Multiple-copy state discrimination of noisy qubits

Flatt, K., Barnett, S. M. and Croke, S. (2019) Multiple-copy state discrimination of noisy qubits. Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 100, 032122. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.100.032122)

194080.pdf - Accepted Version



Multiple-copy state discrimination is a fundamental task in quantum information processing. If there are two, pure, nonorthogonal states then both local and collective schemes are known to reach the Helstrom bound, the maximum probability of successful discrimination allowed by quantum theory. For mixed states, it is known that only collective schemes can perform optimally, so it might be expected that these schemes are more resilient to preparation noise. We calculate the probability of success for two schemes, a local scheme based on Bayesian updating and quantum data gathering, the simplest possible collective measurement, and consider imperfect preparation fidelity. We find two surprising results. First, both schemes converge upon the same many-copy limit, which is less than unity. Second, the local scheme performs better in all cases. This highlights the point that one should take into account noise when designing state discrimination schemes.

Item Type:Articles
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Barnett, Professor Stephen and Flatt, Kieran and Croke, Dr Sarah
Authors: Flatt, K., Barnett, S. M., and Croke, S.
Journal Name:Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Publisher:American Physical Society
ISSN (Online):1094-1622


Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
721291Astronomy and physics, theoretical physics and application physics / Quantum Theory. Royal Society Research Professorship.Stephen BarnettThe Royal Society (ROYSOC)RP150122S&E P&A - PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY