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arXiv:quant-ph/0611042

Quantum states characterization for the zero-error capacity

Rex A. C. Medeiros, Romain Alléaume, Gérard Cohen, Francisco de Assis

Published Nov 3, 2006• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The zero-error capacity of quantum channels was defined as the least upper bound of rates at which classical information can be transmitted through a quantum channel with probability of error equal to zero. This paper investigates some properties of input states and measurements used to attain the quantum zero-error capacity. We start by reformulating the problem of finding the zero-error capacity in the language of graph theory. This alternative definition is used to prove that the zero-error capacity of any quantum channel can be reached by using tensor products of pure states as channel inputs, and projective measurements in the channel output. We conclude by presenting an example that illustrates our results.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0611042

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The zero-error capacity of quantum channels was defined as the least upper bound of rates at which classical information can be transmitted through a quantum channel with probability of error equal to zero. This paper investigates some properties of input states and measurements used to attain the quantum zero-error capacity. We start by reformulating the problem of finding the zero-error capacity in the language of graph theory. This alternative definition is used to prove that the zero-error capacity of any quantum channel can be reached by using tensor products of pure states as channel inputs, and projective measurements in the channel output. We conclude by presenting an example that illustrates our results.
The one-shot zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the maximum amount of classical information that can be transmitted with zero probability of error via a single channel use. This capacity is fundamentally characterized by the logarithm of the independence number of the noncommutative graph induced by the quantum channel. Consequently, the additivity of the one-shot zero-error classical capacity is equivalent to the multiplicativity of the independence number of the associated noncommutative graphs. As the independence number is not multiplicative in general, the specific conditions under which multiplicativity is preserved remain an open question in quantum information theory. Here, we establish some sufficient conditions for the multiplicativity of the independence number and provide explicit examples of quantum channels that satisfy these criteria. Furthermore, we investigate the block form of noncommutative graphs and derive the conditions under which the independence number remains multiplicative within this framework. These results offer new insights into the structural properties of noncommutative graphs and the fundamental limits of zero-error quantum communication.
The zero-error capacity of a channel (or “Shannon capacity of a graph”) quantifies how much information can be transmitted with no risk of error. In contrast to the Shannon capacity of achannel, the zero-error capacity has not even been shown to be computable: we have no convergent upper bounds. In this work, we present a new quantity, the zero-errorunitarycapacity, and show that it can be succinctly represented as the tensor product value of a quantum game. By studying the structure of finite automata, we show that the unitary capacity is within a controllable factor of the zero-error capacity. This allows new upper bounds through the sum-of-squares hierarchy, which converges to the commuting operator value of the game. Under the conjecture that the commuting operator and tensor product value of this game are equal, this would yield an algorithm for computing the zero-error capacity.
The zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the asymptotic rate at which it can be used to send classical bits perfectly, so that they can be decoded with zero probability of error. The study of zero-error capacities dates right back to Shannon and the early days of information theory. We show that there exist pairs of quantum channels, neither of which individually have any zero-error capacity whatsoever (even if arbitrarily many uses of the channels are available), but such that access to even a single copy of both channels allows classical information to be sent perfectly reliably. In other words, we prove that the zero-error classical capacity can be superactivated. This result is the first example of superactivation of a classical capacity of a quantum channel. We further strengthen this result to show that there exist pairs of channels, neither of which have any zero-error classical capacity (as before), yet for which access to one copy of the joint channel even allows far more delicate quantum information to be transmitted perfectly. This subsumes the first result, and also implies that the quantum zero-error capacity can be superactivated. But it is strictly stronger than either of these. Indeed, this is the strongest conceivable form of superactivation, and nothing similar is possible for standard Shannon capacities of quantum channels or for zero-error capacities of classical channels.
We give a detailed description of a low-dimensional quantum channel (input dimension 4, Choi rank 3) demonstrating the symmetric form of superactivation of one-shot quantum zero-error capacity. This property means appearance of a noiseless (perfectly reversible) subchannel in the tensor square of a channel having no noiseless subchannels. Then we describe a quantum channel with an arbitrary given level of symmetric superactivation (including the infinite value). We also show that superactivation of one-shot quantum zero-error capacity of a channel can be reformulated in terms of quantum measurement theory as appearance of an indistinguishable subspace for the tensor product of two observables having no indistinguishable subspaces.
The zero-error capacity of a channel is the rate at which it can send information perfectly, with zero probability of error, and has long been studied in classical information theory. We show that the zero-error capacity of quantum channels exhibits an extreme form of non-additivity, one which is not possible for classical channels, or even for the usual capacities of quantum channels. By combining probabilistic arguments with algebraic geometry, we prove that there exist channels E1 and E2 with no zero-error classical capacity whatsoever, C0(E1) = C0(E2) = 0, but whose joint zero-error quantum capacity is positive, Q0(E1 ⊗ E2) ≥ 1. We term this striking effect super-duper-activation, as it implies that both the classical and quantum zero-error capacities of these channels can be superactivated simultaneously, whilst being a strictly stronger property of capacities. Superactivation of the quantum zero-error capacity was not previously known.
The zero-error classical capacity of a quantum channel is the asymptotic rate at which it can be used to send classical bits perfectly so that they can be decoded with zero probability of error. We show that there exist pairs of quantum channels, neither of which individually have any zero-error capacity whatsoever (even if arbitrarily many uses of the channels are available), but such that access to even a single copy of both channels allows classical information to be sent perfectly reliably. In other words, we prove that the zero-error classical capacity can be superactivated. This result is the first example of superactivation of a classical capacity of a quantum channel.