The discrimination of quantum operations has long been an intriguing challenge, with theoretical research notably advancing our understanding of the quantum features in discriminating quantum objects. This challenge is closely related to the discrimination of quantum states, and proof-of-principle demonstrations of the latter have already been realized using optical photons. However, the experimental demonstration of discriminating general quantum operations, including both unitary and nonunitary operations, has remained elusive. In general quantum systems, especially those with high dimensions, the preparation of arbitrary quantum states and the implementation of arbitrary quantum operations and generalized measurements are nontrivial tasks. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the optimal unambiguous discrimination of up to six displacement operators and the unambiguous discrimination of nonunitary quantum operations. Our results demonstrate powerful tools for experimental research in quantum information processing and are expected to stimulate a wide range of valuable applications in the field of quantum sensing.

中文翻译：

---

一般量子运算的明确判别


长期以来，量子运算的区分一直是一项有趣的挑战，理论研究显着促进了我们对区分量子对象的量子特征的理解。这一挑战与量子态的鉴别密切相关，后者的原理验证演示已经使用光学光子实现。然而，区分一般量子运算（包括幺正和非幺正运算）的实验演示仍然难以捉摸。在一般的量子系统中，尤其是那些高维量子系统中，任意量子态的准备以及任意量子运算和广义测量的实现都是非同小可上的任务。在这里，我们实验证明了最多六个位移算子的最佳无歧区分和非幺正量子运算的无歧区分。我们的结果为量子信息处理的实验研究提供了强大的工具，并有望在量子传感领域激发广泛的有价值的应用。