Teleportation of a continuous variable

Measurements used in quantum teleportation are examined from the standpoint of the general theory of quantum-mechanical measurements. It is shown that in order to find a teleported state, it is sufficient to know only the res olution of the identity operator (positive operator-valued measure) generat ed by the respective instrument (the quantum operation determining the chan ge in the state of the system as a result of the measurement) in the state space of the system, rather than the instrument itself. A protocol for quan tum teleportation of the state of a system with a nondegenerate continuous spectrum based on a measurement which corresponds to a certain nonorthogona l resolution of the identity operator is proposed. (C) 1999 American Instit ute of Physics. [S1063-7761(99)00309-1].