Postquantum common-cause channels: The resource theory of local operations and shared entanglement

Abstract

We define the type-independent resource theory of local operations and shared entanglement (LOSE). This allows us to formally quantify postquantumness in common-cause scenarios such as the Bell scenario. Any nonsignaling bipartite quantum channel which cannot be generated by LOSE operations requires a postquantum common cause to generate, and constitutes a valuable resource. Our framework allows LOSE operations that arbitrarily transform between different types of resources, which in turn allows us to undertake a systematic study of the different manifestations of postquantum common causes. Only three of these have been previously recognized, namely postquantum correlations, postquantum steering, and ‘non-localizable’ channels, all of which are subsumed as special cases of resources in our framework. Finally, we prove several fundamental results regarding how the type of a resource determines what conversions into other resources are possible, and also places constraints on the resource’s ability to provide an advantage in distributed tasks such as nonlocal games, semiquantum games, steering games, etc.