Quantum indistinguishability of non-orthogonal quantum states is a valuable resource in quantum information applications such as cryptography and randomness generation. In this article, we present a sequential state-discrimination scheme that enables multiple parties to share quantum uncertainty, in terms of the max relative entropy, generated by a single party. Our scheme is based upon maximum-confidence measurements and takes advantages of weak measurements to allow a number of parties to perform state discrimination on a single quantum system. We review known sequential state discrimination and show how our scheme would work through a number of examples where ensembles may or may not contain symmetries. Our results will have a role to play in understanding the ultimate limits of sequential information extraction and guide the development of quantum resource sharing in sequential settings.
Journal reference
Open Systems & Information Dynamics 33 (01), 2650004 (2026)
Quantum indistinguishability of non-orthogonal quantum states is a valuable resource in quantum information applications such as cryptography and randomness generation. In this article, we present a sequential state-discrimination scheme that enables multiple parties to share quantum uncertainty, in terms of the max relative entropy, generated by a single party. Our scheme is based upon maximum-confidence measurements and takes advantages of weak measurements to allow a number of parties to perform state discrimination on a single quantum system. We review known sequential state discrimination and show how our scheme would work through a number of examples where ensembles may or may not contain symmetries. Our results will have a role to play in understanding the ultimate limits of sequential information extraction and guide the development of quantum resource sharing in sequential settings.
Sequential quantum information processing may lie in the peaceful coexistence of no-go theorems on quantum operations, such as the no-cloning theorem, the monogamy of correlations, and the no-signalling principle. In this work, we investigate a sequential scenario of quantum state discrimination with maximum confidence, called maximum-confidence discrimination, which generalizes other strategies including minimum-error and unambiguous state discrimination. We show that sequential state discrimination with equally high confidence can be realized only when positive-operator-valued measure elements for a maximum-confidence measurement are linearly independent; otherwise, a party will have strictly less confidence in measurement outcomes than the previous one. We establish a tradeoff between the disturbance of states and information gain in sequential state discrimination, namely, that the less a party learn in state discrimination in terms of a guessing probability, the more parties can participate in the sequential scenario.
Sequential quantum information processing may lie in the peaceful coexistence of no-go theorems on quantum operations, such as the no-cloning theorem, the monogamy of correlations, and the no-signalling principle. In this work, we investigate a sequential scenario of quantum state discrimination with maximum confidence, called maximum-confidence discrimination, which generalizes other strategies such as minimum-error and unambiguous discrimination. We show that sequential discrimination with equally high confidence can be realized if and only if positive-operator-valued measure elements for a maximum-confidence measurement can be unambiguously discriminated, i.e., linearly independent; otherwise, a party will have strictly less confidence in measurement outcomes than the previous one. We investigate the tradeoff between state disturbance and information gain in sequential state discrimination and show that the less guessing probability there is from conclusive outcomes for each party, the more parties can participate in the sequential scenario.
Quantum correlation is a fundamental resource for various quantum information tasks. It is thus of importance to share the correlation to utilize it for many parties, but sharing quantum correlation among multiple parties is strictly restricted by the well-known monogamy relations. Nonetheless, this restriction can be relaxed when weak measurements are employed. Here, we experimentally demonstrate multiple-observer quantum steering by exploiting sequential weak measurements. Specifically, we observe simultaneous triple violations of the quantum steering inequality among four observers for a bipartite entangled system. Our results not only provide fundamental insights into the relation between quantum steering and measurement disturbance, but also suggest that quantum steering might be repeatably exploited to find applications to, for example, unbounded randomness certification and sharing secret keys among multiple parties simultaneously.
Two pure orthogonal quantum states can be perfectly distinguished by sequential local action of multiple pairs of parties. However, this process typically leads to the complete dissolution of entanglement in the states being discriminated. We propose a protocol that allows an arbitrary number of pairs of parties to distinguish between any two orthogonal, entangled, two-qubit pure states using local quantum operations and classical communication, with a success probability greater than that of random guessing, while ensuring that at each step, the individual ensemble states retain a finite amount of entanglement. Our protocol employs the minimum-error state discrimination approach. For demonstrating the retention of entanglement in the ensemble states at each step, we use logarithmic negativity as well as the concept of entanglement witnessing. For a large family of sets of the two states, the success probability of discrimination can be as close as required to unity, while sustaining a finite amount of entanglement in each step.
The problem of discriminating between non-orthogonal states is one that has generated a lot of interest. This basic formalism is useful in many areas of quantum information. It serves as a fundamental basis for many quantum key distribution schemes, it functions as an integral part of other quantum algorithms, and it is useful in experimental settings where orthogonal states are not always possible to generate. Additionally, the discrimination problem reveals important fundamental properties, and is intrinsically related to entanglement. In this thesis, the focus is on exploring the problem of sequentially discriminating between non-orthogonal states. In the simplest version these schemes, Alice sends one of two known pure states to Bob who performs a non-optimal discrimination procedure such that the post measurement states resulting from his measurement can then be discriminated by a third participant, Charlie. In these schemes, the goal is to optimize the joint probability of both Bob and Charlie succeeding. In devising such a scheme, there are several different criteria that can be prioritized. The most basic scheme, referred to as Minimum Error (ME) discrimination, prioritizes Bob's and Charlie's abilities to successfully determine which state was sent by Alice. In this scheme, Bob and Charlie each set up two detectors and based on the result from the detector they make a guess as to which state was sent. For instance, if Bob registers a click in his first detector, he concludes that Alice sent the first state. As each detector has some probability to produce a result for either incoming result, Bob and Charlie optimize their joint probability of success by optimizing the probability that each detector will fire when the correlated state is sent by Alice. Another possible scheme, referred to as Unambiguous Discrimination (UD), prioritizes Bob's and Charlie's ability to correctly determine the state sent by Alice. In this scheme, Bob and Charlie each set up three detectors, where if a result is obtained from the first two detectors Bob or Charlie can determine with certainty which state was sent by Alice. One final setup, referred to as Discrimination with a Fixed Rate of Inconclusive Outcome, is a combination of the previous two schemes, where Bob and Charlie maximize their probability of successfully determining the state sent by Alice where they allow some fixed probability that they will not be able to determine which state Alice sent. This fixed inconclusive probability allows Bob and Charlie to control how much they prioritize correctly determining the state that was sent, as in the Unambiguous Discrimination, versus prioritizing successfully determining the state sent by Alice, as in Minimum Error discrimination. One final topic that will be discussed by this thesis is Quantum Retrodiction. Quantum Retrodiction applies an alternate perspective on the communication protocol between Alice and Bob. In the predictive model, Alice calculates the probability that Bob gets a specific measurement result given that she prepares her system in a specific state. In the retrodictive model, Bob calculates the probability that Alice prepared her system in a specific state given the result of his measurement. This alternate perspective on the communication procedure gives new a new understanding and new tools for approaching the problem of state discrimination, as exemplified by applying the retrodictive formalism to unambiguous discrimination.
Entanglement and uncertainty relation are two focuses of quantum theory. We relate entanglement sharing to the entropic uncertainty relation in a $(d\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}d)$-dimensional system via weak measurements with different pointers. We consider both the scenarios of one-sided sequential measurements in which the entangled pair is distributed to multiple Alices and one Bob and two-sided sequential measurements in which the entangled pair is distributed to multiple Alices and Bobs. It is found that the maximum number of observers sharing the entanglement strongly depends on the measurement scenarios, the pointer states of the apparatus, and the local dimension d of each subsystem, while the required minimum measurement precision to achieve entanglement sharing decreases to its asymptotic value with the increase of d. The maximum number of observers remain unaltered even when the state is not maximally entangled but has strong-enough entanglement.