Ancilla-free certification of unitary quantum processes

We study efficient quantum certification algorithms for unitary quantum process using no ancilla. Previous study showed that one can distinguish whether an unknown unitary $U$ is equal to or $\epsilon$-far from a known or unknown unitary $V$ in fixed dimension with $O({\epsilon }^{-2})$ uses of the unitary, in which the Choi state is used and thus a high dimensional ancilla system is always needed. We give an algorithm that distinguishes the two cases with $O({\epsilon }^{-1})$ uses of the unitary, using fewer or no ancilla, outperforming previous relevant results.