This document focuses on translating various information-theoretic measures of distinguishability for probability distributions into measures of distin- guishability for quantum states. These measures should have important appli- cations in quantum cryptography and quantum computation theory. The results reported include the following. An exact expression for the quantum fidelity between two mixed states is derived. The optimal measurement that gives rise to it is studied in detail. Several upper and lower bounds on the quantum mutual information are derived via similar techniques and compared to each other. Of note is a simple derivation of the important upper bound first proved by Holevo and an explicit expression for another (tighter) upper bound that appears implicitly in the same derivation. Several upper and lower bounds to the quan- tum Kullback relative information are derived. The measures developed are also applied to ferreting out the extent to which quantum systems must be disturbed by information gathering measurements. This is tackled in two ways. The first is in setting up a general formalism for describing the tradeoff between inference and disturbance. The main point of this is that it gives a way of expressing the problem so that it appears as algebraic as that of the problem of finding quantum distinguishability measures. The second result on this theme is a theorem that prohibits "broadcasting" an unknown (mixed) quantum state. That is to say, there is no way to replicate an unknown quantum state onto two separate quantum systems when each system is considered without regard to the other. This includes the possibility of correlation or quantum entanglement between the systems. This result is a significant extension and generalization of the standard "no-cloning" theorem for pure states.
This document focuses on translating various information-theoretic measures of distinguishability for probability distributions into measures of distin- guishability for quantum states. These measures should have important appli- cations in quantum cryptography and quantum computation theory. The results reported include the following. An exact expression for the quantum fidelity between two mixed states is derived. The optimal measurement that gives rise to it is studied in detail. Several upper and lower bounds on the quantum mutual information are derived via similar techniques and compared to each other. Of note is a simple derivation of the important upper bound first proved by Holevo and an explicit expression for another (tighter) upper bound that appears implicitly in the same derivation. Several upper and lower bounds to the quan- tum Kullback relative information are derived. The measures developed are also applied to ferreting out the extent to which quantum systems must be disturbed by information gathering measurements. This is tackled in two ways. The first is in setting up a general formalism for describing the tradeoff between inference and disturbance. The main point of this is that it gives a way of expressing the problem so that it appears as algebraic as that of the problem of finding quantum distinguishability measures. The second result on this theme is a theorem that prohibits "broadcasting" an unknown (mixed) quantum state. That is to say, there is no way to replicate an unknown quantum state onto two separate quantum systems when each system is considered without regard to the other. This includes the possibility of correlation or quantum entanglement between the systems. This result is a significant extension and generalization of the standard "no-cloning" theorem for pure states.
This thesis presents a formal model for quantum protocols, that is, cryptographic protocols based on quantum mechanics. It also develops a definition of security (which includes notions such as privacy and correctness) for quantum protocols.
First, existing classical (non-quantum) definitions of security are studied. There are essentially two approaches: one based on Turing Machines and simulation, the other using information theory. Both approaches are explored in detail and compared, then a particular variation of the first approach is chosen. Security is defined by introducing an interface (also called a simulator) which is capable of translating an attack on protocol 1 into an attack on protocol 2. The profile of a protocol is a stochastic variable, defined as the output of the participants and the view of the adversary who performs the attack. If an interface exists such that the profile of protocol 1 is indistinguishable from the profile of protocol 2 with the help of this interface, then protocol 1 is at least as secure as protocol 2. An absolute notion of security is obtained by comparing the protocol implementation with its 'ideal' equivalent.
In this approach, and in classical cryptography in general, indistinguishability of probability distributions is a crucial tool. The meaning of this notion is explored in the context of density matrices, the mathematical formalism which is used to describe the state of a quantum system. Various measures of distinguishability of quantum states relevant from a cryptographic point of view are investigated: probability of error, trace norm (related to the Kolmogorov distance), overlap (related to the Bhattacharyya coefficient) and Shannon distinguishability (defined through the mutual information). It is shown that if we require that the distinguishability between two families of quantum states vanish exponentially fast, these four distinguishability measures are equivalent.
Along the way upper and lower bounds for the Shannon distinguishability are obtained. This is a very useful result, because explicit computation of the Shannon distinguishability between two quantum states is often difficult (it requires solving a transcendental equation), whereas the other distinguishability measures, in particular the trace norm, are usually much easier to compute.
In the last chapter the two previous topics are combined. A formal model for quantum protocols is formulated. It uses Quantum Turing Machines to represent the participants, who communicate through a quantum channel. The different nature of quantum information as opposed to classical information is explored in detail, including the implications this has for the definition. As in the classical case, we introduce an interface to compare the security of two protocols for the same task. Subsequently some consequences of the proposed definition are investigated. In particular, strong evidence is given that one classical technique often used in proofs of security for classical protocols, called rewinding, is impossible in the quantum setting.
Quantum cryptography converts structural restrictions on quantum information into operational secrecy. This article develops the chain connecting nonorthogonal-state discrimination, trace distance and fidelity, the Helstrom bound, no-cloning, no-broadcasting, information-disturbance relations, conditional entropy, and privacy amplification. A linearity argument proves that no universal device can copy arbitrary pure states, while the mixed-state no-broadcasting theorem identifies pairwise commutativity as the exact boundary of exact broadcastability. These results explain why an eavesdropper cannot retain a perfect replica of every signal and wait for later basis disclosure. They are not, however, complete security proofs. Modern quantum key distribution must cover coherent attacks, quantum memory, public reconciliation leakage, imperfect sources and detectors, finite samples, authentication, and composition with later applications. The review connects state discrimination to adversarial guessing probability through conditional min-entropy and explains how entropic uncertainty and entanglement-based reductions transform observed statistics into a lower bound on extractable key. Approximate cloning, unambiguous discrimination, channel loss, side channels, and device-independent certification are examined as qualifications to elementary intuition. The central result is a hierarchy: nonorthogonality restricts distinguishability; data processing forbids perfect information amplification; parameter estimation bounds an adversary’s conditional states; and quantum-proof hashing yields a key close in trace distance to an ideal independent key. Cryptographic security therefore depends on quantum limitations embedded within a fully specified protocol and adversarial model.
This paper is primarily concerned with the development and application of quantum bounds on mutual information, although some of the methods developed can be applied to any figure of merit indicating degree of correlation, such as coincidence rate. Three basic techniques for obtaining bounds are described: mappings between joint-measurement and communication correlation contexts; a duality relation for quantum ensembles and quantum measurements; and an information exclusion principle [M. J. W. Hall, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 3307 (1995)]. Results include a proof of Holevo's communication bound from a joint-measurement inequality; a measurement-dependent dual to Holevo's bound; lower bounds for mutual information under ensemble and measurement constraints; information exclusion relations for measurements described by probability-operator measures; a proof that Glauber coherent states are optimal signal states for quantum communication based on (noisy) optical heterodyne detection; and an information inequality for quantum eavesdropping. Relations between the three techniques are used to further obtain upper bounds for quantum information, and to extend the information exclusion principle to a joint-measurement context.
One of the many interesting features of quantum nonlocality is that the states of a multipartite quantum system cannot always be distinguished as well by local measurements as they can when all quantum measurements are allowed. In this work, we characterize the distinguishability of sets of multipartite quantum states when restricted to separable measurements, those which contain the class of local measurements but nevertheless are free of entanglement between the component systems. We consider two quantities: the separable fidelity, a truly quantum quantity, which measures how well we can ``clone'' the input state, and the classical probability of success, which simply gives the optimal probability of identifying the state correctly. We obtain lower and upper bounds on the separable fidelity and give several examples in the bipartite and multipartite settings where these bounds are optimal. Moreover the optimal values in these cases can be attained by local measurements. We further show that for distinguishing orthogonal states under separable measurements, a strategy that maximizes the probability of success is also optimal for separable fidelity. We point out that the equality of fidelity and success probability does not depend on an using the optimal strategy, only on the orthogonality of the states. To illustrate this, we present an example where two sets (one consisting of orthogonal states and the other nonorthogonal states) are shown to have the same separable fidelity even though the success probabilities are different.
The well-known duality relating entangled states and noisy quantum channels is expressed in terms of a channel ket, a pure state on a suitable tripartite system, which functions as a pre-probability allowing the calculation of statistical correlations between, for example, the entrance and exit of a channel, once a framework has been chosen so as to allow a consistent set of probabilities. In each framework the standard notions of ordinary (classical) information theory apply, and it makes sense to ask whether information of a particular sort about one system is or is not present in another system. Quantum effects arise when a single pre-probability is used to compute statistical correlations in different incompatible frameworks, and various constraints on the presence and absence of different kinds of information are expressed in a set of all-or-nothing theorems which generalize or give a precise meaning to the concept of ``no-cloning.'' These theorems are used to discuss the location of information in quantum channels modeled using a mixed-state environment, the classical-quantum channels introduced by Holevo, and the location of information in the physical carriers of a quantum code. It is proposed that both channel and entanglement problems be classified in terms of pure states (functioning as pre-probabilities) on systems of $p\ensuremath{\geqslant}2$ parts, with mixed bipartite entanglement and simple noisy channels belonging to the category p=3, a five-qubit code to the category p=6, etc., then by the dimensions of the Hilbert spaces of the component parts, along with other criteria yet to be determined.
Logical information theory is the quantitative version of the logic of partitions just as logical probability theory is the quantitative version of the dual Boolean logic of subsets. The resulting notion of information is about distinctions, differences, and distinguishability, and is formalized using the distinctions (`dits') of a partition (a pair of points distinguished by the partition). All the definitions of simple, joint, conditional, and mutual entropy of Shannon information theory are derived by a uniform transformation from the corresponding definitions at the logical level. The purpose of this paper is to give the direct generalization to quantum logical information theory that similarly focuses on the pairs of eigenstates distinguished by an observable, i.e., qudits of an observable. The fundamental theorem for quantum logical entropy and measurement establishes a direct quantitative connection between the increase in quantum logical entropy due to a projective measurement and the eigenstates (cohered together in the pure superposition state being measured) that are distinguished by the measurement (decohered in the post-measurement mixed state). Both the classical and quantum versions of logical entropy have simple interpretations as "two-draw" probabilities for distinctions. The conclusion is that quantum logical entropy is the simple and natural notion of information for quantum information theory focusing on the distinguishing of quantum states.