Symmetric measurements attaining the accessible information

Abstract

A theorem of Davies states that for symmetric quantum states there exists a symmetric POVM maximizing the mutual information. To apply this theorem the representation of the symmetry group has to be irreducible. We obtain a similar yet weaker result for reducible representations. We apply our results to the double trines ensemble and show numerically that for this ensemble the pretty good measurement is optimal.

21 pages, 5 figures