Minimal optimal generalized quantum measurements

Optimal and finite positive operator valued measurements on a finite number $N$ of identically prepared systems have been presented recently. With physical realization in mind we propose here optimal and minimal generalized quantum measurements for two-level systems. We explicitly construct them up to N=7 and verify that they are minimal up to N=5. We finally propose an expression which gives the size of the minimal optimal measurements for arbitrary $N$.Comment: 9 pages, Late

Optimal generalized quantum measurements for arbitrary spin systems

Positive operator valued measurements on a finite number of N identically prepared systems of arbitrary spin J are discussed. Pure states are characterized in terms of Bloch-like vectors restricted by a SU(2 J+1) covariant constraint. This representation allows for a simple description of the equations to be fulfilled by optimal measurements. We explicitly find the minimal POVM for the N=2 case, a rigorous bound for N=3 and set up the analysis for arbitrary N.Comment: LateX, 12 page

Optimal minimal measurements of mixed states

The optimal and minimal measuring strategy is obtained for a two-state system prepared in a mixed state with a probability given by any isotropic a priori distribution. We explicitly construct the specific optimal and minimal generalized measurements, which turn out to be independent of the a priori probability distribution, obtaining the best guesses for the unknown state as well as a closed expression for the maximal mean averaged fidelity. We do this for up to three copies of the unknown state in a way which leads to the generalization to any number of copies, which we then present and prove.Comment: 20 pages, no figure

Optimal estimation of two-qubit pure-state entanglement

We present optimal measuring strategies for the estimation of the entanglement of unknown two-qubit pure states and of the degree of mixing of unknown single-qubit mixed states, of which N identical copies are available. The most general measuring strategies are considered in both situations, to conclude in the first case that a local, although collective, measurement suffices to estimate entanglement, a non-local property, optimally.Comment: REVTEX, 9 pages, 1 figur

Communication of Spin Directions with Product States and Finite Measurements

Total spin eigenstates can be used to intrinsically encode a direction, which can later be decoded by means of a quantum measurement. We study the optimal strategy that can be adopted if, as is likely in practical applications, only product states of $N$-spins are available. We obtain the asymptotic behaviour of the average fidelity which provides a proof that the optimal states must be entangled. We also give a prescription for constructing finite measurements for general encoding eigenstates.Comment: 4 pages, minor changes, version to appear in PR

Universal Quantum Information Compression

Suppose that a quantum source is known to have von Neumann entropy less than or equal to S but is otherwise completely unspecified. We describe a method of universal quantum data compression which will faithfully compress the quantum information of any such source to S qubits per signal (in the limit of large block lengths).Comment: RevTex 4 page

Optimal strategies for sending information through a quantum channel

Quantum states can be used to encode the information contained in a direction, i.e., in a unit vector. We present the best encoding procedure when the quantum state is made up of $N$ spins (qubits). We find that the quality of this optimal procedure, which we quantify in terms of the fidelity, depends solely on the dimension of the encoding space. We also investigate the use of spatial rotations on a quantum state, which provide a natural and less demanding encoding. In this case we prove that the fidelity is directly related to the largest zeros of the Legendre and Jacobi polynomials. We also discuss our results in terms of the information gain.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, final version to appear in Phys.Rev.Let

Fidelity trade-off for finite ensembles of identically prepared qubits

We calculate the trade-off between the quality of estimating the quantum state of an ensemble of identically prepared qubits and the minimum level of disturbance that has to be introduced by this procedure in quantum mechanics. The trade-off is quantified using two mean fidelities: the operation fidelity which characterizes the average resemblance of the final qubit state to the initial one, and the estimation fidelity describing the quality of the obtained estimate. We analyze properties of quantum operations saturating the achievability bound for the operation fidelity versus the estimation fidelity, which allows us to reduce substantially the complexity of the problem of finding the trade-off curve. The reduced optimization problem has the form of an eigenvalue problem for a set of tridiagonal matrices, and it can be easily solved using standard numerical tools.Comment: 26 pages, REVTeX, 2 figures. Few minor corrections, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Asymmetric universal entangling machine

We give a definition of asymmetric universal entangling machine which entangles a system in an unknown state to a specially prepared ancilla. The machine produces a fixed state-independent amount of entanglement in exchange to a fixed degradation of the system state fidelity. We describe explicitly such a machine for any quantum system having $d$ levels and prove its optimality. We show that a $d^2$-dimensional ancilla is sufficient for reaching optimality. The introduced machine is a generalization to a number of widely investigated universal quantum devices such as the symmetric and asymmetric quantum cloners, the symmetric quantum entangler, the quantum information distributor and the universal-NOT gate.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figure

Information, disturbance and Hamiltonian quantum feedback control

We consider separating the problem of designing Hamiltonian quantum feedback control algorithms into a measurement (estimation) strategy and a feedback (control) strategy, and consider optimizing desirable properties of each under the minimal constraint that the available strength of both is limited. This motivates concepts of information extraction and disturbance which are distinct from those usually considered in quantum information theory. Using these concepts we identify an information trade-off in quantum feedback control.Comment: 13 pages, multicol Revtex, 2 eps figure