Abstract
The ultimate goal of the classicality program is to quantify the amount of quantumness of certain processes. Here, classicality is studied for a restricted type of process: quantum information processing (QIP). Under special conditions, one can force some qubits of a quantum computer into a classical state without affecting the outcome of the computation. The minimal set of conditions is described and its structure is studied. Some implications of this formalism are the increase of noise robustness, a proof of the quantumness of mixed state quantum computing, and a step forward in understanding the very foundation of QIP.
- Received 23 August 2001
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.65.042319
©2002 American Physical Society