It is well known in quantum information theory that a positive operator-valued measure (POVM) is the most general kind of quantum measurement. Mathematically, a quantum probability is a normalized POVM, namely, a function on certain subsets of a (locally compact and Hausdorff) sample space that satisfies the formal requirements for a probability measure and whose values are positive operators acting on a complex Hilbert space. A quantum random variable is an operator-valued function which is measurable with respect to a quantum probability. In this work, we study quantum random variables and generalize several classical limit results to the quantum setting. We prove a quantum analogue of the Lebesgue-dominated convergence theorem and use it to prove a quantum martingale convergence theorem. This quantum martingale convergence theorem is of particular interest since it exhibits nonclassical behavior; even though the limit of the martingale exists and is unique, it is not explicitly identifiable. However, we provide a partial classification of the limit through a study of the space of all quantum random variables having quantum expectation zero.
It is well known in quantum information theory that a positive operator-valued measure (POVM) is the most general kind of quantum measurement. Mathematically, a quantum probability is a normalized POVM, namely, a function on certain subsets of a (locally compact and Hausdorff) sample space that satisfies the formal requirements for a probability measure and whose values are positive operators acting on a complex Hilbert space. A quantum random variable is an operator-valued function which is measurable with respect to a quantum probability. In this work, we study quantum random variables and generalize several classical limit results to the quantum setting. We prove a quantum analogue of the Lebesgue-dominated convergence theorem and use it to prove a quantum martingale convergence theorem. This quantum martingale convergence theorem is of particular interest since it exhibits nonclassical behavior; even though the limit of the martingale exists and is unique, it is not explicitly identifiable. However, we provide a partial classification of the limit through a study of the space of all quantum random variables having quantum expectation zero.
Given a positive operator-valued measure ν acting on the Borel sets of a locally compact Hausdorff space X, with outcomes in the algebra B(H) of all bounded operators on a (possibly infinite-dimensional) Hilbert space H, one can consider ν-integrable functions X→B(H) that are positive quantum random variables. We define a seminorm on the span of such functions which in the quotient leads to a Banach space. We consider bistochastic operators acting on this space and majorization of quantum random variables is then defined with respect to these operators. As in classical majorization theory, we relate majorization in this context to an inequality involving all possible convex functions of a certain type. Unlike the classical setting, continuity and convergence issues arise throughout the work.
We consider positive operator valued measures whose image is the bounded operators acting on an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space, and we relax, when possible, the usual assumption of positivity of the operator valued measure seen in the quantum information theory literature. We define the Radon-Nikodym derivative of a positive operator valued measure with respect to a complex measure induced by a given quantum state; this derivative does not always exist when the Hilbert space is infinite dimensional in so much as its range may include unbounded operators. We define integrability of a positive quantum random variable with respect to a positive operator valued measure. Emphasis is put on the structure of operator valued measures, and we develop positive operator valued versions of the Lebesque decomposition theorem and Johnson's atomic and nonatomic decomposition theorem. Beyond these generalizations, we make connections between absolute continuity and the "cleanness" relation defined on positive operator valued measures as well as to the notion of atomic and nonatomic measures.
Introduction Quantum probability is a generalization of both classical probability theory and quantum mechanics that allows to describe the probabilistic aspects of quantum mechanics. This generalization is formulated in two steps. First, the theory is reformulated in terms of algebras of functions on probability spaces. Therefore, the notion of a probability space (Ω, ℱ , P ) is replaced by the pair ( L ∞ (Ω), E (.) = ∫ Ω . d P ) consisting of the commutative von Neumann algebra of bounded random variables and the expectation functional. Then, the commutativity condition is dropped. In this way we arrive at the notion of a (von Neumann) algebraic probability space ( N ,Φ) consisting of a von Neumann algebra N and a normal (faithful tracial) state Φ. As we have seen this includes classical probability spaces in the form ( L ∞ (Ω), E ), it also includes quantum mechanical systems modeled by a Hilbert space H and a pure state ψ ∊ H (or a mixed state ρ ∊ S ( H )), if we take N = B ( H ) and Ф the state defined by Ф( X ) = 〈 ψ, X ψ 〉 (or Ф ( X ) = tr(ρ X )) for X ∊ B ( H ). Note that in this course we shall relax the conditions on N and Φ and work with involutive algebras and positive normalized functionals, that is, *-algebraic probability spaces. A striking feature of quantum probability (also called noncommutative probability) is the existence of several notions of independence. This is the starting point of this course, which intends to give an introduction to the theory of quantum stochastic processes with independent increments. However, before we come to these processes, we will give a general introduction to quantum probability. In Section 1.2, we recall the basic definitions of quantum probability and discuss some fundamental differences between classical probability and quantum probability. In Section 1.3 we address the question ‘Why do we need Quantum Probability?’ We discuss the EPR experiment and the Kochen–Specker Theorem, which show that we cannot model quantum physics with classical probability spaces because the values of observable quantities do not exist unless we specify which measurement we will carry out and which quantities we will determine. In this sense quantum physics requires a more radical description of chance.
The fact that any classical random variable with all moments has a quantum decomposition allows to associate to it a family of quantum moments. On the other hand, a classical random variable may have several inequivalent quantum decompositions, which lead to the same classical, but different quantum moments. Even in the simplest Central Limit Theorems (CLT), i.e. those of Bernoulli type, there are examples in which the corresponding quantum moments converge to the canonical quantum moments of the associated classical random variable, and examples in which this is not the case. This poses the problem to find a constructive criterium that characterizes the quantum moments associated to the canonical quantum decomposition (which is unique) with respect to the other ones. Theorem [Formula: see text] of the present paper provides such a criterium. Theorem [Formula: see text] deals with the case when one knows a priori that the quantum moments come from a central limit theorem (the motivation of the present paper arose in this context). It gives only a sufficient condition, but simpler to verify than the necessary and sufficient conditions of Theorem [Formula: see text]. Theorem [Formula: see text] naturally leads to a classification of Interacting Fock Spaces (IFS) into three types. We construct examples showing that all these possibilities can effectively take place. On the way, we prove that all the best known deformations of Heisenberg commutation relations can be obtained as special cases of a general construction within the algebraic approach to the theory of orthogonal polynomials.
We introduce several notions of random positive operator valued measures (POVMs), and we prove that some of them are equivalent. We then study statistical properties of the effect operators for the canonical examples, starting from the limiting eigenvalue distribution. We derive the large system limit for several quantities of interest in quantum information theory, such as the sharpness, the noise content, and the probability range. Finally, we study different compatibility criteria, and we compare them for generic POVMs.
We introduce several notions of random positive operator valued measures (POVMs), and we prove that some of them are equivalent. We then study statistical properties of the effect operators for the canonical examples, starting from the limiting eigenvalue distribution. We derive the large system limit for several quantities of interest in quantum information theory, such as the sharpness, the noise content, and the probability range. Finally, we study different compatibility criteria, and we compare them for generic POVMs.