Path superposition activating perfect quantum teleportation ability for separable states

Abstract:Quantum teleportation is a quintessential quantum communication protocol that enables the transmission of an arbitrary quantum state between two distant parties without physically transmitting the state with the help of shared entanglement and limited classical communication. We show that it is possible to relax the entanglement requirement in quantum teleportation if we have access to a certain strain of superposition of quantum processes. Two types of superposition of quantum processes are generally considered in the literature: superposition of paths identified with quantum maps and superposition of indefinite causal orders of the maps. We find that when superposition of paths is incorporated in the protocol, quantum teleportation with unit fidelity becomes possible with nonzero probability of 1/4 even when the two parties share certain classes of separable states, including pure product states. In contrast, the assistance of superposition of indefinite causal order of quantum maps in teleportation protocol does not enable any quantum advantage for shared pure product states. Furthermore, we show that separable Werner states can also yield quantum advantage in quantum teleportation assisted by the superposition of paths. Finally, we establish that the presence of quantum coherence in the control qubit is both necessary and sufficient to achieve quantum advantage in quantum teleportation assisted with superposition of paths. The results potentially uncover yet another role of quantum superposition, in general, in teleportation versus entanglement.

arXiv:2505.11398 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2505.11398v2 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2505.11398 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

Phys. Rev. A 113, 062431(2026)

https://doi.org/10.1103/h84v-n7xv Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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