A channel-based framework for steering, non-locality and beyond

Abstract: Non-locality and steering are both non-classical phenomena witnessed in Nature as a result of quantum entanglement. It is now well-established that one can study non-locality independently of the formalism of quantum mechanics, in the so-called device-independent framework. With regards to steering, although one cannot study it completely independently of the quantum formalism, "post-quantum steering" has been described, which is steering that cannot be reproduced by measurements on entangled states, but do not lead to superluminal signalling. In this work we present a framework based on the study of quantum channels in which one can study steering (and non-locality) in quantum theory and beyond. In this framework, we show that kinds of steering, whether quantum or post-quantum, are directly related to particular families of quantum channels that have been previously introduced by Beckman, Gottesman, Nielsen, and Preskill [Phys. Rev. A 64, 052309 (2001)]. Utilising this connection we also demonstrate new analytical examples of post-quantum steering, give a quantum channel interpretation of almost quantum non-locality and steering, easily recover and generalise the celebrated Gisin-Hughston-Jozsa-Wootters theorem, and initiate the study of post-quantum Buscemi non-locality and non-classical teleportation. In this way, we see post-quantum non-locality and steering as just two aspects of a more general phenomenon.