Trace norm ($\Vert A{\Vert }_1$)

The trace norm of a finite-dimensional operator $A$ is the sum of its singular values:For a Hermitian operator $A=A_{+}-A_{-}$, it equals $\mathrm{Tr}{A}_{+}+\mathrm{Tr}{A}_{-}$.

For a finite square matrix $X$, maximize over unitary operators. Write its singular value decomposition as $X=PD{Q}^{†}$. Then $|\mathrm{Tr}(XU)|=|\mathrm{Tr}(D{Q}^{†}UP)|\le {\sum }_j{D}_{jj}$, since every diagonal entry of a unitary has modulus at most one. Choosing $U=Q{P}^{†}$ attains equality, proving the formula for the trace norm.

A Hermitian operator satisfies $\Vert X{\Vert }_1={\max }_{-I\le T\le I}\mathrm{Tr}(XT)$. Each diagonal entry of $T$ in an eigenbasis of $X$ lies between minus one and one, giving the upper bound ${\sum }_i|{\lambda }_i|$. The sign operator of $X$ attains it. The substitution $T=2E-I$ converts this formula to optimization over binary POVM effects and proves the Holevo–Helstrom theorem.

For any orthonormal basis and Hermitian operator, ${\sum }_i|⟨{\psi }_i|X|{\psi }_i⟩|\le \Vert X{\Vert }_1$. In the trace-norm variational principle for Hermitian operators, choose the diagonal $T$ whose entries are the signs of these diagonal entries. This bounds the total distinguishability visible in one fixed measurement basis.

The induced trace norm of a linear map $T$ between matrix spaces isIt measures the largest trace-norm amplification available without an auxiliary tensor factor.

The diamond norm is the stabilized induced trace normFor a map on $d$-dimensional inputs, an auxiliary space of dimension $d$ suffices. The tensor factor lets the norm detect how $T$ acts on one half of an entangled input.