Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2609.04182

Quantum communication and Bell nonlocality require infinite classical communication to simulate

Carlos de Gois, Thyago S. R. Santos, Carlos Vieira

quant-phSubmitted Sep 3, 2026• Announced Sep 4, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A quantum system of any fixed dimension can be prepared in a continuum of states, yet it cannot be used to transmit an unlimited amount of classical information. Similarly, the correlations observed between measurement outcomes on separate parts of a shared quantum system can be stronger than classical correlations, but they cannot transmit information. These fundamental limitations suggest that the statistics observed from quantum communication and quantum correlations may admit a simulation using a finite amount of classical communication. This expectation is confirmed in the smallest nontrivial quantum dimension, with two classical bits being necessary and sufficient to exactly simulate qubit communication and all correlations between qubits. Despite significant efforts during the previous decades, this remained the only solved case. Here we resolve both problems for every quantum dimension. The solution reveals an unexpected qualitative transition starting at dimension four: no finite amount of classical communication can exactly simulate ququart communication nor all quantum correlations of two entangled ququarts, even with unlimited shared randomness. One might have expected this transition, if it existed, to appear already for qutrits. Instead, we construct an explicit protocol that exactly simulates qutrit communication using $357$ classical bits, and consequently, all correlations of two entangled qutrits.

Related papers

Beating one bit of communication with quantum correlations in smaller dimensions

Peter Sidajaya, Valerio Scarani

As a consequence of Bell's theorem, the statistics of measurements on some entangled states cannot be simulated with local hidden variables alone. The amount of communication that must be supplied is an intuitive quantifier of nonclassicality. While it is obvious that this amount can be very large in general, it has been surprisingly difficult to find simple examples of quantum correlations, whose simulation requires more than one bit of communication. In this paper, we report the simplest example to date, which lives in the (5,2,5,5) Bell scenario [the previously known smallest case living in the (7,3,16,16) scenario]. The proof is built on the observation that finding the largest 1-bit score is equivalent to finding the bipartition of the inputs, in which the sum of the local scores of the two subgames is maximal.

arXiv:2402.02723•Physical Review A•Jun 6, 2024•1 citation

The cost of classically simulating quantum communication is as high as it could be

Riccardo Castellano, Pavel Sekatski, Nicolas Brunner

A long-standing open question is to characterize the classical communication cost of simulating the correlations arising from measurements on finite-dimensional quantum systems. We consider this question in the prepare-and-measure scenario. First we construct a classical simulation model involving a finite average number of bits of one-way communication that simulates exactly the correlations arising from arbitrary $d$-dimensional quantum states and arbitrary measurements. Second, we show that no classical simulation protocol involving a finite average message dimension can exist for $d\geq 4$, hence strengthening a recent result of de Gois, Santos and Vieira. Our first result relies on a more general simulation theorem which can be applied to certain continuous variable (i.e. infinite-dimensional) quantum systems, and even beyond quantum theory, e.g. to generalized probabilistic theories. In particular, we show that multimode Gaussian states of bounded average energy and general Gaussian measurements admit an exact classical simulation with a finite expected number of bits. Overall, our results show that the classical simulation cost of quantum communication is essentially as high as it could be.

quant-pharXiv:2610.19060•Oct 15, 2026•0 citations

Finite Nonsignalling Resources Suffice to Simulate Entangled Qubits

Ziao Tang, Xin Wang, Ge Bai

A longstanding question in Bell nonlocality is whether finite-alphabet nonsignalling resources can reproduce the continuum of measurement correlations of partially entangled qubits. Here we resolve this problem by showing that every fixed pure two-qubit state admits an exact simulation of all local projective-measurement statistics using shared randomness and finitely many Popescu-Rohrlich (PR) boxes, without communication or postselection. The boxes operate in parallel, with a worst-case bound independent of the measurement settings: at most $128\cot^4θ$ calls for the Schmidt state $\cosθ|00\rangle+\sinθ|11\rangle$, $0<θ<π/4$. The key is an exact finite-selection method that reduces input-dependent continuous sampling to a choice from a fixed-length shared random list, implemented through a finite PR-box network. The construction extends to arbitrary mixed two-qubit states and local binary-outcome POVMs. This reveals a fundamental separation between the continuity of quantum measurement correlations and the alphabet size of the resources needed to simulate them, shedding light on the resource-theoretic structure of Bell nonlocality.

quant-pharXiv:2610.32319•Oct 26, 2026•0 citations

Prepare-and-measure and entanglement simulation beyond qubits

Mani Zartab, Giulio Gasbarri, Gael Sentís +1 more

For two non-communicating parties, quantum theory can give rise to probability distributions of outcomes that no local classical model can reproduce without communication. However, in the case of two-dimensional systems ([Formula: see text]), it is known that allowing a finite amount of classical communication in addition to shared classical resources makes it possible to simulate these quantum correlations. Whether such a simulation remains possible in higher dimensions is still an open question. In this work, we identify the key features of the exact classical protocol in [Formula: see text], and use them to construct robust approximate protocols in higher dimensions. We assess their performance through a randomized numerical study based on the Total Variation Distance. Our approach exactly reproduces the quantum probability distributions for [Formula: see text], and performs very well compared to existing protocols for higher dimensions, being the most robust protocol in all cases studied. These results offer new insights into the analytical structure of classical protocols in higher dimensions.

arXiv:2508.02377•Scientific Reports•May 9, 2026•0 citations

Bounding the classical cost of simulating quantum behaviors in the prepare-and-measure scenario

Sebastian Schlösser, Matthias Kleinmann

We study the prepare-and-measure scenario in which Alice transmits a quantum system to Bob, who then performs a quantum measurement. The quantum state of the system is unknown to Bob, and the measurement is unknown to Alice. It has recently been shown that shared randomness and two bits of classical communication are necessary and sufficient to simulate the transmission of a qubit. We show that the communication cost can be reduced to an average of $1.89$ bits. We then study restricted sets of state preparations: First, for a restriction to real-valued qubit states, if the communication of a classical trit is sufficient, we show that the corresponding protocol must have a convoluted form. We then reduce the smallest qubit scenario requiring two bits of classical communication to only $6$ state preparations and $5$ measurements. For a qutrit, it is not known whether the communication cost is finite; we identify a scenario that requires at least $5$ classical messages, already for the simulation of the real qutrit. Finally, we develop a method for restricted sets of states, that allows us to lower bound the classical communication cost based solely on the set of quantum states.

quant-pharXiv:2603.01255•Mar 3, 2026•0 citations

Classical Cost of Transmitting a Qubit

Martin J. Renner, Armin Tavakoli, Marco Túlio Quintino

We consider general prepare-and-measure scenarios in which Alice can transmit qubit states to Bob, who can perform general measurements in the form of positive operator-valued measures (POVMs). We show that the statistics obtained in any such quantum protocol can be simulated by the purely classical means of shared randomness and two bits of communication. Furthermore, we prove that two bits of communication is the minimal cost of a perfect classical simulation. In addition, we apply our methods to Bell scenarios, which extends the well-known Toner and Bacon protocol. In particular, two bits of communication are enough to simulate all quantum correlations associated to arbitrary local POVMs applied to any entangled two-qubit state.

arXiv:2207.02244•Physical Review Letters•Mar 22, 2023•16 citations
A quantum system of any fixed dimension can be prepared in a continuum of states, yet it cannot be used to transmit an unlimited amount of classical information. Similarly, the correlations observed between measurement outcomes on separate parts of a shared quantum system can be stronger than classical correlations, but they cannot transmit information. These fundamental limitations suggest that the statistics observed from quantum communication and quantum correlations may admit a simulation using a finite amount of classical communication. This expectation is confirmed in the smallest nontrivial quantum dimension, with two classical bits being necessary and sufficient to exactly simulate qubit communication and all correlations between qubits. Despite significant efforts during the previous decades, this remained the only solved case. Here we resolve both problems for every quantum dimension. The solution reveals an unexpected qualitative transition starting at dimension four: no finite amount of classical communication can exactly simulate ququart communication nor all quantum correlations of two entangled ququarts, even with unlimited shared randomness. One might have expected this transition, if it existed, to appear already for qutrits. Instead, we construct an explicit protocol that exactly simulates qutrit communication using 357357357 classical bits, and consequently, all correlations of two entangled qutrits.
As a consequence of Bell's theorem, the statistics of measurements on some entangled states cannot be simulated with local hidden variables alone. The amount of communication that must be supplied is an intuitive quantifier of nonclassicality. While it is obvious that this amount can be very large in general, it has been surprisingly difficult to find simple examples of quantum correlations, whose simulation requires more than one bit of communication. In this paper, we report the simplest example to date, which lives in the (5,2,5,5) Bell scenario [the previously known smallest case living in the (7,3,16,16) scenario]. The proof is built on the observation that finding the largest 1-bit score is equivalent to finding the bipartition of the inputs, in which the sum of the local scores of the two subgames is maximal.
A long-standing open question is to characterize the classical communication cost of simulating the correlations arising from measurements on finite-dimensional quantum systems. We consider this question in the prepare-and-measure scenario. First we construct a classical simulation model involving a finite average number of bits of one-way communication that simulates exactly the correlations arising from arbitrary ddd-dimensional quantum states and arbitrary measurements. Second, we show that no classical simulation protocol involving a finite average message dimension can exist for d≥4d\geq 4d≥4, hence strengthening a recent result of de Gois, Santos and Vieira. Our first result relies on a more general simulation theorem which can be applied to certain continuous variable (i.e. infinite-dimensional) quantum systems, and even beyond quantum theory, e.g. to generalized probabilistic theories. In particular, we show that multimode Gaussian states of bounded average energy and general Gaussian measurements admit an exact classical simulation with a finite expected number of bits. Overall, our results show that the classical simulation cost of quantum communication is essentially as high as it could be.
A longstanding question in Bell nonlocality is whether finite-alphabet nonsignalling resources can reproduce the continuum of measurement correlations of partially entangled qubits. Here we resolve this problem by showing that every fixed pure two-qubit state admits an exact simulation of all local projective-measurement statistics using shared randomness and finitely many Popescu-Rohrlich (PR) boxes, without communication or postselection. The boxes operate in parallel, with a worst-case bound independent of the measurement settings: at most 128cot⁡4θ128\cot^4θ128cot4θ calls for the Schmidt state cos⁡θ∣00⟩+sin⁡θ∣11⟩\cosθ|00\rangle+\sinθ|11\ranglecosθ∣00⟩+sinθ∣11⟩, 0<θ<π/40<θ<π/40<θ<π/4. The key is an exact finite-selection method that reduces input-dependent continuous sampling to a choice from a fixed-length shared random list, implemented through a finite PR-box network. The construction extends to arbitrary mixed two-qubit states and local binary-outcome POVMs. This reveals a fundamental separation between the continuity of quantum measurement correlations and the alphabet size of the resources needed to simulate them, shedding light on the resource-theoretic structure of Bell nonlocality.
For two non-communicating parties, quantum theory can give rise to probability distributions of outcomes that no local classical model can reproduce without communication. However, in the case of two-dimensional systems ([Formula: see text]), it is known that allowing a finite amount of classical communication in addition to shared classical resources makes it possible to simulate these quantum correlations. Whether such a simulation remains possible in higher dimensions is still an open question. In this work, we identify the key features of the exact classical protocol in [Formula: see text], and use them to construct robust approximate protocols in higher dimensions. We assess their performance through a randomized numerical study based on the Total Variation Distance. Our approach exactly reproduces the quantum probability distributions for [Formula: see text], and performs very well compared to existing protocols for higher dimensions, being the most robust protocol in all cases studied. These results offer new insights into the analytical structure of classical protocols in higher dimensions.
We study the prepare-and-measure scenario in which Alice transmits a quantum system to Bob, who then performs a quantum measurement. The quantum state of the system is unknown to Bob, and the measurement is unknown to Alice. It has recently been shown that shared randomness and two bits of classical communication are necessary and sufficient to simulate the transmission of a qubit. We show that the communication cost can be reduced to an average of 1.891.891.89 bits. We then study restricted sets of state preparations: First, for a restriction to real-valued qubit states, if the communication of a classical trit is sufficient, we show that the corresponding protocol must have a convoluted form. We then reduce the smallest qubit scenario requiring two bits of classical communication to only 666 state preparations and 555 measurements. For a qutrit, it is not known whether the communication cost is finite; we identify a scenario that requires at least 555 classical messages, already for the simulation of the real qutrit. Finally, we develop a method for restricted sets of states, that allows us to lower bound the classical communication cost based solely on the set of quantum states.
We consider general prepare-and-measure scenarios in which Alice can transmit qubit states to Bob, who can perform general measurements in the form of positive operator-valued measures (POVMs). We show that the statistics obtained in any such quantum protocol can be simulated by the purely classical means of shared randomness and two bits of communication. Furthermore, we prove that two bits of communication is the minimal cost of a perfect classical simulation. In addition, we apply our methods to Bell scenarios, which extends the well-known Toner and Bacon protocol. In particular, two bits of communication are enough to simulate all quantum correlations associated to arbitrary local POVMs applied to any entangled two-qubit state.