The main objective of this thesis is to explore spatial superposition as a novel resource for quantum communication. In classical physics, at any instant of time, information flows in one direction only, i.e. an information carrier transmits the message from the sender to the receiver, but not vice versa. In contrast, quantum physics opens up the possibility of putting information carriers in spatial superposition which in turn enables simultaneous bi-directional transmission of information between the sender and the receiver. Our aim is explore this possibility to arrive at new communication tasks that cannot be accomplished within classical physics, thus quantifying the use of quantum superposition as a resource for communication. More precisely, we aim at classifying simple communication protocols (e.g. involving the exchange of information between several players, with restrictions on the available resources) by means of Bell-like inequalities, which set precise limits to classical communication. On the other hand, the classification of these inequalities provides a natural operational framework to show that quantum information carriers in spatial superposition are a genuine resource for non-classical communication (i.e. by explicitly violating the bounds imposed by Bell-like inequalities).
The main objective of this thesis is to explore spatial superposition as a novel resource for quantum communication. In classical physics, at any instant of time, information flows in one direction only, i.e. an information carrier transmits the message from the sender to the receiver, but not vice versa. In contrast, quantum physics opens up the possibility of putting information carriers in spatial superposition which in turn enables simultaneous bi-directional transmission of information between the sender and the receiver. Our aim is explore this possibility to arrive at new communication tasks that cannot be accomplished within classical physics, thus quantifying the use of quantum superposition as a resource for communication. More precisely, we aim at classifying simple communication protocols (e.g. involving the exchange of information between several players, with restrictions on the available resources) by means of Bell-like inequalities, which set precise limits to classical communication. On the other hand, the classification of these inequalities provides a natural operational framework to show that quantum information carriers in spatial superposition are a genuine resource for non-classical communication (i.e. by explicitly violating the bounds imposed by Bell-like inequalities).
Shannon's theory of information laid the groundwork for the rapid developments in information and communications technologies over the last century. Yet, it assumed that information carriers were described by the laws of classical physics, whilst at the most fundamental level, nature obeys the laws of quantum physics. Quantum Shannon theory, which describes information carriers as quantum states, has led to a new era of possibilities, such as perfectly secure cryptography without pre-established keys. Yet, there is a sense in which this transition from classical to quantum is incomplete. Traditionally, quantum Shannon theory has focused on scenarios where the internal states of information carriers are quantum, whilst their trajectories in spacetime have still been assumed to be classical. This work presents a second level of quantisation where both the information itself and its propagation in spacetime are treated in a quantum fashion. The second-quantised Shannon theory describes the possibility of a single particle being simultaneously transmitted through multiple communication channels in a quantum superposition. The framework is developed using the tools of higher-order transformations and quantum resource theories, formally quantifying the resources required for communication between a sender and receiver in this setting. The advantages of the second-quantised theory are illustrated in a series of examples, showcasing various counterintuitive phenomena that occur when information is simultaneously transmitted through multiple communication channels. In particular, when a single particle travels in a quantum superposition through two alternative transmission lines, the noisy processes in the two lines can destructively interfere, leading to a cleaner communication channel overall. Various different scenarios are encompassed in the framework, including transmission through a superposition of both independent and correlated channels, as well as through large-scale communication networks. This work concludes with a study of the robustness of these protocols to errors and a discussion of recent experimental demonstrations of their associated communication advantages.
Quantum physics provides results at information processing tasks that are unattainable by any classical theory. The aim of this thesis is to identify and characterize quantum entanglement and quantum nonlocality, the key resources used at quantum information protocols. We consider the problem of finding better experimental schemes to detect entangled states. For that, we study approximate physical realizations to non-physical processes, which provide the most efficient method to identify entanglement. We prove that many of these physical approximations have a simple experimental implementation. We then study characterization of quantum nonlocality. We introduce a method using the multipartite scenario, where more than two parties are involved, which provides several results on bipartite and multipartite quantum nonlocality. First, we prove that there exist quantum states which contain full multipartite nonlocality, which consist of the strongest kind of nonlocality. then, we prove that the combined use of several copies of a state can activate its nonlocal properties. In particular, this holds for bipartite and genuine multipartite nonlocality. Finally, we characterize quantum nonlocality by distinguishing it from stronger-than-quantum nonlocality. We construct a multipartite game for which classical and quantum players perform equally well, but for which supre-quantum players can sometimes provide an advantage. Our results suggest that physical resources might obbey a generalized no-signaling principle ( according to which ther's no instantaneous communication).
Quantum mechanics has been a paradigm shift and a revolutionary framework in our understanding of the physical world. The theory has been able to describe a wide variety of phenomena and has been experimentally verified with great precision. Despite that, to this day, the seemingly ad hoc formulation of quantum theory and several of its features still elude an intuitive understanding. At the same time, the applications of quantum mechanics in information theory have emerged as a promising avenue. Namely, its potential advantages in computation, in the so-called nascent field of quantum computation and in communication and information processing tasks such as quantum teleportation and super-dense coding. In all these endeavours, a significant effort has been made in understanding the maximum extent to which quantum mechanics can provide an advantage. This thesis explores an intersection of these two research lines, i.e. to have a physical explanation of some of the features of quantum mechanics and at the same time, study the outer limits of quantum mechanics. The combining insight rests on a newer foundational idea: that information itself is physical rather than an abstract entity and thus, is subject to physical laws. In this thesis, we explore the principle of information causality, which states that in any communication scenario, the amount of information carried is bounded by the degrees of freedom of the carrier. Information causality was initially proposed as a physical principle aimed at deriving the predictions of quantum mechanics on the type of correlations observed in a Bell scenario, which is a communication scenario involving multiple parties with access to a shared randomness resource. This principle has been proposed to recover some of the well-known features of quantum mechanics, specifically Tsirelson’s bound of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality. Earlier results found limited generalisations due to the difficulty of deducing implications of the information causality principle. In this thesis, we greatly expand the scope of applicability of the principle. We develop a general-purpose algorithm to derive constraints on the set of quantum correlations. We extend the principle to be applicable to a wider variety of Bell scenarios, derive new families of quantum Bell inequalities and prove new bounds on the success probabilities of Entanglement Assisted Random Access Codes. We introduce an extension of the principle which applies to any distributed computing scenario. Using this extension, we improve on several previously known results in the field, and in certain cases, we even recover part of the quantum set as well. This extension provides rich insights into the communication complexity of distributed functions, using which we prove theory-independent randomised communication complexity bounds for several well-known functions and provide another general-purpose algorithm to bound the randomised quantum communication complexity of any function. As a consequence of the extension, we also establish that the extension supersedes the principle of non-trivial communication complexity.
Bell non-locality is a powerful framework to distinguish classical, quantum and post-quantum resources, which relies on non-communicating players. Under which restriction can we have the same separations, if we allow for communication? Non-signalling state assemblages, and the fact that they can always be simultaneously purified, turned out to be the key element to restrict the simplest bipartite communication scenario, the prepare-and-measure, to the standard bipartite Bell scenario. Yet, many distinctive features of quantum theory are genuinely multipartite and cannot be reduced to two-party behaviour. In this work we are interested in extending this simultaneous purification inspired result to all multipartite communication schemes. As a first step, we unify and extend the simultaneous purification result from states to instruments and super-instruments, which are composable structures, and open up the possibility to explore more complex communication scenarios. Our main contribution is to establish that arbitrary compositions of non-signalling assemblages cannot escape the standard spatial quantum Bell correlations set. As a consequence, any interactive quantum realization of correlations outside of this set must involve at least one signalling assemblage of quantum operations, even when the resulting correlations are non-signalling.
In the first part of this thesis Bell's theorem is revisited. It points at a difference between the quantum and the classical world. This difference is often behind the advantages of solutions using quantum mechanics. New and more general versions of Bell inequalities are presented. These inequalities involve multiple settings per observer. Compared with the two-setting inequalities, the new ones reveal the non-classical character of a broader class of states. Some of them are also proven to be optimal (tight). Next, we go beyond Bell's theorem. It is shown, both in theory and in experiment, that incompatibility between quantum mechanics and realistic theories can be extended into an important class of nonlocal models. We also show that the violation of Bell inequalities disqualifies local realistic models with a limited lack of the experimenter's freedom. This, at first glance quite philosophical result, has its down-to-earth implications for quantum communication. In the second part of the thesis well-known examples of quantum communication are reviewed. Next, new results concerning quantum cryptography and quantum communication complexity are given.
In this paper, we introduce a that is satisfied by any classical communication -- i.e., conveyed by a localized carrier traveling along well defined directions. In contrast, this equality is violated when the carrier is prepared in a quantum superposition of communication directions. This is phrased in terms of the success probability of a certain communication task, which results to be always constant and equal to 1/2 in the classical case. On the other hand, we develop two simple quantum schemes that deviate systematically from the classical value, thus violating the coherence equality. Such a violation can also be exploited as an operational way to witness spatial quantum superpositions without requiring the use of an interferometer, but only by means of spatially separated local measurements.