The classification of rebit quantum channels

Abstract

Abstract The classification of qubit channels is known since 2002. However, that of rebit channels has never been studied so far, maybe because of the scarcity of concrete rebit examples. In this paper we point out that the strategy used to classify qubit channels cannot be pursued in the rebit case and we propose an alternative which allows us to complete the rebit channel classification. This mathematical result has not only a purely abstract interest: as we shall briefly mention, it may have applications in the analysis of local properties and temporal evolution of real quantum systems and also in a recent color vision model based on quantum information.