Weak cloning of an unknown quantum state

Erik Sjöqvist, Johan Åberg

Published 2005-06-15, updated 2006-05-22Version 2

The impossibility to clone an unknown quantum state is a powerful principle to understand the nature of quantum mechanics, especially within the context of quantum computing and quantum information. This principle has been generalized to quantitative statements as to what extent imperfect cloning is possible. We delineate an aspect of the border between the possible and the impossible concerning quantum cloning, by putting forward an entanglement-assisted scheme for simulating perfect cloning in the context of weak measurements. This phenomenon we call weak cloning of an unknown quantum state.