Distinguishing two preparations for same pure state leads to signalling

Abstract

Pure state of a physical system can be prepared in an infinite number of ways. Here, we prove that given a pure state of a quantum system it is impossible to distinguish two preparation procedures. Further, we show that if we can distinguish two preparation procedures for the same pure state then that can lead to signalling. This impossibility result is different than the no measurement without disturbance and the no-cloning. Extending this result for a pure bipartite entangled state entails that the impossibility of distinguishing two preparation procedures for a mixed state follows from the impossibility of distinguishing two preparations for a pure bipartite state.