Channel Polarization of Two-dimensional-input Quantum Symmetric Channels

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that quantum symmetric channels exhibit a polarization phenomenon in their maximum single-letter coherent information, similar to classical channel polarization, which is a key step toward developing quantum polar codes.

Contribution

It introduces quantum symmetric channels and proves their polarization behavior in coherent information under channel combining and splitting processes.

Findings

Quantum symmetric channels show polarization in coherent information.

Channel combining and splitting lead to polarization in quantum channels.

Supports development of quantum polar codes.

Abstract

Being attracted by the property of classical polar code, researchers are trying to find its analogue in quantum fields, which is called quantum polar code. The first step and the key to design quantum polar code is to find out for the quantity which can measure the quality of quantum channels, whether there is a polarization phenomenon which is similar to classical channel polarization. Coherent information is believed to be the quantum analogue of classical mutual information and the quantity to measure the capacity of quantum channel. In this paper, we define a class of quantum channels called quantum symmetric channels, and prove that for quantum symmetric channels, under the similar channel combining and splitting process as in the classical channel polarization, the maximum single letter coherent information of the coordinate channels will polarize. That is to say, there is a channel polarization phenomenon in quantum symmetric channels.