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arXiv:1302.5311

Quantum Fisher Information as the Convex Roof of Variance

Sixia Yu

Published Feb 21, 2013• 62 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum Fisher information places the fundamental limit to the accuracy of estimating an unknown parameter. Here we shall provide the quantum Fisher information an operational meaning: a mixed state can be so prepared that a given observable has the minimal averaged variance, which equals exactly to the quantum Fisher information for estimating an unknown parameter generated by the unitary dynamics with the given observable as Hamiltonian. In particular we shall prove that the quantum Fisher information is the convex roof of the variance, as conjectured by Toth and Petz based on numerical and analytical evidences, by constructing explicitly a pure-state ensemble of the given mixed state in which the averaged variance of a given observable equals to the quantum Fisher information.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1302.5311

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Quantum Fisher information places the fundamental limit to the accuracy of estimating an unknown parameter. Here we shall provide the quantum Fisher information an operational meaning: a mixed state can be so prepared that a given observable has the minimal averaged variance, which equals exactly to the quantum Fisher information for estimating an unknown parameter generated by the unitary dynamics with the given observable as Hamiltonian. In particular we shall prove that the quantum Fisher information is the convex roof of the variance, as conjectured by Toth and Petz based on numerical and analytical evidences, by constructing explicitly a pure-state ensemble of the given mixed state in which the averaged variance of a given observable equals to the quantum Fisher information.
We show that the variance is its own concave roof. For rank-2 density matrices and operators with zero diagonal elements in the eigenbasis of the density matrix, we prove analytically that the quantum Fisher information is four times the convex roof of the variance. Strong numerical evidence suggests that this statement is true even for operators with nonzero diagonal elements or density matrices with a rank larger than 2.2.2. We also find that within the different types of generalized quantum Fisher information considered in Petz [J. Phys. A 35, 929 (2002)] and Gibilisco, Hiai, and Petz [IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 55, 439 (2009)], after appropriate normalization, the quantum Fisher information is the largest. Hence, we conjecture that the quantum Fisher information is four times the convex roof of the variance even for the general case.
We discuss recent findings relating the quantum Fisher information to convex roofs of variances. We present several improvements on the Robertson-Schrodinger uncertainty relation. In all these improvements, we consider a decomposition of the density matrix into a mixture of pure states, and use the fact that the Robertson-Schrodinger uncertainty relation is valid for all these components. By considering a convex roof of the bound, we obtain an alternative derivation of the relation in F. Frowis, R. Schmied, and N. Gisin [Phys. Rev. A 92, 012102 (2015)], and we can also list a number of conditions that are needed to saturate the relations. We also gain new insights about the Cramer-Rao bound. By considering a concave roof of the bound in the Robertson-Schrodinger uncertainty relation, we obtain other type of improvements. We consider similar techniques for uncertainty relations with three variances. Finally, we present further uncertainty relations that provide lower bounds on the metrological usefulness of bipartite quantum states based on the variances of canonical position and momentum operators for two-mode continuous variable systems and angular momentum operators for spin systems.
Fisher information appears in quantum theory in two mathematically distinct settings: as a classical probability functional in variational reconstructions of Schrodinger dynamics and as the quantum Fisher metric of parameterized density operators. Here we examine how far these roles can be connected without identifying the two objects. Starting from a Hamilton-Jacobi ensemble action, we recover the Fisher term that generates the quantum potential and isolate its contribution to the kinetic-energy expectation. We then analyze the quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) of bipartite states. For any pure two-qubit state, the optimized magnitude of the off-diagonal QFIM element for normalized local generators equals the concurrence, while a collective phase generator yields FQ = 4 C^2. Extending the optimized pure-state quantity by a convex roof gives an exact identity with Wootters concurrence for arbitrary mixed two-qubit states. This differs from evaluating the QFIM directly on a mixed density operator: for Werner states the raw optimized cross-QFIM is 2 p^2/(1 + p) and remains nonzero inside the separable region. The gap between the raw and convex-roof quantities therefore isolates, for this family, correlation geometry not captured by entanglement. Finally, in a two-path interferometer with a which-way marker, the optimal phase Fisher information available from local output statistics is I_phi^opt = V^2. These results place probability-gradient energy, bipartite correlation geometry, entanglement, and decoherence-induced loss of local phase sensitivity in a common mathematical setting while preserving the distinctions between classical Fisher information, QFIM geometry, Bell nonlocality, and global phase quantization.
We define the generalized variance based on requiring that (i) it equals the usual variance for pure states and (ii) it is concave. For a quantum system of any size, we show that the usual variance is the smallest generalized variance, which makes it optimal for using it in entanglement criteria based on uncertainty relations. Similarly, we define the generalized quantum Fisher information, replacing the requirement of concavity by convexity. For rank-2 density matrices, we show that the quantum Fisher information is the largest among generalized quantum Fisher informations. We relate our findings to the results of [D. Petz, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 35, 79 (2003); P. Gibilisco, F. Hiai and D. Petz, IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 55, 439 (2009)].
We show how preparation uncertainty relations that are formulated as sums of variances may be tightened by using the quantum Fisher information to quantify quantum fluctuations. We apply this to derive stronger angular momentum uncertainty relations, which in the case of spin-1/21/21/2 turn into equalities involving the purity. Using an analogy between pure-state decompositions in the Bloch sphere and the moment of inertia of rigid bodies, we identify optimal decompositions that achieve the convex- and concave-roof decomposition of the variance. Finally, we illustrate how these results may be used to identify the classical and quantum limits on phase estimation precision with an unknown rotation axis.
We examine important properties of the difference between the variance and the quantum Fisher information over four, i.e., (ΔA)2−FQ[ϱ,A]/4.(ΔA)^2-F_{\rm Q}[\varrho,A]/4.(ΔA)2−FQ​[ϱ,A]/4. We find that it is equal to a generalized variance defined in Petz [J. Phys. A 35, 929 (2002)] and Gibilisco, Hiai, and Petz [IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory 55, 439 (2009)]. We present an upper bound on this quantity that is proportional to the linear entropy. As expected, our relation shows that for states that are close to being pure, the quantum Fisher information over four is close to the variance. We also obtain the variance and the quantum Fisher information averaged over all Hermitian operators, and examine its relation to the von Neumann entropy. Apart from the usual quantum Fisher information, we also consider the Kubo-Mori-Bogoliubov quantum Fisher information.