Entanglement-breaking channels (equivalently, measure-and-prepare channels) are quantum operations noted for their ability to destroy multipartite spatial quantum correlations. Inspired by this property, they have also been widely employed in defining notions of “classical memory,” under the assumption that such channels effectively act as a classical resource. In this paper, we show that this assumption is false. By means of multitime correlations, we conclusively show that entanglement-breaking channels are still a quantum resource: A qudit going through an entanglement-breaking channel can generate genuinely nonclassical temporal correlations, i.e., that cannot be simulated by a classical system of same dimension. Our results imply that entanglement-breaking channels cannot generally be employed to characterize classical memory effects without additional assumptions.
Entanglement-breaking channels (equivalently, measure-and-prepare channels) are quantum operations noted for their ability to destroy multipartite spatial quantum correlations. Inspired by this property, they have also been widely employed in defining notions of “classical memory,” under the assumption that such channels effectively act as a classical resource. In this paper, we show that this assumption is false. By means of multitime correlations, we conclusively show that entanglement-breaking channels are still a quantum resource: A qudit going through an entanglement-breaking channel can generate genuinely nonclassical temporal correlations, i.e., that cannot be simulated by a classical system of same dimension. Our results imply that entanglement-breaking channels cannot generally be employed to characterize classical memory effects without additional assumptions.
Quantum channels, which break entanglement, incompatibility, or nonlocality, are not useful for entanglement-based, one-sided device-independent, or device-independent quantum information processing, respectively. Here, we show that such breaking channels are related to certain temporal quantum correlations, i.e., temporal separability, channel unsteerability, temporal unsteerability, and macrorealism. More specifically, we first define the steerability-breaking channel, which is conceptually similar to the entanglement and nonlocality-breaking channels and prove that it is identical to the incompatibility-breaking channel. Similar to the hierarchy relations of the temporal and spatial quantum correlations, the hierarchy of non-breaking channels is discussed. We then introduce the concept of the channels which break temporal correlations, explain how they are related to the standard breaking channels, and prove the following results: (1) A certain measure of temporal nonseparability can be used to quantify a non-entanglement-breaking channel in the sense that the measure is a memory monotone under the framework of the resource theory of the quantum memory. (2) A non-steerability-breaking channel can be certified with channel steering because the steerability-breaking channel is equivalent to the incompatibility-breaking channel. (3) The temporal steerability and non-macrorealism can, respectively, distinguish the steerability-breaking and the nonlocality-breaking unital channel from their corresponding non-breaking channels. Finally, a two-dimensional depolarizing channel is experimentally implemented as a proof-of-principle example to compare the temporal quantum correlations with non-breaking channels.
We provide a complete set of game-theoretic conditions equivalent to the existence of a transformation from one quantum channel into another one, by means of classically correlated preprocessing and postprocessing maps only.Such conditions naturally induce tests to certify that a quantum memory is capable of storing quantum information, as opposed to memories that can be simulated by measurement and state preparation (corresponding to entanglement-breaking channels).These results are formulated as a resource theory of genuine quantum memories (correlated in time), mirroring the resource theory of entanglement in quantum states (correlated spatially).As the set of conditions is complete, the corresponding tests are faithful, in the sense that any non-entanglement-breaking channel can be certified.Moreover, they only require the assumption of trusted inputs, known to be unavoidable for quantum channel verification.As such, the tests we propose are intrinsically different from the usual process tomography, for which the probes of both the input and the output of the channel must be trusted.An explicit construction is provided and shown to be experimentally realizable, even in the presence of arbitrarily strong losses in the memory or detectors.
Nonclassicality and entanglement are notions fundamental to quantum-information processes involving continuous variable systems. That these two notions are intimately related has been intuitively appreciated for quite some time. An aspect of considerable interest is the behavior of these attributes of a state under the action of a noisy channel. Inspired by the notion of entanglement-breaking channels, we define the concept of nonclassicality-breaking channels in a natural manner. We show that the notion of nonclassicality breaking is essentially equivalent---in a clearly defined sense of the term ``essentially''---to the notion of entanglement breaking, as far as bosonic Gaussian channels are concerned. This is notwithstanding the fact that the very notion of entanglement breaking requires reference to a bipartite system, whereas the definition of nonclassicality breaking makes no such reference. Our analysis rests on our classification of channels into nonclassicality-based, as against entanglement-based, types of canonical forms. Our result takes ones intuitive understanding of the close relationship between nonclassicality and entanglement a step closer.
While spatial quantum correlations have been studied in great detail, much less is known about the genuine quantum correlations that can be exhibited by temporal processes. Employing the quantum comb formalism, processes in time can be mapped onto quantum states, with the crucial difference that temporal correlations have to satisfy causal ordering, while their spatial counterpart is not constrained in the same way. Here, we exploit this equivalence and use the tools of multipartite entanglement theory to provide a comprehensive picture of the structure of correlations that (causally ordered) temporal quantum processes can display. First, focusing on the case of a process that is probed at two points in time -- which can equivalently be described by a tripartite quantum state -- we provide necessary as well as sufficient conditions for the presence of bipartite entanglement in different splittings. Next, we connect these scenarios to the previously studied concepts of quantum memory, entanglement breaking superchannels, and quantum steering, thus providing both a physical interpretation for entanglement in temporal quantum processes, and a determination of the resources required for its creation. Additionally, we construct explicit examples of W-type and GHZ-type genuinely multipartite entangled two-time processes and prove that genuine multipartite entanglement in temporal processes can be an emergent phenomenon. Finally, we show that genuinely entangled processes across multiple times exist for any number of probing times.
The emerging quantum technologies rely on our ability to establish and control quantum systems in nonclassical states, exhibiting entanglement and quantum coherence. It is thus crucial to understand how entanglement and coherence can be created in the most efficient way. In this Letter we study optimal ways to create a large amount of quantum coherence via quantum channels. For this, we compare different scenarios, where the channel is acting on an incoherent state, on states which have coherence, and also on subsystems of multipartite quantum states. We show that correlations in multipartite systems do not enhance the ability of a quantum channel to create coherence. We also study the ability of quantum channels to destroy coherence, proving that a channel can destroy more coherence when acting on a subsystem of a bipartite state. Crucially, we also show that the destroyed coherence on a multipartite system can exceed the upper bound of those on the single system when the total state is entangled. Our results significantly simplify the evaluation of the coherence generating capacity of quantum channels, which we also discuss.
This thesis takes a deep dive into quantum resources and their applications for quantum networks. In particular, this work reviews the concept of quantum correlations beyond entanglement and introduces a method for deterministically creating them via local operations by using classical correlations as a resource. The structure of these states is analysed in multipartite quantum networks, highlighting their generally asymmetric nature. We then explore how these quantum correlations can be used for entanglement generation protocols themselves and compare them to directly distributing a maximally entangled state through noisy channels. We find that, in certain noise regimes, these protocols can indeed outperform direct entanglement distribution, provided the memories at each node are sufficiently maintained. The application of multipartite quantum teleportation to multiple receivers in a network is also assessed, exploring the necessary and sufficient resources to ensure that the performance of quantum telecloning surpasses that of all known methods involving only classical communication. Our results show that, despite the genuine multipartite entanglement present in the resource state, only a few bipartite entanglement pairings are necessary for such a feat. This allows for a potential reduction in resource consumption for future experimental implementations. Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2026.