Shapley Valuation of Finite-Copy Quantum Data Depends on Physical Access

Abstract

Data valuation asks how learning utility should be attributed to training data contributors. Most classical formulations begin after data have become reusable records, so the physical readout of the data is effectively fixed. Finite-copy quantum data are different: unknown states are consumable physical systems, and the same supplied states and downstream task can yield different Shapley values under different physical access models. Our framework makes this dependence explicit by treating physical access as a component of quantum data valuation itself. We establish an exact connection between physical-access advantage and contributor-level data valuation. For nested access models, we prove that the maximal downstream utility gain enabled by richer physical access exactly determines the largest symmetric Shapley ranking-reversal margin. More generally, for arbitrary access-model pairs, including non-nested ones, we derive an exact geometric characterization of the possible shifts of the full Shapley attribution vector. For fixed learning pipelines, we further obtain an operational Shapley-observable representation for finite-copy valuation. Numerical experiments demonstrate that identical quantum samples can receive different values and rankings when only the physical access model is changed. These results establish that quantum data value is not an intrinsic property of the underlying states alone, but emerges from the interaction between quantum states, physical access, and the downstream learning task.