Efficient discrimination schemes for unextendible product bases with strong quantum nonlocality

Abstract

Entanglement is a central resource in quantum information science; therefore, it is important to design local discrimination protocols that minimize resource consumption. In this paper, we propose three entanglement-allocation schemes for the local discrimination of particular unextendible product bases (UPB) exhibiting strong quantum nonlocality in a \(3 \otimes 3 \otimes 3\) system. By exploiting the structural features of these UPB and the operational advantages of maximally entangled states, we further extend our protocols to strongly nonlocal UPB in \(d \otimes d \otimes d\) systems. In particular, we show that these UPB can be perfectly distinguished with only two maximally entangled states. Moreover, a resource-cost analysis indicates that our protocols, which avoid quantum teleportation whenever possible, can reduce the entanglement consumption. These results not only facilitate resource-efficient quantum information processing, but also provide further insight into the operational role of maximally entangled states.