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arXiv:0805.2770 · New Journal of Physics

From information geometry to quantum theory

Philip Goyal

Published Feb 10, 2010• 44 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this paper, we show how information geometry, the natural geometry of discrete probability distributions, can be used to derive the quantum formalism. The derivation rests upon three elementary features of quantum phenomena, namely complementarity, measurement simulability, and global gauge invariance. When these features are appropriately formalized within an information geometric framework, and combined with a novel information-theoretic principle, the central features of the finite-dimensional quantum formalism can be reconstructed.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/12/2/023012

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In this paper, we show how information geometry, the natural geometry of discrete probability distributions, can be used to derive the quantum formalism. The derivation rests upon three elementary features of quantum phenomena, namely complementarity, measurement simulability, and global gauge invariance. When these features are appropriately formalized within an information geometric framework, and combined with a novel information-theoretic principle, the central features of the finite-dimensional quantum formalism can be reconstructed.
In this paper, we show how the framework of information geometry, the natural geometry of discrete probability distributions, can be used to derive the quantum formalism. The derivation rests upon a few elementary features of quantum phenomena, such as complementarity and global gauge invariance. When appropriately formulated within an information-geometric framework, and combined with a novel information-theoretic principle, these features lead to the abstract quantum formalism for finite-dimensional quantum systems, and the result of Wigner's theorem. By means of a correspondence principle, several correspondence rules of quantum theory, such as the canonical commutation relationships, are also systematically derived. The derivation suggests that information geometry is directly or indirectly responsible for many of the central structural features of the quantum formalism, such as the importance of square roots of probability and the occurrence of sinusoidal functions of phases in a pure quantum state. Global gauge invariance is shown to play a crucial role in the emergence of the formalism in its complex form.
It is shown that the geometry of quantum theory can be derived from geometrical structure that may be considered more fundamental. The basic elements of this reconstruction of quantum theory are the natural metric on the space of probabilities (information geometry), the description of dynamics using a Hamiltonian formalism (symplectic geometry), and requirements of consistency (Kähler geometry). The theory that results is standard quantum mechanics, but in a geometrical formulation that includes also a particular case of a family of nonlinear gauge transformations introduced by Doebner and Goldin. The analysis is carried out for the case of discrete quantum mechanics. The work presented here relies heavily on, and extends, previous work done in collaboration with M. J. W. Hall.
In this paper, we explore the possibility that the concept of information may enable a derivation of the quantum formalism from a set of physically comprehensible postulates. Taking the probabilistic nature of measurements as a given, we introduce the concept of information via a novel invariance principle, the Principle of Information Gain. Using this principle, we then show that it is possible to deduce the abstract quantum formalism for finite‐dimensional quantum systems from a set of postulates, of which one is a novel physical assumption, and the remainder are based on experimental facts characteristic of quantum phenomena or are drawn from classical physics. The concept of information plays a key role in the derivation, and gives rise to some of the central structural features of the quantum formalism.
In this paper and a companion paper, we attempt to systematically investigate the possibility that the concept of information may enable a derivation of the quantum formalism from a set of physically comprehensible postulates. To do so, we formulate an abstract experimental set-up and a set of assumptions based on generalizations of experimental facts that can be reasonably taken to be representative of quantum phenomena, and on theoretical ideas and principles, and show that it is possible to deduce the quantum formalism. In particular, we show that it is possible to derive the abstract quantum formalism for finite-dimensional quantum systems and the formal relations, such as the canonical commutation relationships and Dirac's Poisson Bracket rule, that are needed to apply the abstract formalism to particular systems of interest. The concept of information, via an information-theoretic invariance principle, plays a key role in the derivation, and gives rise to some of the central structural features of the quantum formalism.
We consider a system with a discrete configuration space. We show that the geometrical structures associated with such a system provide the tools necessary for a reconstruction of discrete quantum mechanics once dynamics is brought into the picture. We do this in three steps. Our starting point is information geometry, the natural geometry of the space of probability distributions. Dynamics requires additional structure. To evolve the Pk, we introduce coordinates Sk canonically conjugate to the Pk and a symplectic structure. We then seek to extend the metric structure of information geometry, to define a geometry over the full space of the Pk and Sk. Consistency between the metric tensor and the symplectic form forces us to introduce a Kähler geometry. The construction has notable features. A complex structure is obtained in a natural way. The canonical coordinates of the ψk = PkeiSk Kähler space are precisely the wave functions of quantum mechanics. The full group of unitary transformations is obtained. Finally, one may associate a Hilbert space with the Kähler space, which leads to the standard version of quantum theory. We also show that the metric that we derive here using purely geometrical arguments is precisely the one that leads to Wootters’ expression for the statistical distance for quantum systems.
This paper proposes a fundamental framework based on information geometry that unifies quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and spacetime geometry into a single foundational theory. Starting from three elementary axioms regarding information as the primary physical ontology, we derive the universal information metric, construct the information action functional, and show that all known physical laws emerge as extremal conditions of this functional. The theory recovers standard quantum mechanics, classical thermodynamics, and general relativity in appropriate limits, while predicting new relations between quantum entanglement, gravitational curvature, and entropy. We conclude that all physical phenomena—matter, energy, spacetime, and interactions—are equivalent to geometric structures on the space of quantum information states.