Classical mixtures of quantum states often give rise to decoherence and are generally considered detrimental to quantum processing. However, in the framework of sequential measurement, such mixtures can be beneficial for state discrimination. We investigate the sequential discrimination of mixed states and compare the results with those of pure states under the condition of equal fidelity. It is found that the successful probability of the mixed-state protocol is superior to the pure one under the equal-fidelity condition. It is shown that the difference between the sequential discrimination of pure and mixed states is more reliable under the equal-fidelity condition than under single-shot discrimination, and this difference increases with the mixability of the initial mixed states. For scenarios in which classical communication is allowed, the optimal successful probability of pure-state discriminations is larger than that for mixed states on the contrary. We also show that the classical mixture of basic vectors from quantum decoherence has a subtle impact on the communication channel induced by the coincidence of the maximal mutual information and optimal successful probability of sequential discrimination for pure states.
Classical mixtures of quantum states often give rise to decoherence and are generally considered detrimental to quantum processing. However, in the framework of sequential measurement, such mixtures can be beneficial for state discrimination. We investigate the sequential discrimination of mixed states and compare the results with those of pure states under the condition of equal fidelity. It is found that the successful probability of the mixed-state protocol is superior to the pure one under the equal-fidelity condition. It is shown that the difference between the sequential discrimination of pure and mixed states is more reliable under the equal-fidelity condition than under single-shot discrimination, and this difference increases with the mixability of the initial mixed states. For scenarios in which classical communication is allowed, the optimal successful probability of pure-state discriminations is larger than that for mixed states on the contrary. We also show that the classical mixture of basic vectors from quantum decoherence has a subtle impact on the communication channel induced by the coincidence of the maximal mutual information and optimal successful probability of sequential discrimination for pure states.
We investigate the discrimination of pure-mixed (quantum filtering) and mixed-mixed states and compare their optimal success probability with the one for discriminating other pairs of pure states superposed by the vectors included in the mixed states. We prove that under the equal-fidelity condition, the pure-pure state discrimination scheme is superior to the pure-mixed (mixed-mixed) one. With respect to quantum filtering, the coherence exists only in one pure state and is detrimental to the state discrimination for lower dimensional systems; while it is the opposite for the mixed-mixed case with symmetrically distributed coherence. Making an extension to infinite-dimensional systems, we find that the coherence which is detrimental to state discrimination may become helpful and vice versa.
Recently, sequential state discrimination, as a quantum-key distribution protocol, has been proposed for multiple receivers. A previous study [J. A. Bergou et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 100501 (2013)] showed that every receiver could successfully perform a sequential state discrimination of two pure states with identical prior probabilities. In this study, we extend the sequential state discrimination to mixed states with arbitrary prior probability. First, we analytically obtain the condition of the receiver's optimal measurement. In addition, we show that the optimal probability for every receiver to share the mixed state prepared by the sender is not zero. Furthermore, we compare the sequential state discrimination to the strategies of quantum reproducing and quantum broadcasting. We find that there are cases in which, unlike that of the pure state, the sequential state discrimination of mixed states shows a better performance than the other strategies.
N-sequential Conclusive State Discrimination in a General Case
In the present article, we develop a general framework for the description of an N-sequential state discrimination, where each of N receivers always obtains a conclusive result. For this new state discrimination scenario, we derive two mutually equivalent general representations of the success probability and prove that if one of two states, pure or mixed, is prepared by a sender, then the optimal success probability is given by the Helstrom bound for any number N of sequential receivers. Furthermore, we specify receivers' indirect measurements resulting in the optimal N-sequential conclusive state discrimination protocol. The developed framework is true for any number N of sequential receivers, any number of arbitrary quantum states, pure or mixed, to be discriminated, and all types of receivers' quantum measurements. The new general results derived within the developed framework are important both from the theoretical point of view and for a successful multipartite quantum communication even in the presence of a quantum noise.
Recently, J. A. Bergou et al. proposed sequential state discrimination as a new quantum state discrimination scheme. In the scheme, by the successful sequential discrimination of a qubit state, receivers Bob and Charlie can share the information of the qubit prepared by a sender Alice. A merit of the scheme is that a quantum channel is established between Bob and Charlie, but a classical communication is not allowed. In this report, we present a method for extending the original sequential state discrimination of two qubit states to a scheme of N linearly independent pure quantum states. Specifically, we obtain the conditions for the sequential state discrimination of N = 3 pure quantum states. We can analytically provide conditions when there is a special symmetry among N = 3 linearly independent pure quantum states. Additionally, we show that the scenario proposed in this study can be applied to quantum key distribution. Furthermore, we show that the sequential state discrimination of three qutrit states performs better than the strategy of probabilistic quantum cloning.
Unambiguous state discrimination of two mixed bipartite states via local operations and classical communications (LOCC) is studied and compared with the result of a scheme realized via global measurement. We show that the success probability of a global scheme for mixed-state discrimination can be achieved perfectly by the local scheme. In addition, we simulate this discrimination via a pair of pure entangled bipartite states. This simulation is perfect for local rather than global schemes due to the existence of entanglement and global coherence in the pure states. We also prove that LOCC protocol and the sequential state discrimination (SSD) can be interpreted in a unified view. We then hybridize the LOCC protocol with three protocols (SSD, reproducing, and broadcasting) relying on classical communications. Such hybridizations extend the gaps between the optimal success probability of global and local schemes, which can be eliminated only for the SSD rather than the other two protocols.
Abstract A general scenario for an N -sequential conclusive state discrimination introduced recently in Loubenets and Namkung [arXiv:2102.04747] can provide a multipartite quantum communication realizable in the presence of a noise. In the present article, we propose a new experimental scheme for the implementation of a sequential conclusive discrimination between binary coherent states via indirect measurements within the Jaynes–Cummings interaction model. We find that if the mean photon number is less than 1.6, then, for our two-sequential state discrimination scheme, the optimal success probability is larger than the one presented in Fields, Bergou, and Varga (2020, IEEE Int. Conf. Quant. Comp. Eng. ). We also show that, if the mean photon number is almost equal to 1.2, then the optimal success probability nearly approaches the Helstrom bound.