  In this article we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for a
completely positive trace-preserving (CPT) map to be decomposable into a convex
combination of unitary maps. Additionally, we set out to define a proper
distance measure between a given CPT map and the set of random unitary maps,
and methods for calculating it. In this way one could determine whether
non-classical error mechanisms such as spontaneous decay or photon loss
dominate over classical uncertainties, for example in a phase parameter. The
present paper is a step towards achieving this goal.
