Equivalence of Correlated Catalytic and Marginal Asymptotic Transformations in Quantum Resource Theories

Abstract

We prove that correlated-catalytic state conversion is possible if and only if the marginal asymptotic conversion rate is at least one. Under general operational assumptions, this equivalence holds for arbitrary states in broad classes of entanglement, coherence, and magic theories. It reduces the characterization of correlated-catalytic convertibility to the computation of marginal asymptotic rates, and yields transitivity and equality of catalytic and marginal conversion rates. Under local operations and classical communication, we fully characterize correlated-catalytic conversion from arbitrary bipartite states to entangled pure states in terms of distillable entanglement. We show that correlated catalysts cannot increase the distillable entanglement or distillable secret key of any bipartite state, and in particular cannot make bound entanglement distillable. Extending our construction to adaptive communication protocols, we further prove that correlated catalysts cannot enhance the two-way private-state generation capacity of any finite-dimensional quantum channel.