Open AccessQuantum Entanglement and Communication Complexity
Author(s) -
Harry Buhrman,
Richard Cleve,
Wim van Dam
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
brics report series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1601-5355
pISSN - 0909-0878
DOI - 10.7146/brics.v4i40.18966
Subject(s) - quantum entanglement , quantum capacity , quantum channel , quantum information science , communication complexity , quantum , function (biology) , computer science , probabilistic logic , amplitude damping channel , quantum mechanics , quantum network , physics , theoretical computer science , topology (electrical circuits) , mathematics , discrete mathematics , combinatorics , statistics , biology , evolutionary biology
We consider a variation of the multi-party communication complexity scenario where the parties are supplied with an extra resource: particles in an entangled quantum state. We show that, although a prior quantum entanglement cannot be used to simulate a communication channel, it can reduce the communication complexity of functions in some cases. Specifically, we show that, for a particular function among three parties (each of which possesses part of the function's input), a prior quantum entanglement enables them to learn the value of the function with only three bits of communication occurring among the parties, whereas, without quantum entanglement, four bits of communication are necessary. We also show that, for a particular two-party probabilistic communication complexity problem, quantum entanglement results in less communication than is required with only classical random correlations (instead of quantum entanglement). These results are a noteworthy contrast to the well-known fact that quantum entanglement cannot be used to actually simulate communication among remote parties.