On the structure of mirrored operators obtained from optimal entanglement witnesses.

Entanglement witnesses (EWs) are a versatile tool in the verification of entangled states. The framework of mirrored EW doubles the power of a given EW by introducing its twin-a mirrored EW-whereby two EWs related by mirroring can bound the set of separable states more efficiently. In this work, we investigate the relation between the EWs and its mirrored ones, and present a conjecture which claims that the mirrored operator obtained from an optimal EW is either a positive operator or a decomposable EW, which implies that positive-partial-transpose entangled states, also known as the bound entangled states, cannot be detected. This conjecture is reached by studying numerous known examples of optimal EWs. However, the mirrored EWs obtained from the non-optimal ones can be non-decomposable as well. We also show that mirrored operators obtained from the extremal decomposable witnesses are positive semi-definite. Interestingly, the witnesses that violate the well known conjecture of Structural Physical Approximation, do satisfy our conjecture. The intricate relation between these two conjectures is discussed and it reveals a novel structure of the separability problem.

Quantum vs Noncontextual Semi-Device-Independent Randomness Certification.

We compare the power of quantum and classical physics in terms of randomness certification from devices which are only partially characterized. We study randomness certification based on state discrimination and take noncontextuality as the notion of classicality. A contextual advantage was recently shown to exist for state discrimination. Here, we develop quantum and noncontextual semi-device independent protocols for random-number generation based on maximum-confidence discrimination, which generalizes unambiguous and minimum-error state discrimination. We show that, for quantum eavesdroppers, quantum devices can certify more randomness than noncontextual ones whenever none of the input states are unambiguously identified. That is, a quantum-over-classical advantage exists.

Nonlocal Network Coding in Interference Channels.

In a network, a channel introduces correlations to the parties that aim to establish a communication protocol. We present a framework of nonlocal network coding by exploiting a Bell scenario and show the usefulness of nonlocal and quantum resources in network coding. Two-sender and two-receiver interference channels are considered, for which network coding is characterized by two-input and four-outcome Bell scenarios. It is shown that nonsignaling correlations lead to strictly higher channel capacities than quantum correlations in general. This also holds true for quantum and local correlations: network coding with quantum resources shows a strictly higher channel capacity than local ones. It turns out, however, that more nonlocality does not necessarily imply a higher channel capacity. The framework can be generally applied to network communication protocols.

Quantifying the nonclassicality of pure dephasing.

One of the central problems in quantum theory is to characterize, detect, and quantify quantumness in terms of classical strategies. Dephasing processes, caused by non-dissipative information exchange between quantum systems and environments, provides a natural platform for this purpose, as they control the quantum-to-classical transition. Recently, it has been shown that dephasing dynamics itself can exhibit (non)classical traits, depending on the nature of the system-environment correlations and the related (im)possibility to simulate these dynamics with Hamiltonian ensembles-the classical strategy. Here we establish the framework of detecting and quantifying the nonclassicality for pure dephasing dynamics. The uniqueness of the canonical representation of Hamiltonian ensembles is shown, and a constructive method to determine the latter is presented. We illustrate our method for qubit, qutrit, and qubit-pair pure dephasing and describe how to implement our approach with quantum process tomography experiments. Our work is readily applicable to present-day quantum experiments.

More Entanglement Implies Higher Performance in Channel Discrimination Tasks.

We show that every entangled state provides an advantage in ancilla-assisted bi- and multichannel discrimination that singles out its degree of entanglement, quantified in terms of the Schmidt number. The Schmidt-number robustness provides a compelling quantification of such an advantage, and, remarkably, the well-known robustness of entanglement exactly provides the largest multiplicative advantage an entangled state can provide compared to the case where no ancilla is used in a channel discrimination task.

Designing quantum information processing via structural physical approximation.

In quantum information processing it may be possible to have efficient computation and secure communication beyond the limitations of classical systems. In a fundamental point of view, however, evolution of quantum systems by the laws of quantum mechanics is more restrictive than classical systems, identified to a specific form of dynamics, that is, unitary transformations and, consequently, positive and completely positive maps to subsystems. This also characterizes classes of disallowed transformations on quantum systems, among which positive but not completely maps are of particular interest as they characterize entangled states, a general resource in quantum information processing. Structural physical approximation offers a systematic way of approximating those non-physical maps, positive but not completely positive maps, with quantum channels. Since it has been proposed as a method of detecting entangled states, it has stimulated fundamental problems on classifications of positive maps and the structure of Hermitian operators and quantum states, as well as on quantum measurement such as quantum design in quantum information theory. It has developed efficient and feasible methods of directly detecting entangled states in practice, for which proof-of-principle experimental demonstrations have also been performed with photonic qubit states. Here, we present a comprehensive review on quantum information processing with structural physical approximations and the related progress. The review mainly focuses on properties of structural physical approximations and their applications toward practical information applications.

Operational Characterization of Divisibility of Dynamical Maps.

In this work, we show the operational characterization to the divisibility of dynamical maps in terms of the distinguishability of quantum channels. It is proven that the distinguishability of any pair of quantum channels does not increase under divisible maps, in which the full hierarchy of divisibility is isomorphic to the structure of entanglement between system and environment. This shows that (i) channel distinguishability is the operational quantity signifying (detecting) divisibility (indivisibility) of dynamical maps and (ii) the decision problem for the divisibility of maps is as hard as the separability problem in entanglement theory. We also provide the information-theoretic characterization to the divisibility of maps with conditional min-entropy.

N-dimensional measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with N + 1 un-characterized sources: zero quantum-bit-error-rate case.

We study N-dimensional measurement-device-independent quantum-key-distribution protocol where one checking state is used. Only assuming that the checking state is a superposition of other N sources, we show that the protocol is secure in zero quantum-bit-error-rate case, suggesting possibility of the protocol. The method may be applied in other quantum information processing.

Discrimination of two-qubit unitaries via local operations and classical communication.

Distinguishability is a fundamental and operational measure generally connected to information applications. In quantum information theory, from the postulates of quantum mechanics it often has an intrinsic limitation, which then dictates and also characterises capabilities of related information tasks. In this work, we consider discrimination between bipartite two-qubit unitary transformations by local operations and classical communication (LOCC) and its relations to entangling capabilities of given unitaries. We show that a pair of entangling unitaries which do not contain local parts, if they are perfectly distinguishable by global operations, can also be perfectly distinguishable by LOCC. There also exist non-entangling unitaries, e.g. local unitaries, that are perfectly discriminated by global operations but not by LOCC. The results show that capabilities of LOCC are strictly restricted than global operations in distinguishing bipartite unitaries for a finite number of repetitions, contrast to discrimination of a pair of bipartite states and also to asymptotic discrimination of unitaries.

Experimental realization of an approximate partial transpose for photonic two-qubit systems.

We report the first experimental realization of an approximate partial transpose for photonic two-qubit systems. The proposed scheme is based on the local operation on single copies of quantum states and classical communication, and therefore can be easily applied for other quantum information tasks within current technologies. Direct detection of entanglement, i.e., without performing quantum state tomography, using the partial transpose operation, is also demonstrated.

No-signaling principle can determine optimal quantum state discrimination.

We provide a general framework of utilizing the no-signaling principle in derivation of the guessing probability in the minimum-error quantum state discrimination. We show that, remarkably, the guessing probability can be determined by the no-signaling principle. This is shown by proving that, in the semidefinite programing for the discrimination, the optimality condition corresponds to the constraint that quantum theory cannot be used for a superluminal communication. Finally, a general bound to the guessing probability is presented in a closed form.

Asymptotic quantum cloning is state estimation.

The impossibility of perfect cloning and state estimation are two fundamental results in quantum mechanics. It has been conjectured that quantum cloning becomes equivalent to state estimation in the asymptotic regime where the number of clones tends to infinity. We prove this conjecture using two known results of quantum information theory: the monogamy of quantum correlations and the properties of entanglement breaking channels.