Bipartite quantum measurements with optimal single-sided distinguishability

We analyse orthogonal bases in a composite N×N Hilbert space describing a bipartite quantum system and look for a basis with optimal single-sided mutual state distinguishability. This condition implies that in each subsystem the N2 reduced states form a regular simplex of a maximal edge length, defined with respect to the trace distance. In the case N=2 of a two-qubit system our solution coincides with the elegant joint measurement introduced by Gisin. We derive explicit expressions of an analogous constellation for N=3 and provide a general construction of N2 states forming such an optimal basis in HN⊗HN. Our construction is valid for all dimensions for which a symmetric informationally complete (SIC) generalized measurement is known. Furthermore, we show that the one-party measurement that distinguishes the states of an optimal basis of the composite system leads to a local quantum state tomography with a linear reconstruction formula. Finally, we test the introduced tomographical scheme on a complete set of three mutually unbiased bases for a single qubit using two different IBM machines.