Quantum communication with zero-capacity channels.
Communication over a noisy quantum channel introduces errors in the transmission that must be corrected. A fundamental bound on quantum error correction is the quantum capacity, which quantifies the amount of quantum data that can be protected. We show theoretically that two quantum channels, each with a transmission capacity of zero, can have a nonzero capacity when used together. This unveils a rich structure in the theory of quantum communications, implying that the quantum capacity does not completely specify a channel's ability to transmit quantum information.
Smith
Graeme
G
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA. gsbsmith@gmail.com
Yard
Jon
J