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Physical Review A

Quantifying correlations via the Wigner-Yanase skew information

Shunlong Luo, Shuangshuang Fu, Choo Hiap Oh

Published Mar 15, 2012• 108 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In order to quantify the information content of quantum states in the presence of conserved quantities, Wigner and Yanase introduced the notion of skew information [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 49, 910, (1963)], which was later identified as a paradigmatic version of quantum Fisher information. The skew information is quite different from, yet deeply connected with, the ubiquitous quantum entropies and has important applications in quantum theory. In this paper, pursuing further the original idea of Wigner and Yanase, we propose a measure for correlations in terms of the skew information, investigate its fundamental properties, and elucidate its characteristics. An appealing feature of this measure for correlations is that its evaluation does not involve any optimization, in sharp contrast to the entanglement and discord measures, and can be straightforwardly calculated. In particular, the algorithm and explicit formulas for general bipartite states are prescribed, and simple analytical expressions for some special states, including arbitrary bipartite pure states, the Bell-diagonal states, and some highly symmetric states such as the Werner states and the isotropic states, are obtained.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.85.032117

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In order to quantify the information content of quantum states in the presence of conserved quantities, Wigner and Yanase introduced the notion of skew information [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 49, 910, (1963)], which was later identified as a paradigmatic version of quantum Fisher information. The skew information is quite different from, yet deeply connected with, the ubiquitous quantum entropies and has important applications in quantum theory. In this paper, pursuing further the original idea of Wigner and Yanase, we propose a measure for correlations in terms of the skew information, investigate its fundamental properties, and elucidate its characteristics. An appealing feature of this measure for correlations is that its evaluation does not involve any optimization, in sharp contrast to the entanglement and discord measures, and can be straightforwardly calculated. In particular, the algorithm and explicit formulas for general bipartite states are prescribed, and simple analytical expressions for some special states, including arbitrary bipartite pure states, the Bell-diagonal states, and some highly symmetric states such as the Werner states and the isotropic states, are obtained.
The Wigner-Araki-Yanase theorem puts a limitation on the measurement of observables in the presence of a conserved quantity, and the notion of Wigner-Yanase skew information quantifies the amount of information on the values of observables not commuting with the conserved quantity. We demonstrate that the statistical idea underlying the skew information is the Fisher information in the theory of statistical estimation. A quantum Cramér-Rao inequality and a new uncertainty relation in terms of the skew information are established, which shed considerable new light on the relationships between quantum measurement and statistical inference. The result is applied to estimating the evolution speed of quantum states.
Symmetry, as well as the dual concept of asymmetry, are essential, powerful and ubiquitous in physics and nature. Motivated by the original Wigner-Yanase skew information and its extension by Dyson ( Wigner E. P. and Yanase M. M., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. , 49 (1963) 910), which quantifies the information content of a quantum state skew to a conserved observable and may be reinterpreted as asymmetry of a state with respect to an observable, we address the issue of quantifying asymmetry and symmetry of states with respect to Lie groups and Lie algebras. We elucidate that correlations arise naturally from the difference between asymmetries of global and local states. This provides a fundamental insight into correlations. The idea is further illustrated by several examples.
Skew information was introduced by Wigner and Yanase in the context of quantum measurements. It was later recognized that skew information in addition to its original significance as a measure of the information content of states admits several interpretations of a more physical and information theory nature. This quantity has now found many applications in quantum information. An intriguing and subtle feature of skew information is the involvement of the square root of quantum states (density operators). Comparing skew information with some of its natural modifications reveals mathematical and also physical reasons for using the square root. We further use skew information to quantify the asymmetry of quantum states with respect to group representations.
Two classically equivalent expressions of mutual information of probability distributions (classical bipartite states) diverge when extended to quantum systems, and this difference has been employed to define quantum discord, a quantifier of quantum correlations beyond entanglement. Similarly, equivalent expressions of classical Fisher information of parameterized probability distributions diverge when extended to quantum states, and this difference may be exploited to characterize the complex nature of quantum states. By complexity of quantum states, we mean some hybrid nature which intermingles the classical and quantum features. It is desirable to quantify complexity of quantum states from various perspectives. In this work, we pursue the idea of discord and introduce an information-theoretic quantifier of complexity for quantum states (relative to the Hamiltonian that drives the evolution of quantum systems) via the notion of Fisher discord, which is defined by the difference between two important versions of quantum Fisher information: the quantum Fisher information defined via the symmetric logarithmic derivatives and the Wigner-Yanase skew information defined via the square roots of quantum states. We reveal basic properties of the quantifier of complexity, and compare it with some other quantifiers of complexity. In particular, we show that equilibrium states (or stable states, which commute with the Hamiltonian of the quantum system) and all pure states exhibit zero complexity in this setting. As illustrations, we evaluate the complexity for various prototypical states in both discrete and continuous-variable quantum systems.
Identifying the classical-quantum divide and quantifying nonclassicality (quantumness) are fundamental issues in quantum exploration. By use of the Wigner-Yanase skew information [E. P. Wigner and M. M. Yanase, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 49, 910 (1963)], which is a version of quantum Fisher information with a well-established interpretation as quantum uncertainty, we introduce a simple and effective quantifier for nonclassicality of bosonic field states. This is achieved by simultaneously yet approximately measuring the canonical conjugate quadrature pair (equivalently, measuring the non-Hermitian annihilation operator in a generalized sense) from an information-theoretic perspective. This quantifier, apart from capturing the idea of nonclassicality as quantum uncertainty in a succinct way, is mathematically computable, physically intuitive, and possesses operational significance. We reveal its fundamental properties and illustrate its physical applications in quantifying nonclassicality of light. We compare it with various existent quantifiers for nonclassicality and illustrate its merits. A related quantifier for classicality, which is in some sense dual to nonclassicality, is also introduced. This pair of classicality and nonclassicality provides insight into the classical-quantum interplay.