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Physical Review A

Sampling entropies and operational phase-space measurement. I. General formalism

Vladimír Bužek, Christoph H. Keitel, P. L. Knight

Published Mar 1, 1995• 139 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present an entropic description of quantum-mechanical states based on an operational approach to a phase-space measurement. We give a simple phase-space interpretation of sampling entropies in terms of which we derive very general entropic uncertainty relations reflecting the degree of the phase-space uncertainty of the quantum-mechanical state in the given measurement (i.e., for a given ``quantum-ruler'' state). We relate the sampling entropy to the von Neumann and Shannon entropy and show that the Wehrl entropy represents a particular example of a sampling entropy when the quantum ruler is represented by coherent states.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.51.2575

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We present an entropic description of quantum-mechanical states based on an operational approach to a phase-space measurement. We give a simple phase-space interpretation of sampling entropies in terms of which we derive very general entropic uncertainty relations reflecting the degree of the phase-space uncertainty of the quantum-mechanical state in the given measurement (i.e., for a given ``quantum-ruler'' state). We relate the sampling entropy to the von Neumann and Shannon entropy and show that the Wehrl entropy represents a particular example of a sampling entropy when the quantum ruler is represented by coherent states.
We use the operational phase-space distributions and sampling entropies developed in the preceding paper [V. Bu\ifmmode \check{z}\else \v{z}\fi{}ek, C. H. Keitel, and P. L. Knight, Phys. Rev. A 51, 2575 (1995)] to discuss the nature of quantum interference between components of superpositions of states. We show how the Wehrl entropy, a special case of the sampling entropy, is a useful discriminator between different kinds of superpositions and of statistical mixtures, and is determined essentially by the coherent-state content. Apart from interference terms, this content is given by the quantum uncertainty of a single coherent state and the classical contribution to the number of coherent states necessary to tile the dominant phase-space ``patch'' representing the quantum state of interest. We illustrate these ideas using nonclassical superpositions of coherent states, where interference modifies the phase-space distributions, and show how these features are sensitive to dissipation.
We present a general way of quantifying the entropic uncertainty of quantum field configurations in phase space in terms of entropic distinguishability with respect to the vacuum. Our approach is based on the functional Husimi Q -distribution and a suitably chosen relative entropy, which we show to be non-trivially bounded from above by the uncertainty principle. The resulting relative entropic uncertainty relation is as general as the concept of coherent states and thus holds for quantum fields of bosonic and fermionic type. Its simple form enables diverse applications, among which we present a complete characterization of the uncertainty surplus of arbitrary states in terms of the total particle number for a scalar field and the fermionic description of the Ising model. Moreover, we provide a quantitative interpretation of the role of the uncertainty principle for quantum phase transitions.
We study information measures in quantum mechanics, with the particular emphasis on providing a quantification of the notion of predictability and classicality. Our primary tool is the Shannon-Wehrl entropy I. We give a precise criterion for phase space classicality of states and argue that in view of this (a) I provides a good measure for the degree of deviation from classicality in closed systems and (b) $I\ensuremath{-}S (S$ the von Neumann entropy) plays the same role in open quantum system. We examine particular examples in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. Finally we generalize the discussion into the field theory case, and (this being one of our main motivations) we comment on the field classicalization in early universe cosmology.
The concept of quantum phase space offers a view on quantum mechanics, which is different from the standard Hilbert space approach, but which more closely resembles the classical phase space. Due to the properties of quantum mechanics there are several equivalent quantum phase space descriptions, and one cannot always prefer one or another as they all have certain merits and drawbacks. For example, the Husimi-Kano Q function is a probability distribution and thus gives rise to entropic quantities, namely the Renyi-Wehrl entropies, of which several properties are known. The Wigner function, on the other hand, has an easier physical explanation, but may take negative values. In this article, we investigate entropic measures of localisation for a state in quantum phase space by using the Beckner-Brascamp-Lieb inequality to relate different phase-space functions.
It is well known that a Shannon-based definition of information entropy leads in the classical case to the Boltzmann entropy. It is tempting to regard the von Neumann entropy as the corresponding quantum-mechanical definition. But the latter is problematic from the quantum information point of view. Consequently, we introduce a new definition of entropy that reflects the inherent uncertainty of quantum-mechanical states. We derive for it an explicit expression, and discuss some of its general properties. We distinguish between the minimum uncertainty entropy of pure states, and the excess statistical entropy of mixtures.
Quantum information-theoretic approach had been identified as a way to understand the foundations of quantum mechanics as early as 1950 due to Shannon. However, there hasn’t been enough advancement or rigorous development of the subject. In the following paper we try to find the relationship between a general quantum mechanical observable and von Neumann entropy. We find that the expectation values and the uncertainties of the observables have bounds which depend on the entropy. The results also show that von Neumann entropy is not just the uncertainty of the state but also encompasses the information about expectation values and uncertainties of any observable which depend on the observers choice for a particular measurement. Also a reverse uncertainty relation is derived for [Formula: see text] quantum mechanical observables.