Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / ii / Paper 1 / 10D / b / Solution

A unitary cloner with blank state $|0⟩$ would satisfyfor every $|\psi ⟩\in S$. For $|\psi ⟩,|\varphi ⟩\in S$, preservation of inner products givesHence every pair is either orthogonal or represents the same state. Conversely, an orthonormal set can be cloned by defining the map on its basis states and extending it to a unitary. Therefore the no-cloning theorem says that a set of pure states is unitarily clonable exactly when its distinct members are mutually orthogonal.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.