the Braunstein-Kimble teleportation protocol, we can rigorously show the strong converse property of the bounds discovered by PLOB. Our analysis provides a full mathematical justification of recent claims appeared in the literature.
We consider the Braunstein–Kimble protocol for continuous variable teleportation and its application for the simulation of bosonic channels. We discuss the convergence properties of this protocol under various topologies (strong, uniform, and bounded-uniform) clarifying some typical misinterpretations in the literature. We then show that the teleportation simulation of an arbitrary single-mode Gaussian channel is uniformly convergent to the channel if and only if its noise matrix has full rank. The various forms of convergence are then discussed within adaptive protocols, where the simulation error must be propagated to the output of the protocol by means of a “peeling” argument, following techniques from PLOB [S. Pirandola et al., Nat. Comm. 8, 15043 (2017)]. Finally, as an application of the peeling argument and the various topologies of convergence, we provide complete rigorous proofs for recently claimed strong converse bounds for private communication over Gaussian channels.
Upper bounds for private communication over quantum channels can be derived by adopting channel simulation, protocol stretching, and relative entropy of entanglement. All these ingredients have led to single-letter upper bounds to the secret-key capacity which can be directly computed over suitable resource states. For bosonic Gaussian channels, the tightest upper bounds have been derived by employing teleportation simulation over asymptotic resource states, namely, the asymptotic Choi matrices of these channels. In this work, we adopt a different approach. We show that teleporting over an analytical class of finite-energy resource states allows us to closely approximate the ultimate bounds for increasing energy, so as to provide increasingly tight upper bounds to the secret-key capacity of one-mode phase-insensitive Gaussian channels. We then show that an optimization over the same class of resource states can be used to bound the maximum secret-key rates that are achievable in a finite number of channel uses.
In this thesis we investigate the fundamental limitations that the laws of the quantum nature impose on the performance of quantum communications, quantum metrology and quantum channel discrimination. In a quantum communication scenario, the typical tasks are represented by the simple transmission of quantum bits, the distribution of entangle- ment and the sharing of quantum secret keys. The ultimate rates for each of these protocols are given by the two-way quantum capacities of the quantum channel which are in turn defined by considering the most general adaptive strategies that can be implemented over the channel. To assess these quantum capacities, we combine the simulation of quantum channels, suitably generalized to systems of arbitrary dimension, with quantum telepor- tation and the relative entropy of entanglement. This procedure is called teleportation stretching. Relying on this, we are able to reduce any adaptive protocols into simpler block ones and to determine the tightest upper bound on the two-way quantum capacities. Re- markably, we also prove the existence of a particular class of quantum channel for which the lower and the upper bounds coincide. By employing a slight modification of the tele- portation scheme, allowing the two parties to share a multi-copy resource state, we apply our technique to simplify adaptive protocols for quantum metrology and quantum channel discrimination. In the first case we show that the modified teleportation stretching implies a quantum Cram ́er-Rao bound that follows asymptotically the Heisenberg scaling. In the second scenario we are able to derive the only known so far fundamental lower bound on the probability of error affecting the discrimination of two arbitrary finite-dimensional quantum channels.
We consider the Braunstein-Kimble protocol for continuous variable teleportation and its application for the simulation of bosonic channels. We discuss the convergence properties of this protocol under various topologies (strong, uniform, and bounded-uniform) clarifying some typical misinterpretations in the literature. We then show that the teleportation simulation of an arbitrary single-mode Gaussian channel is uniformly convergent to the channel if and only if its noise matrix has full rank. The various forms of convergence are then discussed within adaptive protocols, where the simulation error must be propagated to the output of the protocol by means of a "peeling" argument, following techniques from PLOB [arXiv:1510.08863]. Finally, as an application of the peeling argument and the various topologies of convergence, we provide complete rigorous proofs for recently-claimed strong converse bounds for private communication over Gaussian channels.
We consider quantum and private communications assisted by repeaters, from the basic scenario of a single repeater chain to the general case of an arbitrarily-complex quantum network, where systems may be routed through single or multiple paths. In this context, we investigate the ultimate rates at which two end-parties may transmit quantum information, distribute entanglement, or generate secret keys. These end-to-end capacities are defined by optimizing over the most general adaptive protocols that are allowed by quantum mechanics. Combining techniques from quantum information and classical network theory, we derive single-letter upper bounds for the end-to-end capacities in repeater chains and quantum networks connected by arbitrary quantum channels, establishing exact formulas under basic decoherence models, including bosonic lossy channels, quantum-limited amplifiers, dephasing and erasure channels. For the converse part, we adopt a teleportation-inspired simulation of a quantum network which leads to upper bounds in terms of the relative entropy of entanglement. For the lower bounds we combine point-to-point quantum protocols with classical network algorithms. Depending on the type of routing (single or multiple), optimal strategies corresponds to finding the widest path or the maximum flow in the quantum network. Our theory can also be extended to simultaneous quantum communication between multiple senders and receivers.