We propose the gentle measurement principle (GMP) as one of the principles at the foundation of quantum mechanics. It asserts that if a set of states can be distinguished with high probability, they can be distinguished by a measurement that leaves the states almost invariant, including correlation with a reference system. While GMP is satisfied in both classical and quantum theories, we show, within the framework of general probabilistic theories, that it imposes strong restrictions on the law of physics. First, the measurement uncertainty of a pair of observables cannot be significantly larger than the preparation uncertainty. Consequently, the strength of the CHSH nonlocality cannot be maximal. The parameter in the stretched quantum theory, a family of general probabilistic theories that includes the quantum theory, is also limited. Second, the conditional entropy defined in terms of a data compression theorem satisfies the chain inequality. Not only does it imply information causality and Tsirelson's bound, but it singles out the quantum theory from the stretched one. All these results show that GMP would be one of the principles at the heart of quantum mechanics.
We propose the gentle measurement principle (GMP) as one of the principles at the foundation of quantum mechanics. It asserts that if a set of states can be distinguished with high probability, they can be distinguished by a measurement that leaves the states almost invariant, including correlation with a reference system. While GMP is satisfied in both classical and quantum theories, we show, within the framework of general probabilistic theories, that it imposes strong restrictions on the law of physics. First, the measurement uncertainty of a pair of observables cannot be significantly larger than the preparation uncertainty. Consequently, the strength of the CHSH nonlocality cannot be maximal. The parameter in the stretched quantum theory, a family of general probabilistic theories that includes the quantum theory, is also limited. Second, the conditional entropy defined in terms of a data compression theorem satisfies the chain inequality. Not only does it imply information causality and Tsirelson's bound, but it singles out the quantum theory from the stretched one. All these results show that GMP would be one of the principles at the heart of quantum mechanics.
Finding physical principles lying behind quantum mechanics is essential to understand various quantum features, e.g., the quantum correlations, in a theory-independent manner. Here we propose such a principle, namely, no disturbance without uncertainty, stating that the disturbance caused by a measurement to a subsequent incompatible measurement is no larger than the uncertainty of the first measurement, equipped with suitable theory-independent measures for disturbance and uncertainty. When applied to local systems in a multipartite scenario, our principle imposes such a strong constraint on non-signaling correlations that quantum correlations can be recovered in many cases: i. it accounts for the Tsirelsons bound; ii. it provides the so far tightest boundary for a family of the noisy super-nonlocal box with 3 parameters, and iii. it rules out an almost quantum correlation from quantum correlations by which all the previous principles fail, as well as the celebrated quantum criterion due to Navascues, Pironio, and Acin. Our results pave the way to understand nonlocality exhibited in quantum correlations from local principles.
One of the formulations of Heisenberg uncertainty principle, concerning so-called measurement uncertainty, states that the measurement of one observable modifies the statistics of the other. Here, we derive such a measurement uncertainty principle from two comprehensible assumptions: impossibility of instantaneous messaging at a distance (no-signaling), and violation of Bell inequalities (nonlocality). The uncertainty is established for a pair of observables of one of two spatially separated systems that exhibit nonlocal correlations. To this end, we introduce a gentle form of measurement which acquires partial information about one of the observables. We then bound disturbance of the remaining observables by the amount of information gained from the gentle measurement, minus a correction depending on the degree of nonlocality. The obtained quantitative expression resembles the quantum mechanical formulations, yet it is derived without the quantum formalism and complements the known qualitative effect of disturbance implied by nonlocality and no-signaling.
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is one of the most famous features of quantum mechanics. However, the non-determinism implied by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle --- together with other prominent aspects of quantum mechanics such as superposition, entanglement, and nonlocality --- poses deep puzzles about the underlying physical reality, even while these same features are at the heart of exciting developments such as quantum cryptography, algorithms, and computing. These puzzles might be resolved if the mathematical structure of quantum mechanics were built up from physically interpretable axioms, but it is not. We propose three physically-based axioms which together characterize the simplest quantum system, namely the qubit. Our starting point is the class of all no-signaling theories. Each such theory can be regarded as a family of empirical models, and we proceed to associate entropies, i.e., measures of information, with these models. To do this, we move to phase space and impose the condition that entropies are real-valued. This requirement, which we call the Information Reality Principle, arises because in order to represent all no-signaling theories (including quantum mechanics itself) in phase space, it is necessary to allow negative probabilities (Wigner [1932]). Our second and third principles take two important features of quantum mechanics and turn them into deliberately chosen physical axioms. One axiom is an Uncertainty Principle, stated in terms of entropy. The other axiom is an Unbiasedness Principle, which requires that whenever there is complete certainty about the outcome of a measurement in one of three mutually orthogonal directions, there must be maximal uncertainty about the outcomes in each of the two other directions.
This paper is concerned with the description of the process of measurement within the context of a quantum theory of the physical world. It is noted that quantum mechanics permits a quasi-classical description (classical in the limited sense implied by the correspondence principle of Bohr) of those macroscopic phenomena in terms of which the observer forms his perceptions. Thus, the process of measurement in quantum mechanics can be understood on the quasi-classical level by transcribing from the strictly classical observables of Newtonian physics to their quasi-classical counterparts the known rules for the measurement of the former. The remaining physical problem is the delineation of the circumstances in which the correlation of a peculiarly quantum mechanical observable A with a classically measurable observable B can result in a significant measurement of A. This is undertaken within the context of quantum theory. The resulting clarification of the process of measurement has important implications relative to the philosophic interpretation of quantum mechanics.
In this addendum to our paper (2010 New J. Phys. 12 033024), we point out that an elementary consequence of the strong subadditivity inequality allows us to strengthen one of the main conclusions of that paper. In this addendum to our paper [1], we point out that an elementary consequence of the strong subadditivity inequality allows us to strengthen one of the main conclusions of that paper. In [1], we defined notions of measurement and mixing entropy for a broad class of probabilistic theories (which includes finite-dimensional quantum theory). We defined a theory to be monoentropic if for every state of a system in the theory, the mixing entropy (denoted S) is equal to the measurement entropy (denoted H ). This broad class of theories has a notion of composite system, and of the ‘marginal state’ of a subsystem given a state for the composite system, so that the strong subadditivity inequality may be formulated for real-valued functions of states, including the measurement and mixing entropies. We proved the following theorem. Theorem 1 (theorem 4 of [1]). Suppose that a theory has the following properties: (1) it is monoentropic, meaning that measurement entropy equals mixing entropy for all systems, (2) its measurement entropy is strongly subadditive and (3) its measurement entropy satisfies the Holevo bound. Then the theory satisfies information causality. It follows that any theory satisfying these conditions cannot violate Tsirel’son’s bound. In [1] we noted that monoentropicity was only used to establish the technical condition of positivity of conditional information, H(A|C), defined as H(AC)− H(C), when A is classical. This condition does not hold for all theories in the broad class we consider. Shortly after submitting the final version of [1], but too late for inclusion therein, we noticed that it does, however, hold for all theories satisfying strong subadditivity, enabling us to strengthen our theorem as follows. Theorem 2. Suppose that a theory’s measurement entropy is strongly subadditive and satisfies the Holevo bound. Then the theory satisfies information causality. It follows that any theory satisfying these conditions cannot violate Tsirel’son’s bound. As noted in our earlier paper, one can replace the two premises of this theorem with the single premise that the measurement entropy satisfies the data processing inequality. To see that H(A|C)> 0 for classical A follows from strong subadditivity, we recall (from e.g. lemma 1 of [1]), that strong subadditivity is equivalent to the positivity of conditional mutual information, I (A : B|C)> 0. Letting A and B be perfectly correlated classical systems in this inequality, we have I (A : B|C)= H(A|C)+ H(B|C)− H(AB|C) = H(AC)− H(C)+ H(BC) − H(C)− H(ABC)+ H(C) = H(AC)+ H(BC)− H(ABC)− H(C). New Journal of Physics 14 (2012) 129401 (http://www.njp.org/)
Bell's theorem asserts that no local hidden variable theory can explain the predictions of quantum theory in an experiment where spacelike separated measurements are performed in distant laboratories. Loophole-free Bell tests performed in the last decade demonstrate Bell nonlocality as a property of Nature. However, the amount of nonlocality allowed in quantum theory is limited, compared to the sole restriction of no-signaling, meaning the impossibility of faster-than-light communication implied by special relativity. Information causality is a physical principle that generalizes no-signaling and is satisfied by quantum theory. It is based on the idea that shared quantum entanglement cannot enable a receiver to obtain more classical information than how much was sent by a distant sender. Remarkably, the principle was shown to imply the maximal quantum bound for the violation of the most well-known Bell inequality. The aim of this thesis is to widen our understanding of information causality and compare its predictions with other known outer approximations of the quantum set of correlations. We build upon the recent realization that most of the known consequences of information causality can be derived with a single copy of the shared systems, whereas before it was thought that many copies were necessary. We develop a novel optimization framework which bounds the possible violations of information causality by other sets of correlations, allowing us to certify when violations are not possible. We generalize the statement of information causality and reach a precise definition for the set of correlations satisfying this principle. We show that when searching for violations of information causality by physical theories, considering many copies is not necessary. Our aforementioned optimization framework approximates the information causality set from the outside. Conversely, we propose a different approach which allows us to approximate this set from the inside.