Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

No practical quantum broadcasting: General framework

Yunlong Xiao1,2,*, Xiangjing Liu3,4,5,6, and Zhenhuan Liu7,†

  • 1Quantum Innovation Centre (Q.InC), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis #08-03, Singapore 138634, Republic of Singapore
  • 2Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis, Singapore 138632, Republic of Singapore
  • 3Nanyang Quantum Hub, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 637371, Republic of Singapore
  • 4CNRS@CREATE, 1 Create Way, 08-01 Create Tower, Singapore 138602, Republic of Singapore
  • 5MajuLab, CNRS-UCA-SU-NUS-NTU International Joint Research Laboratory, Republic of Singapore
  • 6Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Republic of Singapore
  • 7Center for Quantum Information, Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

  • *Contact author: mathxiao123@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: liu-zh20@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033194 – Published 26 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8g6j-w7ld

Abstract

We introduce a comprehensive framework for no practical broadcasting, demonstrating that no linear map can simultaneously meet the conditions of sample efficiency, unitary covariance, permutation invariance, and classical consistency. This work establishes a rigorous theoretical foundation and provides an in-depth analysis of the employed techniques. In particular, we apply Schur-Weyl duality to provide a simplified alternative proof for the uniqueness of linear maps, referred to as the canonical virtual broadcasting map, that satisfy unitary covariance, permutation invariance, and classical consistency. The sample complexity of this canonical map is determined through semidefinite programming. Expanding beyond the 1-to-2 case, we derive the canonical form for 1-to-N virtual broadcasting, analyze the sample complexity involved in its realization, and explore its connections with temporal quantum states and pseudodensity operators.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

See Also

No Practical Quantum Broadcasting: Even Virtually

Yunlong Xiao, Xiangjing Liu, and Zhenhuan Liu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 090202 (2025)

Article Text

References (61)

  1. W. K. Wootters and W. H. Zurek, A single quantum cannot be cloned, Nature (London) 299, 802 (1982).
  2. D. Dieks, Communication by epr devices, Phys. Lett. A 92, 271 (1982).
  3. H. Barnum, C. M. Caves, C. A. Fuchs, R. Jozsa, and B. Schumacher, Noncommuting mixed states cannot be broadcast, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2818 (1996).
  4. H. Barnum, J. Barrett, M. Leifer, and A. Wilce, Generalized no-broadcasting theorem, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 240501 (2007).
  5. J. Cotler, S. Choi, A. Lukin, H. Gharibyan, T. Grover, M. E. Tai, M. Rispoli, R. Schittko, P. M. Preiss, A. M. Kaufman, M. Greiner, H. Pichler, and P. Hayden, Quantum virtual cooling, Phys. Rev. X 9, 031013 (2019).
  6. X. Zhao, X. Wang, and G. Chiribella, Shadow simulation of quantum processes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 120804 (2024).
  7. C. Zhu, Y. Mo, Y.-A. Chen, and X. Wang, Reversing unknown quantum processes via virtual combs for channels with limited information, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 030801 (2024).
  8. K. Temme, S. Bravyi, and J. M. Gambetta, Error mitigation for short-depth quantum circuits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 180509 (2017).
  9. S. Endo, S. C. Benjamin, and Y. Li, Practical quantum error mitigation for near-future applications, Phys. Rev. X 8, 031027 (2018).
  10. Z. Cai, R. Babbush, S. C. Benjamin, S. Endo, W. J. Huggins, Y. Li, J. R. McClean, and T. E. O'Brien, Quantum error mitigation, Rev. Mod. Phys. 95, 045005 (2023).
  11. Z. Liu, X. Zhang, Y.-Y. Fei, and Z. Cai, Virtual channel purification, arXiv:2402.07866.
  12. Z. Liu, Y. Xiao, and Z. Cai, Non-Markovian noise suppression simplified through channel representation, arXiv:2412.11220.
  13. Y. Zhou and Z. Liu, A hybrid framework for estimating nonlinear functions of quantum states, npj Quantum Inf. 10, 62 (2024).
  14. H. Liu, Z. Liu, S. Chen, X. Nie, X. Liu, and D. Lu, Certifying quantum temporal correlation via randomized measurements: Theory and experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 040201 (2025).
  15. X. Yuan, B. Regula, R. Takagi, and M. Gu, Virtual quantum resource distillation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 050203 (2024).
  16. R. Takagi, X. Yuan, B. Regula, and M. Gu, Virtual quantum resource distillation: General framework and applications, Phys. Rev. A 109, 022403 (2024).
  17. T. Zhang, Y. Zhang, L. Liu, X.-X. Fang, Q.-X. Zhang, X. Yuan, and H. Lu, Experimental virtual distillation of entanglement and coherence, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 180201 (2024).
  18. A. J. Parzygnat, J. Fullwood, F. Buscemi, and G. Chiribella, Virtual quantum broadcasting, Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 110203 (2024).
  19. H. Yao, X. Liu, C. Zhu, and X. Wang, Optimal unilocal virtual quantum broadcasting, Phys. Rev. A 110, 012458 (2024).
  20. Y. Zheng, X. Nie, H. Liu, Y. Luo, D. Lu, and X. Liu, Experimental virtual quantum broadcasting, Phys. Rev. A 111, L060402 (2025).
  21. Y. Xiao, X. Liu, and Z. Liu, companion paper, No practical quantum broadcasting: Even virtually, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 090202 (2025).
  22. R. Orús, A practical introduction to tensor networks: Matrix product states and projected entangled pair states, Ann. Phys. 349, 117 (2014).
  23. J. C. Bridgeman and C. T. Chubb, Hand-waving and interpretive dance: an introductory course on tensor networks, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 50, 223001 (2017).
  24. J. Biamonte and V. Bergholm, Tensor networks in a nutshell, arXiv:1708.00006.
  25. M.-D. Choi, Completely positive linear maps on complex matrices, Linear Algebra Appl. 10, 285 (1975).
  26. A. Jamiołkowski, Linear transformations which preserve trace and positive semidefiniteness of operators, Rep. Math. Phys. 3, 275 (1972).
  27. J. F. Fitzsimons, J. A. Jones, and V. Vedral, Quantum correlations which imply causation, Sci. Rep. 5, 18281 (2015).
  28. F. Buscemi, M. Dall'Arno, M. Ozawa, and V. Vedral, Direct observation of any two-point quantum correlation function, arXiv:1312.4240.
  29. F. Buscemi, M. Dall'Arno, M. Ozawa, and V. Vedral, Universal optimal quantum correlator, Int. J. Quantum Inf. 12, 1560002 (2014).
  30. B. Collins and P. Śniady, Integration with respect to the haar measure on unitary, orthogonal and symplectic group, Commun. Math. Phys. 264, 773 (2006).
  31. G. Chiribella, G. M. D'Ariano, and P. Perinotti, Quantum circuit architecture, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 060401 (2008).
  32. G. Chiribella, G. M. D'Ariano, and P. Perinotti, Theoretical framework for quantum networks, Phys. Rev. A 80, 022339 (2009).
  33. F. A. Pollock, C. Rodríguez-Rosario, T. Frauenheim, M. Paternostro, and K. Modi, Non-Markovian quantum processes: Complete framework and efficient characterization, Phys. Rev. A 97, 012127 (2018).
  34. Y. Yang, Memory effects in quantum metrology, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 110501 (2019).
  35. A. Altherr and Y. Yang, Quantum metrology for non-Markovian processes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 060501 (2021).
  36. Q. Liu, Z. Hu, H. Yuan, and Y. Yang, Optimal strategies of quantum metrology with a strict hierarchy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 070803 (2023).
  37. J. Xing, T. Feng, Z. Fan, H. Ma, K. Bharti, D. E. Koh, and Y. Xiao, Fundamental limitations on communication over a quantum network, arXiv:2306.04983.
  38. Y. Xiao, Y. Yang, X. Wang, Q. Liu, and M. Gu, Quantum uncertainty principles for measurements with interventions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 240201 (2023).
  39. W. Hoeffding, Probability inequalities for sums of bounded random variables, J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 58, 13 (1963).
  40. L. Vandenberghe and S. Boyd, Semidefinite programming, SIAM Rev. 38, 49 (1996).
  41. A. Kumar Pati and S. L. Braunstein, Impossibility of deleting an unknown quantum state, Nature (London) 404, 164 (2000).
  42. D. Horsman, C. Heunen, M. F. Pusey, J. Barrett, and R. W. Spekkens, Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time? Proc. R. Soc. A 473, 20170395 (2017).
  43. J. Fullwood and A. J. Parzygnat, On quantum states over time, Proc. R. Soc. A 478, 20220104 (2022).
  44. F. Ciccarello, S. Lorenzo, V. Giovannetti, and G. M. Palma, Quantum collision models: Open system dynamics from repeated interactions, Phys. Rep. 954, 1 (2022).
  45. M. Gu, K. Wiesner, E. Rieper, and V. Vedral, Quantum mechanics can reduce the complexity of classical models, Nat. Commun. 3, 762 (2012).
  46. X. Liu, Y. Qiu, O. Dahlsten, and V. Vedral, Quantum causal inference with extremely light touch, npj Quantum Inf. 11, 54 (2025).
  47. J. Fullwood and A. J. Parzygnat, Operator representation of spatiotemporal quantum correlations, arXiv:2405.17555.
  48. G. Chiribella, G. M. D'Ariano, P. Perinotti, and B. Valiron, Quantum computations without definite causal structure, Phys. Rev. A 88, 022318 (2013).
  49. H. Liu, X. Liu, Q. Chen, Y. Qiu, V. Vedral, X. Nie, O. Dahlsten, and D. Lu, Experimental demonstration of quantum causal inference via noninvasive measurements, arXiv:2411.06051.
  50. H. Liu, X. Liu, Q. Chen, Y. Qiu, V. Vedral, X. Nie, O. Dahlsten, and D. Lu, Quantum causal inference via scattering circuits in nmr, arXiv:2411.06052.
  51. M. Song, V. Narasimhachar, B. Regula, T. J. Elliott, and M. Gu, Causal classification of spatiotemporal quantum correlations, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 110202 (2024).
  52. R. Pisarczyk, Z. Zhao, Y. Ouyang, V. Vedral, and J. F. Fitzsimons, Causal limit on quantum communication, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 150502 (2019).
  53. C. Marletto, V. Vedral, S. Virzì, A. Avella, F. Piacentini, M. Gramegna, I. P. Degiovanni, and M. Genovese, Temporal teleportation with pseudo-density operators: How dynamics emerges from temporal entanglement, Sci. Adv. 7, eabe4742 (2021).
  54. X. Liu, Q. Chen, and O. Dahlsten, Inferring the arrow of time in quantum spatiotemporal correlations, Phys. Rev. A 109, 032219 (2024).
  55. X. Liu, Z. Jia, Y. Qiu, F. Li, and O. Dahlsten, Unification of spatiotemporal quantum formalisms: mapping between process and pseudo-density matrices via multiple-time states, New J. Phys. 26, 033008 (2024).
  56. C. Marletto, V. Vedral, S. Virzì, E. Rebufello, A. Avella, F. Piacentini, M. Gramegna, I. P. Degiovanni, and M. Genovese, Theoretical description and experimental simulation of quantum entanglement near open time-like curves via pseudo-density operators, Nat. Commun. 10, 182 (2019).
  57. C. Marletto, V. Vedral, S. Virzì, E. Rebufello, A. Avella, F. Piacentini, M. Gramegna, I. P. Degiovanni, and M. Genovese, Non-monogamy of spatio-temporal correlations and the black hole information loss paradox, Entropy 22, 228 (2020).
  58. N. J. Cerf, M. Bourennane, A. Karlsson, and N. Gisin, Security of quantum key distribution using d-level systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 127902 (2002).
  59. N. Gisin, G. Ribordy, W. Tittel, and H. Zbinden, Quantum cryptography, Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 145 (2002).
  60. F. Xu, X. Ma, Q. Zhang, H.-K. Lo, and J.-W. Pan, Secure quantum key distribution with realistic devices, Rev. Mod. Phys. 92, 025002 (2020).
  61. C. Portmann and R. Renner, Security in quantum cryptography, Rev. Mod. Phys. 94, 025008 (2022).

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation