Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/ii/paper-3/15c/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ii Paper 3 15C a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let . For a two-outcome measurement with effect interpreted as guess zero,The positive-eigenspace projector of maximizes the last trace, giving the Helstrom formulaOn the span of the two states, has eigenvaluesThereforeand the positive/negative eigenspace measurement attains equality.
The right side equals one exactly when . Thus two pure states are perfectly distinguishable exactly when they are orthogonal.
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