Extremal quantum protocols

Abstract

Generalized quantum instruments correspond to measurements where the input and output are either states or more generally quantum circuits. These measurements describe any quantum protocol including games, communications, and algorithms. The set of generalized quantum instruments with a given input and output structure is a convex set. Here we investigate the extremal points of this set for the case of finite dimensional quantum systems and generalized instruments with finitely many outcomes. We derive algebraic necessary and sufficient conditions for extremality.