Resources and their use and consumption form a central part of our life. Many branches of science and engineering are concerned with the question of which given resource objects can be converted into which target resource objects. For example, information theory studies the conversion of a noisy communication channel instance into an exchange of information. Inspired by work in quantum information theory, we develop a general framework for this type of question. The convertibility of resources into other ones and the possibility of combining resources is accurately captured by the mathematics of ordered commutative monoids. As an intuitive example, we consider chemistry, where chemical reaction equations such as $\mathrm{2H_2 + O_2} \longrightarrow \mathrm{2H_2O}$ are concerned both with a convertibility relation $\longrightarrow$ and a combination operation $+$. We study ordered commutative monoids from an algebraic and functional-analytic perspective and derive a wealth of results which should have applications to concrete resource theories, such as a formula for rates of conversion. As a running example showing that ordered commutative monoids are also of purely mathematical interest, we exemplify our results with the ordered commutative monoid of graphs.
While closely related to both Girard's linear logic and Deutsch's constructor theory, our framework also produces results very reminiscent of the utility theorem of von Neumann and Morgenstern in decision theory and of a theorem of Lieb and Yngvason on thermodynamics.
Concerning pure algebra, our observation is that some pieces of algebra can be developed in a context in which equality is not necessarily symmetric, i.e. in which the equality relation is replaced by an ordering relation. For example, notions like cancellativity or torsion-freeness are still sensible and very natural concepts in our ordered setting.
Resources and their use and consumption form a central part of our life. Many branches of science and engineering are concerned with the question of which given resource objects can be converted into which target resource objects. For example, information theory studies the conversion of a noisy communication channel instance into an exchange of information. Inspired by work in quantum information theory, we develop a general framework for this type of question. The convertibility of resources into other ones and the possibility of combining resources is accurately captured by the mathematics of ordered commutative monoids. As an intuitive example, we consider chemistry, where chemical reaction equations such as 2H2+O2⟶2H2O are concerned both with a convertibility relation ⟶ and a combination operation +. We study ordered commutative monoids from an algebraic and functional-analytic perspective and derive a wealth of results which should have applications to concrete resource theories, such as a formula for rates of conversion. As a running example showing that ordered commutative monoids are also of purely mathematical interest, we exemplify our results with the ordered commutative monoid of graphs.
While closely related to both Girard's linear logic and Deutsch's constructor theory, our framework also produces results very reminiscent of the utility theorem of von Neumann and Morgenstern in decision theory and of a theorem of Lieb and Yngvason on thermodynamics.
Concerning pure algebra, our observation is that some pieces of algebra can be developed in a context in which equality is not necessarily symmetric, i.e. in which the equality relation is replaced by an ordering relation. For example, notions like cancellativity or torsion-freeness are still sensible and very natural concepts in our ordered setting.
Resources and their use and consumption form a central part of our life. Many branches of science and engineering are concerned with the question of which given resource objects can be converted into which target resource objects. For example, information theory studies the conversion of a noisy communication channel instance into an exchange of information. Inspired by work in quantum information theory, we develop a general mathematical toolbox for this type of question. The convertibility of resources into other ones and the possibility of combining resources is accurately captured by the mathematics of ordered commutative monoids. As an intuitive example, we consider chemistry, where chemical reaction equations such as \mathrm{2H_2 + O_2} \lra \mathrm{2H_2O,} are concerned both with a convertibility relation ‘→’ and a combination operation ‘+.’ We study ordered commutative monoids from an algebraic and functional-analytic perspective and derive a wealth of results which should have applications to concrete resource theories, such as a formula for rates of conversion. As a running example showing that ordered commutative monoids are also of purely mathematical interest without the resource-theoretic interpretation, we exemplify our results with the ordered commutative monoid of graphs. While closely related to both Girard's linear logic and to Deutsch's constructor theory, our framework also produces results very reminiscent of the utility theorem of von Neumann and Morgenstern in decision theory and of a theorem of Lieb and Yngvason on the foundations of thermodynamics. Concerning pure algebra, our observation is that some pieces of algebra can be developed in a context in which equality is not necessarily symmetric, i.e. in which the equality relation is replaced by an ordering relation. For example, notions like cancellativity or torsion-freeness are still sensible and very natural concepts in our ordered setting.
Considering resource usage is a powerful insight in the analysis of many phenomena in the sciences. Much of the current research on these resource theories focuses on the analysis of specific resources such quantum entanglement, purity, randomness or asymmetry. However, the mathematical foundations of resource theories are at a much earlier stage, and there has been no satisfactory account of quantitative aspects such as costs, rates or probabilities. We present a categorical foundation for quantitative resource theories, derived from enriched category theory. Our approach is compositional, with rich algebraic structure facilitating calculations. The resulting theory is parameterized, both in the quantities under consideration, for example costs or probabilities, and in the structural features of the resources such as whether they can be freely copied or deleted. We also achieve a clear separation of concerns between the resource conversions that are freely available, and the costly resources that are typically the object of study. By using an abstract categorical approach, our framework is naturally open to extension. We provide many examples throughout, emphasising the resource theoretic intuitions for each of the mathematical objects under consideration.
A central problem in the study of resource theories is to find functions that are nonincreasing under resource conversions — termed monotones — in order to quantify resourcefulness. Various constructions of monotones appear in many different concrete resource theories. How general are these constructions? What are the necessary conditions on a resource theory for a given construction to be applicable? To answer these questions, we introduce a broad scheme for constructing monotones. It involves finding an order-preserving map from the preorder of resources of interest to a distinct preorder for which nontrivial monotones are previously known or can be more easily constructed; these monotones are then pulled back through the map. In one of the two main classes we study, the preorder of resources is mapped to a preorder of sets of resources, where the order relation is set inclusion, such that monotones can be defined via maximizing or minimizing the value of a function within these sets. In the other class, the preorder of resources is mapped to a preorder of tuples of resources, and one pulls back monotones that measure the amount of distinguishability of the different elements of the tuple (hence its information content). Monotones based on contractions arise naturally in the latter class, and, more surprisingly, so do weight and robustness measures. In addition to capturing many standard monotone constructions, our scheme also suggests significant generalizations of these. In order to properly capture the breadth of applicability of our results, we present them within a novel abstract framework for resource theories in which the notion of composition is independent of the types of the resources involved (i.e., whether they are states, channels, combs, etc.).
Quantum information science is at the interface of physics and information theory, with applications including quantum computing and communication. Within this science, a resource theory is a detailed study of a particular class of physical processes, under which the possible state transitions are restricted. Given any initial physical state, the possible final states are also restricted. Initial states with a wealth of possible final states can then be considered more valuable than less versatile initial states, leading to a notion of "resourcefulness" of states. The broad goals of a resource theory include (1) to identify, characterize, and quantify resources; (2) to find an efficient way to determine whether an arbitrary instance of resource conversion is possible; and (3) to relate practical applications to resource conversion. In this thesis, we will take the resource-theoretic approach to understanding thermodynamics. The mathematical methods used in this work will enable us to also develop resource theories for measurement uncertainty and reference frames; in fact, the resource-theoretic treatment of thermodynamics is a combination of these two. Our approach is based on a model called thermal operations, applicable on individual quantum-mechanical systems out of thermal equilibrium. We study this model in detail, resulting in a better understanding of the resource of thermal inequilibrium. In a simplified version of the model where quantum coherence is neglected, we find that the conditions for state transitions are already more complex than the classical second law of thermodynamics. We extend the model to quantum systems controlled by classical circuitry. We also extend it to incorporate quantum coherence in the low-temperature limit. Measurement uncertainty is an important element in quantum mechanics. But its current understanding is through particular measures of uncertainty, such as the variance. We apply the resource theory approach to develop a measure-independent formalism for uncertainty, even in the case where the measurement is on part of a composite system with quantum correlations. Under physical processes restricted by some symmetry (e.g. rotational symmetry), asymmetric states act as resourceful reference frames. In this resource theory, we find the rate at which large quantities of resources can be interconverted through measurements.
A central problem in modern mathematical physics is to study interacting systems beyond the reach of perturbation theory. This thesis studies interacting quantum systems using the mathematical theory of operator algebras. In the first part of this thesis, we consider how to construct quantum many-body systems from one-particle systems. This problem has a well-established solution - namely, the second quantization (or the Gaussian functor). However, it seems difficult for the second quantization to go beyond generalized free field constructions without the help of perturbation theory. The second quantization takes real Hilbert spaces as inputs. Using only information from one-particle Hilbert spaces, it is mathematically impossible for the second quantization to produce connected higher-point correlation functions. Moreover, from the perspectives of mathematical quantization and operator algebra theory, it is more natural to have a quantization procedure that takes an algebra along with a functional as the input. Such a pair of mathematical objects contains more information about the underlying one-particle system and includes the Hilbert space of states (via the GNS construction) as part of the data. Inspired by quantum probability theory, we introduce an alternative approach to construct quantum many-body systems. This approach is based on a noncommutative generalization of the classical Poisson random measure. We call this construction Poissonization. Mathematically, Poissonization is a functor from the category of von Neumann algebras with normal semi nite faithful weights to the category of von Neumann algebras with normal faithful states. It is a natural adaptation of the second quantization to the context of von Neumann algebras. This thesis discusses several properties of Poissonization, and uses Poissonization as a tool to construct various toy models of algebraic quantum field theories relevant to high energy physics. This collection of examples aims at demonstrating the versatility of Poissonization. In the second part of this thesis, we study the noisy interactions between an open quantum system and its environment. One of the challenges in quantum information science is to control open quantum systems with a large number of qubits. An important aspect of many-body systems is the emergence of collective phenomena. One collective noise model is an open atomic system in an electromagnetic environment. This model was considered by Dicke in the 50's. In this thesis, we study the entropic decay in Dicke's model and other related collective noise models. Specifically, we develop a general framework to estimate the spectral gap and modified logarithmic Sobolev constant of these collective noise models. In addition, we study the necessary mixing conditions a general Dicke's model must satisfy in order to have a unique equilibrium state.
Quantum coherence is one of the most important resources in quantum information theory. Indeed, preventing the loss of coherence is one of the most important technical challenges obstructing the development of large-scale quantum computers. Recently, there has been substantial progress in developing mathematical resource theories of coherence, paving the way towards its quantification and control. To date however, these resource theories have only been mathematically formalised within the realms of convex-geometry, information theory, and linear algebra. This approach is limited in scope, and makes it difficult to generalise beyond resource theories of coherence for single system quantum states. In this paper we take a complementary perspective, showing that resource theories of coherence can instead be defined purely compositionally, that is, working with the mathematics of process theories, string diagrams and category theory. This new perspective offers several advantages: i) it unifies various existing approaches to the study of coherence, for example, subsuming both speakable and unspeakable coherence; ii) it provides a general treatment of the compositional multi-system setting; iii) it generalises immediately to the case of quantum channels, measurements, instruments, and beyond rather than just states; iv) it can easily be generalised to the setting where there are multiple distinct sources of decoherence; and, iv) it directly extends to arbitrary process theories, for example, generalised probabilistic theories and Spekkens toy model---providing the ability to operationally characterise coherence rather than relying on specific mathematical features of quantum theory for its description. More importantly, by providing a new, complementary, perspective on the resource of coherence, this work opens the door to the development of novel tools which would not be accessible from the linear algebraic mind set.