Optimal programmable unambiguous discriminator between two unknown latitudinal states

Abstract

Two unknown states can be unambiguously distinguished by a universal programmable discriminator, which has been widely discussed in previous works and the optimal solution has also been obtained. In this paper, we investigate the programmable unambiguous discriminator between two unknown "latitudinal" states, which lie in a subspace of the total state space. By equivalence of unknown pure states to known average mixed states, the optimal solution for this problem is systematically derived, and the analytical success probabilities for the optimal unambiguous discrimination are obtained. It is beyond one's expectation that the optimal setting for the programmable unambiguous discrimination between two unknown "latitudinal" states is the same as that for the universal ones. The results in this work can be used for the realization of the programmable discriminator in laboratory.