Operational meaning of the non-repeatability term in the general-measurement bound

Determine the precise operational meaning of the second term in the inequality that upper-bounds |P^{M→N}_ρ(m,n) − P^{α}_ρ(m,n)| for two general quantum measurements M={M_m}_m and N={N_n}_n with POVMs E_M and E_N, namely the quantity ||E_N(n)|| · || M_m(ρ) ∘_α Σ_{m'≠m} E_M(m′) + Σ_{m'≠m} M_{m'}(ρ) ∘_α E_M(m) ||_1, which is tentatively interpreted as evaluating the non-repeatability of M. Ascertain an operational interpretation or experimental procedure that directly corresponds to this term within the framework extending beyond projective measurements.

Background

The paper generalizes bounds on differences between operational joint probabilities P{M→N}_ρ(m,n) and algebraic quasi-joint probabilities Pα_ρ(m,n) from projective measurements to general quantum measurements represented by instruments M and N with POVM elements E_M and E_N. The resulting bound contains two additive terms.

The first term mirrors the projective-measurement case and quantifies the invasiveness of the prior measurement. The second term involves cross-terms between instrument outcomes and POVM effects and is informally interpreted as quantifying measurement non-repeatability; however, its precise operational interpretation is not established, motivating further research.

References

Since M_m(\rho)\circ_{\alpha}\hspace{-7pt}\sum_{m': m'\neq m}\hspace{-7pt}E_M(m')+\hspace{-7pt}\sum_{m': m'\neq m}\hspace{-7pt}M_{m'}(\rho)\circ_{\alpha}E_M(m) can be regarded as the contribution associated with obtaining outcome m' in the post-measurement state conditioned on outcome m, the second term of our bound can be viewed as evaluating the non-repeatability of M. However, as its precise operational meaning remains unclear, further research on the generalization to general measurements is required.

On the operational and algebraic quantum correlations  (2603.04332 - Umekawa et al., 4 Mar 2026) in Section 6 (A generalization to general measurements), paragraph following the proposition