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Published on: May 30, 2014
Quantum Contextual Advantage Depending on Nonzero Prior Probabilities in State Discrimination of Mixed Qubit States
Jaehee Shin1, Donghoon Ha2, Younghun Kwon1
1Department of Applied Physics, Center for Bionano Intelligence Education and Research, Hanyang University (ERICA), Ansan 15588, Korea.
Abstract:
Recently, Schmid and Spekkens studied the quantum contextuality in terms of state discrimination. By dealing with the minimum error discrimination of two quantum states with identical prior probabilities, they reported that quantum contextual advantage exists. Meanwhile, if one notes a striking observation that the selection of prior probability can affect the quantum properties of the system, it is necessary to verify whether the quantum contextual advantage depends on the prior probabilities of the given states. In this paper, we consider the minimum error discrimination of two states with arbitrary prior probabilities, in which both states are pure or mixed. We show that the quantum contextual advantage in state discrimination may depend on the prior probabilities of the given states. In particular, even though the quantum contextual advantage always exists in the state discrimination of two nonorthogonal pure states with nonzero prior probabilities, the quantum contextual advantage depends on prior probabilities in the state discrimination of two mixed states.
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