Minimum error discrimination for an ensemble of linearly independent pure states

Inspired by the work done by Belavkin (1975 Stochastics 1 315) and independently by Mochon, (2006 Phys. Rev. A 73 032328), we formulate the problem of minimum error discrimination (MED) of any ensemble of n linearly independent pure states by stripping the problem of its rotational covariance and retaining only the rotationally invariant aspect of the problem. This is done by embedding the optimal conditions in a matrix equality as well as matrix inequality. Employing the implicit function theorem in these conditions we get a set of first-order coupled ordinary nonlinear differential equations which can be used to drag the solution from an initial point (where solution is known) to another point (whose solution is sought). This way of obtaining the solution can be done through a simple Taylor series expansion and analytic continuation when required. Thus, we complete the work done by Belavkin and Mochon by ultimately leading their theory to a solution for the MED problem of linearly independent pure state ensembles. We also compare the computational complexity of our technique with the barrier-type interior point method of SDP and show that our technique is computationally as efficient as (actually, a bit more than) the SDP algorithm, with the added advantage of being much simpler to implement. (paper)