Resource cost results for one-way entanglement distillation and state merging of compound and arbitrarily varying quantum sources

We consider one-way quantum state merging and entanglement distillation under compound and arbitrarily varying source models. Regarding quantum compound sources, where the source is memoryless, but the source state an unknown member of a certain set of density matrices, we continue investigations begun in the work of Bjelakovi\'c et. al. [Universal quantum state merging, J. Math. Phys. 54, 032204 (2013)] and determine the classical as well as entanglement cost of state merging. We further investigate quantum state merging and entanglement distillation protocols for arbitrarily varying quantum sources (AVQS). In the AVQS model, the source state is assumed to vary in an arbitrary manner for each source output due to environmental fluctuations or adversarial manipulation. We determine the one-way entanglement distillation capacity for AVQS, where we invoke the famous robustification and elimination techniques introduced by R. Ahlswede. Regarding quantum state merging for AVQS we show by example, that the robustification and elimination based approach generally leads to suboptimal entanglement as well as classical communication rates.Comment: Improved presentation. Close to the published version. Results unchanged. 25 pages, 0 figure

Joint exceedances of random products

We analyze the joint extremal behavior of $n$ random products of the form $\prod_{j=1}^m X_j^{a_{ij}}, 1 \leq i \leq n,$ for non-negative, independent regularly varying random variables $X_1, \ldots, X_m$ and general coefficients $a_{ij} \in \mathbb{R}$. Products of this form appear for example if one observes a linear time series with gamma type innovations at $n$ points in time. We combine arguments of linear optimization and a generalized concept of regular variation on cones to show that the asymptotic behavior of joint exceedance probabilities of these products is determined by the solution of a linear program related to the matrix $\mathbf{A}=(a_{ij})$

Conditional Extreme Value Models: Fallacies and Pitfalls

Conditional extreme value models have been introduced by Heffernan and Resnick (2007) to describe the asymptotic behavior of a random vector as one specific component becomes extreme. Obviously, this class of models is related to classical multivariate extreme value theory which describes the behavior of a random vector as its norm (and therefore at least one of its components) becomes extreme. However, it turns out that this relationship is rather subtle and sometimes contrary to intuition. We clarify the differences between the two approaches with the help of several illuminative (counter)examples. Furthermore, we discuss marginal standardization, which is a useful tool in classical multivariate extreme value theory but, as we point out, much less straightforward and sometimes even obscuring in conditional extreme value models. Finally, we indicate how, in some situations, a more comprehensive characterization of the asymptotic behavior can be obtained if the conditions of conditional extreme value models are relaxed so that the limit is no longer unique.Comment: 22 page

Resource Cost Results for Entanglement Distillation and State Merging under Source Uncertainties

We introduce one-way LOCC protocols for quantum state merging for compound sources, which have asymptotically optimal entanglement as well as classical communication resource costs. For the arbitrarily varying quantum source (AVQS) model, we determine the one-way entanglement distillation capacity, where we utilize the robustification and elimination techniques, well-known from classical as well as quantum channel coding under assumption of arbitrarily varying noise. Investigating quantum state merging for AVQS, we demonstrate by example, that the usual robustification procedure leads to suboptimal resource costs in this case.Comment: 5 pages, 0 figures. Accepted for presentation at the IEEE ISIT 2014 Honolulu. This is a conference version of arXiv:1401.606

Entanglement-assisted classical capacities of compound and arbitrarily varying quantum channels

We consider classical message transmission under entanglement assistance for compound memoryless and arbitrarily varying quantum channels. In both cases, we prove general coding theorems together with corresponding weak converse bounds. In this way, we obtain single-letter characterizations of the entanglement-assisted classical capacities for both channel models. Moreover, we show that the entanglement-assisted classical capacity does exhibit no strong converse property for some compound quantum channels for the average as well as the maximal error criterion. A strong converse to the entanglement-assisted classical capacities does hold for each arbitrarily varying quantum channel.Comment: Minor corrections, results unchanged, presentation updated, 21 pages, 0 figures, accepted for publication in Quant. Inf. Pro

Randomness cost of symmetric twirling

We study random unitary channels which reproduce the action of the twirling channel corresponding to the representation of the symmetric groupon an n-fold tensor product. We derive upper andlower bounds on the randomness cost of implementing such a map which depend exponentially on the number of systems. Consequently, symmetrictwirling can be regarded as a reasonable Shannon theoretic protocol. On the other hand, such protocols are disqualified by their resource-inefficiency in situations where randomness is a costly resource.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Simultaneous transmission of classical and quantum information under channel uncertainty and jamming attacks

We derive universal codes for simultaneous transmission of classical messages and entanglement through quantum channels, possibly under attack of a malignant third party. These codes are robust to different kinds of channel uncertainty. To construct such universal codes, we invoke and generalize properties of random codes for classical and quantum message transmission through quantum channels. We show these codes to be optimal by giving a multi-letter characterization of regions corresponding to the capacity of compound quantum channels for simultaneously transmitting and generating entanglement with classical messages. Also, we give dichotomy statements in which we characterize the capacity of arbitrarily varying quantum channels for simultaneous transmission of classical messages and entanglement. These include cases where the malignant jammer present in the arbitrarily varying channel model is classical (chooses channel states of product form) and fully quantum (is capable of general attacks not necessarily of product form)

Universal superposition codes: capacity regions of compound quantum broadcast channel with confidential messages

We derive universal codes for transmission of broadcast and confidential messages over classical-quantum-quantum and fully quantum channels. These codes are robust to channel uncertainties considered in the compound model. To construct these codes we generalize random codes for transmission of public messages, to derive a universal superposition coding for the compound quantum broadcast channel. As an application, we give a multi-letter characterization of regions corresponding to the capacity of the compound quantum broadcast channel for transmitting broadcast and confidential messages simultaneously. This is done for two types of broadcast messages, one called public and the other common

Arbitrarily varying and compound classical-quantum channels and a note on quantum zero-error capacities

We consider compound as well as arbitrarily varying classical-quantum channel models. For classical-quantum compound channels, we give an elementary proof of the direct part of the coding theorem. A weak converse under average error criterion to this statement is also established. We use this result together with the robustification and elimination technique developed by Ahlswede in order to give an alternative proof of the direct part of the coding theorem for a finite classical-quantum arbitrarily varying channels with the criterion of success being average error probability. Moreover we provide a proof of the strong converse to the random coding capacity in this setting.The notion of symmetrizability for the maximal error probability is defined and it is shown to be both necessary and sufficient for the capacity for message transmission with maximal error probability criterion to equal zero. Finally, it is shown that the connection between zero-error capacity and certain arbitrarily varying channels is, just like in the case of quantum channels, only partially valid for classical-quantum channels.Comment: 37 pages, 0 figures. Accepted for publication in the LNCS Volume in Memory of Rudolf Ahlswede. Includes a section on certain differences between classical and classical-quantum channels regarding their zero-error capacitie

On a minimum distance procedure for threshold selection in tail analysis

Power-law distributions have been widely observed in different areas of scientific research. Practical estimation issues include how to select a threshold above which observations follow a power-law distribution and then how to estimate the power-law tail index. A minimum distance selection procedure (MDSP) is proposed in Clauset et al. (2009) and has been widely adopted in practice, especially in the analyses of social networks. However, theoretical justifications for this selection procedure remain scant. In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of the selected threshold and the corresponding power-law index given by the MDSP. We find that the MDSP tends to choose too high a threshold level and leads to Hill estimates with large variances and root mean squared errors for simulated data with Pareto-like tails