Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / iii / Paper 323 / 1 / iv

Use the normalized Choi state $C_{\Lambda }=(\Lambda \otimes \mathrm{id})(|{\Phi }_d⟩⟨{\Phi }_d|)$, with $|{\Phi }_d⟩=d^{-1/2}{\sum }_i|ii⟩$. If $\Lambda$ is an entanglement-breaking channel, its action on this particular bipartite input makes $C_{\Lambda }$ a separable quantum state.

Conversely, suppose $C_{\Lambda }={\sum }_a{p}_a{\sigma }_a\otimes {\tau }_a$, with local density operators ${\sigma }_a,{\tau }_a$. The Choi reconstruction formula givesBecause $\Lambda$ is trace preserving, ${\mathrm{Tr}}_A{C}_{\Lambda }=I/d$, so ${\sum }_a{E}_a=I$. Thus the $E_a$ form a POVM and the channel is a measure-and-prepare channel.

For any bipartite input ${\rho }_{AR}$, define the positive, possibly unnormalized reference operatorsIts output is ${\sum }_a{\sigma }_a\otimes R_a$. Since ${\sum }_a\mathrm{Tr}{R}_a=1$, normalizing each nonzero $R_a$ expresses this as a convex combination of product states. Hence every output is separable, proving the separable Choi-state criterion for entanglement breaking.