Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2205.07956 · Physical Review A

Quantum state inference from coarse-grained descriptions: Analysis and an application to quantum thermodynamics

Raúl O. Vallejos, Pedro Silva Correia, Paola Concha Obando, Nina Machado O'Neill, Alexandre B. Tacla, Fernando de Melo

Published Jul 25, 2022• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The characterization of physical systems relies on the observable properties which are measured, and how such measurements are performed. Here we analyze two ways of assigning a description to a quantum system assuming that we only have access to coarse-grained properties. More specifically, we compare the maximum entropy principle method, with the Bayesian-inspired recently proposed average assignment map method [Correia et al., Phys. Rev. A 103, 052210 (2021)]. Despite the fact that the assigned descriptions by both methods respect the measured constraints, and that they share the same conceptual foundations, the descriptions differ in scenarios that go beyond the traditional system-environment structure. The average assignment map is thus shown to be a more sensible choice for the ever more prevalent scenario of complex quantum systems. We discuss the physics behind such a difference, and further exploit it in a quantum thermodynamics process.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.106.012219

Related papers

Coarse-grained dynamics in quantum many-body systems using the maximum entropy principle

Adán Castillo, Carlos Pineda, Erick Sebastían Navarrete +1 more

Starting from a coarse-grained map of a quantum many-body system, we construct the inverse map that assigns a microscopic state to a coarse-grained state based on the maximum entropy principle. Assuming unitary evolution in the microscopic system, we examine the resulting dynamics in the coarse-grained system using the assignment map. We investigate both a two-qubit system, with \swap\ and controlled-\textsc{not}\ gates, and $n$-qubit systems, configured either in an Ising spin chain or with all-to-all interactions. We demonstrate that these dynamics exhibit atypical quantum behavior, such as nonlinearity and non-Markovianity. Furthermore, we find that these dynamics depend on the initial coarse-grained state and establish conditions for general microscopic dynamics under which linearity is preserved. As the effective dynamics induced by our coarse-grained description of many-body quantum systems diverge from conventional quantum behavior, we anticipate that this approach could aid in describing the quantum-to-classical transition and provide deeper insights into the effects of coarse graining on quantum systems.

arXiv:2407.11920•Physical Review A•Jul 22, 2025•1 citation

Quantum stochastic thermodynamics of macroscopic systems: an algebraic approach

Antoine Rignon-Bret, Cyril Elouard

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.

quant-pharXiv:2607.09242•Jul 13, 2026•0 citations

Macro-to-micro quantum mapping and the emergence of nonlinearity

Pedro Silva Correia, Paola Concha Obando, Raúl O. Vallejos +1 more

As a universal theory of physics, quantum mechanics must assign states to every level of description of a system---from a full microscopic description all the way up to an effective macroscopic characterization---and also to describe the interconnections among them. Assuming that we only have a coarse-grained access to a physical system, here we show how to assign to it a microscopic description that abides by all macroscopic constraints. In order to do that, we employ general coarse-graining maps, allowing our approach to be used even when the split between system and environment is not obvious. As a by-product, we show how effective nonlinear dynamics can emerge from the linear quantum evolution, and we readily apply it to a state discrimination task.

arXiv:2007.14370•Physical Review A•May 18, 2021•14 citations

Emergent Quantum Dynamics as a Bayesian Inference Problem: A Critical Analysis

Thales B. S. F. Rodrigues, Lucas L. Brugger, Vinicius G. Valle +2 more

Coarse-grained descriptions can be used to account for physical processes in which information is lost or not entirely accessible. In this paper, we start by proposing a connection between effective, coarse-grained descriptions of quantum dynamics and the quantum conditional states formalism. In doing so, we address necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of emergent dynamics from a subjective Bayesian point of view. Although our solution is (quasi-)optimal, the dynamics it determines are shown to be analytically limited -- it solves the problem in a state-by-state case. Due to this limitation, we then implement semidefinite programming techniques to investigate the existence of effective dynamics in four paradigmatic scenarios. The existence of such an effective dynamics motivates the introduction of a new robustness measure that quantifies how much noise can be added to a microscopic dynamics without compromising its compatibility with a given coarse-grained description. Finally, we also show how one can analytically determine a valid emergent description in several examples.

quant-pharXiv:2605.04112•May 6, 2026•0 citations

Coarse-grained quantum thermodynamics: Observation-dependent quantities, observation-independent laws

Giulia Rubino, Časlav Brukner, Gonzalo Manzano

In both classical and quantum thermodynamics, physical quantities are typically assigned objective values defined independently of our observations. We then refer to the “work performed by a gas,” or the “entropy of the gas,” regardless of how they are evaluated. Here, we question this conception in the context of quantum thermodynamics, estimating how the definition of pivotal thermodynamic quantities is affected by experimental instruments of limited precision. We find that the coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities frequently lead to different conclusions from those drawn in fine-grained scenarios. For instance, the irreversibility of a process, or its work payoff, can significantly vary with the instrument precision. We show nonetheless that coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities satisfy the relations (i.e., the second law inequality, the relation between dissipation and distinguishability of a process from its time reverse, and the quantum work fluctuation theorems) as their fine-grained counterparts. These results highlight the observation independence of relations linking thermodynamic quantities, which are themselves observation dependent.

arXiv:2507.15918•Physical Review Research•May 6, 2026•0 citations

Observational entropy, coarse-grained states, and the Petz recovery map: information-theoretic properties and bounds

Francesco Buscemi, Joseph Schindler, Dominik Šafránek

Abstract Observational entropy provides a general notion of quantum entropy that appropriately interpolates between Boltzmann’s and Gibbs’ entropies, and has recently been argued to provide a useful measure of out-of-equilibrium thermodynamic entropy. Here we study the mathematical properties of observational entropy from an information-theoretic viewpoint, making use of recently strengthened forms of the monotonicity property of quantum relative entropy. We present new bounds on observational entropy applying in general, as well as bounds and identities related to sequential and post-processed measurements. A central role in this work is played by what we call the ‘coarse-grained’ state, which emerges from the measurement’s statistics by Bayesian retrodiction, without presuming any knowledge about the ‘true’ underlying state being measured. The degree of distinguishability between such a coarse-grained state and the true (but generally unobservable) one is shown to provide upper and lower bounds on the difference between observational and von Neumann entropies.

arXiv:2209.03803•New Journal of Physics•Apr 14, 2023•18 citations
The characterization of physical systems relies on the observable properties which are measured, and how such measurements are performed. Here we analyze two ways of assigning a description to a quantum system assuming that we only have access to coarse-grained properties. More specifically, we compare the maximum entropy principle method, with the Bayesian-inspired recently proposed average assignment map method [Correia et al., Phys. Rev. A 103, 052210 (2021)]. Despite the fact that the assigned descriptions by both methods respect the measured constraints, and that they share the same conceptual foundations, the descriptions differ in scenarios that go beyond the traditional system-environment structure. The average assignment map is thus shown to be a more sensible choice for the ever more prevalent scenario of complex quantum systems. We discuss the physics behind such a difference, and further exploit it in a quantum thermodynamics process.
Starting from a coarse-grained map of a quantum many-body system, we construct the inverse map that assigns a microscopic state to a coarse-grained state based on the maximum entropy principle. Assuming unitary evolution in the microscopic system, we examine the resulting dynamics in the coarse-grained system using the assignment map. We investigate both a two-qubit system, with \swap\ and controlled-\textsc{not}\ gates, and nnn-qubit systems, configured either in an Ising spin chain or with all-to-all interactions. We demonstrate that these dynamics exhibit atypical quantum behavior, such as nonlinearity and non-Markovianity. Furthermore, we find that these dynamics depend on the initial coarse-grained state and establish conditions for general microscopic dynamics under which linearity is preserved. As the effective dynamics induced by our coarse-grained description of many-body quantum systems diverge from conventional quantum behavior, we anticipate that this approach could aid in describing the quantum-to-classical transition and provide deeper insights into the effects of coarse graining on quantum systems.
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.
As a universal theory of physics, quantum mechanics must assign states to every level of description of a system---from a full microscopic description all the way up to an effective macroscopic characterization---and also to describe the interconnections among them. Assuming that we only have a coarse-grained access to a physical system, here we show how to assign to it a microscopic description that abides by all macroscopic constraints. In order to do that, we employ general coarse-graining maps, allowing our approach to be used even when the split between system and environment is not obvious. As a by-product, we show how effective nonlinear dynamics can emerge from the linear quantum evolution, and we readily apply it to a state discrimination task.
Coarse-grained descriptions can be used to account for physical processes in which information is lost or not entirely accessible. In this paper, we start by proposing a connection between effective, coarse-grained descriptions of quantum dynamics and the quantum conditional states formalism. In doing so, we address necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of emergent dynamics from a subjective Bayesian point of view. Although our solution is (quasi-)optimal, the dynamics it determines are shown to be analytically limited -- it solves the problem in a state-by-state case. Due to this limitation, we then implement semidefinite programming techniques to investigate the existence of effective dynamics in four paradigmatic scenarios. The existence of such an effective dynamics motivates the introduction of a new robustness measure that quantifies how much noise can be added to a microscopic dynamics without compromising its compatibility with a given coarse-grained description. Finally, we also show how one can analytically determine a valid emergent description in several examples.
In both classical and quantum thermodynamics, physical quantities are typically assigned objective values defined independently of our observations. We then refer to the “work performed by a gas,” or the “entropy of the gas,” regardless of how they are evaluated. Here, we question this conception in the context of quantum thermodynamics, estimating how the definition of pivotal thermodynamic quantities is affected by experimental instruments of limited precision. We find that the coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities frequently lead to different conclusions from those drawn in fine-grained scenarios. For instance, the irreversibility of a process, or its work payoff, can significantly vary with the instrument precision. We show nonetheless that coarse-grained thermodynamic quantities satisfy the relations (i.e., the second law inequality, the relation between dissipation and distinguishability of a process from its time reverse, and the quantum work fluctuation theorems) as their fine-grained counterparts. These results highlight the observation independence of relations linking thermodynamic quantities, which are themselves observation dependent.
Abstract Observational entropy provides a general notion of quantum entropy that appropriately interpolates between Boltzmann’s and Gibbs’ entropies, and has recently been argued to provide a useful measure of out-of-equilibrium thermodynamic entropy. Here we study the mathematical properties of observational entropy from an information-theoretic viewpoint, making use of recently strengthened forms of the monotonicity property of quantum relative entropy. We present new bounds on observational entropy applying in general, as well as bounds and identities related to sequential and post-processed measurements. A central role in this work is played by what we call the ‘coarse-grained’ state, which emerges from the measurement’s statistics by Bayesian retrodiction, without presuming any knowledge about the ‘true’ underlying state being measured. The degree of distinguishability between such a coarse-grained state and the true (but generally unobservable) one is shown to provide upper and lower bounds on the difference between observational and von Neumann entropies.