Structure of minimum error discrimination for linearly independent states

Abstract

In this paper we study the minimum error discrimination problem (MED) for ensembles of linearly independent (LI) states. We define a bijective map from the set of those ensembles to itself and we show that the pretty good measurement (PGM) and the optimal measurement for the MED are related by the map. In particular, the fixed points of the map are those ensembles for which the PGM is the optimal measurement. Also, we simplify the optimality conditions for the measurement of an ensemble of LI states.