Making Good Codes for Classical-Quantum Channel Coding via Quantum Hypothesis Testing

Abstract

In this correspondence, we give an alternative proof of the direct part of the classical-quantum channel coding theorem (the Holevo-Schumacher-Westmoreland (HSW) theorem), using ideas of quantum hypothesis testing. In order to show the existence of good codes, we invoke a limit theorem, relevant to the quantum Stein's lemma, in quantum hypothesis testing as the law of large numbers used in the classical case. We also apply a greedy construction of good codes using a packing procedure of noncommutative operators. Consequently we derive an upper bound on the coding error probability, which is used to give an alternative proof of the HSW theorem. This approach elucidates how the Holevo information applies to the classical-quantum channel coding problems