We find that the asymptotic entanglement of assistance of a general bipartite mixed state is equal to the smaller of its two local entropies. Our protocol gives rise to the asymptotically optimal Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pair distillation procedure for a given tripartite pure state, and we show that it actually yields EPR and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states; in fact, under a restricted class of protocols, which we call ``one-way broadcasting,'' the GHZ rate is shown to be optimal. This result implies a capacity theorem for quantum channels where the environment helps transmission by broadcasting the outcome of an optimally chosen measurement. We discuss generalizations to $m$ parties and show (for $m=4$) that the maximal amount of entanglement that can be localized between two parties is given by the smallest entropy of a group of parties of which the one party is a member, but not the other. This gives an explicit expression for the asymptotic localizable entanglement and shows that any nontrivial ground state of a spin system can be used as a perfect quantum repeater if many copies are available in parallel. Finally, we provide evidence that any unital channel is asymptotically equivalent to a mixture of unitaries and any general channel to a mixture of partial isometries.
We find that the asymptotic entanglement of assistance of a general bipartite mixed state is equal to the smaller of its two local entropies. Our protocol gives rise to the asymptotically optimal Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pair distillation procedure for a given tripartite pure state, and we show that it actually yields EPR and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states; in fact, under a restricted class of protocols, which we call ``one-way broadcasting,'' the GHZ rate is shown to be optimal. This result implies a capacity theorem for quantum channels where the environment helps transmission by broadcasting the outcome of an optimally chosen measurement. We discuss generalizations to m parties and show (for m=4) that the maximal amount of entanglement that can be localized between two parties is given by the smallest entropy of a group of parties of which the one party is a member, but not the other. This gives an explicit expression for the asymptotic localizable entanglement and shows that any nontrivial ground state of a spin system can be used as a perfect quantum repeater if many copies are available in parallel. Finally, we provide evidence that any unital channel is asymptotically equivalent to a mixture of unitaries and any general channel to a mixture of partial isometries.
Hoping to simplify the classification of pure entangled states of multi $(m)\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}$ quantum systems, we study exactly and asymptotically (in n) reversible transformations among nth tensor powers of such states (i.e., n copies of the state shared among the same m parties) under local quantum operations and classical communication (LOCC). For exact transformations, we show that two states whose marginal one-party entropies agree are either locally unitarily equivalent or else LOCC incomparable. In particular we show that two tripartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states are LOCC incomparable to three bipartite Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) states symmetrically shared among the three parties. Asymptotic transformations yield a simpler classification than exact transformations; for example, they allow all pure bipartite states to be characterized by a single parameter---their partial entropy---which may be interpreted as the number of EPR pairs asymptotically interconvertible to the state in question by LOCC transformations. We show that $m\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}$ pure states having an $m\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{w}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{y}$ Schmidt decomposition are similarly parametrizable, with the partial entropy across any nontrivial partition representing the number of standard quantum superposition or ``cat'' states $|{0}^{\ensuremath{\bigotimes}m}〉+|{1}^{\ensuremath{\bigotimes}m}〉$ asymptotically interconvertible to the state in question. For general $m\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}$ states, partial entropies across different partitions need not be equal, and since partial entropies are conserved by asymptotically reversible LOCC operations, a multicomponent entanglement measure is needed, with each scalar component representing a different kind of entanglement, not asymptotically interconvertible to the other kinds. In particular we show that the m=4 cat state is not isentropic to, and therefore not asymptotically interconvertible to, any combination of bipartite and tripartite states shared among the four parties. Thus, although the m=4 cat state can be prepared from bipartite EPR states, the preparation process is necessarily irreversible, and remains so even asymptotically. For each number of parties m we define a minimal reversible entanglement generating set (MREGS) as a set of states of minimal cardinality sufficient to generate all $m\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{p}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{i}\mathrm{t}\mathrm{e}$ pure states by asymptotically reversible LOCC transformations. Partial entropy arguments provide lower bounds on the size of the MREGS, but for m>2 we know no upper bounds. We briefly consider several generalizations of LOCC transformations, including transformations with some probability of failure, transformations with the catalytic assistance of states other than the states we are trying to transform, and asymptotic LOCC transformations supplemented by a negligible [o(n)] amount of quantum communication.
We describe a protocol for distilling maximally entangled bipartite states between random pairs of parties from those sharing a tripartite W state |W=(1/sqrt[3])(|100+|010+|001)(ABC), and show that the total distillation rate E(t)(infinity) [the total number of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) pairs distilled per W, irrespective of who shares them] may be done at a higher rate than EPR distillation between specified pairs of parties. Specifically, the optimal rate for distillation to specified parties has been previously shown to be 0.92 EPR pairs per W, while our protocol can asymptotically distill 1 EPR pair per W between random pairs of parties, which we conjecture to be optimal. We thus demonstrate a tradeoff between overall distillation rate and final distribution of EPR pairs. We further show that there exist states with fixed lower-bounded E(t)(infinity), but arbitrarily small distillable entanglement for specified parties.
Distribution of entanglement is an essential task in quantum information processing and the realization of quantum networks. In our work, we theoretically investigate the scenario where a central source prepares anN-partite entangled state and transmits each entangled subsystem to one ofNreceivers through noisy quantum channels. The receivers are then able to perform local operations assisted by unlimited classical communication to distill target entangled states from the noisy channel output. In this operational context, we define the EPR distribution capacity and the GHZ distribution capacity of a quantum channel as the largest rates at which Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) states and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states can be faithfully distributed through the channel, respectively. We establish lower and upper bounds on the EPR distribution capacity by connecting it with the task of assisted entanglement distillation. We also construct an explicit protocol consisting of a combination of a quantum communication code and a classical-post-processing-assisted entanglement generation code, which yields a simple achievable lower bound for generic channels. As applications of these results, we give an exact expression for the EPR distribution capacity over two erasure channels and bounds on the EPR distribution capacity over two generalized amplitude damping channels. We also bound the GHZ distribution capacity, which results in an exact characterization of the GHZ distribution capacity when the most noisy channel is a dephasing channel.
Distribution of entanglement is an essential task in quantum information processing and the realization of quantum networks. In our work, we theoretically investigate the scenario where a central source prepares an N-partite entangled state and transmits each entangled subsystem to one ofNreceivers through noisy quantum channels. The receivers are then able to perform local operations assisted by unlimited classical communication to distill target entangled states from the noisy channel output. In this operational context, we define the EPR distribution capacity and the GHZ distribution capacity of a quantum channel as the largest rates at which Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) states and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states can be faithfully distributed through the channel, respectively. We establish lower and upper bounds on the EPR distribution capacity by connecting it with the task of assisted entanglement distillation. We also construct an explicit protocol consisting of a combination of a quantum communication code and a classical-post-processing-assisted entanglement generation code, which yields a simple achievable lower bound for generic channels. As applications of these results, we give an exact expression for the EPR distribution capacity over two erasure channels and bounds on the EPR distribution capacity over two generalized amplitude damping channels. We also bound the GHZ distribution capacity, which results in an exact characterization of the GHZ distribution capacity when the most noisy channel is a dephasing channel.
We introduce and study the task of assisted coherence distillation. This task arises naturally in bipartite systems where both parties work together to generate the maximal possible coherence on one of the subsystems. Only incoherent operations are allowed on the target system, while general local quantum operations are permitted on the other; this is an operational paradigm that we call local quantum-incoherent operations and classical communication. We show that the asymptotic rate of assisted coherence distillation for pure states is equal to the coherence of assistance, an analog of the entanglement of assistance, whose properties we characterize. Our findings imply a novel interpretation of the von Neumann entropy: it quantifies the maximum amount of extra quantum coherence a system can gain when receiving assistance from a collaborative party. Our results are generalized to coherence localization in a multipartite setting and possible applications are discussed.
We describe various results related to the random-party distillation of multiparty entangled states---that is, conversion of such states into entangled states shared between fewer parties, where those parties are not predetermined. In previous work we showed that certain output states (namely Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs) could be reliably acquired from a prescribed initial multipartite state [namely the W state ∣W⟩=31(∣100⟩+∣010⟩+∣001⟩)] via random-party distillation that could not be reliably created between predetermined parties. Here we provide a more rigorous definition of what constitutes ``advantageous'' random-party distillation. We show that random-party distillation is always advantageous for W-class three-qubit states (but only sometimes for Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger class states). We show that the general class of multiparty states known as symmetric Dicke states can be readily converted to many other states in the class via random-party distillation. Finally we show that random-party distillation is provably not advantageous in the limit of multiple copies of pure states.