Abstract
We study the probabilistic cloning of three nonorthogonal states with equal success probabilities. For simplicity, we assume that the three states belong to a special set. Analytical form of the maximal success probability for \(M\rightarrow N\) probabilistic cloning is calculated. With the maximal success probability, we deduce the explicit form of \(M\rightarrow N\) probabilistic quantum cloning machine. In the case of \(1\rightarrow 2\) cloning, we get the unambiguous form of the unitary operation. It is demonstrated that the upper bound for probabilistic quantum cloning machine in (Qiu in J Phys A 35:6931, 2002) can be reached only if the three states are equidistant.

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Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the 211 Project of Anhui University, the National Science Foundation of China (11374013), and the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (1408085QF127).
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Zhang, W., Rui, P., Yang, Q. et al. Probabilistic cloning of three nonorthogonal states. Quantum Inf Process 14, 1523–1534 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11128-015-0921-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11128-015-0921-4