Foundation of Quantum Optimal Transport and Applications

Abstract

Quantum optimal transportation seeks an operator which minimizes the total cost of transporting a quantum state to another state, under some constraints that should be satisfied during transportation. We formulate this issue by extending the Monge-Kantorovich problem, which is a classical optimal transportation theory, and present some applications. As examples, we address quantum walk, quantum automata and quantum games from a viewpoint of optimal transportation. Moreover we explicitly show the folk theorem of the prisoners' dilemma, which claims mutual cooperation can be an equilibrium of the repeated game. A series of examples would show generic and practical advantages of the abstract quantum optimal transportation theory.