No Communication Theorem

With access to state

Ψ(AB)\left\lvert \Psi^{(AB)} \right\rangle

which may or may not be entangled, Alice cannot convey information to Bob by

  1. Choosing a basic measurement on AA

  2. Choosing a unitary evolution operator for AA

But Alice’s choice of measurement basis cannot affect Bob’s measurement statistics, her measurement outcome CAN affect Bob’s state.

Let ψa\left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle be the state of Bob’s Qubit conditioned on Alice’s outcome aa.

ψaa(A)Ψ(AB)\left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle \triangleq \left\langle a^{(A)}|\Psi^{(AB)} \right\rangle

Let aa be the outcome of Alice’s measurement. If measured in the z axis, it’d be a{0,1}a\in\{0,1\} and if measured in the x axis, it’d be a{+,}a\in\{+,-\}.

We can decompose the earlier state into

Ψ(AB)=aaψa\left\lvert \Psi^{(AB)} \right\rangle=\sum_a\left\lvert a \right\rangle\otimes \left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle

What does this mean? This means the basis a\left\lvert a \right\rangle cross tensor product with the state itself. This promotes Via Born’s rule

P(a,b)=bψa2P(a,b)=|\left\langle b|\psi_a \right\rangle|^2

Via Conditional Probability

P(ba)=1P(a)bψa2=ψabbψaψaψaP(b|a)=\frac{1}{P(a)}|\left\langle b|\psi_a \right\rangle|^2=\frac{\left\langle \psi_a|b \right\rangle\left\langle b|\psi_a \right\rangle}{\left\langle \psi_a|\psi_a \right\rangle} =bψ^a2=|\left\langle b|\hat{\psi}_a \right\rangle|^2

Recall Magnitude

ψ^a1P(a)ψa=ψaψa=ψaψaψa\left\lvert \hat{\psi}_a \right\rangle\triangleq\frac{1}{\sqrt{P(a)}}\left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle=\frac{\left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle}{||\left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle||}=\frac{\left\lvert \psi_a \right\rangle}{\sqrt{\left\langle \psi_a|\psi_a \right\rangle}}

Note that generally, conditional state can be obtained via a partial inner product.

a(A)Ψ(AB)(aI)Ψ(AB)\boxed{\left\langle a^{(A)}|\Psi^{(AB)} \right\rangle\triangleq(\left\langle a \right\rvert\otimes I)\left\lvert \Psi^{(AB)} \right\rangle}

Note this yields a vector in HBH_B. Where Ψ(AB)\left\lvert \Psi^{(AB)} \right\rangle is in HAHBH_A \otimes H_B

Example: This is a Singlet state: the antisymmetric two-spin state

Ψ(AB)=12(0(A)1(B)1(A)0(B))\left\lvert \Psi^{(AB)}_- \right\rangle=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\left\lvert {0}^{(A)} \right\rangle\otimes \left\lvert 1^{(B)} \right\rangle-\left\lvert 1^{(A)} \right\rangle\otimes \left\lvert {0}^{(B)} \right\rangle\right)

Suppose Alice measures in z basis

Ψ(AB)=12(0(A)1(B)1(A)0(B))\left\lvert \Psi^{(AB)}_- \right\rangle=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\left(\left\lvert {0}^{(A)} \right\rangle\otimes \left\lvert 1^{(B)} \right\rangle-\left\lvert 1^{(A)} \right\rangle\otimes \left\lvert {0}^{(B)} \right\rangle\right) Outcomeconditional state (unnormalized)a=0ψ0(B)=0(A)Φ(AB)=121(B)p(a=0)=12a=1ψ1(B)=1(A)Φ(AB)=120(B)p(a=1)=12\begin{array}{c|c} \text{Outcome} & \text{conditional state (unnormalized)} \\ \hline a = 0 & \left\lvert \psi_0^{(B)} \right\rangle = \left\langle {0}^{(A)} | \Phi_-^{(AB)} \right\rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \left\lvert 1^{(B)} \right\rangle \qquad p(a=0) = \tfrac{1}{2} \\[1em] a = 1 & \left\lvert \psi_1^{(B)} \right\rangle = \left\langle 1^{(A)} | \Phi_-^{(AB)} \right\rangle = -\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \left\lvert {0}^{(B)} \right\rangle \qquad p(a=1) = \tfrac{1}{2} \end{array}

We can see that Bob’s qubit is projected onto z eigenstate opposite to Alice’s outcome.

Let’s say that Alice measures in x basis.

OutcomeConditional state (unnormalized)a=+ψ+(B)=+(A)Φ(AB)=0(A)+1(A)212(0(A)1(B)1(A)0(B))=1(B)20(B)2=(B)2p(a=+)=12a=ψ(B)=(A)Φ(AB)=+(B)2p(a=)=12\begin{array}{c|l} \text{Outcome} & \text{Conditional state (unnormalized)} \\ \hline a = + & \begin{aligned} \left\lvert \psi_+^{(B)} \right\rangle & = \left\langle +^{(A)} | \Phi_-^{(AB)} \right\rangle \\ & = \frac{\left\langle {0}^{(A)} \right\rvert + \left\langle 1^{(A)} \right\rvert}{\sqrt{2}} \cdot \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \left( \left\lvert {0}^{(A)} 1^{(B)} \right\rangle - \left\lvert 1^{(A)} {0}^{(B)} \right\rangle \right) \\ & = \frac{\left\lvert 1^{(B)} \right\rangle}{2} - \frac{\left\lvert {0}^{(B)} \right\rangle}{2} = -\frac{\left\lvert -^{(B)} \right\rangle}{\sqrt{2}} \end{aligned} \\ & \qquad p(a=+) = \tfrac{1}{2} \\[1em] a = - & \left\lvert \psi_-^{(B)} \right\rangle = \left\langle -^{(A)} | \Phi_-^{(AB)} \right\rangle = \frac{\left\lvert +^{(B)} \right\rangle}{\sqrt{2}} \\ & \qquad p(a=-) = \tfrac{1}{2} \end{array}

Bob’s qubit is projected to opposite basis state as ALice’s measurement Somehow, Alice’s choice of measurement basis affects Bob’s state. If Alice measures in z basis, Bob’s conditional state is 0\left\lvert 0 \right\rangle or 1\left\lvert 1 \right\rangle with 50/50 probability. If Alice measures in x basis, Bob’s conditional state is +\left\lvert + \right\rangle or \left\lvert - \right\rangle with 50/50 probability.

ρ^B=1200+1211=12+++12=12I\hat{\rho}_B = \tfrac{1}{2} \left\lvert 0 \right\rangle\left\langle 0 \right\rvert + \tfrac{1}{2} \left\lvert 1 \right\rangle\left\langle 1 \right\rvert = \tfrac{1}{2} \left\lvert + \right\rangle\left\langle + \right\rvert + \tfrac{1}{2} \left\lvert - \right\rangle\left\langle - \right\rvert = \frac{1}{2}I