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For $0<p<1$, every bipartition of ${\Psi }_p^{\otimes n}$ has Schmidt rank $2^n$, while $m$ copies of a GHZ state have Schmidt rank $2^m$. Schmidt-rank contraction under product operators therefore forbids any exact successful LOCC branch when $m<n$. Approximate entanglement dilution avoids this obstruction by retaining only a high-weight quantum typical subspace, whose dimension has logarithm $n{h}_2(p)+o(n)$. Exact finite-block conversion and asymptotically faithful conversion are different tasks.

Expand an initial bipartite pure state in local orthonormal bases asBy the Schmidt decomposition, or equivalently the singular value decomposition of $C$, its Schmidt rank is $\mathrm{rank}C$. In a specified local measurement branch, the product Kraus operator $A\otimes B$ changes the coefficient matrix toIndeed the coefficient of $|k⟩|l⟩$ is ${\sum }_{i,j}{A}_{ki}{C}_{ij}{B}_{lj}$. The elementary matrix rank inequality givesNormalizing a nonzero branch multiplies $C^{\prime }$ by a scalar and therefore leaves its matrix rank unchanged.

Now refine a complete LOCC transcript to record every individual Kraus operator. Although later choices depend on the earlier classical outcomes, fixing a transcript fixes all those choices. Composing the local operations therefore gives a single product Kraus operator $A_{\tau }\otimes B_{\tau }$ in that branch. Each nonzero branch obeys the same Schmidt-rank contraction under product operators. Local auxiliary systems prepared independently are included by local isometries and do not add entanglement. Discarding a local auxiliary system is included by resolving its partial trace in an orthonormal basis; this again yields refined product Kraus operators.

If the protocol produces a specified pure state deterministically, its output density operator is a sum of positive rank-one branch density operators. Every nonzero branch vector must be proportional to that output vector: its squared overlap with any vector orthogonal to the output sums to zero, so each such overlap is separately zero. Thus the output Schmidt rank equals that of each surviving branch, andThis proves monotonicity of Schmidt rank under LOCC, even for a nonzero branch selected by postselection. If the classical transcript is instead discarded and the result is mixed, the refined branch vectors supply an ensemble with Schmidt ranks at most $r_{\mathrm{in}}$; by definition its Schmidt number is at most $r_{\mathrm{in}}$. This is the correct mixed-state extension, rather than a bound on the ranks of its reduced density matrices. In finite dimensions, any limiting exact protocol obeys the same pure-state bound because the set of coefficient matrices of rank at most $r_{\mathrm{in}}$ is closed, being defined by vanishing minors.

Write a bipartite pure state in fixed product bases as $|\psi ⟩={\sum }_{ij}{M}_{ij}|i⟩|j⟩$. The Schmidt decomposition theorem, equivalently the singular value decomposition of $M$, says that its Schmidt rank equals $\mathrm{rank}M$. A branch of local operations is a product operator $A\otimes B$, so its coefficient matrix isThe elementary rank inequality $\mathrm{rank}(AM{B}^{\mathsf{T}})\le \mathrm{rank}M$ proves Schmidt-rank contraction under product operators. Normalizing a nonzero branch does not change matrix rank.

For an adaptive LOCC protocol, a complete classical transcript selects one local Kraus operator at each stage. Multiplying the local operators along that transcript still gives one product $A_t\otimes B_t$. ConsequentlyClassical communication changes which product operator is chosen, not this rank bound. If the overall output is a pure state, every nonzero branch must be proportional to that same vector, so its Schmidt rank also cannot increase. If the outcome is discarded and the output is mixed, pure-state Schmidt rank is not defined; the induced decomposition instead shows that its Schmidt number is at most the original rank. This includes probabilistic filtering as well as deterministic pure-state conversion.