Purification and time-reversal deny entanglement in LOCC-distinguishable orthonormal bases

Abstract

We give a simple proof, based on time-reversibility and purity, that a complete orthonormal family of pure states which can be perfectly distinguished by LOCC cannot contain any entangled state. Our results are really about the shape of certain states and processes, and are valid in arbitrary categorical probabilistic theories with time-reversal. From the point of view of the resource theory of entanglement, our results can be interpreted to say that free processes can distinguish between the states in a complete orthonormal family only when the states themselves are all free.