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arXiv:2005.05408 · Physical Review A

Quantum correlation entropy

Joseph Schindler, Dominik Šafránek, Anthony N. Aguirre

Published Nov 10, 2020• 21 citations
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Abstract

We study quantum coarse-grained entropy and demonstrate that the gap in entropy between local and global coarse-grainings is a natural generalization of entanglement entropy to mixed states and multipartite systems. This ``quantum correlation entropy'' ${S}^{q}c$ is additive over independent systems, is invariant under local unitary operations, measures total nonclassical correlations (vanishing on states with strictly classical correlation), and reduces to the entanglement entropy for bipartite pure states. It quantifies how well a quantum system can be understood via local measurements and ties directly to nonequilibrium thermodynamics, including representing a lower bound on the quantum part of thermodynamic entropy production. We discuss two other measures of nonclassical correlation to which this entropy is equivalent and argue that together they provide a unique thermodynamically distinguished measure.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.102.052407

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We propose a general measure of nonclassical correlations for bipartite systems based on generalized entropic functions and majorization properties. Defined as the minimum information loss due to a local measurement, in the case of pure states it reduces to the generalized entanglement entropy, i.e., the generalized entropy of the reduced state. However, in the case of mixed states it can be nonzero in separable states, vanishing just for states diagonal in a general product basis, like the quantum discord. Simple quadratic measures of quantum correlations arise as a particular case of the present formalism. The minimum information loss due to a joint local measurement is also discussed. The evaluation of these measures in simple relevant cases is as well provided, together with comparison with the corresponding entanglement monotones.
We extend classical coarse-grained entropy, commonly used in many branches of physics, to the quantum realm. We find two coarse grainings, one using measurements of local particle numbers and then total energy, and the second using local energy measurements, which lead to an entropy that is defined outside of equilibrium, is in accord with the thermodynamic entropy for equilibrium systems, and reaches the thermodynamic entropy in the long-time limit, even in genuinely isolated quantum systems. This answers the long-standing conceptual problem, as to which entropy is relevant for the formulation of the second thermodynamic law in closed quantum systems. This entropy could be in principle measured, especially now that experiments on such systems are becoming feasible.
We present a measure of quantum correlation of an ensemble of multiparty states. It is based on the idea of minimal entropy production in a measurement whose elements are locally distinguishable. It is shown, for pure ensembles, to be a relative entropy distance from a set of ensembles. For pure bipartite ensembles, which span the whole bipartite Hilbert space, the measure is bounded below by the average entanglement. We naturally obtain a monotonicity axiom for any measure of quantum correlation of ensembles for single systems. We evaluate the measure for certain cases. Subsequently we use this measure to propose a complementarity relation between our measure and the accessible information obtainable about the ensemble under local operations. The measure is well defined even for the case of a single system, where the complementarity relation is seen to be yet another face of the ``Heisenberg uncertainty relation.''
We build a framework for the thermodynamics of macroscopic quantum systems. In contrast with approaches requiring access to the full density matrix, our framework relies on a coarse-grained description, based on measurement statistics of a few observables. When these observables commute, the outcomes define classical macrostates whose entropy is quantified by observational entropy, accounting for uncertainty about both the macrostate and the microstate within it. We extend this notion to non-commuting observables forming a subalgebra of the operator space, and use Jaynes' principle to define an algebra-dependent entropy interpolating between von Neumann and observational entropies. Given initial and final measurement sets, connected by internal and/or environment-induced dynamics, we derive a second law for the coarse-grained dynamics. Unlike formulations based on von Neumann entropy, our inequality captures irreversibility from both non-unitary environment-induced dynamics and internal equilibration. It takes the usual form of a positive entropy production when the system is initially at internal equilibrium, while correction terms capture nonequilibrium resources ignored by the coarse-graining. We also derive fluctuation theorems for coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities. Along a quasi-static path of measurement schemes, we identify quantum macroscopic notions of work and heat fulfilling the first and second laws, including an additional work contribution from manipulating the algebra to which the system is confined, through external constraints or quantum measurement backaction. Finally, we apply our framework to examples illustrating the impact of varying the coarse-graining scheme. Our approach unifies macroscopic and stochastic thermodynamics in a genuinely quantum framework, laying the basis for a versatile, experimentally friendly toolbox to analyze complex quantum dynamics.
We examine the evaluation of the minimum information loss due to an unread local measurement in mixed states of bipartite systems, for a general entropic form. Such a quantity provides a measure of quantum correlations, reducing for pure states to the generalized entanglement entropy, while in the case of mixed states it vanishes just for classically correlated states with respect to the measured system, as the quantum discord. General stationary conditions are provided, together with their explicit form for general two-qubit states. Closed expressions for the minimum information loss as measured by quadratic and cubic entropies are also derived for general states of two-qubit systems. As an application, we analyze the case of states with maximally mixed marginals, where a general evaluation is provided, as well as XXX states and the mixture of two aligned states.