Some geometric interpretations of quantum fidelity

Abstract

We consider quantum fidelity between two states $\rho$ and $\sigma$, where we fix $\rho$ and allow $\sigma$ to be sent through a quantum channel. We determine the minimal fidelity where one minimizes over (a) all unital channels, (b) all mixed unitary channels, and (c) arbitrary channels. We derive results involving the minimal eigenvalue of $\rho$, which we can interpret as a convex combination coefficient. As a consequence, we give a new geometric interpretation of the minimal fidelity with respect to the closed, convex set of density matrices and with respect to the closed, convex set of quantum channels. We further investigate the geometric nature of fidelity by considering density matrices arising as normalized projections onto subspaces; in this way, fidelity can be viewed as a geometric measure of distance between two spaces. We give a connection between fidelity and the canonical (principal) angles between the subspaces.