Quantum reading capacity:

General definition and bounds

Mark M. Wilde

Hearne Institute for Theoretical Physics,

Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Center for Computation and Technology,
Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
mwilde@lsu.edu

Based on joint work with Siddhartha Das in arXiv:1703.03706

Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden, April 1, 2019

Mark M. Wilde (LSU) 1/5

Quantum reading

Given is a set of quantum channels {NAx0 →A }x∈X , in which the

classical information x ∈ X is encoded.

Alice has access to both the input A0 and output A of the channels,
but when calling it, she does not know which one has been selected.

Bob can encode classical information into the choice of the channel.

In this way, Bob can communicate classical information to Alice. One

name for this general setting is quantum reading, in which the goal is
for Alice to read out the value x.

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Quantum channel discrimination as quantum reading
The simplest case of the above scenario is quantum channel
discrimination

In this case, the alphabet X consists of two symbols, x = 0 and

x = 1, and Alice can make a call to the channel only once.

The choice of x can be thought of as Bob encoding a bit x, and the

goal is for Alice to retrieve it with the highest probability of success

A
Alice
B
Bob Channel

Figure: Most general scenario for quantum channel discrimination

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Quantum reading: definition
Going beyond quantum channel discrimination, to the Shannon-theoretic
setting, an (n, M, ε) quantum reading protocol is such that
Alice calls the channel n times
Bob encodes a message m ∈ {1, . . . , M} into a codeword
x n (m) = (x1 (m), x2 (m), . . . , xn (m))
Alice employs the most general strategy possible, with reference
systems Ri and adaptive channels Ai , to recover the encoded message
with probability ≥ 1 − ε.

A’1 A1 A’2 A2 A’3 A3

N x1(m) N x2(m) N x3(m)

ê
m
A1 A2
R1 R2 R3

Figure: Most general protocol for quantum reading with n = 3.

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Quantum reading bounds and round-trip communication
In arXiv:1703.03706 [DW17], Siddhartha Das and I established many
achievability and converse bounds on (n, M, ε) quantum reading
protocols, which apply in a variety of settings.
A special case of the setting mentioned above occurs when the set
{NAx0 →A }x∈X of channels consists of “round-trip channels”, such that

NAx0 →A = M0B→A ◦ EBx 0 →B ◦ MA0 →B 0

Thus, all bounds from [DW17] directly apply to this special setting.

A’1 B’1 x1(m) B1 A1 A’2 B’2 x2(m) B2 A2 A’3 B’3 x3(m) B3 A3

M E M’ M E M’ M E M’
ê
m
A1 A2
R1 R2 R3

Figure: Most general protocol for “round-trip communication” with n = 3.

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