Trading Permutation Invariance for Communication in Multi-Party Non-Locality Distillation

Abstract: Quantum theory puts forward phenomena unexplainable by classical physics - or information, for that matter. A prominent example is non-locality. Non-local correlations cannot be explained, in classical terms, by shared information but only by communication. On the other hand, the phenomenon does not allow for (potentially faster-than-light) message transmission. The fact that some non-local and non-signaling correlations are predicted by quantum theory, whereas others fail to be, asks for a criterion, as simple as possible, that characterizes which joint input-output behaviors are ``quantum'' and which are not. In the context of the derivation of such criteria, it is of central importance to understand when non-local correlations can be amplified by a non-interactive protocol, i.e., whether some types of weak non-locality can be distilled into stronger by local operations. Since it has been recognized that the searched-for criteria must inherently be multi-partite, the question of distillation, extensively studied and understood two-party scenarios, should be adressed in the multi-user setting, where much less is known. Considering the space of intrinsically n-partite correlations, we show the possibility of distilling weak non-local boxes to the algebraically maximal ones without any communication. Our protocols improve on previously known methods which still required partial communication. The price we have to pay for dropping the need for communication entirely is the assumption of permutation invariance: Any correlation that can be realized between some set of players is possible between any such set. This assumption is very natural since the laws of physics are invariant under spacial translation.