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

AIP conference proceedings

A generalized Dolinar receiver with inconclusive results

Kenji Nakahira, Tsuyoshi Sasaki Usuda

Published Jan 1, 2014• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the implementation of a measurement for binary optical coherent states that minimizes the error probability with a fixed rate of an inconclusive result.We find that the optimal measurement for binary optical coherent states with any probability of an inconclusive result can be implemented using only a beam splitter, a local coherent light source, a photon detector, and a feedback circuit, even though the measurement is generally not projective.

DOI
10.1063/1.4903099

Related papers

Optimal receiver for discrimination of two coherent states with inconclusive results

Kenji Nakahira, Tsuyoshi Sasaki Usuda

We investigate the implementation of a measurement for binary optical coherent states that minimizes the error probability with a fixed rate of an inconclusive result. As a special case, the optimal measurement without inconclusive results, which is expressed as a projective measurement, can be implemented using only a beam splitter, a local coherent light source, a photon detector, and a feedback circuit. We find that the optimal measurement for binary optical coherent states with any probability of an inconclusive result can be implemented by the same optical components, even though the measurement is generally not projective.

Physical Review A•Nov 26, 2012•8 citations

Implementation of nonprojective measurements on a Hilbert space spanned by binary coherent states

Kenji Nakahira, Tsuyoshi Sasaki Usuda

We investigate quantum measurements on a complex Hilbert space spanned by binary optical coherent states. We derive that arbitrary quantum measurement with finite detection operators can be implemented on this space, which is not constrained to be projective, by using just a beam splitter, a local coherent light source, a photon detector, and a feedback circuit.

Physical Review A•Jan 22, 2014•2 citations

Demonstration of an optimal generalized quantum measurement for binary coherent states with photon counting

F. E. Becerra

Quantum mechanics allows for the realization of optimized measurements based on photon counting for the discrimination of nonorthogonal coherent states able to surpass the conventional limits of detection, such as the homodyne and heterodyne limits. Such measurements have a large potential for increasing sensitivities and information transfer in communications and for information processing. In this talk I will describe our current work in the problem of generalized measurements for coherent state discrimination. We implement an optimal inconclusive measurement for binary coherent states [1], a non-projective measurement that allows for achieving the lowest probability of error for a given rate of inconclusive results. This measurement encompasses standard measurement paradigms for state discrimination, specifically minimum error and unambiguous discrimination, and allows to transition between them in an optimal way. [1] M. T. DiMario, F. E. Becerra, Npj Quantum Inf. 8 (1), 1-8.

Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II•Mar 8, 2023•0 citations

Demonstration of optimal non-projective measurement of binary coherent states with photon counting

M. T. DiMario, F. E. Becerra

Abstract Quantum state discrimination is a central problem in quantum measurement theory, with applications spanning from quantum communication to computation. Typical measurement paradigms for state discrimination involve a minimum probability of error or unambiguous discrimination with a minimum probability of inconclusive results. Alternatively, an optimal inconclusive measurement, a non-projective measurement, achieves minimal error for a given inconclusive probability. This more general measurement encompasses the standard measurement paradigms for state discrimination and provides a much more powerful tool for quantum information and communication. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the optimal inconclusive measurement for the discrimination of binary coherent states using linear optics and single-photon detection. Our demonstration uses coherent displacement operations based on interference, single-photon detection, and fast feedback to prepare the optimal feedback policy for the optimal non-projective quantum measurement with high fidelity. This generalized measurement allows us to transition among standard measurement paradigms in an optimal way from minimum error to unambiguous measurements for binary coherent states. As a particular case, we use this general measurement to implement the optimal minimum error measurement for phase-coherent states, which is the optimal modulation for communications under the average power constraint. Moreover, we propose a hybrid measurement that leverages the binary optimal inconclusive measurement in conjunction with sequential, unambiguous state elimination to realize higher dimensional inconclusive measurements of coherent states.

arXiv:2207.12234•npj Quantum Information•Jul 18, 2022•8 citations

The Dolinar receiver in an information theoretic framework

Baris I. Erkmen, Kevin M. Birnbaum, Bruce E. Moision +1 more

Optical communication at the quantum limit requires that measurements on the optical field be maximally informative, but devising physical measurements that accomplish this objective has proven challenging. The Dolinar receiver exemplifies a rare instance of success in distinguishing between two coherent states: an adaptive local oscillator is mixed with the signal prior to photodetection, which yields an error probability that meets the Helstrom lower bound with equality. Here we apply the same local-oscillator-based architecture with an information-theoretic optimization criterion. We begin with analysis of this receiver in a general framework for an arbitrary coherent-state modulation alphabet, and then we concentrate on two relevant examples. First, we study a binary antipodal alphabet and show that the Dolinar receiver's feedback function not only minimizes the probability of error, but also maximizes the mutual information. Next, we study ternary modulation consisting of antipodal coherent states and the vacuum state. We derive an analytic expression for a near-optimal local-oscillator feedback function, and, via simulation, we determine its photon information efficiency (PIE). We provide the PIE versus dimensional information efficiency (DIE) trade-off curve and show that this modulation and the our receiver combination performs universally better than (generalized) on-off keying plus photon counting, although, the advantage asymptotically vanishes as the bits-per-photon diverges towards infinity.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Aug 30, 2011•7 citations

Capacity of optical communications over a lossy bosonic channel with a receiver employing the most general coherent electro-optic feedback control

Hye Won Chung, Saikat Guha, Lizhong Zheng

We study the problem of designing optical receivers to discriminate between multiple coherent states using coherent processing receivers---i.e., one that uses arbitrary coherent feedback control and quantum-noise-limited direct detection---which was shown by Dolinar to achieve the minimum error probability in discriminating any two coherent states. We first derive and reinterpret Dolinar's binary-hypothesis minimum-probability-of-error receiver as the one that optimizes the information efficiency at each time instant, based on recursive Bayesian updates within the receiver. Using this viewpoint, we propose a natural generalization of Dolinar's receiver design to discriminate $M$ coherent states, each of which could now be a codeword, i.e., a sequence of $N$ coherent states, each drawn from a modulation alphabet. We analyze the channel capacity of the pure-loss optical channel with a general coherent-processing receiver in the low-photon number regime and compare it with the capacity achievable with direct detection and the Holevo limit (achieving the latter would require a quantum joint-detection receiver). We show compelling evidence that despite the optimal performance of Dolinar's receiver for the binary coherent-state hypothesis test (either in error probability or mutual information), the asymptotic communication rate achievable by such a coherent-processing receiver is only as good as direct detection. This suggests that in the infinitely long codeword limit, all potential benefits of coherent processing at the receiver can be obtained by designing a good code and direct detection, with no feedback within the receiver.

arXiv:1610.07578•Physical Review A•Jul 17, 2017•12 citations
We investigate the implementation of a measurement for binary optical coherent states that minimizes the error probability with a fixed rate of an inconclusive result.We find that the optimal measurement for binary optical coherent states with any probability of an inconclusive result can be implemented using only a beam splitter, a local coherent light source, a photon detector, and a feedback circuit, even though the measurement is generally not projective.
We investigate the implementation of a measurement for binary optical coherent states that minimizes the error probability with a fixed rate of an inconclusive result. As a special case, the optimal measurement without inconclusive results, which is expressed as a projective measurement, can be implemented using only a beam splitter, a local coherent light source, a photon detector, and a feedback circuit. We find that the optimal measurement for binary optical coherent states with any probability of an inconclusive result can be implemented by the same optical components, even though the measurement is generally not projective.
Quantum mechanics allows for the realization of optimized measurements based on photon counting for the discrimination of nonorthogonal coherent states able to surpass the conventional limits of detection, such as the homodyne and heterodyne limits. Such measurements have a large potential for increasing sensitivities and information transfer in communications and for information processing. In this talk I will describe our current work in the problem of generalized measurements for coherent state discrimination. We implement an optimal inconclusive measurement for binary coherent states [1], a non-projective measurement that allows for achieving the lowest probability of error for a given rate of inconclusive results. This measurement encompasses standard measurement paradigms for state discrimination, specifically minimum error and unambiguous discrimination, and allows to transition between them in an optimal way. [1] M. T. DiMario, F. E. Becerra, Npj Quantum Inf. 8 (1), 1-8.
Abstract Quantum state discrimination is a central problem in quantum measurement theory, with applications spanning from quantum communication to computation. Typical measurement paradigms for state discrimination involve a minimum probability of error or unambiguous discrimination with a minimum probability of inconclusive results. Alternatively, an optimal inconclusive measurement, a non-projective measurement, achieves minimal error for a given inconclusive probability. This more general measurement encompasses the standard measurement paradigms for state discrimination and provides a much more powerful tool for quantum information and communication. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the optimal inconclusive measurement for the discrimination of binary coherent states using linear optics and single-photon detection. Our demonstration uses coherent displacement operations based on interference, single-photon detection, and fast feedback to prepare the optimal feedback policy for the optimal non-projective quantum measurement with high fidelity. This generalized measurement allows us to transition among standard measurement paradigms in an optimal way from minimum error to unambiguous measurements for binary coherent states. As a particular case, we use this general measurement to implement the optimal minimum error measurement for phase-coherent states, which is the optimal modulation for communications under the average power constraint. Moreover, we propose a hybrid measurement that leverages the binary optimal inconclusive measurement in conjunction with sequential, unambiguous state elimination to realize higher dimensional inconclusive measurements of coherent states.
Optical communication at the quantum limit requires that measurements on the optical field be maximally informative, but devising physical measurements that accomplish this objective has proven challenging. The Dolinar receiver exemplifies a rare instance of success in distinguishing between two coherent states: an adaptive local oscillator is mixed with the signal prior to photodetection, which yields an error probability that meets the Helstrom lower bound with equality. Here we apply the same local-oscillator-based architecture with an information-theoretic optimization criterion. We begin with analysis of this receiver in a general framework for an arbitrary coherent-state modulation alphabet, and then we concentrate on two relevant examples. First, we study a binary antipodal alphabet and show that the Dolinar receiver's feedback function not only minimizes the probability of error, but also maximizes the mutual information. Next, we study ternary modulation consisting of antipodal coherent states and the vacuum state. We derive an analytic expression for a near-optimal local-oscillator feedback function, and, via simulation, we determine its photon information efficiency (PIE). We provide the PIE versus dimensional information efficiency (DIE) trade-off curve and show that this modulation and the our receiver combination performs universally better than (generalized) on-off keying plus photon counting, although, the advantage asymptotically vanishes as the bits-per-photon diverges towards infinity.
We study the problem of designing optical receivers to discriminate between multiple coherent states using coherent processing receivers---i.e., one that uses arbitrary coherent feedback control and quantum-noise-limited direct detection---which was shown by Dolinar to achieve the minimum error probability in discriminating any two coherent states. We first derive and reinterpret Dolinar's binary-hypothesis minimum-probability-of-error receiver as the one that optimizes the information efficiency at each time instant, based on recursive Bayesian updates within the receiver. Using this viewpoint, we propose a natural generalization of Dolinar's receiver design to discriminate MMM coherent states, each of which could now be a codeword, i.e., a sequence of NNN coherent states, each drawn from a modulation alphabet. We analyze the channel capacity of the pure-loss optical channel with a general coherent-processing receiver in the low-photon number regime and compare it with the capacity achievable with direct detection and the Holevo limit (achieving the latter would require a quantum joint-detection receiver). We show compelling evidence that despite the optimal performance of Dolinar's receiver for the binary coherent-state hypothesis test (either in error probability or mutual information), the asymptotic communication rate achievable by such a coherent-processing receiver is only as good as direct detection. This suggests that in the infinitely long codeword limit, all potential benefits of coherent processing at the receiver can be obtained by designing a good code and direct detection, with no feedback within the receiver.