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arXiv:1808.04213 · IEEE Transactions on Information Theory

Algorithmic No-Cloning Theorem

Samuel Epstein

Published Aug 16, 2019• 7 citations
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Abstract

We introduce notions of algorithmic mutual information and deficiency of randomness of quantum states. These definitions enjoy conservation inequalities over unitary transformations and partial traces. We show that a large majority of pure states have minute self-algorithmic information. We provide an algorithmic variant to the no-cloning theorem, by showing that only a small minority of quantum pure states can clone a nonnegligible amount of algorithmic information. We also provide a chain rule inequality for quantum algorithmic entropy. We show that deficiency of randomness does not increase under POVM measurements.

DOI
10.1109/tit.2019.2910562

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It is well known that (non-orthogonal) pure states cannot be cloned so one may ask: how much or what kind of additional (quantum) information is needed to supplement one copy of a quantum state in order to be able to produce two copies of that state by a physical operation? For classical information, no supplementary information is required. However for pure quantum (non-orthogonal) states, we show that the supplementary information must always be as large as it can possibly be i.e. the clone must be able to be generated from the additional information alone, independently of the first (given) copy.

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We introduce notions of algorithmic mutual information and deficiency of randomness of quantum states. These definitions enjoy conservation inequalities over unitary transformations and partial traces. We show that a large majority of pure states have minute self-algorithmic information. We provide an algorithmic variant to the no-cloning theorem, by showing that only a small minority of quantum pure states can clone a nonnegligible amount of algorithmic information. We also provide a chain rule inequality for quantum algorithmic entropy. We show that deficiency of randomness does not increase under POVM measurements.
We extend algorithmic conservation inequalities to probability measures. The amount of self information of a probability measure cannot increase when submitted to randomized processing. This includes (potentially non-computable) measures over finite sequences, infinite sequences, and T0T_0T0​, second countable topologies. One example is the convolution of signals over real numbers with probability kernels. Thus the smoothing of any signal due We show that given a quantum measurement, for an overwhelming majority of pure states, no meaningful information is produced.
The no-cloning theorem is a cornerstone result in quantum mechanics that forbids copying of general quantum information. More quantitatively, even given NNN copies of an unknown state, any channel producing an (N+1)(N+1)(N+1)-copy state incurs a nonzero trace-distance error on some inputs. Turning this around, one can ask about the sample complexity of approximate N→N+1N\rightarrow N+1N→N+1 cloning: for a desired small error εεε, what NNN suffices? For arbitrary pure states on a Hilbert space HHH, the answer is N≃dim⁡H/εN\simeq \dim H/εN≃dimH/ε - astronomically large for most HHH of interest. What if the input is promised to lie in a structured family? We examine a range of families fundamental to many-body physics and quantum information: nnn-mode fermionic Gaussian and Slater states, nnn-mode bosonic Gaussian states, and qudit phase states. For fermions, we construct optimal cloning channels, reducing the complexity from exponential to polynomial in nnn. For bosonic Gaussian states, we construct an explicit cloner that certifies polynomial complexity, without any constraint on the energy of the state; this channel, however, is not optimal in general. The fermionic and bosonic results follow from a single representation-theoretic framework, which generalizes previous work by Werner and by Chiribella and Yang; it also yields the cloners' unitary implementation. Furthermore, we explain why for many families the cloning complexity is linear in the dimension of the family manifold, via a controlled saddle-point evaluation of the frame potential at high NNN. The same calculation accounts for the analogous scaling of tomography complexity. The above framework does not cover phase states; for these we give an independent construction of a channel with optimal cloning fidelity. Our work complements recent results on cloning stabilizer states.
This article presents a survey of published and unpublished material of the intersection of Algorithmic Information Theory and Quantum Mechanics. It is, to the author's knowledge, the first of its type. Three different notions of the algorithmic content of quantum states are reviewed. Notions of algorithmic quantum typicality and mutual information are introduced. The relationship between algorithmic information and quantum measurements is explored. One of the surprising results is that an overwhelming majority of quantum (pure and mixed) states, when undertaking decoherence, will result in a classical probability with no algorithmic information. Thus most quantum states decohere into white noise. A quantum analouge of Martin Löf random sequence is reviewed. Algorithmic Information Theory presents new complications for the Many Worlds Theory, as it conflicts with the Independence Postulate. When algorithmically complicated processes are ruled out, measurements are required to produce distributions over quantum states that have cloneable information.
It is well known that (non-orthogonal) pure states cannot be cloned so one may ask: how much or what kind of additional (quantum) information is needed to supplement one copy of a quantum state in order to be able to produce two copies of that state by a physical operation? For classical information, no supplementary information is required. However for pure quantum (non-orthogonal) states, we show that the supplementary information must always be as large as it can possibly be i.e. the clone must be able to be generated from the additional information alone, independently of the first (given) copy.