Quantifying Unextendibility via Virtual State Extension

Abstract

Monogamy of entanglement, which limits how entanglement can be shared among multiple parties, is a fundamental feature underpinning the privacy of quantum communication. In this work, we introduce a novel operational framework to quantify the unshareability or unextendibility of entanglement via a virtual state-extension task. The virtual extension cost is defined as the minimum simulation cost of a randomized protocol that reproduces the marginals of a $k$-extension. For the important family of isotropic states, we derive an exact closed-form expression for this cost. Our central result establishes a tight connection: the virtual extension cost of a maximally entangled state equals the optimal simulation cost of universal virtual quantum broadcasting. Using the algebra of partially transposed permutation matrices, we obtain an analytical formula and construct an explicit quantum circuit for the optimal broadcasting protocol, thereby resolving an open question in quantum broadcasting. We further relate the virtual extension cost to the absolute robustness of unextendibility, providing it with a clear operational meaning, and show that the virtual extension cost is an entanglement measure that bounds distillable entanglement and connects to logarithmic negativity.