In realistic quantum information processing tasks, quantum states are inevitably affected by environmental noise, leading to decoherence and degradation of useful quantum resources. The coherence fraction, which serves as an important figure of merit for several quantum protocols, may decrease significantly after the action of a noisy channel. Such degradation can result in unsatisfactory performance in real-world applications. In this work, we investigate whether catalysis can be used to pre-process the input state to enhance the coherence fraction of an output state from a quantum channel. Specifically, we study whether using a processed state $ρ_s'$ as the input to a quantum channel $Λ$ , instead of the original state $ρ_s$ , can yield an output state $Λ(ρ_s')$ whose coherence fraction exceeds that of $Λ(ρ_s)$ . We analyze the conditions under which such an improvement is possible. We also provide a practical application of our setup for the phase discrimination task. Furthermore, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for an incoherent state preserving CPTP(Completely Positive Trace Preserving) map $\mathcal{E}$ to be a particular type of Strictly Incoherent Operation (SIO). This characterization provides a new structural understanding of SIO and clarifies its role in coherence manipulation. Our results offer practical insights into coherence preservation and enhancement in noisy quantum processes and may be useful for optimizing quantum information protocols under realistic conditions. We also provide numerical examples to support our claims.In realistic quantum information processing tasks, quantum states are inevitably affected by environmental noise, leading to decoherence and degradation of useful quantum resources. The coherence fraction, which serves as an important figure of merit for several quantum protocols, may decrease significantly after the action of a noisy channel. Such degradation can result in unsatisfactory performance in real-world applications. In this work, we investigate whether catalysis can be used to pre-process the input state to enhance the coherence fraction of an output state from a quantum channel. Specifically, we study whether using a processed state $ρ_s'$ as the input to a quantum channel $Λ$, instead of the original state $ρ_s$, can yield an output state $Λ(ρ_s')$ whose coherence fraction exceeds that of $Λ(ρ_s)$. We analyze the conditions under which such an improvement is possible. We also provide a practical application of our setup for the phase discrimination task. Furthermore, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for an incoherent state preserving CPTP(Completely Positive Trace Preserving) map $\mathcal{E}$ to be a particular type of Strictly Incoherent Operation (SIO). This characterization provides a new structural understanding of SIO and clarifies its role in coherence manipulation. Our results offer practical insights into coherence preservation and enhancement in noisy quantum processes and may be useful for optimizing quantum information protocols under realistic conditions. We also provide numerical examples to support our claims.

quant-pharXiv:2604.24291Apr 28, 20260 citations

Probabilistic coherence transformation under strictly incoherent operation

Ao-Xiang Liu, Cong‐Feng Qiao

arXiv:2410.08095Physics Letters AJun 11, 20250 citations

Strictly incoherent operations for one-qubit systems

Shuanping Du, Zhaofang Bai

arXiv:2011.14602Physics Letters AFeb 6, 20210 citations

Enhancing coherence of a state by stochastic strictly incoherent operations

C. L. Liu, Yanqing Guo, D. M. Tong

In this paper, we address the issue of enhancing coherence of a state under stochastic strictly incoherent operations. Based on the ${l}_{1}$ norm of coherence, we obtain the maximal value of coherence that can be achieved for a state undergoing a stochastic strictly incoherent operation and the maximal probability of obtaining the maximal coherence. Our findings indicate that a pure state can be transformed into a maximally coherent state under a stochastic strictly incoherent operation if and only if all the components of the pure state are nonzero while a mixed state can never be transformed into a maximally coherent state under a stochastic strictly incoherent operation.In this paper, we address the issue of enhancing coherence of a state under stochastic strictly incoherent operations. Based on the ${l}_{1}$ norm of coherence, we obtain the maximal value of coherence that can be achieved for a state undergoing a stochastic strictly incoherent operation and the maximal probability of obtaining the maximal coherence. Our findings indicate that a pure state can be transformed into a maximally coherent state under a stochastic strictly incoherent operation if and only if all the components of the pure state are nonzero while a mixed state can never be transformed into a maximally coherent state under a stochastic strictly incoherent operation.

arXiv:1710.01055Physical Review ADec 21, 201728 citations

Increasing the dimension of the maximal pure coherent subspace of a state via incoherent operations

C. L. Liu, D. L. Zhou

Quantum state transformation under free operations plays a central role in the resource theory of coherence. In this paper, we investigate the transformation from a mixed coherent state into a pure one by using both incoherent operations and stochastic incoherent operations. We show that contrary to the strictly incoherent operations and the stochastic strictly incoherent operations, both the incoherent operations and the stochastic incoherent operations can increase the dimension of the maximal pure coherent subspace of a state. This means that the incoherent operations are generally stronger than the strictly incoherent operations when we want to transform a mixed coherent state into a pure coherent one. Our findings can also be interpreted as confirming the ability of incoherent operations to enhance the coherence of mixed states relative to certain coherence monotones under strictly incoherent operations.Quantum state transformation under free operations plays a central role in the resource theory of coherence. In this paper, we investigate the transformation from a mixed coherent state into a pure one by using both incoherent operations and stochastic incoherent operations. We show that contrary to the strictly incoherent operations and the stochastic strictly incoherent operations, both the incoherent operations and the stochastic incoherent operations can increase the dimension of the maximal pure coherent subspace of a state. This means that the incoherent operations are generally stronger than the strictly incoherent operations when we want to transform a mixed coherent state into a pure coherent one. Our findings can also be interpreted as confirming the ability of incoherent operations to enhance the coherence of mixed states relative to certain coherence monotones under strictly incoherent operations.

arXiv:2012.14604Physical Review ADec 28, 20209 citations

ρ_s'

as the input to a quantum channel

Λ

, instead of the original state

ρ_s

, can yield an output state

Λ(ρ_s')

whose coherence fraction exceeds that of

Λ(ρ_s)

. We analyze the conditions under which such an improvement is possible. We also provide a practical application of our setup for the phase discrimination task. Furthermore, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for an incoherent state preserving CPTP(Completely Positive Trace Preserving) map

\mathcal{E}

to be a particular type of Strictly Incoherent Operation (SIO). This characterization provides a new structural understanding of SIO and clarifies its role in coherence manipulation. Our results offer practical insights into coherence preservation and enhancement in noisy quantum processes and may be useful for optimizing quantum information protocols under realistic conditions. We also provide numerical examples to support our claims.

In this paper, we address the issue of enhancing coherence of a state under stochastic strictly incoherent operations. Based on the

{l}_{1}

norm of coherence, we obtain the maximal value of coherence that can be achieved for a state undergoing a stochastic strictly incoherent operation and the maximal probability of obtaining the maximal coherence. Our findings indicate that a pure state can be transformed into a maximally coherent state under a stochastic strictly incoherent operation if and only if all the components of the pure state are nonzero while a mixed state can never be transformed into a maximally coherent state under a stochastic strictly incoherent operation.