Indeterminate-length quantum coding
Benjamin W. Schumacher, Michael D. Westmoreland · Physical Review A · 2001
The quantum analogues of classical variable-length codes are indeterminate-length quantum codes, in which code words may exist in superpositions of different lengths. This paper explores some of their properties. The length observable for such codes is governed by a quantum version of the Kraft--McMillan inequality. Indeterminate-length quantum codes also provide an alternate approach to quantum data compression.