English

Fundamental trade-off relation in probabilistic entanglement generation

Quantum Physics 2026-01-21 v3

Abstract

We investigate the generation of entanglement between two non-interacting systems by synthesizing a new quantum process from the superposition of distinct processes characterized by local-only operations. Our analysis leads to the derivation of a universal trade-off relation, Psucc(1+C)1P_{\text{succ}}(1+\mathcal{C})\le1, that fundamentally bounds the success probability (PsuccP_{\text{succ}}) and the generated entanglement (concurrence C\mathcal{C}). The derivation of this trade-off relation is inspired by indefinite causal order, but applies for a broader class of quantum processes. Next, we show that the mathematical structure of this bound predicts the existence of a "quasi-deterministic" mode of operation, a surprising phenomenon which we then confirm with concrete entanglement generation protocols, where a maximally entangled state is guaranteed to be produced. In this mode of operation, both outcomes of the post-selection measurement on the auxiliary control system result in a maximally entangled state of the target system. Furthermore, we demonstrate how this general principle can be realized using a quantum switch, which leverages an indefinite causal order as a physical resource, and explore the rich variety of dynamical behaviors governed by the universal trade-off. Our results establish a general principle for entanglement generation with superposition of quantum processes and introduce a novel way of controlling entanglement generation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2112.03233,
  title  = {Fundamental trade-off relation in probabilistic entanglement generation},
  author = {Yuanbo Chen and Yoshihiko Hasegawa},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.03233},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

22 Pages, 7 Figures

R2 v1 2026-06-24T08:06:25.483Z