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Physical Review A

Experimental discrimination of two-qubit orthogonal states via local operations and classical communication

Xiaoqian Zhang, Maolin Luo, Guifang Yu, Xiaoqi Zhou

Published Sep 22, 2023• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum nonlocality, a form of nonclassicality, serves as a crucial resource in quantum information processing. Nonlocality in quantum systems is exemplified by the perfect discrimination of orthogonal quantum states through single joint measurements, which is unattainable using local operations and classical communication (LOCC). Bandyopadhyay [S. Bandyopadhyay, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 210402 (2011)] established that, with LOCC alone, at most $N\ensuremath{-}1$ copies of $N$ orthogonal quantum states are required for perfect discrimination. Here, we present the experimental verification of orthogonal quantum state discrimination employing LOCC. Our results demonstrate that up to three copies suffice for the perfect distinction of four orthogonal two-qubit states via LOCC. The verified method of perfectly distinguishing orthogonal quantum state sets offers potential applications in quantum information processes, including quantum secret sharing and quantum teleportation.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.108.032215

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Quantum nonlocality, a form of nonclassicality, serves as a crucial resource in quantum information processing. Nonlocality in quantum systems is exemplified by the perfect discrimination of orthogonal quantum states through single joint measurements, which is unattainable using local operations and classical communication (LOCC). Bandyopadhyay [S. Bandyopadhyay, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 210402 (2011)] established that, with LOCC alone, at most N\ensuremath−1N\ensuremath{-}1N\ensuremath−1 copies of NNN orthogonal quantum states are required for perfect discrimination. Here, we present the experimental verification of orthogonal quantum state discrimination employing LOCC. Our results demonstrate that up to three copies suffice for the perfect distinction of four orthogonal two-qubit states via LOCC. The verified method of perfectly distinguishing orthogonal quantum state sets offers potential applications in quantum information processes, including quantum secret sharing and quantum teleportation.
Quantum nonlocality has different manifestations that, in general, are revealed by local measurements of the parts of a composite system. In this paper, we study nonlocality arising from a set of orthogonal states that cannot be perfectly distinguished by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). Such a set is deemed nonlocal, for a joint measurement on the whole system is necessary for perfect discrimination of the states with certainty. On the other hand, a set of orthogonal states that can be perfectly distinguished by LOCC is believed to be devoid of nonlocal properties. Here, we show that there exist orthogonal sets that are locally distinguishable but without local redundancy (i.e., they become nonorthogonal on discarding one or more subsystems) whose nonlocality can be activated by local measurements. In particular, a state chosen from such a set can be locally converted, with certainty, into another state, the identity of which can now only be ascertained by global measurement and no longer by LOCC. In other words, a locally distinguishable set without local redundancy may be locally converted into a locally indistinguishable set with certainty. We also suggest an application, namely, local hiding of information, that allows us to locally hide locally available information without losing any part. Once hidden, the information in its entirety can only be retrieved using entanglement.
Quantum nonlocality admits several operational manifestations, one of which emerges from sets of orthogonal quantum states that cannot be perfectly distinguished by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). Such sets are regarded as nonlocal because their perfect discrimination requires global measurements. In contrast, sets that are perfectly distinguishable by LOCC are generally considered locally accessible and operationally classical. In this work, we investigate the role of incompletability in local state discrimination and introduce the notion of \emph{activation of incompletability}. Specifically, we demonstrate the existence of orthogonal sets that are initially perfectly distinguishable by LOCC and free from local redundancy, but which can be transformed via LOCC into strictly incompletable sets. We prove that activation of incompletability necessarily implies activation of nonlocality, whereas the converse fails in general, thereby establishing a hierarchy between the two activation phenomena. Furthermore, within the framework of local incoherent operations and classical communication (LICC), we show that any set whose incompletability can be activated can nevertheless be extended to a complete orthonormal basis of the Hilbert space, although the resulting completed basis is no longer perfectly distinguishable by LOCC. Our results uncover a fundamental interplay among local distinguishability, incompletability, coherence, and nonlocality, and provide new insight into the structure of locally accessible quantum information.
In this paper, we consider the conditions under which a given ensemble of two-qubit states can be optimally distinguished by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). We begin by completing the perfect distinguishability problem of two-qubit ensembles-both for separable operations and LOCC-by providing necessary and sufficient conditions for the perfect discrimination of one pure and one mixed state. Then, for the well-known task of minimum error discrimination, it is shown that almost all two-qubit ensembles consisting of three pure states cannot be optimally discriminated using LOCC. This is surprising considering that any two pure states can be distinguished optimally by LOCC. Special attention is given to ensembles that lack entanglement, and we prove an easy sufficient condition for when a set of three product states cannot be optimally distinguished by LOCC, thus providing new examples of the phenomenon known as non-locality without entanglement. We next consider an example of N parties who each share the same state but who are ignorant of its identity. The state is drawn from the rotationally invariant trine ensemble, and we establish a tight connection between the N-copy ensemble and Shor's lifted single-copy ensemble. For any finite N, we prove that optimal identification of the states cannot be achieved by LOCC; however, as N→∞, LOCC can indeed discriminate the states optimally. This is the first result of its kind. Finally, we turn to the task of unambiguous discrimination and derive new lower bounds on the LOCC inconclusive probability for symmetric states. When applied to the double trine ensemble, this leads to a rather different distinguishability character than when the minimum error probability is considered.
It is known that many sets of orthogonal quantum states, which cannot be distinguished perfectly by local operations and classical communication (LOCC), have been constructed. However, these discussions have left the following open question: How many entanglement resources are necessary and/or sufficient for this task to be possible with LOCC? In this paper, we present a local discrimination protocol which uses entanglement more efficiently than teleportation to distinguish one class of orthogonal product states in 3⊗3⊗3. Then, we generalize it for 3⊗3⊗...⊗3 quantum systems which has 3n parties. For the open question, our results offer rather general insight into why entanglement is useful for such tasks, and present a better understanding of the relationship between entanglement and nonlocality.
Quantum state discrimination involves identifying a given state out of a set of possible states. When the states are mutually orthogonal, perfect state discrimination is always possible using a global measurement. In the case of multipartite systems when the parties are constrained to use multiple rounds of local operations and classical communication (LOCC), perfect state discrimination is often impossible even with the use of asymptotic LOCC, wherein an error is allowed but must vanish in the limit of an infinite number of rounds. Utilizing our recent results on asymptotic LOCC, we derive a lower bound on the error probability for LOCC discrimination of any given set of mutually orthogonal pure states. Informed by the insights gained from this lower bound, we are able to prove necessary conditions for perfect state discrimination by asymptotic LOCC. We then illustrate by example the power of these necessary conditions in significantly simplifying the determination of whether perfect discrimination of a given set of states can be accomplished arbitrarily closely using LOCC. The latter examples include a proof that perfect discrimination by asymptotic LOCC is impossible for any minimal unextendible product basis (UPB), where minimal means that for the given multipartite system no UPB with a smaller number of states can exist. We also give a simple proof that what has been called strong nonlocality without entanglement is considerably stronger than had previously been demonstrated.
Distinguishability is a fundamental and operational measure generally connected to information applications. In quantum information theory, from the postulates of quantum mechanics it often has an intrinsic limitation, which then dictates and also characterises capabilities of related information tasks. In this work, we consider discrimination between bipartite two-qubit unitary transformations by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) and its relations to entangling capabilities of given unitaries. We show that a pair of entangling unitaries which do not contain local parts, if they are perfectly distinguishable by global operations, can also be perfectly distinguishable by LOCC. There also exist non-entangling unitaries, e.g. local unitaries, that are perfectly discriminated by global operations but not by LOCC. The results show that capabilities of LOCC are strictly restricted than global operations in distinguishing bipartite unitaries for a finite number of repetitions, contrast to discrimination of a pair of bipartite states and also to asymptotic discrimination of unitaries.