Quantum optimal transport with quantum channels

Abstract: We propose a new generalization to quantum states of the Wasserstein distance, which is a fundamental distance between probability distributions given by the minimization of a transport cost. Our proposal is the first where the transport plans between quantum states are in natural correspondence with quantum channels, such that the transport can be interpreted as a physical operation on the system. Our main result is the proof of a modified triangle inequality for our transport distance. We also prove that the distance between a quantum state and itself is intimately connected with the Wigner-Yanase metric on the manifold of quantum states. We then specialize to quantum Gaussian systems, which provide the mathematical model for the electromagnetic radiation in the quantum regime. We prove that the noiseless quantum Gaussian attenuators and amplifiers are the optimal transport plans between thermal quantum Gaussian states, and that our distance recovers the classical Wasserstein distance in the semiclassical limit.