Maximal Elements of Quantum Communication

A prepare-and-measure scenario is naturally described by a communication matrix that collects all conditional outcome probabilities of the scenario into a row-stochastic matrix. The set of all possible communication matrices is partially ordered via the possibility to transform one matrix to another by pre- and post-processings. By considering maximal elements in this preorder for a subset of matrices implementable in a given theory, it becomes possible to identify communication matrices of maximum utility, i.e., matrices that are not majorized by any other matrices in the theory. The identity matrix of an appropriate size is the greatest element in classical theories, while the maximal elements in quantum theory have remained unknown. We completely characterize the maximal elements in quantum theory, thereby revealing the essential structure of the set of quantum communication matrices. In particular, we show that the identity matrix is the only maximal element in quantum theory but, as opposed to a classical theory, it is not the greatest element. Quantum theory can hence be seen to be distinct from classical theory by the existence of incompatible communication matrices.