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# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

The emergence of potentially useful theoretical protocols for using quantum states in cryptography and quantum computation has increased the theoretical (and perhaps ultimately practical) importance of questions about how quantum states can be compressed, transmitted across noisy or low-dimensional channels, and recovered, and otherwise manipulated in a fashion analogous to classical information. Most of the work done on these matters, beginning with , has focused on the manipulation of pure states, with mixed states appearing only in intermediate stages, as the result of noise. An exception is , which considered the copying or broadcasting of mixed states. When mixed states have appeared as states to be transmitted, it has usually been required that their potential entanglement with some reference system be preserved, as in . This focuses attention again on a pure state, the entangled state of system and reference system. As discussed further in  there is a close relation between entanglement transmission and the transmission of pure states of the system itself.

In the present paper, we consider the compression or transmission of mixed states, without any requirement that their entanglement or correlation with other systems be preserved. There might seem to be good reason to confine oneself to pure-state transmission, since mixed states, considered apart from any potential entanglement with other systems, might not seem particularly useful. This may be why the classical analogue of the problem we consider in this paper—the transmission of probability distributions—has not, to our knowledge, been previously studied. Game theory is perhaps the first situation that springs to mind in which one might wish to produce a mixed state intentionally, given that all pure states of which it may be viewed as a mixture are available, since it is well known to game theorists that mixed strategies may be better than any of their component pure strategies in important situations . Thus a “practical” application of mixed-state compression might be the compression of mixed strategies, where the “decoding” is done by the player playing the strategy or someone who shares his goals. In cryptographic applications (closely related to game theory, of course) and also in probabilistic classical algorithms, there may be a use for randomness and an interest in compressing it for efficient storage or transmission. Indeed, quantum computation can enable more-efficient-than-classical sampling from probability distributions ; there may be relations between these ideas and the work reported here.

The problem of optimal compression for ensembles of pure quantum states has been solved , but for sources of mixed states the minimal resources are unknown. This question has also been considered by M. Horodecki in . In this paper, we consider several variants of the question, depending on the fidelity criteria and encoding/decoding procedures used. Sections 2 and 3 present the problem, in variants depending on whether or not the encoder/compressor knows the identity of each state and can use it to help encode, and depending on whether, in a block-coding setting, a marginal (“local”) or total (“global”) fidelity criterion is used; Section 4 considers relations between these variants of the problem, in general and for the special case of pure states. Section 5 discusses the fact that the entropy of a source ensemble’s average density operator provides (as in the pure-state case) an upper bound on the rate at which qubits must be used to represent the source. We also show that under the global fidelity criterion, if decodings are required to be unitary, this is actually the optimal rate. Section 6 formulates a classical version of the problem, which we have not seen treated in classical information theory, and discusses examples. In Section 7, we show with several examples that in contrast to the pure state case, it is possible with general decodings to compress to below the entropy of the average density operator. This section also introduces a useful preparation-visible technique, that of compression by purifications, which we show does better than our classical methods for some of the classical mixed-state compression problems considered in Section 6. Finally, in Section 8 we show that the Holevo quantity $`S(_ip_i\sigma _i)_ip_iS(\sigma _i)`$ for an ensemble gives a lower bound on the qubit rate required to represent a source. (A different proof is given in .) We do not know whether this lower bound is attainable in general.

## 2 Formulation of the Problem

In this paper, $`S(\rho )`$ will always denote the von Neumann entropy of a density matrix $`\rho `$ and $`H(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)`$ will denote the Shannon entropy of a probability distribution $`p_1,\mathrm{},p_n`$. In both cases logarithms are taken to base $`2`$:

$`S(\rho ):=\mathrm{tr}(\rho \mathrm{log}_2\rho )`$
$`H(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n):={\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_i\mathrm{log}_2p_i`$
Let $`\rho _1,\mathrm{},\rho _n`$ be a list of (possibly mixed) $`d`$-dimensional quantum states. Each state is assigned a prior probability $`p_1,\mathrm{},p_n`$ respectively. We refer to such a list as a source or ensemble of signal states, denoted by $`E=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$. Alice is fed an unending sequence of these signal states, with each successive state chosen randomly and independently from $`E`$. At time $`N`$ she will have the total state $`\sigma _N=\rho _{i_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N}`$ with probability $`p_{i_1}p_{i_2}\mathrm{}p_{i_N}`$.

Alice wants to perform either of the following tasks (which are equivalent for our considerations):

* Communication: Alice wants to send the signals to Bob using a minimum number of qubits/signal so that Bob can reconstruct long sequences with “arbitrarily high fidelity”. This involves a “coding procedure” for Alice and a “decoding procedure” for Bob (cf. later discussion for the precise meaning of all these terms).
* Storage: Alternatively, Alice wants to store the signals as efficiently as possible. In this interpretation the coding procedure is used for putting signals into storage, and the decoding procedure for reconstituting them.

We distinguish two fundamental situations for Alice:

* Preparation-blind (blind): Alice is not given the identity of the individual (generally nonorthogonal) signal states (she knows only their prior distribution).
* Preparation-visible (visible): Alice is given the identity of the individual signal states (as well as their prior distribution). Indeed, in this case we may assume that she is simply provided with a sequence of the names of the states and she may prepare the states herself if she wishes.

Note that in the blind case, Alice is being fed essentially quantum information, whereas in the visible case she is getting entirely classical information. In both cases, however, Bob on decoding is not required to identify the actual signal states, but only to produce high fidelity representatives of the correct sequence of states. Hence, even in the visible case, the problem is not one of classical coding/information theory. The visible case (for pure states) occurs, for example, in quantum cryptographic protocols (e.g. BB84  and B92 ), where the sender (Alice) is also the state preparer.

## 3 Coding/Decoding Schemes and their Fidelity

Let $`_d`$ denote the space of all $`d`$-dimensional states. Given any physical system in state $`\rho `$, quantum mechanics allows only the following three types of operations:

* (OP1) A unitary transformation, $`\rho U\rho U^{}`$ ($`U`$ unitary).
* (OP2) Inclusion of an ancilla in a standard state $`\rho _0`$ (independent of $`\rho `$), $`\rho \rho \rho _0`$.
* (OP3) Discarding a subsystem (when $`\rho `$ is a state of a composite system $`AB`$), $`\rho _{AB}\mathrm{tr}_B(\rho _{AB})`$.

Note that (OP2) and (OP3) change the value of $`d`$.

Consider any length-$`N`$ string of input states (given either visible or blind):

$$\sigma _N=\rho _{i_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N}_d^N,$$
(1)
$$\mathrm{Prob}(\sigma _N)=p_{i_1}\mathrm{}p_{i_N}.$$
(2)
A coding/decoding scheme, using $`q`$ qubits/signal, is defined by the following requirements, which are to be specified for all sufficiently large $`N`$.

* Blind coding: Alice’s coding procedure, if blind, is any specified sequence of the above three operations applied to $`\sigma _N`$, giving a final state $`\omega _N`$ within the required resources of $`q`$ qubits/signal (i.e., in $`2^{qN}`$ dimensions). Mathematically, any such sequence of operations corresponds to a completely positive, trace-preserving map $`𝒞`$ on the density operator, i.e., $`\omega _N=𝒞(\rho _{i_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N})`$, and any completely positive, trace-preserving map corresponds to such a sequence of operations.
* Visible coding: Alice’s coding procedure, if visible, corresponds to an arbitrary assignment of a state $`\omega _N_{2^{qN}}`$ to each $`\sigma _N`$; i.e., Alice can build any state she pleases as the coded version of the input string.
* Finally, Bob’s decoding (analogous to blind coding) is any sequence of the above three operations applied to the coded state, yielding a state $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ of $`N`$ $`d`$-dimensional systems. Thus decoding is a completely positive, trace-preserving map from $`_{2^{qN}}`$ to $`_{d^N}`$.

Let us write Bob’s decoded state, produced by coding followed by decoding of $`\sigma _N=\rho _{i_1}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N}`$, as $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N=\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{i_1\mathrm{}i_N}`$. Let

$$\stackrel{~}{\rho }_k=\left\{\begin{array}{c}\text{trace of }\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_{i_1,\mathrm{},i_N}\text{ over all}\hfill \\ \text{signal spaces except the }k\text{-th}\hfill \end{array}\right\}k=1,\mathrm{}N$$
(3)
be the reduced state in the $`k^{\mathrm{th}}`$ signal position after coding and decoding; i.e., $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_k`$ is the decoded version of the $`k^{th}`$ transmitted state $`\rho _{i_k}`$. Let

$$F(\rho _1,\rho _2)=\left(\text{trace}(\rho _1^{1/2}\rho _2\rho _1^{1/2})^{1/2}\right)^2$$
(4)
denote the Bures-Uhlmann fidelity function . The coding/decoding scheme has fidelity $`1ϵ`$ if it satisfies the following fidelity requirement: There is an $`N_0`$ such that for all $`N>N_0`$,

$$\underset{\sigma _N}{}\mathrm{Prob}(\sigma _N)\underset{k=1}{\overset{N}{}}F(\rho _{i_k},\stackrel{~}{\rho }_k)>1ϵ\text{(LOCAL-FID),}$$
(5)
Note that high fidelity according to (LOCAL-FID) allows entanglement to be introduced between output signal states, even though there was no entanglement in the input (1), which was taken to be a product state. This is because we examine $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ only through its partial traces (3), thus reducing the state to each position separately. In view of this we might consider a stronger fidelity criterion (GLOBAL-FID), which replaces (LOCAL-FID) by

$$\underset{\sigma _N}{}\mathrm{Prob}(\sigma _N)F(\sigma _N,\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N)>1ϵ\text{(GLOBAL-FID).}$$
(6)
For $`ϵ`$ tending to zero, this eliminates extraneous entanglements in the output sequence. Note that in a continuously varying situation with $`ϵ`$ tending to zero, (GLOBAL-FID) implies (LOCAL-FID) because (GLOBAL-FID) will require that $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ become arbitrarily close to $`\sigma _N`$ and, hence, $`F(\rho _{i_k},\stackrel{~}{\rho }_k)1`$ for each $`k`$, too.
Example 1. Alice wants to send Bob $`\sigma _2=\frac{1}{2}I\frac{1}{2}I`$, so we may take the decoded state to be $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma _2}=\frac{1}{2}I\frac{1}{2}I`$ satisfying (LOCAL-FID) and (GLOBAL-FID) with $`ϵ=0`$ or

$$\stackrel{~}{\sigma _2}=\frac{1}{2}\left(|0|0+|1|1\right)\left(0|0|+1|1|\right),$$

satisfying (LOCAL-FID) with $`ϵ=0`$ but not (GLOBAL-FID).

We will generally adopt the fidelity requirement (GLOBAL-FID) in the following. If it is important that the signal states remain uncorrelated, (GLOBAL-FID) is the appropriate criterion; otherwise it may be too strong.
Remark 2. (LOCAL-FID) has the following awkward feature: If we have a very high fidelity coding/decoding scheme according to (LOCAL-FID) and we repeatedly apply it to a long string, $`\sigma _N\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N\stackrel{~}{\stackrel{~}{\sigma }}_N`$, then we will not necessarily preserve high fidelity in the sequence of reduced states. This is because though $`\sigma _N`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ have essentially the same reduced states at each position, globally they can be very different states (cf. Example 1). Since the coding scheme is generally a block-coding scheme, it uses the global input state and will work well only if this global state is a product state as in (1). Hence $`\stackrel{~}{\stackrel{~}{\sigma }}_N`$ will not generally have the correct reduced states.

From the above precise formulations of the notions of coding, decoding, and fidelity, we obtain a well defined mathematical problem.
Problem 3. For a given source $`E`$, find the greatest lower bound $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$ of all $`q`$’s with the following property: For all $`ϵ>0`$ there exists a coding/decoding scheme based on $`q`$ qubits/signal with fidelity $`1ϵ`$.
This problem may be considered either in the blind or visible context, with the variation over encodings taken over the appropriate class of maps in each case. Similarly, it may be considered in the case of either of the fidelity criteria, (LOCAL-FID) or (GLOBAL-FID). We will say that the source $`E`$ can be coded (or compressed) at the rate $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$.

Equivalently, the problem may be stated as follows: For a given source $`E`$, find $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$ with the following property. Given any $`\delta >0`$, (a) if $`q_{\mathrm{min}}+\delta `$ qubits/signal are available, then for every $`ϵ>0`$ there exists a coding scheme with fidelity $`1ϵ`$, and (b) if $`q_{\mathrm{min}}\delta `$ qubits/signal are available, then there exists an $`ϵ>0`$ such that every coding scheme will have fidelity less than $`1ϵ`$.

## 4 Comparing the Formulation with Schumacher’s <br>Coding for Pure States

The problem formulated above is intended to be a generalization of the scenario in Schumacher’s theorem  to the case of mixed input states. Indeed, if the input states happen all to be pure states, then the above formulation reduces precisely to the situation of Schumacher’s theorem. It is interesting to note that several of the distinctions made above collapse in the special case of pure input states.
Proposition 4. If the input states are all pure, then there is no distinction between the blind and visible problems.
Proof: In Refs.  an optimal coding/decoding scheme for the visible pure-state problem is described. This optimal scheme turns out, remarkably, to be blind; i.e., knowledge of the identities of the individual input signals gives Alice no further benefit in the case of pure states.

In  it is also shown that nonunitary decoding operations are of no advantage (on the criterion (GLOBAL-FID)) in decoding for the pure-state problem. In contrast, for mixed-state signals, nonunitary decodings are generally essential for optimal compression. This follows from Theorem 7 and §7 below.

Finally, the distinction between (LOCAL-FID) and (GLOBAL-FID) also collapses for pure signal states.
Proposition 5. If the input states are all pure, then the two alternative fidelity criteria, (LOCAL-FID) and (GLOBAL-FID), become equivalent as $`ϵ`$ is allowed to tend to zero.
Idea of proof: We already know that the (GLOBAL-FID) criterion implies the (LOCAL-FID) criterion. Suppose that the (LOCAL-FID) criterion holds for a sequence of $`ϵ`$ values tending to zero. (Here we are thinking of a sequence of coding/decoding schemes which all operate within the resource constraint of $`q`$ qubits/signal where $`q>q_{\mathrm{min}}`$.) Then the reduced states $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_k`$ of $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ become arbitrarily close to the input states $`\rho _{i_k}`$ which are pure. Hence $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ cannot be much entangled since entanglement always shows up as impurity in the reduced states $`\stackrel{~}{\rho }_k`$. Thus $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ must approach the product state $`\sigma _N`$ and (GLOBAL-FID) holds.

As a consequence of Proposition 5, the awkward feature of (LOCAL-FID) described in Remark 2 does not arise in the coding of pure states.

## 5 The $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ Upper Bound for $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$

Let $`\overline{\rho }`$ be the average density matrix of the input states:

$$\overline{\rho }=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}p_i\rho _i.$$
(7)
Proposition 6. $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ is an upper bound for $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$ under the criterion (GLOBAL-FID) (and hence also under the criterion (LOCAL-FID)).
Proof: For each $`\rho _i`$, choose a representative ensemble of pure states corresponding to $`\rho _i`$, so that we may view Alice as receiving an overall ensemble of pure states with density matrix $`\overline{\rho }`$. By Schumacher’s theorem this may be transmitted to Bob with arbitrarily high fidelity by compressing to $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ qubits/signal.

Note that this compression preserves too much internal structure: Bob faithfully reconstructs Alice’s chosen ensembles of pure states underlying the $`\rho _i`$’s rather than just the $`\rho _i`$’s themselves. For our purposes it is sufficient for Bob to decode to any other representative ensemble for the $`\rho _i`$’s. Hence we would expect that further compression is possible, and the examples in §7 below show that it generally is. Furthermore, the coding in Proposition 6 gives high fidelity relative to the stronger criterion (GLOBAL-FID); using the weaker (LOCAL-FID), one might expect even more compression.

In fact we can say more, embodied in the following theorem.
Theorem 7  . For the stronger fidelity criterion (GLOBAL-FID), if the decoding operation is required to be unitary (i.e., using only OP1 and OP2), then no further compression is possible, i.e., $`q_{\mathrm{min}}=S(\overline{\rho })`$.
The proof is given in Appendix A.

Note that for the pure-state coding theorem, the decoding may indeed be taken to be unitary and (GLOBAL-FID) is used (being equivalent to (LOCAL-FID) by Proposition 5), but we do not necessarily wish to impose these conditions in the mixed-state case.

## 6 A Classical Analogue

In the case of Schumacher’s pure-state coding theorem, there is a clear classical analogue, which has been well studied and completely solved, namely Shannon’s noiseless coding theorem. Though the classical analogue for the case of mixed states appears not to have been studied, it would involve the compression/communication of probability distributions. To formulate the classical problem, let there be a finite number of possible classical states, i.e., distinguishable alternatives (this is the analogue of our assumption of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces), and identify the input and output classical states with particular orthonormal bases in input and output Hilbert spaces. Write probability weight functions on the sets of orthonormal pure states as column vectors $`𝐩=(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)^T`$ of probabilities. These classical probability distributions then correspond to commuting density operators diagonal in the input and output bases.

We may formulate classical preparation-blind coding or decoding procedures as multiplication of input probability vectors by a stochastic matrix $`𝐀`$ (one with nonnegative entries whose columns sum to one):

$`𝐩_{\mathrm{out}}=\mathrm{𝐀𝐩}_{\mathrm{in}}.`$ (8)
The stochasticity ensures that the matrix can be interpreted as a matrix of transition probabilities. As in the quantum case, preparation-visible procedures are described by arbitary maps between the relevant spaces, in this case between the spaces of probability vectors. The stochastic linear maps on the probability distributions correspond to a (convex) subset of the trace-preserving completely positive maps on density operators, and a given classical problem maps onto a corresponding quantum problem of sending commuting density operators. If we allow all possible trace-preserving completely positive maps, instead of just those which correspond to classical dynamics in the diagonalizing bases, we are using quantum means to deal with a classical problem, and we can compare the power of these quantum means to that of the purely classical means defined by restricting the allowable CP-maps to those that act as stochastic matrix multiplication in the given bases.

These notions and comparisons are illustrated in the following examples, which are phrased in terms of the quantum language, i.e., viewing classical distributions as commuting mixed states.
Example 8. We have two input states, $`\rho _1,\rho _2_2`$,

$$\rho _1\mathrm{diag}(\alpha _1,1\alpha _1),\rho _2\mathrm{diag}(\alpha _2,1\alpha _2),$$
(9)
which are simultaneously diagonal in a basis known to Alice and Bob. Let the prior probabilities for these two states be $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$. Classically we may regard the two states as suitably biased coins, $`C_1`$ and $`C_2`$. A preparer chooses a sequence of coins, $`C_1`$ or $`C_2`$ with probabilities $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$, and tosses each of them once. The sequence of outcomes is passed on to Alice. Since Alice can look at the sequence of outcomes, we can regard the sequence of outcomes as the realization of “Alice being given an unknown sequence of the two states.” Notice that in the blind case, Alice cannot be given the actual coins that make up the input sequence, for she could then toss each one many times and identify the coins in the sequence, which is impossible to do given a single instance of each quantum state in the sequence. In contrast, in the visible case, Alice is given the sequence of coin names (or the actual coins, from which she could generate the sequence of coin names), together with a sequence of outcomes. In both cases, the objective of the protocol is to have Bob generate a sequence of outcomes that are governed by the same probabilities as Alice’s input sequence of outcomes. Thus we have the following classical problems.

Blind case: A preparer chooses a sequence of coins, $`C_1`$ or $`C_2`$ with prior probabilities $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$, tosses each of them a single time, and passes the sequence of outcomes on to Alice. Alice “codes” her sequence of outcomes, and Bob “decodes” the result, obtaining an output sequence of outcomes. The coding/decoding processes may involve probabilistic processes. As before, Alice would like to compress the input sequence as much as possible for transmission. A perfect coding/decoding scheme would achieve the following: Suppose that in position 1 the preparer has used coin $`C_2`$; then, taking into account the probability of outcomes in tossing $`C_2`$ and all probabilistic processes involved in coding/decoding, the first entry in Bob’s outcome sequence should have a probability distribution which is the same as for coin $`C_2`$. A similar condition should apply at each position of the sequence.

This condition requires perfect fidelity of transmission of the distributions. In order to allow the usual situation of fidelity that approaches perfection only in an asymptotic limit of longer and longer block coding, we introduce a fidelity function for classical probability distributions. If $`𝐩=(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)^T`$ and $`𝐪=(q_1,\mathrm{},q_n\}^T`$ are two probability distributions on the same space, then the fidelity is defined by

$$F_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩,𝐪)=\left(\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\sqrt{p_i}\sqrt{q_i}\right)^2,$$
(10)
which is also known as the Bhattacharyya-Wootters distance (or overlap) between the distributions. Notice that $`F_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩,𝐪)=1`$ iff $`𝐩=𝐪`$. The classical fidelity $`F_{\mathrm{cl}}`$ may be viewed as a special case of the Bures-Uhlmann fidelity (4), i.e., $`F_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩,𝐪)=F(\rho _1,\rho _2)`$ for two commuting density operators, $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$, that have $`𝐩`$ and $`𝐪`$ on their diagonals.

The problem is then to find the minimum number of bits/signal which suffices to code the input string with asymptotically arbitrarily high fidelity. (A precise formulation is very similar to that given for the quantum problem in §2.) There is an obvious upper bound on the minimum number of bits/signal: Alice may compress her outcome sequence to the Shannon entropy of the average coin, $`H(\overline{\alpha },1\overline{\alpha })=S(\overline{\rho })`$ bits/signal, where $`\overline{\alpha }=p_1\alpha _1+p_2\alpha _2`$ is the average probability for the first outcome; Bob can decode the compressed sequence to produce an output outcome sequence that has asymptotically perfect fidelity. Because we are dealing here with commuting density operators, this upper bound is the same as the $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ upper bound of §5.

Visible case: In this case Alice is fed the sequence of actual coin names, $`C_1`$ or $`C_2`$, in addition to outcomes of tossing each coin once. The blind-case upper bound of $`H(\overline{\alpha },1\overline{\alpha })=S(\overline{\rho })`$ bits/signal applies also to the visible case, but there is an additional clear upper bound in the visible case: Alice may simply send Bob the full information of which coin to use at each stage; she can compress this data by the Shannon entropy of the prior distribution of coin choices, i.e., $`H(p_1,p_2)`$ bits/signal.

Although we do not know the optimal number of bits/signal for this problem, we now describe a purely classical coding/decoding scheme which beats both bounds for some values of the parameters $`p_1`$, $`p_2`$, $`\alpha _1`$, and $`\alpha _2`$.
Example 9. Suppose that $`\alpha _2\alpha _1`$. Denote the coin toss outcomes by H and T, with H having probability $`\alpha _i`$ for coin $`C_i`$. Alice sends one of three possible messages, $`M_0`$, $`M_1`$, or $`M_2`$, to Bob according to the following (probabilistic) coding scheme:

* Regardless of the input coin ($`C_1`$ or $`C_2`$), Alice sends $`M_0`$ with probability $`1\alpha _2+\alpha _1`$.
* If the message $`M_0`$ is not chosen (i.e. with probability $`\alpha _2\alpha _1`$), Alice sends $`M_1`$ if the coin is $`C_1`$ and $`M_2`$ if the coin is $`C_2`$.

Bob responds to these signals as follows:

* For $`M_0`$ Bob probabilistically generates H or T with $`\text{prob(H)}=\alpha _1/(1\alpha _2+\alpha _1)`$ and $`\text{prob(T)}=(1\alpha _2)/(1\alpha _2+\alpha _1)`$.
* For $`M_1`$ Bob generates T with probability 1.
* For $`M_2`$ Bob generates H with probability 1.

Curiously, in the latter two cases Bob actually learns the identity of the coin yet he responds with a different distribution! It is readily verified that for each position in the sequence, taking into account the probabilistic choices in coding/decoding, Bob’s output result correctly represents the result of one toss of the corresponding input coin.

The messages $`M_0`$, $`M_1`$, and $`M_2`$ are sent with probabilities $`1\alpha _2+\alpha _1`$, $`p_1(\alpha _2\alpha _1)`$, and $`p_2(\alpha _2\alpha _1)`$, so Alice can compress the sequence to

$$\mathrm{\Xi }=H(1\alpha _2+\alpha _1,p_1(\alpha _2\alpha _1),p_2(\alpha _2\alpha _1))\text{ bits/coin toss.}$$

If $`p_1=p_2=\frac{1}{2}`$ and $`\alpha _1\alpha _2\frac{1}{4}`$, then $`H(p_1,p_2)=1`$ and $`S(\overline{\rho })=H(\overline{\alpha },1\overline{\alpha })H(\frac{3}{4},\frac{1}{4})`$, whereas $`\mathrm{\Xi }0`$, thus beating the two bounds. (For some other values of the parameters $`\mathrm{\Xi }`$ exceeds both bounds).

It has been conjectured that the minimum number of bits/signal for this classical problem (and its natural generalization too many classical distributions) should be the mutual information $`H(\overline{\alpha },1\overline{\alpha })p_1H(\alpha _1,1\alpha _1)p_2H(\alpha _2,1\alpha _2)`$, even if global fidelity is required, but this has resisted proof/disproof so far. (This would coincide with the lower bound given in $`\mathrm{\S }`$8.) In Example 12 below we will describe a quantum protocol for this problem which is better than all the above protocols.

## 7 Examples of Compression beyond $`S(\overline{\rho })`$

We now return to our main question of quantum coding for general sources of mixed states. Though the problem of the optimal value of $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$ remains unsolved, we describe here a series of interesting examples of compression beyond the $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ upper bound given in §5. These examples reveal something of the intricacy of this problem. (Notice that Example 9 already provides a case of compression beyond the $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ bound in the classical context.) In the next section we will derive a lower bound for $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$.
Example 10 (Trivial cases). The following two situations are blind, but Alice may reliably identify the input states, thus making them visible.
(a) Suppose that there is only one possible input signal $`\rho =\frac{1}{2}I`$ so $`\overline{\rho }=\frac{1}{2}I`$ and $`S(\overline{\rho })=1`$ qubit/signal. Yet Alice need not send anything at all; i.e., we may compress to 0 qubits/signal.
(b) Suppose that the input signals $`\rho _i`$ with prior probabilities $`p_i`$ are supported on orthogonal subspaces. (The support of a mixed state is defined as the subspace spanned by all eigenvectors belonging to nonzero eigenvalues.) Thus Alice may reliably measure the identity of the inputs and compress the resulting data to $`H(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)`$ qubits/signal. Now for orthogonally supported states we have generally

$$S(\overline{\rho })=H(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)+p_iS(\rho _i)H(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n).$$
(11)
Example 11 (A nontrivial blind example with noncommuting mixed input states). There are two signal states, $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$, in $`m+n`$ dimensions with prior probabilities $`p_1`$ and $`p_2`$. The states have a block-diagonal form,

$$\rho _1=\text{diag}(ϵ\sigma _1,(1ϵ)\tau _1),\rho _2=\text{diag}(ϵ\sigma _2,(1ϵ)\tau _2),$$

where $`\sigma _1`$ and $`\sigma _2`$ are density matrices of size $`m\times m`$ and $`\tau _1`$ and $`\tau _2`$ are density matrices of size $`n\times n`$. Writing

$$\overline{\rho }=p_1\rho _1+p_2\rho _2,\overline{\sigma }=p_1\sigma _1+p_2\sigma _2,\overline{\tau }=p_1\tau _1+p_2\tau _2,$$

ones easily sees that

$$S(\overline{\rho })=H(ϵ,1ϵ)+ϵS(\overline{\sigma })+(1ϵ)S(\overline{\tau }).$$
(12)
In the $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ coding scheme of Proposition 6, we may interpret this formula as follows. For a sequence of inputs Alice first measures the $`\sigma `$-space versus the $`\tau `$-space — projecting the input state into whichever space is the outcome— and she compresses the resulting string of subspace names to $`H(ϵ,1ϵ)`$ bits/name. If the outcome space was “$`\sigma `$-subspace,” a result that occurs a fraction $`ϵ`$ of the time, she compresses the post-measurement state to $`S(\overline{\sigma })`$ qubits/signal, and similarly if the outcome was “$`\tau `$-subspace,” which occurs $`(1ϵ)`$ of the time, she compresses to $`S(\overline{\tau })`$ qubits/signal. Thus the total sending resources is the sum of these three terms in (12).

Now suppose that $`\sigma _1\sigma _2`$, but that $`\tau _1=\tau _2\tau `$. Then, in the case that Alice’s measurement outcome is “$`\tau `$-subspace,” a result that also becomes known to Bob through the communication of the subspace names, she need not send the post-measurement state at all, as Bob already knows it (i.e. $`\tau `$) and can construct it himself. Thus we may drop the last term in (12) and communicate the mixed states (with perfect fidelity) using only $`H(ϵ,1ϵ)+ϵS(\overline{\sigma })`$ qubits/signal, which is less than $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ by an amount $`(1ϵ)S(\overline{\tau })`$.

Example 12 (Visible coding by purification of the input states). The general idea here (cf. also ) is that in the visible situation, Alice may build purifications of the input mixed states and send these purifications (which are pure states) to Bob utilizing the compression of Schumacher’s pure state coding theorem. On reception Bob regains the mixed states by selecting a suitable subsystem of each decoded purification state.

As a first example, consider a special case of states of the form in Example 8. There are two possible input states,

$$\rho _1=\text{diag}(ϵ,1ϵ),\rho _2=\text{diag}(1ϵ,ϵ),$$
(13)
with equal prior probabilities $`p_1=p_2=\frac{1}{2}`$. Hence $`S(\overline{\rho })=1`$ and $`H(p_1,p_2)=1`$. After constructing purifications $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$, Alice’s task is to send a 50/50 mixture of $`|\psi _1`$ and $`|\psi _2`$. Thus to get the greatest benefit from Schumacher compression, the purifications should be chosen so that their ensemble has least von Neumann entropy; i.e., the two purifications should be as parallel as possible. According to Bures and Uhlmann’s basic theorem , the minimum possible angle $`\theta _{\mathrm{min}}`$ between purifications of $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$ is given by

$$\mathrm{cos}^2\theta _{\mathrm{min}}=F(\rho _1,\rho _2).$$

Moreover, a 50/50 mixture of states at angle $`\theta _{\mathrm{min}}`$ has entropy

$$S_{\mathrm{min}}=H(\frac{1+\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{min}}}{2},\frac{1\mathrm{cos}\theta _{\mathrm{min}}}{2}),$$

which gives the Schumacher limit of qubits/signal in compression by this method.

For the states in (13) we readily compute

$$F(\rho _1,\rho _2)=4ϵ(1ϵ),$$

so that Alice may compress the purification ensemble to

$$\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(ϵ)=H(\frac{1}{2}+\sqrt{ϵ(1ϵ)},\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{ϵ(1ϵ)})\text{qubits/signal},$$

which is better than $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ or $`H(p_1,p_2)`$, being equal to these only when $`ϵ`$ is 0 or 1.

Note that the purely classical compression method of Example 9 applies to this case, too. The relevant parameters are $`p_1=p_2=\frac{1}{2}`$, $`\alpha _1=ϵ`$, $`\alpha _2=1ϵ`$, and $`0ϵ\frac{1}{2}`$. The method of Example 9 gives compression to

$$\mathrm{\Xi }(ϵ)=H(2ϵ,\frac{1}{2}ϵ,\frac{1}{2}ϵ)=H(2ϵ,12ϵ)+12ϵ\text{qubits/signal},$$

and we get

$$\mathrm{\Xi }(ϵ)\mathrm{{\rm Y}}(ϵ)\text{for}0ϵ\frac{1}{2},$$

with equality only for $`ϵ`$ is 0 or 1/2. Thus, whenever the states $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$ of Eq. (13) are mixed, the quantum purification compression beats the classical method of Example 9.
Remark 13 (A simple construction of optimally parallel purifications for commuting states). Given any mixed state in diagonal form $`\rho =\text{diag}(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)`$, we may immediately write down a canonical purification:

$$|\psi =\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\sqrt{p_i}|e_i|e_i,$$

where $`\{|e_k\}`$ is the diagonalizing basis for $`\rho `$. Given two such states,

$$\rho _1=\text{diag}(p_1,\mathrm{},p_n),\rho _2=\text{diag}(q_1,\mathrm{},q_n),$$

the canonical purifications clearly satisfy

$$|\psi _1|\psi _2|^2=\left(\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\sqrt{p_i}\sqrt{q_i}\right)^2=F(\rho _1,\rho _2)=\text{(Bures-Uhlmann limit for }\mathrm{cos}^2\theta \text{).}$$

Thus for simultaneously diagonal states, the canonical purifications are always optimally parallel.

Notice that the diagonal entries of $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$ are classical distributions $`𝐩`$ and $`𝐪`$ and that

$$|\psi _1|\psi _2|^2=F(\rho _1,\rho _2)=F_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩,𝐪).$$

The construction of optimally parallel purifications converts the Bhattacharyya-Wootters overlap of classical distributions into quantum overlap of pure quantum states. In this way the methods of quantum coding may be applied to problems of compression of classical probability distributions.

Suppose now that we have two or more simultaneously diagonal states,

$$\rho ^{(a)}=\text{diag}(p_1^{(a)},\mathrm{},p_n^{(a)}),a=1,\mathrm{},K.$$

Then their canonical purifications $`|\psi ^{(a)}`$ have the remarkable property that they are all simultaneously pairwise maximally parallel. Recall that Uhlmann’s theorem gives a limit on how parallel purifications can get for any pair of mixed states. It does not follow that this optimal parallelness can be simultaneously achieved by purifications of three or more states. Yet for simultaneously diagonal states, this optimal simultaneous parallelism is achieved by the canonical purifications.

It seems unlikely, however, that maximum parallelness gives the best set of purifications for the purpose of mixed-state compression when there are three or more signal states. Jozsa and Schlienz  have shown the existence of pairs of pure-state ensembles $`\{p_i,|\psi _i\}`$ and $`\{p_i,|\chi _i\}`$ for which all homologous pairs in the second ensemble are less parallel (i.e., $`i,j|\chi _i|\chi _j||\psi _i|\psi _j|`$), but for which the entropy of the second ensemble is nevertheless smaller. This phenomenon is expected to persist under the added constraint that the states involved are purifications of the given mixed states.
Remark 14. If Alice sends Bob the canonical purification of $`\rho `$,

$$|\psi =\sqrt{p_i}|e_i|e_i,$$

she is actually supplying him with two copies of $`\rho `$ – one for each of the two subsystems of the purification. Therefore one suspects that this compression is not optimal, at least when the criterion (LOCAL-FID) is used. To benefit from this observation, we might try to construct purifications each of which codes two signal states, one in each subsystem of the purification. To do this, the two signal states must have the same eigenvalues, but they need not be identical (e.g., as occurs in Example 15 below). Thus the signal states would purify each other in pairs at the expense of introducing strong entanglement in the output signal sequence. This construction would have high (LOCAL-FID) fidelity, but low fidelity for the (GLOBAL-FID) criterion. Of course, even with the stronger criterion (GLOBAL-FID), it is not clear that the compression of Example 12 is optimal.
Example 15. (The “photographic negative” example, another application of compression by purification). Suppose that we have $`d`$ possible input signals $`\rho _i`$, where $`\rho _i`$ is the $`d\times d`$ diagonal density matrix with equal entries $`1/(d1)`$ along the diagonal except for the $`i`$th entry which is zero:

$$\rho _i=\frac{1}{d1}\text{diag}(1,1,\mathrm{},1,0,1,\mathrm{},1),\text{where }0\text{ is in the }i\text{th place.}$$

The signals all have equal prior probabilities $`p_i=1/d`$, giving $`\overline{\rho }=I/d`$.

The canonical purifications in $`_d_d`$ all lie in a $`d`$-dimensional subspace spanned by $`\{|e_i|e_i\}`$, where $`\{|e_i\}`$ is the diagonalizing basis of the $`\rho _i`$’s. A direct calculation shows that the equally weighted mixture of purifications in this $`d`$-dimensional subspace is a density matrix

$$\rho =\frac{d2}{d1}|\psi \psi |+\frac{1}{d1}\frac{I}{d},$$

where $`I`$ is the identity matrix in the $`d`$-dimensional subspace, and

$$|\psi =\frac{1}{\sqrt{d}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}|e_i|e_i$$

is a maximally entangled state. Thus $`\rho `$ can be viewed as a mixture of a totally mixed state $`I/d`$, with probability $`1/(d1)`$, and a maximally entangled pure state $`|\psi \psi |`$, with probability $`(d2)/(d1)`$. Changing to a basis in which $`|\psi `$ is the first basis vector, we can easily determine the eigenvalues of $`\rho `$ to be a nondegenerate eigenvalue $`(d1)/d`$ and $`(d1)`$ degenerate eigenvalues $`1/d(d1)`$. A short calculation gives

$$q=S(\rho )=H(\frac{d1}{d},\frac{1}{d})+\frac{1}{d}\mathrm{log}(d1)=\frac{2}{d}\mathrm{log}(d1)\mathrm{log}\left(1\frac{1}{d}\right)\text{qubits/signal}$$

for the compression scheme. Note that $`q0`$ as $`d\mathrm{}`$.

Introducing the Holevo quantity for the ensemble $`E=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$,

$$\chi (E)=S(\overline{\rho })p_iS(\rho _i)=\mathrm{log}\left(1\frac{1}{d}\right),$$

we find

$$q=\chi +\frac{2}{d}\mathrm{log}(d1),$$

so $`q\chi `$ as $`d\mathrm{}`$. Note that although we described this construction in terms of block coding the ensemble of canonical purifications for all the signals, it also provides canonical purifications for the ensemble of $`N`$-block mixed states. Nonetheless, for finite $`d`$, the above bound remains greater than the Holevo bound. Thus, if the conjecture that the Holevo bound is achievable by visible compression is correct, then, perhaps surprisingly, canonical purification is a suboptimal method of compression.

## 8 A lower bound on the rate of mixed-state compression

There is a simple argument that the Holevo quantity for an ensemble $`E=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$ of mixed states is a lower bound on the rate at which such an ensemble can be coded. Here we use the global fidelity criterion (GLOBAL-FID), and encoding may be blind or visible. This argument uses the result, shown for pure-state ensembles by Hausladen, Jozsa, Schumacher, Westmoreland, and Wootters  and for general mixed-state ensembles by Holevo  and by Schumacher and Westmoreland , that the Holevo quantity for an ensemble $`E`$ is the capacity for classical information transmission using the states in the ensemble $`E`$ as an alphabet. The gist of the argument is that if an ensemble of mixed states could be coded at a rate lower than its Holevo quantity, even with preparation-visible encoding, then one could code a Holevo quantity’s worth of classical information into those mixed states, compress them to an ensemble on a channel space of size smaller than the Holevo quantity (per use), recover the original ensemble with high fidelity, and therefore recover the classical information. But since the classical information capacity of an ensemble of states cannot be larger than the log of the dimension of its Hilbert space (since this is greater than or equal to $`\chi `$ for any ensemble), this is impossible.

To formalize this argument, consider an ensemble (or source) $`E=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$ of mixed states $`\rho _i`$ with probabilities $`p_i`$ on a Hilbert space $`H_d`$ of dimension $`d`$. The Holevo quantity for this ensemble is

$`\chi (E)S\left({\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_i\rho _i\right){\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iS(\rho _i).`$ (14)
A sequence of $`N`$ signals from this source gives a state drawn from the ensemble

$`E^N=\{p_{i_1}p_{i_2}\mathrm{}p_{i_N},\rho _{i_1}\rho _{i_2}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N}\}.`$ (15)
We introduce the notation $`f(A)=\{p_i,f(\rho _i)\}`$ for the ensemble obtained by applying a map $`f`$ to the states of the ensemble $`A`$, and we write $`B()`$ for the space of bounded operators on a Hilbert space $``$.

For two ensembles with the same probabilities, $`A=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$ and $`B=\{p_i,\sigma _i\}`$, we define an average fidelity by

$`\overline{F}(A,B)={\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iF(\rho _i,\sigma _i).`$ (16)
In proving the main theorem of this section, we will need a lemma that bounds the absolute value of the difference in the Holevo quantities for two ensembles in terms of their average fidelity, provided the average fidelity is high enough.
Lemma 16. If $`\overline{F}(A,B)>\sqrt{35/36}`$, then

$`|\chi (A)\chi (B)|(2+2\sqrt{2})\sqrt{1\overline{F}(A,B)}\mathrm{log}d+1,`$ (17)
where $`d`$ is the dimension of the state space of $`A`$ and $`B`$.
The proof is given in Appendix B.

Our formulation of the mixed-state compression problem for the fidelity criterion (GLOBAL-FID) can now be stated succinctly. Relative to (GLOBAL-FID), the source $`E`$ can be coded (or compressed) at a rate $`q`$ if there exists a channel Hilbert space $`C`$ with $`q=\mathrm{log}(\mathrm{dim}C)`$ and encoding/decoding schemes $`\{e^{(N)},𝒟^{(N)}\}`$,

$`e^{(N)}:B(H_d^N)B(C^N),𝒟^{(N)}:B(C^N)B(H_d^N),`$ (18)
such that

$`\underset{N\mathrm{}}{lim}\overline{F}(E^N,F^{(N)})=1\text{(GLOBAL-FID)},`$ (19)
where

$`F^{(N)}𝒟^{(N)}e^{(N)}(E^N)`$ (20)
is the ensemble after decoding. We require that the encodings $`e^{(N)}`$ take density operators to density operators and that the decodings $`𝒟^{(N)}`$ be trace-preserving completely positive linear maps. Permitting the encodings to be arbitrary maps on density operators allows for preparation-visible encoding; if $`e^{(N)}`$ is a trace-preserving completely positive linear map $`^{(N)}`$, then the compression is preparation-blind.

The argument outlined at the beginning of this section can be formalized in the following theorem.
Theorem 17. For the fidelity criterion (GLOBAL-FID) and for both blind and visible encodings, the Holevo quantity $`\chi (E)`$ for an ensemble $`E=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$ is a lower bound for $`q_{\mathrm{min}}`$.
Proof: Suppose that the ensemble $`E=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$ can be compressed at a rate $`q<\chi (E)`$ with asymptotically high fidelity (Eq. (19)), whether preparation-blind or preparation-visible. Consider the ensemble of channel states (density matrices)

$`W^{(N)}=\{p_{i_1}p_{i_2}\mathrm{}p_{i_N},w_{i_1i_2\mathrm{}i_N}\},`$ (21)
where

$$w_{i_1i_2\mathrm{}i_n}e^{(N)}(\rho _{i_1}\rho _{i_2}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N})$$

is the encoded state corresponding to the unencoded source state $`\rho _{i_1}\rho _{i_2}\mathrm{}\rho _{i_N}`$. The Holevo quantity for $`W^{(N)}`$ satisfies

$`\chi (W^{(N)})S\left(\begin{array}{c}\text{average density}\\ \text{operator of }W^{(N)}\end{array}\right)Nq<N\chi (E),`$ (22)
where $`Nq`$ is the the log of the dimension of the channel Hilbert space for $`N`$ blocks of channel.

Consider now the following procedure for using the $`N`$-block operators $`w_{i_1\mathrm{}i_N}`$ as an alphabet to send classical information. Make codewords out of strings of $`M`$ of these operators. Prune them as one would if one were coding using the operators $`\rho _{i_1\mathrm{}i_N}`$ of the ensemble $`F^{(N)}`$ in the Holevo/Schumacher/Westmoreland procedure for attaining $`\chi (F^{(N)})`$ as classical capacity. As the first step in the decoding procedure, convert them using the decoding $`(𝒟^{(N)})^M`$ into strings of the operators $`\rho _{i_1\mathrm{}i_N}`$ of the ensemble $`F^{(N)}`$. Then apply the decoding measurement appropriate to that ensemble.

This procedure clearly uses the $`N`$-block ensemble $`W^{(N)}`$ to transmit classical information at the rate $`\chi (F^{(N)})`$ per $`N`$ blocks. But by assumption \[cf. (19)\], the ensemble $`F^{(N)}`$ has, at large enough $`N`$, arbitrarily high fidelity to the original ensemble $`E^N`$. Hence, applying Lemma 16 to the ensembles $`E^N`$ and $`F^{(N)},`$ whose states lie in $`d^N`$-dimensional Hilbert spaces, one finds

$`\left|\chi (E){\displaystyle \frac{\chi (F^{(N)})}{N}}\right|(2+\sqrt{2})\sqrt{1\overline{F}(E^N,F^{(N)})}\mathrm{log}d+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{N}}.`$ (23)
Thus for large enough $`N`$, $`\chi (F^{(N)})/N`$ is arbitrarily close to $`\chi (E)`$, which is greater than $`\chi (W^{(N)})/N`$ by at least an amount $`\chi (E)q`$, independent of $`N`$. So for large enough $`N`$, $`\chi (F^{(N)})`$ exceeds $`\chi (W^{(N)})`$, contradicting the fact that the classical capacity of the ensemble $`W^{(N)}`$ is $`\chi (W^{(N)})`$. We conclude that the compression rate $`q`$ must satisfy $`q\chi (E)`$.

M. Horodecki  has independently derived the lower bound of Theorem 17, using the nonincrease of the Holevo quantity under completely positive maps. This nonincrease is an easy consequence of the monotonicity of relative entropy under such maps , and therefore of Lieb’s fundamental concavity theorem ). (A good treatment of all of these is to be found in .)

A special case of Theorem 17 is the lower bound of $`S(\overline{\rho })`$ qubits per source signal on the rate of compression of ensembles of pure states. This lower bound was established for preparation-blind encodings and unitary decodings in ; for arbitrary (preparation-blind or preparation-visible) encodings and unitary decodings in ; and, by somewhat technical arguments, for arbitrary encodings and decodings using completely positive trace-preserving maps in . The present result allows for arbitrary encodings and decodings using completely positive trace-preserving maps, so it provides an alternative and perhaps more satisfying derivation of the most general form of the pure-state lower bound.

The lower bound in Theorem 17 raises the fundamental open question of whether the bound is achievable (with global fidelity) with either blind or visible encoding. If not, one would like an expression for the achievable rate in both cases. Even for transmitting classical mixed states, the question of the best achievable rate remains open, in both the variant allowing quantum means of compression and that requiring only classical means.

## Acknowledgments

Much of the work reported here was carried out at the Center for Advanced Studies of the University of New Mexico in August 1995. This work was supported in part by Office of Naval Research Grant No. N00014-93-1-0116, National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-9722614, the Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation, Turin, Italy and Elsag, a Finmeccanica company. RJ is supported by the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. RJ and HB are supported by the European Union project QAIP, IST-1999-11234.

## Appendix A Proof of Theorem 7

Proposition 6 may be used for part of the proof, but we give a different argument that utilizes properties of the Bures-Uhlmann fidelity function throughout. We first establish two lemmas which are direct Bures-Uhlmann fidelity analogues of Lemmas 1 and 2 in .
Lemma A1: Let $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}`$ be mixed states on $`_n`$ with $`\rho ^{}`$ supported on a $`d`$-dimensional subspace $`D`$. Then $`F(\rho ,\rho ^{})`$ is less than the sum of the $`d`$ largest eigenvalues of $`\rho `$, which we write as $`1\eta `$.
Proof of Lemma A1: We use the fact that

$$F(\rho ,\rho ^{})=\text{inf trace }\rho A\text{ trace }\rho ^{}A^1,$$
(24)
where the infimum is over all strictly positive operators $`A`$ . Choose

$$A=\{\begin{array}{cc}I\hfill & \text{on }D\text{,}\hfill \\ ϵI\hfill & \text{on }D^{}\text{ (for any }ϵ>0\text{).}\hfill \end{array}$$

Then

$$\text{trace }\rho ^{}A^1=1,$$

and

$$\text{trace }\rho A=\text{trace }\rho D+ϵ\text{trace }\rho D^{}1\eta +ϵ\text{trace }\rho D^{}1\eta .$$

Hence

$$F(\rho ,\rho ^{})\text{trace }\rho A\text{ trace }\rho ^{}A^11\eta ,$$

as required.

To set the stage for the second lemma, consider a density operator $`\rho `$ on $`_n`$. Denote the eigenvalues of $`\rho `$ in decreasing order by $`\lambda _i`$, $`i=1,\mathrm{},n`$. Let $`D`$ be the $`d`$-dimensional subspace spanned by the eigenvectors belonging to the $`d`$ largest eigenvalues of $`\rho `$; denote the sum of these $`d`$ eigenvalues by $`1\eta `$. Denote the projector onto $`D`$ by $`\mathrm{\Pi }`$, and let $`|0`$ be any pure state in $`D`$. Now consider the density operator

$$\rho ^{}\mathrm{\Pi }\rho \mathrm{\Pi }+\eta |00|.$$

This density operator can be obtained from $`\rho `$ by first applying the binary measurement that projects onto $`D`$ (outcome “1”) or onto $`D^{}`$ (outcome “0”) and then, if the outcome is 0, substituting $`|00|`$ for the post-measurement state. With these preliminaries, the lemma can be stated as follows.
Lemma A2: $`F(\rho ,\rho ^{})12\eta `$.
Proof of Lemma A2: If we write $`\rho `$ in its orthonormal eigenbasis,

$$\rho =\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\lambda _i|e_ie_i|,$$

$`\rho ^{}`$ becomes

$$\rho ^{}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}\lambda _i|e_ie_i\left|+\eta \right|00|.$$

Introduce the following purifications of $`\rho `$ and $`\rho ^{}`$:

$$|\varphi =\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\sqrt{\lambda _i}|e_i|f_i,$$

$$|\varphi ^{}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}\sqrt{\lambda _i}|e_i|f_i+\sqrt{\eta }|0|g.$$

Here the vectors $`|f_i`$, $`i=1,\mathrm{},d`$ are orthonormal, and $`|g`$ is orthogonal to each $`|f_i`$. Since fidelity is the maximum absolute value of the inner product of purifications, we have

$$F(\rho ,\rho ^{})|\varphi |\varphi ^{}|^2=\left(\underset{i=1}{\overset{d}{}}\lambda _i\right)^2=(1\eta )^212\eta ,$$

as required.
Proof of Theorem 7: Suppose that we compress to $`S(\overline{\rho })\delta `$ qubits/signal by any coding method whatsoever. Then if the decoding scheme is unitary, the decoded state $`\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N`$ of an input string $`\sigma _N`$ of length $`N`$ is supported in $`N(S(\overline{\rho })\delta )`$ qubits. Yet the density matrix for strings of length $`N`$ is $`\overline{\rho }^N`$, and by a standard typical sequences result (cf. ), the sum of the $`2^{N(S(\overline{\rho })\delta )}`$ largest eigenvalues of $`\overline{\rho }^N`$ becomes arbitrarily small with increasing $`N`$. Hence, by Lemma A1, $`F(\sigma _N,\stackrel{~}{\sigma }_N)`$ is arbitarily small, too, and the fidelity cannot be high by the (GLOBAL-FID) criterion.

On the other hand, if $`S(\overline{\rho })+\delta `$ qubits/signal are available, then Lemma A2 provides an explicit high-fidelity coding scheme, with $`D`$ being the $`2^{N(S(\overline{\rho })+\delta )}`$-dimensional subspace spanned by the $`2^{N(S(\overline{\rho })+\delta )}`$ weightiest eigenvectors of $`\overline{\rho }^N`$.

## Appendix B Proof of Lemma 16

The proof uses the following inequality (proved in ):

$`|S(\rho _1)S(\rho _2)|2\sqrt{1F(\rho _1,\rho _2)}\mathrm{log}d+1,`$ (25)
which is valid if

$`2\sqrt{1F(\rho _1,\rho _2)}<{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}.`$ (26)
We use this to obtain a similar relation, but with the average ensemble fidelity in place of the fidelity on the right hand side. Let $`A=\{p_i,\rho _i\}`$ and $`B=\{p_i,\sigma _i\}`$ again denote two mixed-state ensembles having the same probabilities. Letting $`\rho _ip_i\rho _i`$ and $`\sigma _ip_i\sigma _i`$, we have an inequality involving the error measure $`\sqrt{1F(\rho ,\sigma )}`$. We need to convert this into one involving the error measure $`1\overline{F}(A,B)`$. Defining yet another error measure $`\delta 1\sqrt{F(\rho ,\sigma )}`$, simple algebra gives $`\sqrt{1F(\rho ,\sigma )}=\sqrt{\delta (2\delta )}`$. The double concavity of $`G(\rho _1,\rho _2)\sqrt{F(\rho _1,\rho _2)}`$ (proved in Appendix C) gives

$`{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iG(\rho _i,\sigma _i)G({\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_i\rho _i,{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_i\sigma _i)=G(\rho ,\sigma ).`$ (27)
Hence

$`\delta 1G(\rho ,\sigma )`$ $``$ $`1{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iG(\rho _i,\sigma _i)`$ (28)
$``$ $`1{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iF(\rho _i,\sigma _i)=1\overline{F}(A,B)ϵ.`$
Therefore, we have the inequality

$`|S(\rho )S(\sigma )|`$ $``$ $`2\sqrt{\delta (2\delta )}\mathrm{log}d+1`$ (29)
$``$ $`2\sqrt{ϵ(2ϵ)}\mathrm{log}d+1`$
$``$ $`2\sqrt{2}\sqrt{1\overline{F}(A,B)}\mathrm{log}d+1.`$
This inequality is valid provided (26) holds, which is certainly true if

$`0ϵ<1\sqrt{35/36}\overline{F}(A,B)>\sqrt{35/36}.`$ (30)
Furthermore, we can also use the inequality (25) to bound the difference in the average entropies for the two ensembles of $`d`$-dimensional states,

$`|{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iS(\rho _i)`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iS(\sigma _i)|`$ (31)
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_i|S(\rho _i)S(\sigma _i)|`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_i\left(2\sqrt{1F(\rho _i,\sigma _i)}\mathrm{log}d+1\right)`$
$``$ $`2\sqrt{1{\displaystyle \underset{i}{}}p_iF(\rho _i,\sigma _i)}\mathrm{log}d+1`$
$``$ $`2\sqrt{1\overline{F}(A,B)}\mathrm{log}d+1.`$
Combining Eqs. (29) and (31) yields the desired result (17).

## Appendix C Double concavity of $`G(\rho _1,\rho _2)`$

In this Appendix we show that

$$G(\rho _1,\rho _2)\sqrt{F(\rho _1,\rho _2)}=\text{trace}\sqrt{\sqrt{\rho _1}\rho _2\sqrt{\rho _1}}$$
(32)
is doubly concave, i.e.,

$$G(\lambda \rho _1+(1\lambda )\sigma _1,\lambda \rho _2+(1\lambda )\sigma _2)\lambda G(\rho _1,\rho _2)+(1\lambda )G(\sigma _1,\sigma _2).$$

The proof uses a representation of the quantum fidelity in terms of measurement probabilities. Given a measurement described by a positive-operator-valued measure (POVM) with POVM elements $`E_i`$, the probability for outcome $`i`$ is $`p_i=\mathrm{trace}\rho E_i`$. Fuchs and Caves  showed that the quantum fidelity of $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$ is the classical fidelity of the measurement probabilities for the measurement that, according to the classical fidelity, best distinguishes the two density operators, i.e.,

$$F(\rho _1,\rho _2)=\underset{\{E_i\}}{\mathrm{min}}F_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩_1,𝐩_2).$$
(33)
Here the minimum is taken over all POVMs $`\{E_i\}`$, and $`𝐩_1`$ and $`𝐩_2`$ are the column vectors of measurement probabilities for $`\rho _1`$ and $`\rho _2`$ generated by the POVM $`\{E_i\}`$.

The proof begins by noting that for four positive real numbers,

$$0(\sqrt{x_1y_2}\sqrt{x_2y_1})^2=x_1y_2+x_2y_12\sqrt{x_1x_2y_1y_2},$$

from which it follows that the function $`\sqrt{x_1x_2}`$ is doubly concave, i.e.,

$`\sqrt{[\lambda x_1+(1\lambda )y_1][\lambda x_2+(1\lambda )y_2]}`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{\lambda ^2x_1x_2+(1\lambda )^2y_1y_2+\lambda (1\lambda )(x_1y_2+x_2y_1)}`$
$``$ $`\sqrt{\lambda ^2x_1x_2+(1\lambda )^2y_1y_2+2\lambda (1\lambda )\sqrt{x_1x_2y_1y_2}}`$
$`=`$ $`\lambda \sqrt{x_1x_2}+(1\lambda )\sqrt{y_1y_2}.`$
The square root of the classical fidelity,

$$G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩,𝐪)=\sqrt{F_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩,𝐪)}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}\sqrt{p_iq_i},$$
(34)
being a sum of such functions, is thus also doubly concave:

$$G_{\mathrm{cl}}(\lambda 𝐩_1+(1\lambda )𝐪_1,\lambda 𝐩_2+(1\lambda )𝐪_2)\lambda G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩_1,𝐩_2)+(1\lambda )G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐪_1,𝐪_2).$$
(35)
Now use the representation (33), written in terms of square roots of fidelities, to show the double concavity of $`G(\rho _1,\rho _2)`$:

$`G(\lambda \rho _1+(1\lambda )\sigma _1,\lambda \rho _2+(1\lambda )\sigma _2)`$ $`=`$ $`\underset{\{E_j\}}{\mathrm{min}}G_{\mathrm{cl}}(\lambda 𝐩_1+(1\lambda )𝐪_1,\lambda 𝐩_2+(1\lambda )𝐪_2)`$ (36)
$``$ $`\underset{\{E_j\}}{\mathrm{min}}\left(\lambda G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩_1,𝐩_2)+(1\lambda )G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐪_1,𝐪_2)\right)`$
$``$ $`\underset{\{E_j\}}{\mathrm{min}}\lambda G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐩_1,𝐩_2)+\underset{\{F_j\}}{\mathrm{min}}(1\lambda )G_{\mathrm{cl}}(𝐪_1,𝐪_2)`$
$`=`$ $`\lambda G(\rho _1,\rho _2)+(1\lambda )G(\sigma _1,\sigma _2).`$
(Another proof, by M. A. Nielsen , uses the relation of quantum fidelity to purifications.)


format: text

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# Far-Ultraviolet Spectra of AGN: First Results from FUSE

## 1. Introduction

The far-ultraviolet wavelength range spans the peak of the intrinsic spectral energy distribution of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Thus, it is important for understanding the energy generation mechanism and the processes that govern accretion onto massive black holes. At low to moderate redshift, the low-energy portion of the ionizing continuum enters the far-UV spectral range, and it can be observed with spectrographs on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and instruments such as the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) (Davidsen et al. 1992) and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) (Moos et al. 2000). Since this portion of the spectrum determines the radiative input to the broad-line region (BLR) and the narrow-line region (NLR) in AGN, as well as the surrounding host galaxy and the intergalactic medium (IGM), determining the spectral shape in individual objects as well as on average is a crucial input for understanding the physical conditions of the gas in surrounding regions.

The 900–1200 Å spectral range contains numerous diagnostic spectral features that can be applied to AGN physics. The most prominent emission line is the O vi resonance doublet $`\lambda \lambda 1032,1038`$, which, as shown in Fig. 1, is particularly strong in the spectra of low-redshift, low-luminosity AGN. This line can serve as a diagnostic of the energy input from the extreme ultraviolet to soft X-ray portions of the ionizing continuum. Likewise, the O vi doublet is a crucial diagnostic for the warm absorbing gas commonly seen as O vii and O viii absorption in X-ray spectra of AGN (Reynolds 1997; George et al. 1998). The high-order Lyman lines and the Lyman limit provide additional diagnostics of absorbing gas. In some cases (e.g., NGC 4151 or NGC 3516) the neutral hydrogen can be optically thick and thereby play a significant role in collimating the ionizing radiation that illuminates the NLR (Kriss et al. 1997). Finally, numerous ground-state transitions of molecular hydrogen in the Lyman and Werner bands provide a sensitive tracer of molecular gas. Under the right circumstances, one might expect to see $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ associated with the obscuring torus in AGN in absorption against the continuum and broad emission lines.

## 2. The Ionizing Continuum Shape

The ionizing continuum shape in AGN is difficult to study directly. At low redshift it is mostly obscured by our own interstellar medium, and inferences must be made from the spectral shape observed in the far-UV and soft X-ray (on either side of the opaque interstellar absorption) as well as from clues provided by the emission lines observed. The notion that continuum radiation of AGN peaked in the unobservable extreme ultraviolet can be traced back to the accretion-disk fits of Malkan & Sargent (1982) as well as the “big blue bump” suggested by the UV and soft X-ray excesses of PG1211+143 (Bechtold et al. 1987). Accounting for the fluxes in the broad emission lines led Mathews & Ferland (1987) to adopt an ionizing spectral shape peaking in the extreme ultraviolet (see Fig. 2).

More recent work that uses ensembles of objects to produce a “composite” spectrum over the observable wavelength range suggests that there is no extreme ultraviolet peak. The UV composites of Zheng et al. (1997) for radio-loud (RL) and radio-quiet (RQ) objects, shown schematically in Fig. 2, have a blue far-UV continuum with a distinct break to a steeper spectral index ($`f_\nu \nu ^{1.8}`$) at $``$1000 Å. Soft X-ray spectral composites constructed by Laor et al. (1997) have slopes similar to the short wavelength end of the UV composites.

The Zheng et al. (1997) composite builds upon the earlier examples of Baldwin (1977) and Francis et al. (1992) to produce an average QSO spectrum from HST ultraviolet spectra of 100 different QSOs. This composite consists of all FOS observations of QSOs with $`z>0.33`$ prior to 1996 January 1. To construct the composite, the observed fluxes were first corrected for foreground Galactic reddening with a Seaton (1978) law using extinction as specified by Burstein & Heiles (1978). Strong Lyman $`\alpha `$ lines and visible Lyman-limit systems were corrected in the individual spectra. (Objects with strong intrinsic absorption such as BALQSOs were simply omitted from the composite.) Fainter Ly$`\alpha `$ forest lines and the “Lyman valley” (Møller & Jakobsen 1990) were corrected for statistically as a function of redshift. The result from Zheng et al. (1997) is shown in Fig. 3.

Work currently in progress by Telfer et al. (2000) is updating this composite spectrum using the same technique with a sample that is nearly three times larger. Containing spectra of 248 QSOs obtained prior to 2000 May 31, the Telfer et al. (2000) composite is nearly identical to the Zheng et al. (1997) result. A physical interpretation of the spectral shape observed by Zheng et al. (1997) is that the typical AGN spectrum is Comptonized radiation from an accretion disk. A spectral break near the Lyman limit is a characteristic expected in Comptonized accretion-disk spectra. Comptonization smears out the Lyman-limit edge of the intrinsic accretion-disk spectrum and produces a power-law tail at wavelengths shortward of $`1000`$ Å. Although a simple model of a Comptonized disk provides a good fit to the Zheng et al. composite, there is the nagging question of how physical such a composite is, and whether its shape holds any physical meaning since the individual spectra of the sample QSOs vary in shape over quite a wide range. The study of the 3C 273 far-UV spectrum by Kriss et al. (1999) provides a firm physical basis for the interpretation of the Zheng et al. composite. In the 3C 273 spectrum (also shown in Fig. 3), one sees the same qualitative characteristics as in the composite spectrum—the spectral index steepens at $``$1000 Å in the rest frame. As shown further in Fig. 4, the shorter-wavelength UV spectrum extrapolates very well to the observed soft-X-ray spectrum. Both the composite spectra and the spectrum of 3C 273 leave little room in the extreme ultraviolet for a big bump in the QSO spectral energy distribution.

The apparent lack of an extreme ultraviolet peak in the ionizing spectrum now leaves us in a quandary. The analysis of Mathews & Ferland (1987) based on the broad emission line fluxes is still valid; Korista, Ferland, & Baldwin (1997) suggest that the BLR “sees” a different continuum shape than we do since the He ii $`\lambda `$1640 equivalent widths in moderate redshift QSOs require more ionizing photons than are present in the Zheng et al. composite. On the other hand, the mean spectral index of the QSO composite matches the ionization requirements for H i and He ii absorption by the IGM (Zhang et al. 1997), so apparently the IGM is seeing the same average that we are. It may be that the answer lies in detailed studies of individual objects. Objects with high He ii equivalent widths may dominate the He ii average, but these same objects may not be represented in the sample of spectra contributing to the composite at short wavelengths. Far-UV and soft X-ray spectra of objects at moderate redshift that tightly constrain the possible EUV spectral shape (as shown above for 3C 273) may resolve this issue.

## 3. The FUSE AGN Program

The launch of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) on 1999 June 24 provided a new tool in orbit for studying the far-UV spectra of AGN. FUSE observations cover the 905–1187 Å band with a resolving power of $`20,000`$. The mission concept is described by Moos et al. (2000), and the initial in-flight performance is presented by Sahnow et al. (2000). Basically, four separate primary mirrors gather light for four prime-focus, Rowland-circle spectrographs. Two of the optical systems employ LiF coatings to cover the 990–1187 Å band, and the other two use SiC coatings to get reflectivity down to wavelengths as short as 905 Å. Holographically ruled gratings disperse the light entering through the selected entrance slit (a 30′′$`\times `$30′′ aperture for most observations) and form an astigmatic image on the two-dimensional photon-counting microchannel-plate detectors. The detectors have KBr photocathodes and delay-line anode readouts that provide the location and arrival time of each photon event.

FUSE began routine observations in December 1999, and here I will present the first results from the PI-team program directed toward the study of AGN. This program piggy-backs off data acquired as part of the larger PI-team study of O vi absorption in the Galactic halo and the study of the deuterium to hydrogen ratio along different sight lines through the Galactic halo and high-velocity clouds. As part of these programs, the $`100`$ UV-brightest AGN are being surveyed at low to moderate signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios to determine the best sight lines for further study. A few intrinsically interesting AGN are being observed at high S/N as part of the “medium-size” team project as are a few Seyfert 2 galaxies. In addition to the FUSE observations, an HST snapshot program is obtaining contemporaneous spectra at longer UV wavelengths using the STIS G140L and G230L gratings, and current-epoch ground-based optical spectra covering $``$3500–9000 Å are being obtained by R. Green and M. Brotherton at KPNO. The primary scientific goals of the FUSE AGN program are to (1) determine the far-UV continuum shape of low-redshift AGN; (2) examine the strength and profile of the broad O vi emission line; (3) search for intrinsic O vi and Lyman-limit absorbers and study their kinematics; (4) search for intrinsic $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ absorption that may be associated with the obscuring torus; and (5) study the strengths of other far-UV resonance lines such as C iii $`\lambda 977`$ and N iii $`\lambda 991`$.

As of 2000 July 1 we have observed 47 AGN at $`z<1`$. 46 of these are Type 1 AGN; one is the Seyfert 2 Mrk 463, which was not detected. Of the 28 Type 1s with $`z<0.15`$ (so that O vi falls in the FUSE bandpass), strong, broad O vi emission is visible in all but one (Pks $`0558504`$). Four of the 28 also show strong narrow O vi emission lines. Approximately 40% (11/28) show intrinsic O vi absorption. No intrinsic Lyman limits are detected, and no intrinsic molecular hydrogen absorption is visible. Representative spectral energy distributions for 4 of the AGN in this sample are shown in Fig. 5. Note the overall qualitative similarity of these AGN spectra to the Zheng et al. (1997) composite. While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, this suggests that there is little evolution in mean spectral shape from redshifts of $``$1, as represented by the composite, to the current epoch.

## 4. FUSE Observations of NGC 4151

Turning to a more detailed discussion of individual objects observed by FUSE, let me start with the spectrum of a recurrent favorite: NGC 4151. This FUSE observation was obtained as part of a coordinated set that included Chandra grating spectra and HST/STIS echelle spectra. While our primary intent was to study the rich absorption-line spectrum of NGC 4151, we found to our surprise that NGC 4151 was $`20\times `$ fainter than in recent HUT (Kriss et al. 1995) and ORFEUS (Espey et al. 1998) observations. As shown in Fig. 6, the FUSE spectrum is dominated by narrow-line emission, rather than the usual bright continuum and broad O vi seen in this spectral range. The usual broad absorption lines, including the opaque Lyman limit, are not readily apparent. The narrow lines have a full-width-half-maximum of $`450\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$, and they are at the systemic velocity of the galaxy. Some residual broad O vi emission can be seen at the base of the narrow lines.

The HUT and ORFEUS observations of NGC 4151 showed that the Lyman absorption lines were broad and saturated, yet their relative equivalent widths suggested that they only partially covered the broad-line and continuum emission, with $`1020`$% of the flux leaking through or around (due to scattering) the absorbing material. The broad absorption that is present in the O vi region is not very deep in the FUSE spectrum, and its profile never drops below the current continuum flux level. This suggests that the little continuum emission we do see ($`3\times 10^{14}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{\AA }^1`$ at 1030 Å) may be completely dominated by scattered light, and that the current low flux state of NGC 4151 is not due to intrinsic dimming of the central engine, but rather heavier-than-usual obscuration that is completely opaque at UV wavelengths. Note that the red and blue-shifted “satellite” lines often visible around C iv $`\lambda 1549`$ in earlier low states of NGC 4151 (Ulrich et al. 1985; Clavel et al. 1987) do not appear to have any counterparts in the current O vi profile. (See the paper by M. Crenshaw in this volume for a possible explanation of the C iv satellite lines.)

The prominent narrow lines we see in the spectrum are very reminiscent of the HUT spectrum of NGC 1068, where the high excitation lines of C iii $`\lambda 977`$ and N iii $`\lambda 991`$ were particularly prominent (Kriss et al. 1992b; Grimes, Kriss, & Espey 1999). In Fig. 7 we have used a Gaussian kernel to smooth the FUSE spectrum of NGC 4151 down to the $`3`$ Å resolution of HUT and overlayed it directly on the HUT spectrum of NGC 1068. The correspondence is quite remarkable. Whether one thinks the narrow-line emission is powered predominantly by kinetic energy in shocks or photoionization by the central engine, it is clear that the same mechanism is at work in the NLRs of both NGC 1068 and NGC 4151. This provides even more support for unified models of Seyfert 1s and Seyfert 2s based on the obscuration, orientation, and reflection paradigm (Antonucci 1993).

## 5. Narrow O vi Lines in FUSE AGN Spectra

NGC 4151 is not the only AGN to show prominent narrow emission lines in its FUSE spectrum. So far, strong narrow O vi emission lines have been detected in 4 out of 28 objects with $`z<0.15`$: NGC 4151, NGC 3516, NGC 5548, and IRAS $`11431483`$. Such a high percentage is a bit surprising since strong narrow-line emission in lower-excitation UV lines such as C iv $`\lambda 1549`$ is rarely seen in HST spectra. The one well-known exception is the HST/FOS spectrum of NGC 5548 in a low state (Crenshaw, Boggess, & Wu 1993). The FUSE observations suggest that there is a very high ionization component of the NLR present in many AGN.

The physical conditions in this region are unclear. While in three of the present cases they are easily seen because the galaxy is in a low flux state (NGC 4151, NGC 3516, and NGC 5548), as shown in Fig. 8 for IRAS $`11431483`$, the narrow O vi components are quite visible superposed on a strong broad O vi profile. In three of these cases the narrow lines also have the usual 2:1 flux ratios indicative of optically thin gas. However, as shown in Fig. 9, the lines in NGC 3516 have a 1:1 ratio more indicative of optically thick gas.

## 6. FUSE Observations of Warm Absorbers

The “warm” (or, ionized) absorbing gas that is common in the X-ray spectra of low-redshift AGN is a major new component of their near-nuclear structure. About half of all low-redshift AGN show absorption by ionized gas (Reynolds 1997; George et al. 1998), and a similar fraction show associated UV absorption in highly ionized species such as C IV (Crenshaw et al. 1999). For AGN that have been observed at moderate to high spectral resolution in both the X-ray and the UV, there is a one-to-one correspondence between objects showing X-ray and UV absorption, suggesting that the phenomena are related in some way (Crenshaw et al. 1999). The gas has a total mass exceeding $`10^3\mathrm{M}_{}`$ (greater than the broad-line region, or BLR), and is outflowing at a rate $`>0.1\mathrm{M}_{}\mathrm{yr}^1`$ ($`10\times `$ the accretion rate in some objects) (Reynolds et al. 1997).

The role played by the ionized absorbing gas in AGN at the moment is unclear. The UV-absorbing gas lies exterior to the BLR, as revealed by the depth of the absorption lines in many cases (Crenshaw et al. 1999). This gas could either arise in winds from the molecular torus (Weymann et al. 1991; Emmering et al. 1992), the accretion disk (Königl & Kartje 1994; Murray et al. 1995), or stripped stellar envelopes in the BLR (Alexander & Netzer 1994; Scoville & Norman 1996). Or, the X-ray heated winds that provide the reflecting medium in Type 2 AGN (Krolik & Begelman 1986) may be seen as the warm absorbing medium in Type 1 AGN (Krolik & Kriss 1995). Understanding the absorbing gas in nearby AGN may help us to understand how radiation is collimated (Kriss et al. 1997). This goes not only to the heart of understanding the structure of AGN, but is also a crucial element in understanding the ionizing radiation field at high redshifts and links between AGN and the X-ray background. If the obscuration/orientation paradigm for AGN unification is correct, then the solid angle subtended by unobscured lines of sight from an active nucleus is a crucial parameter in determining the fraction of ionizing radiation that illuminates the surrounding IGM. Obscured Type 2 AGN may also comprise a significant fraction of the point sources producing the X-ray background. Understanding the intrinsic structures that lead to the Type 1/Type 2 distinction is a vital clue in our overall understanding of these phenomena.

A key question for understanding warm absorbers is how the X-ray and UV spectral domains are related. In some cases, UV absorbing gas may be directly associated with the X-ray warm absorber (3C351: Mathur et al. 1994; NGC 5548: Mathur et al. 1995). In other cases, however, the UV gas appears to be in an even lower ionization state, and there is no direct relation between the X-ray absorption and the UV absorption (NGC 4151: Kriss et al. 1995; NGC 3516: Kriss et al. 1996a, 1996b; NGC 7469: Kriss et al. 2000a). High spectral resolution observations of O vi absorption in AGN with X-ray warm absorbers is proving to be an invaluable tool for definitively analyzing these issues.

The disparity between the UV and X-ray absorbers is illustrated most clearly by FUSE observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 509 (Kriss et al. 2000b). As shown in Fig. 10, this observation resolves the UV absorption into seven kinematic components. In addition to the O vi and Ly$`\beta `$ absorption shown here, C iii $`\lambda 977`$ lines are seen in the lowest-ionization components, and Lyman-line absorption up to Ly$`\zeta `$ permits an accurate measure of the neutral hydrogen column density and its covering fraction. Comparison of the O vi, H i, and C iii column densities to photoionization models permits one to independently assess the total column density of each kinematic component. Table 1 summarizes the physical properties of each of the seven components. Of the seven systems present, only #5, a system near the systemic velocity of Mrk 509, stands out clearly as having a level of ionization and total column density compatible with an X-ray warm absorber. Note, however, that the total equivalent width of the UV absorption is dominated by the other six components, yet the X-ray absorption that would be associated with them is negligible.

The O vi and O vi edges seen by Reynolds (1997) in ASCA spectra of Mrk 509 imply column densities for the ionized gas of $`N_{O7}=(4.6_{1.7}^{+1.3})\times 10^{17}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and $`N_{O8}=(3.7_{2.8}^{+3.7})\times 10^{17}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. The photoionization model for the UV-absorbing component #5 computed by Kriss et al. predicts $`N_{O7}=2.3\times 10^{17}\mathrm{cm}^2`$ and $`N_{O8}=0.1\times 10^{17}\mathrm{cm}^2`$. Given the large uncertainties in the X-ray columns and the temporal difference between the X-ray and UV observations, the agreement is remarkably close, and it is quite likely that component #5 is same gas as that absorbing the X-ray radiation. It is puzzling, however, that this component lies so close to the systemic velocity. Most absorbers in other AGN (including most of the other components in this one) are blue-shifted relative to the host galaxy, and this is true for the high-resolution X-ray spectra obtained so far with Chandra: the X-ray absorption lines in NGC 5548 are blue-shifted by $`280\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ (Kaastra et al. 2000) and by $`440\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1`$ in NGC 3783 (Kaspi et al. 2000). Clearly a larger sample of objects that would permit us to assess these differences is essential.

The multiple kinematic components frequently seen in the UV absorption spectra of AGN clearly show that the absorbing medium is complex, with separate UV and X-ray dominant zones. One potential geometry is high density, low column UV-absorbing clouds embedded in a low density, high ionization medium that dominates the X-ray absorption. This is possibly a wind driven off the obscuring torus or the accretion disk. What would this look like in reality? Detailed modeling of dense molecular gas irradiated by the ionizing continuum of an AGN is likely to miss the complexities that arise as material is ablated from the surface and flows away. We will not soon get a close-up look at this aspect of an AGN, so it is instructive to look at nearby analogies. The HST images of the pillars of gas in the Eagle Nebula, M16, show the wealth of detailed structure in gas evaporated from a molecular cloud by the UV radiation of nearby newly formed stars (Hester et al. 1996). Fig. 11 shows what this might look like in an AGN—a dense molecular torus surrounded by blobs, wisps, and filaments of gas at various densities. It is plausible that the multiple UV absorption lines seen in AGN with warm absorbers are caused by high-density blobs of gas embedded in a hotter, more tenuous, surrounding medium, which is itself responsible for the X-ray absorption. Higher density blobs would have lower ionization parameters, and their small size would account for the low overall column densities.

At sight lines close to the surface of the obscuring torus, one might expect to see some absorption due to molecular hydrogen. Given the dominance of Type 1 AGN in our observations so far, the lack of any intrinsic $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ absorption is not too surprising since our sight lines are probably far above the obscuring torus. NGC 4151 and NGC 3516 are examples where the inclination may be more favorable since these objects have shown optically thick Lyman limits in the past (Kriss et al. 1992; Kriss et al. 1995; Kriss et al. 1996a), but our FUSE observations do not show such high levels of neutral hydrogen at the current epoch. Molecular hydrogen will not survive long in an environment with a strong UV flux. Given this, one might think that any sightline in an AGN in which a strong UV continuum was visible could not show $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ absorption since the $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ would not be optically thick enough to be self shielding. However, if the $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ is contained in small, dense blobs that have ablated from the obscuring torus, these blobs could be thick enough to shield their cores and small enough that they do not completely obscure the central radiation source. Thus, the $`\mathrm{H}_2`$ absorption, if present, is likely to show up as optically thick, high-column-density components that only partially cover the continuum or broad lines. Our best prospects for seeing such material are in upcoming FUSE observations of NGC 1068.

As I’ve shown here, FUSE offers numerous advantages for the study of absorbing gas in AGN. First, since the Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption in the HST bandpass is often saturated, it is difficult to deblend the various velocity components and obtain accurate H i column densities. The unsaturated high-order Lyman lines in the FUSE bandpass make accurate measurement of the H i column density straightforward. Second, the O vi resonance lines are a key link between the lower-ionization species seen in the UV and the higher-ionization gas observed with Chandra. The presence of different, adjacent ionization states in the two bandpasses makes it possible to ascertain the ionization structure in a more model-independent way. One need not make assumptions about abundances or use photoionization models, for example, as would be required in comparing C iv in the HST band to O vii and O viii in the Chandra spectrum. Similarly, the ionization state of the UV-absorbing gas can be obtained more directly without recourse to assumptions about abundances by comparing the C iii opacity in the FUSE bandpass at 977 Å to C iv as observed with HST. Finally, after using O vi to identify the kinematic components in the absorbing gas associated with the X-ray warm absorber, the FUSE observations can be used to trace the kinematics of the X-ray absorbing gas at higher velocity resolution than is possible with the Chandra grating observations.

## 7. Monitoring Low-Redshift AGN Below 1200 Å

Not much is known about the variability of nearby AGN in the 912–1200 Å bandpass since observations at these wavelengths have been sparse. The Astro and ORFEUS shuttle missions have provided some insights, but FUSE promises to give the first real opportunity to study short and longer term variability in this band.

To date, the only repetitive observations of an AGN below 1200 Å have been the HUT and ORFEUS observations of NGC 4151 (Kriss et al. 1992a; Kriss et al. 1995; Kriss et al. 1997; Espey et al. 1998). These showed that broad O vi emission responds immediately to continuum changes, to within a resolution of 1–2 days. The saturated broad absorption lines such as Ly$`\beta `$ and O vi show little response to continuum changes, presumably because the changes in column density required to produce noticeable changes in equivalent width are larger than those induced by the varying continuum. However, weaker absorption features such as C iii $`\lambda 1176`$ and the high-order Lyman series (which is optically thick at the Lyman limit in these observations of NGC 4151) respond to continuum changes with a delayed response of $``$5 days, reflecting the recombination timescale of the photoionized gas. Observations proposed with FUSE to monitor the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 3783 contemporaneously with HST and Chandra grating observations could give the first glimpse of the response of the gas in a warm absorber to changes in the ionizing continuum at both X-ray and far-UV wavelengths.

Potential future monitoring experiments such as Kronos could profit from an ability to observe in the 912–1200 Å spectral range. As noted earlier, O vi is bright in low-redshift AGN; it is nearly as bright as C iv. While it probes a zone in the BLR similar in ionization to He ii, it is much brighter than He ii $`\lambda 1640`$. For studies of warm absorbers, the O vi lines and the higher-order Lyman lines offer several advantages, as noted earlier.

Observing in this bandpass requires some observational trade-offs, however. Good throughput requires LiF coatings on the optics and open-window detectors. Both of these features entail significant costs in development and in contamination management throughout the instrument development and integration process. Sealed detectors and $`\mathrm{MgF}_2`$ coatings are easier to manage, and their use can improve the throughput at longer UV wavelengths (e.g., C iv $`\lambda 1549`$) by up to a factor of 2.

## 8. Summary

I’ve reviewed the continuum, emission-line, and absorption-line properties of primarily low-redshift AGN, concentrating on the first observations available from FUSE. Composite far-UV spectra of QSOs developed from a sample now consisting of over 200 AGN (Telfer et al. 2000) confirms the result of Zheng et al. (1997) that the continuum spectral index breaks at $`1000`$ Å to a steep power law of spectral index $`1.8`$. Observations of individual objects such as 3C 273 (Kriss et al. 1999) show a qualitatively similar feature. Initial results from FUSE (with contemporaneous HST and ground-based observations) also show that the spectral energy distributions of low-redshift AGN are peaking in the 1000–1200 Å range. This implies that there is little evolution in the mean shape of the ionizing continuum from $`z>1`$ to the current epoch.

Nearly all Type 1 AGN observed with FUSE show strong, broad O vi emission. The broad O vi emission of AGN as revealed by HUT and FUSE is significantly stronger in low-redshift objects. The FUSE observations also show that strong, narrow O vi emission is prominent in several Type 1 AGN. In most cases this appears to be emission from the narrow-line region made relatively more prominent because the continuum and broad lines are in a relatively low state. However, NGC 3516 presents an interesting (and not yet understood) exception since the narrow O vi doublet has an optically thick 1:1 intensity ratio.

FUSE observations of O vi and high-order Lyman-line absorption in AGN with warm absorbers offers a powerful new tool for the study of the warm absorbing gas. The FUSE resolution reveals multiple kinematic components, and the O vi absorption lines often identify the highest ionization system likely to be directly associated with the warm absorber. Proposed monitoring observations may help to pinpoint the location and physical conditions in this important structural component of the nuclear region in AGN.

### Acknowledgments.

The FUSE results are due in large part to the help of the FUSE Team and the FUSE AGN Working Group, particularly M. Brotherton and W. Zheng. R. Telfer, J. Kim, and A. Koratkar also made significant contributions. This work was supported in part by NASA contract NAS5-32985 for the FUSE project, NASA Long Term Space Astrophysics grant NAGW-4443, and grant GO-08144.01-97A from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.

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