Detection Error Probability Analysis Over Atmospheric Quantum Channels With Pointing Errors: A Physically Admissible Bounded Transmissivity Framework

Abstract

We develop an exact error probability framework for quantum free space optics (FSO) communication over atmospheric channels with turbulence and pointing errors under a physically admissible bounded transmissivity model. The proposed framework is grounded in the fundamental physical observation that, in a quantum optical channel, the random channel quantity is the transmissivity itself, namely, the fraction of transmitted photons collected at the receiver, and must therefore take values only in the physically admissible interval [0,1]. This constraint is generally violated when classical turbulence models are interpreted directly as transmissivity models in quantum settings. Accordingly, we model the turbulence-induced transmissivity as a Beta distributed random variable over (0,1), which has recently been shown to provide accurate fitting under different turbulence conditions while preserving physical admissibility. We then integrate deterministic atmospheric loss and pointing errors into a unified equivalent transmissivity model and derive exact expressions for its probability density function and moment generating function. Building upon this statistical characterization, we derive novel exact average error probability expressions for binary modulation under both quantum and classical receivers. Finally, we verify the analysis using Monte Carlo simulations, quantify the impact of turbulence and pointing errors, and demonstrate the performance advantage of quantum optimal detection in photon-limited quantum FSO channels.