In quantum information science, classical information channel (often called simply classical channel) is a communication channel that can be used to transmit classical information (as opposed to quantum channel which can transmit quantum information). An example would be a light travelling over fiber optics lines or electricity travelling over phone lines.
Although classical channels cannot transmit quantum information by themselves, they can be useful in combination with quantum channels. Examples of their use are:
- In quantum teleportation, a classical channel together with a previously prepared entangled quantum state are used to transmit quantum information between two parties. Neither the classical channel nor the previously prepared quantum state alone can do this task.
- In quantum cryptography, a classical channel is used along with a quantum channel in protocols for quantum key exchange.
- In quantum communication, the information rate of a noisy quantum channel can be increased when used together with a noise-free classical channel. In particular, some very noisy quantum channels cannot transmit quantum information if used alone but can transmit it if used together with a classical channel (which is not capable of transmitting quantum information by itself).
Famous quotes containing the words classical, information and/or channel:
“Et in Arcadia ego.
[I too am in Arcadia.]”
—Anonymous, Anonymous.
Tomb inscription, appearing in classical paintings by Guercino and Poussin, among others. The words probably mean that even the most ideal earthly lives are mortal. Arcadia, a mountainous region in the central Peloponnese, Greece, was the rustic abode of Pan, depicted in literature and art as a land of innocence and ease, and was the title of Sir Philip Sidney’s pastoral romance (1590)
“English literature is a kind of training in social ethics.... English trains you to handle a body of information in a way that is conducive to action.”
—Marilyn Butler (b. 1937)
“There is the falsely mystical view of art that assumes a kind of supernatural inspiration, a possession by universal forces unrelated to questions of power and privilege or the artist’s relation to bread and blood. In this view, the channel of art can only become clogged and misdirected by the artist’s concern with merely temporary and local disturbances. The song is higher than the struggle.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)