The optimal rate at which information can be sent through a quantum channel when the transmitted signal must simultaneously carry some minimum amount of energy is characterized. To do so, we introduce the quantum-classical analog of the capacity-power function, and we generalize results in classical information theory for transmitting classical information through noisy channels. We show that the capacity-power function for a classical-quantum channel, for both unassisted and private protocol, is concave, and we also prove additivity for unentangled and uncorrelated ensembles of input signals for such channels. This implies that we do not need regularized formulas for calculation. We show that these properties also hold for all noiseless channels when we restrict the set of input states to be pure quantum states. For general channels, we geometrically prove that the capacity-power function is piecewise concave, with further support from numerical simulations. Further, we connect channel capacity to properties of random quantum states. In particular, we obtain analytical expressions for the capacity-power function for the case of noiseless channels using properties of random quantum states under an energy constraint and concentration phenomena in large Hilbert spaces.
The optimal rate at which information can be sent through a quantum channel when the transmitted signal must simultaneously carry some minimum amount of energy is characterized. To do so, we introduce the quantum-classical analog of the capacity-power function, and we generalize results in classical information theory for transmitting classical information through noisy channels. We show that the capacity-power function for a classical-quantum channel, for both unassisted and private protocol, is concave, and we also prove additivity for unentangled and uncorrelated ensembles of input signals for such channels. This implies that we do not need regularized formulas for calculation. We show that these properties also hold for all noiseless channels when we restrict the set of input states to be pure quantum states. For general channels, we geometrically prove that the capacity-power function is piecewise concave, with further support from numerical simulations. Further, we connect channel capacity to properties of random quantum states. In particular, we obtain analytical expressions for the capacity-power function for the case of noiseless channels using properties of random quantum states under an energy constraint and concentration phenomena in large Hilbert spaces.
This paper introduces a new framework for quantum simultaneous information and power transfer (QSIPT), enabling the joint use of quantum states for classical information and energy transfer in quantum communication systems. We propose a model in which quantum states simultaneously transmit classical information through a quantum channel and transfer energy to an energy harvesting (EH) receiver. The trade-off between communication rate and harvested energy is characterized by the capacity-power function, defined for both discrete-variable (DV) and continuous-variable (CV) quantum channels. For DV channels, we derive properties of the capacity-power function, providing analytical upper and lower bounds for the amplitude damping channel and an exact closed-form characterization for the quantum erasure channel. For CV channels, we extend the framework by introducing a generalized beam-splitter (BS) receiver with adjustable transmissivity, jointly optimized with a transmitter mean-photon-number budget, splitting the channel output between the information decoder and the EH receiver. We analyze the capacity-power and achievable-rate-power trade-off under various Gaussian encoding schemes, including coherent, squeezed, and thermal states, for both lossy bosonic and additive Gaussian noise channels. Closed-form expressions are derived for coherent-state encoding under the joint photon-number-budget and adjustable-transmissivity formulation; squeezed-state inputs are evaluated numerically. Our results show that, within the considered displaced Gaussian encoding class, coherent states achieve the best capacity-power trade-off, squeezed states do not outperform coherent-state encoding under the phase-insensitive channel and passive receiver architecture, and thermal states enable energy transfer without supporting reliable communication.
Current advancements in communication equipment demand the investigation of classical information transfer over quantum channels, by encompassing realistic scenarios in finite dimensions. To address this issue, we develop a framework for analyzing classical capacities of quantum channels where the set of states used for encoding information is restricted based on various physical properties. Specifically, we provide expressions for the classical capacities of noiseless and noisy quantum channels when the average energy of the encoded ensemble or the energy of each of the constituent states in the ensemble is bounded. In the case of qubit energy-preserving dephasing channels, we demonstrate that a nonuniform probability distribution based on the energy constraint maximizes capacity, while we derive the compact form of the capacity for equiprobable messages. We suggest an energy-constrained dense coding (DC) protocol that we prove to be optimal in the two-qubit situation and obtain a closed-form expression for the DC capacity. Additionally, we demonstrate a no-go result, which states that when the dimension of the sender and the receiver is two, no energy-preserving operation can offer any quantum advantage for energy-constrained entanglement-assisted capacity. We exhibit that, in the energy-constrained situation, classical-quantum noisy channels can show improved capabilities under entanglement assistance, a phenomenon that is unattainable in the unrestricted scenario.
We study the communication capabilities of a quantum channel under the most general channel model known as the one-shot model. Unlike classical channels that can only be used to transmit classical information (bits), a quantum channel can be used for transmission of classical information, quantum information (qubits) and simultaneous transmission of classical and quantum information. In this work, we investigate the one-shot capabilities of a quantum channel for simultaneously transmitting bits and qubits. This problem was studied in the asymptotic regime for a memoryless channel where a regularized characterization of the capacity region was reported. It is known that the transmission of private classical information is closely related to the problem of quantum information transmission. We resort to this idea and find achievable and converse bounds on the simultaneous transmission of the public and private classical information. Then shifting the classical private rate to the quantum information rate leads to a rate region for simultaneous transmission of classical and quantum information. In the case of asymptotic i.i.d. setting, our one-shot result is evaluated to the known results in the literature. Our main tools used in the achievability proofs are position-based decoding and convex-split lemma.
The classical capacity of a noisy optical channel is the maximum rate at which information can be transmitted reliably, given a constraint on the mean input energy. For the ubiquitous bosonic Gaussian channels, which include standard models of loss and noise in fibre and free-space optical links, determining this rate requires addressing whether entanglement between channel uses or non-Gaussian signals can outperform Gaussian encodings. More precisely, the question is whether the energy-constrained Holevo information is additive across arbitrarily many channel uses and coincides with its Gaussian counterpart. We answer these fundamental questions in the affirmative for every single-mode bosonic Gaussian channel at every input energy. Namely, we prove that independently prepared Gaussian states with Gaussian-distributed random displacements achieve the capacity, including in the low-energy regime where squeezing the signals competes with encoding information in their displacement. Our proof connects an entanglement inequality to a sharp, additive lower bound on output entropy. We then characterise communication above capacity: under a strict total photon-number cutoff, the probability of correct decoding decreases exponentially with the number of channel uses, and we derive explicit bounds on the decay exponent. When only the mean photon number is constrained, a simple energy-rescaling formula determines exactly the entire asymptotic rate--error trade-off: the capacity at mean photon number N and allowed average decoding error ε equals the vanishing-error capacity at mean photon number N/(1−ε). Together, these results identify the ultimate limits of classical communication for some of the most fundamental models of optical communication.
Communication over a noisy channel is often conducted in a setting in which different input symbols to the channel incur a certain cost. For example, for bosonic quantum channels, the cost associated with an input state is the number of photons, which is proportional to the energy consumed. In such a setting, it is often useful to know the maximum amount of information that can be reliably transmitted per cost incurred. This is known as the capacity per unit cost. In this paper, we generalize the capacity per unit cost to various communication tasks involving a quantum channel, such as classical communication, entanglement-assisted classical communication, private communication, and quantum communication. For each task, we define the corresponding capacity per unit cost and derive a formula for it analogous to that of the usual capacity. Furthermore, for the special and natural cases in which there is a zero-cost state, we obtain expressions in terms of an optimized relative entropy involving the zero-cost state. For each communication task, we construct an explicit pulse-position-modulation coding scheme that achieves the capacity per unit cost. Finally, we compute capacities per unit cost for various bosonic Gaussian channels and introduce the notion of a blocklength constraint as a proposed solution to the long-standing issue of infinite capacities per unit cost. This motivates the idea of a blocklength-cost duality on which we elaborate in depth.