Statistics of a quantum-state-transfer Hamiltonian in the presence of disorder

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how disorder affects quantum state transfer in spin chains, revealing that average fidelity metrics can overestimate success, which is crucial for realistic quantum communication assessments.

Contribution

It provides a statistical analysis highlighting the limitations of average fidelity in evaluating quantum state transfer under disorder.

Findings

Average fidelity can overestimate transfer success in disordered chains.

Disorder significantly impacts the reliability of quantum state transfer.

Statistical methods are essential for accurate performance evaluation.

Abstract

We present a statistical analysis on the performance of a protocol for the faithful transfer of a quantum state in finite qubit or spin chains, in the presence of diagonal and off-diagonal disorder. It is shown that the average-state fidelity, typically employed in the literature for the quantification of the transfer, may overestimate considerably the performance of the protocol in a single realization, leading to faulty conclusions about the success of the transfer.