It is shown that a quantum controlled-NOT gate simultaneously performs the
logical functions of three distinct conditional local operations. Each of these
local operations can be verified by measuring a corresponding truth table of
four local inputs and four local outputs. The quantum parallelism of the gate
can then be observed directly in a set of three simple experimental tests, each
of which has a clear intuitive interpretation in terms of classical logical
operations. Specifically, quantum parallelism is achieved if the average
fidelity of the three classical operations exceeds 2/3. It is thus possible to
evaluate the essential quantum parallelism of an experimental controlled-NOT
gate by testing only three characteristic classical operations performed by the
gate.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, added references and discussio
