Ray Ganardi, Tulja Varun Kondra, Nelly H.Y. Ng, Alexander Streltsov (May 20 2024).
Abstract: A central question since the beginning of quantum information science is how two distant parties can convert one entangled state into another. Answers to these questions enable us to optimize the performance of tasks such as quantum key distribution and quantum teleportation, since certain entangled states are more useful than others for these applications. It has been conjectured that entangled state transformations could be executed reversibly in an asymptotic regime, mirroring the reversible nature of Carnot cycles in classical thermodynamics. While a conclusive proof of this conjecture has been missing so far, earlier studies excluded reversible entanglement manipulation in various settings. In this work, we investigate the concept of an entanglement battery, an auxiliary quantum system that facilitates quantum state transformations without a net loss of entanglement. We establish that reversible manipulation of entangled states is achievable through local operations when augmented with an entanglement battery. In this setting, two distant parties can convert any entangled state into another of equivalent entanglement. The rate of asymptotic transformation is quantitatively expressed as a ratio of the entanglement present within the quantum states involved. Different entanglement quantifiers give rise to unique principles governing state transformations, effectively constituting diverse manifestations of a “second law” of entanglement manipulation. Our methods provide a solution to the long-standing open question regarding the reversible manipulation of entangled states and are also applicable to entangled systems involving more than two parties, and to other quantum resource theories, including quantum thermodynamics.