Coding Theorem and Strong Converse for Quantum Channels

Abstract

In this correspondence we present a new proof of Holevo's coding theorem for transmitting classical information through quantum channels, and its strong converse. The technique is largely inspired by Wolfowitz's combinatorial approach using types of sequences. As a by-product of our approach which is independent of previous ones, both in the coding theorem and the converse, we can give a new proof of Holevo's information bound.

5+1 pp, IEEEtran. Posted now, after 15 years, in view of the recent interest in strong converses. Related work by Ogawa & Nagaoka (quant-ph/9808063), and significant subsequent progress in quant-ph/0012127, quant-ph/0206186, arXiv:0903.2838, arXiv:0912.5537, arXiv:1106.3089, arXiv:1108.5327, arXiv:1205.1712, arXiv:1208.1478, arXiv:1301.4927, arXiv:1306.1586, arXiv:1310.7028, arXiv:1401.4161, arXiv:1402.5940, arXiv:1404.5940, arXiv:1405.1797, arXiv:1406.2946, arXiv:1408.3373, arXiv:1408.5328