Giacomo De Palma

Passive States Optimize the Output of Bosonic Gaussian Quantum Channels

An ordering between the quantum states emerging from a single-mode gauge-covariant bosonic Gaussian channel is proved. Specifically, we show that within the set of input density matrices with the same given spectrum, the element passive with respect to the Fock basis (i.e., diagonal with decreasing eigenvalues) produces an output, which majorizes all the other outputs emerging from the same set. When applied to pure input states, our finding includes as a special case the result of Mari et al., Nat. Comm. 5, 3826 (2014) which implies that the output associated to the vacuum majorizes the others.

Gaussian States Minimize the Output Entropy of the One-Mode Quantum Attenuator

We prove that Gaussian thermal input states minimize the output von Neumann entropy of the one-mode Gaussian quantum-limited attenuator for fixed input entropy. The Gaussian quantum-limited attenuator models the attenuation of an electromagnetic signal in the quantum regime. The Shannon entropy of an attenuated real-valued classical signal is a simple function of the entropy of the original signal. A striking consequence of energy quantization is that the output von Neumann entropy of the quantum-limited attenuator is no more a function of the input entropy alone. The proof starts from the majorization result of De Palma et al., IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 62, 2895 (2016), and is based on a new isoperimetric inequality. Our result implies that geometric input probability distributions minimize the output Shannon entropy of the thinning for fixed input entropy. Moreover, our result opens the way to the multimode generalization that permits to determine both the triple trade-off region of the Gaussian quantum-limited attenuator and the classical capacity region of the Gaussian degraded quantum broadcast channel.

The Conditional Entropy Power Inequality for Bosonic Quantum Systems

We prove the Entropy Power Inequality for Gaussian quantum systems in the presence of quantum memory. This fundamental inequality determines the minimum quantum conditional von Neumann entropy of the output of the beam-splitter or of the squeezing among all the input states where the two inputs are conditionally independent given the memory and have given quantum conditional entropies. We also prove that, for any couple of values of the quantum conditional entropies of the two inputs, the minimum of the quantum conditional entropy of the output given by the quantum conditional Entropy Power Inequality is asymptotically achieved by a suitable sequence of quantum Gaussian input states. Our proof of the quantum conditional Entropy Power Inequality is based on a new Stam inequality for the quantum conditional Fisher information and on the determination of the universal asymptotic behaviour of the quantum conditional entropy under the heat semigroup evolution. The beam-splitter and the squeezing are the central elements of quantum optics, and can model the attenuation, the amplification and the noise of electromagnetic signals. This quantum conditional Entropy Power Inequality will have a strong impact in quantum information and quantum cryptography, and we exploit it to prove an upper bound to the entanglement-assisted classical capacity of a non-Gaussian quantum channel.

The Wehrl entropy has Gaussian optimizers

We determine the minimum Wehrl entropy among the quantum states with a given von Neumann entropy, and prove that it is achieved by thermal Gaussian states. This result determines the relation between the von Neumann and the Wehrl entropies. The key idea is proving that the quantum-classical channel that associates to a quantum state its Husimi Q representation is asymptotically equivalent to the Gaussian quantum-limited amplifier with infinite amplification parameter. This equivalence also permits to determine the p->q norms of the aforementioned quantum-classical channel in the two particular cases of one mode and p=q, and prove that they are achieved by thermal Gaussian states. The same equivalence permits to prove that the Husimi Q representation of a one-mode passive state (i.e. a state diagonal in the Fock basis with eigenvalues decreasing as the energy increases) majorizes the Husimi Q representation of any other one-mode state with the same spectrum, i.e. it maximizes any convex functional.We determine the minimum Wehrl entropy among the quantum states with a given von Neumann entropy and prove that it is achieved by thermal Gaussian states. This result determines the relation between the von Neumann and the Wehrl entropies. The key idea is proving that the quantum-classical channel that associates with a quantum state its Husimi Q representation is asymptotically equivalent to the Gaussian quantum-limited amplifier with infinite amplification parameter. This equivalence also permits to determine the

Optimal quantum state discrimination via nested binary measurements

p\rightarrow q

The One-Mode Quantum-Limited Gaussian Attenuator and Amplifier Have GaussianMaximizers

p→q norms of the aforementioned quantum-classical channel in the two particular cases of one mode and

Gaussian States Minimize the Output Entropy of One-Mode Quantum Gaussian Channels

p=q