Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-323/5/iv/solution

By Donald's identity, the objective equals
The nonnegativity of quantum relative entropy makes the last term at least zero, with equality exactly when . Hence the unique minimizing density operator is the ensemble average and
For the classical-quantum state , its marginal on has entropy , its marginal on is , and its joint entropy is . Substituting in the definition of quantum mutual information gives
This is the relative-entropy barycenter of a quantum ensemble: the average state minimizes mean distinguishability from the ensemble. Its minimal value is exactly the Holevo quantity.

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