Perfect distinguishability of quantum operations

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Nov 20;103(21):210501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.210501. Epub 2009 Nov 20.

Abstract

We provide a feasible necessary and sufficient condition for when an unknown quantum operation (quantum device) secretly selected from a set of known quantum operations can be identified perfectly within a finite number of queries, and thus complete the characterization of the perfect distinguishability of quantum operations. We further design an optimal protocol which can achieve the perfect discrimination between two quantum operations by a minimal number of queries. Interestingly, we find that an optimal perfect discrimination between two isometries is always achievable without auxiliary systems or entanglement.