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arXiv:2512.22863 · Quantum

A Counterexample to the Optimality Conjecture in Convex Quantum Channel Optimization

Jianting Yang

quant-phmath.OCSubmitted Dec 28, 2025• Announced Dec 30, 2025• 0 citations• Revised Feb 2, 2026 (v2)
v1 · Dec 28, 2025v2 · Feb 2, 2026v3 · Oct 23, 2026
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Abstract

This paper presents a counterexample to the optimality conjecture in convex quantum channel optimization proposed by Coutts et al. The conjecture posits that for nuclear norm minimization problems in quantum channel optimization, the dual certificate of an optimal solution can be uniquely determined via the spectral calculus of the Choi matrix. By constructing a counterexample in 2-dimensional Hilbert spaces, we disprove this conjecture.

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This paper presents a counterexample to the optimality conjecture in convex quantum channel optimization proposed by Coutts et al. The conjecture posits that for nuclear norm minimization problems in quantum channel optimization, the dual certificate of an optimal solution can be uniquely determined via the spectral calculus of the Choi matrix. By constructing a counterexample in 2-dimensional Hilbert spaces, we disprove this conjecture.
We identify necessary and sufficient conditions for a quantum channel to be optimal for any convex optimization problem in which the optimization is taken over the set of all quantum channels of a fixed size. Optimality conditions for convex optimization problems over the set of all quantum measurements of a given system having a fixed number of measurement outcomes are obtained as a special case. In the case of linear objective functions for measurement optimization problems, our conditions reduce to the well-known Holevo-Yuen-Kennedy-Lax measurement optimality conditions. We illustrate how our conditions can be applied to various state transformation problems having non-linear objective functions based on the fidelity, trace distance, and quantum relative entropy.
We study a natural generalization of the additivity problem in quantum information theory: given a pair of quantum channels, then what is the set of convex trace functions that attain their maximum on unentangled inputs if they are applied to the corresponding output state? We prove several results on the structure of the set of those convex functions that are ``additive'' in this more general sense. In particular, we show that all operator convex functions are additive for the Werner-Holevo channel in $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}3$ dimensions, which contains the well-known additivity results for this channel as special cases.
One of the central problems of quantum information theory [1] is the additivity conjecture for the channel capacity of quantum communication channels [2]–[4]. Recently Shor showed [5] that the validity of this conjecture for all quantum channels was equivalent to a whole series of (super)additivity properties for other important characteristics such as minimal output entropy and entanglementof formation. The present paper introduces the new property of strong additivity (additivity for channels with input constraints) with several equivalent formulations, establishes that it is satisfied for some nontrivial classes of channels and notes that the validity of the additivity conjecture for all channels implies strong additivity. Let H, H′ be finite-dimensional unitary spaces. By a quantum channel we mean a completely positive trace-preserving linear map Φ: B(H) → B(H′), where B(H) is the algebra of all operators on H. In particular, Φ generates an affine map of the convex set S(H) of states (density operators) on the space H into the set S(H′) of states on H′ [1]. The quantum analogue of Shannon’s theorem, established in [4], gives the following expression for the classical channel capacity:
Gaussian states of bosonic quantum systems enjoy numerous technological applications and are ubiquitous in nature. Their significance lies in their simplicity, which in turn rests on the fact that they are uniquely determined by two experimentally accessible quantities, their first and second moments. But what if these moments are only known approximately, as is inevitable in any realistic experiment? What is the resulting error on the Gaussian state itself, as measured by the most operationally meaningful metric for distinguishing quantum states, namely, the trace distance? In this work, we fully resolve this question by demonstrating that if the first and second moments are known up to an error ε , the trace distance error on the state also scales as ε , and this functional dependence is optimal. To prove this, we establish tight bounds on the trace distance between two Gaussian states in terms of the norm distance of their first and second moments. As an application, we improve existing bounds on the sample complexity of tomography of Gaussian states.