We consider the problem of simulating a noisy channel using noiseless channels with unlimited shared randomness. This can be interpreted as the reverse problem of Shannon’s noisy channel coding theorem. In contrast to previous works, we employ Rényi divergence (with the parameter α ∈ [0,∞]) to measure the level of approximation, and we obtain the reverse Shannon theorem under this measure, which characterizes the Rényi simulation rate, the minimum communication rate required for the Rényi divergence vanishing asymptotically. Our derivation is done by a precise large-deviation analysis. When the communication rate is above the Rényi simulation rate, we provide a complete characterization of the convergence exponent for the Rényi divergence, called the reliability function. When the communication rate is below the Rényi simulation rate, we determine the linear increasing rate for the Rényi divergence, which implies the strong converse exponent for the order-α fidelity.

The Quantum Reverse Shannon Theorem has been a milestone in quantum information theory. It states that asymptotically reliable simulation of a quantum channel, assisted by unlimited shared entanglement, requires a rate of classical communication equal to the channel’s entanglement-assisted classical capacity. In this paper, we study the error exponent of quantum channel simulation, which characterizes the optimal speed of exponential convergence of the performance towards the perfect, as the blocklength increases. Based on channel purified distance, we derive lower and upper bounds for the error exponent. Then we show that the two bounds coincide when the classical communication rate is below a critical value, and hence, we have determined the exact formula of the error exponent in the low-rate case. This enables us to obtain an operational interpretation to the channel’s sandwiched Rényi information of order from 1 to 2, since our formula is expressed as a transform of this quantity. In the derivation, we have also obtained an achievability bound for quantum channel simulation in the finite-blocklength setting, which is of realistic significance.

We determine the exact strong converse exponent for entanglement-assisted classical communication of a quantum channel. Our main contribution is the derivation of an upper bound for the strong converse exponent which is characterized by the sandwiched Rényi divergence. It turns out that this upper bound coincides with the lower bound of Gupta and Wilde (Commun. Math. Phys. 334:867-887, 2015). Thus, the strong converse exponent follows from the combination of these two bounds. Our result has two implications. Firstly, it implies that the exponential bound for the strong converse property of quantum-feedback-assisted classical communication, derived by Cooney, Mosonyi and Wilde (Commun. Math. Phys. 344:797-829, 2016), is optimal. This answers their open question in the affirmative. Hence, we have determined the exact strong converse exponent for this problem as well. Secondly, due to an observation of Leung and Matthews, it can be easily extended to deal with the transmission of quantum information under the assistance of entanglement or quantum feedback, yielding similar results. The above findings provide, for the first time, a complete operational interpretation to the channel’s sandwiched Rényi information of order α > 1.

The max-relative entropy together with its smoothed version is a basic tool in quantum information theory. In this paper, we derive the exact exponent for the asymptotic decay of the small modification of the quantum state in smoothing the max-relative entropy based on purified distance. We then apply this result to the problem of privacy amplification against quantum side information, and we obtain an upper bound for the exponent of the asymptotic decreasing of the insecurity, measured using either purified distance or relative entropy. Our upper bound complements the earlier lower bound established by Hayashi, and the two bounds match when the rate of randomness extraction is above a critical value. Thus, for the case of high rate, we have determined the exact security exponent. Following this, we give examples and show that in the low-rate case, neither the upper bound nor the lower bound is tight in general. This exhibits a picture similar to that of the error exponent in channel coding. Lastly, we investigate the asymptotics of equivocation and its exponent under the security measure using the sandwiched Rényi divergence of order$s\in (1,2]$, which has not been addressed previously in the quantum setting.

This paper is eligible for the Jack Keil Wolf ISIT Student Paper Award.The smooth max-relative entropy is a basic tool in quantum information theory and cryptography. In this paper, we derive the exact exponent for the decay of the small modification of the quantum state in smoothing the max-relative entropy. We then apply this result to the problem of privacy amplification against quantum side information and obtain an upper bound for the exponent of the decreasing of the insecurity, measured using either purified distance or relative entropy. Our upper bound complements the earlier lower bound established by Hayashi, and the two bounds match when the rate of randomness extraction is above a critical value. Thus, for the case of high rate, we have determined the exact security exponent. Following this, we give examples and show that in the low-rate case, neither the upper bound nor the lower bound is tight in general.Lastly, we investigate the asymptotics of equivocation and its exponent under the security measure using the sandwiched Rényi divergence of order between 1 and 2, which has not been addressed previously in the quantum setting.