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

Quantum uncertainty relations: Engaging the median when the mean is not licit

Anindita Bera, Debmalya Das, Aditi Sen De, Ujjwal Sen

Published Jun 2, 2017• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Based on the statistical concept of the median, we propose a quantum uncertainty relation between semi-interquartile ranges of the position and momentum distributions of arbitrary quantum states. The relation is universal, unlike that based on the mean and standard deviation, as the latter may become non-existent or ineffective in certain cases. We show that the median-based one is not saturated for Gaussian distributions in position. Instead, the Cauchy-Lorentz distributions in position turn out to be the one with the minimal uncertainty, among the states inspected, implying that the minimum-uncertainty state is not unique but depends on the measure of spread used. Even the ordering of the states with respect to the distance from the minimum uncertainty state is altered by a change in the measure. We invoke the completeness of Hermite polynomials in the space of all quantum states to probe the median-based relation. The results have potential applications in a variety of studies including those on the quantum-to-classical boundary and on quantum cryptography.

Related papers

Position-momentum uncertainty relations in the presence of quantum memory

Fabian Furrer, Mario Berta, Marco Tomamichel +2 more

A prominent formulation of the uncertainty principle identifies the fundamental quantum feature that no particle may be prepared with certain outcomes for both position and momentum measurements. Often the statistical uncertainties are thereby measured in terms of entropies providing a clear operational interpretation in information theory and cryptography. Recently, entropic uncertainty relations have been used to show that the uncertainty can be reduced in the presence of entanglement and to prove security of quantum cryptographic tasks. However, much of this recent progress has been focused on observables with only a finite number of outcomes not including Heisenberg’s original setting of position and momentum observables. Here, we show entropic uncertainty relations for general observables with discrete but infinite or continuous spectrum that take into account the power of an entangled observer. As an illustration, we evaluate the uncertainty relations for position and momentum measurements, which is operationally significant in that it implies security of a quantum key distribution scheme based on homodyne detection of squeezed Gaussian states.

arXiv:1308.4527•Journal of Mathematical Physics•Dec 1, 2014•67 citations

Role of quantum non-Gaussian distance in entropic uncertainty relations

Wonmin Son

A Gaussian distribution of a quantum state with continuous spectra is known to maximize the Shannon entropy at a fixed variance. Applying it to a pair of canonically conjugate quantum observables $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{x}$ and $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}$, the quantum entropic uncertainty relation can take a suggestive form, where the standard deviations ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{p}$ are featured explicitly. From the construction of the entropic uncertainty relation, it follows in a transparent manner that (i) the entropic uncertainty relation implies the Kennard-Robertson uncertainty relation in a modified form, ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{p}\ensuremath{\ge}\ensuremath{\hbar}{e}^{\mathcal{N}}/2$; (ii) the additional factor $\mathcal{N}$ quantifies the quantum non-Gaussianity of the probability distributions of two observables; and (iii) the lower bound of the entropic uncertainty relation for a non-Gaussian continuous-variable (CV) mixed state becomes stronger with purity. The optimality of specific non-Gaussian CV states for the refined uncertainty relation has been investigated and the existence of a new class of CV quantum state is identified.

arXiv:1504.05725•Physical Review A•Jul 17, 2015•14 citations

Measurement uncertainty relations

Paul Busch, PEKKA J. LAHTI, Reinhard F. Werner

Measurement uncertainty relations are quantitative bounds on the errors in an approximate joint measurement of two observables. They can be seen as a generalization of the error/disturbance tradeoff first discussed heuristically by Heisenberg. Here we prove such relations for the case of two canonically conjugate observables like position and momentum, and establish a close connection with the more familiar preparation uncertainty relations constraining the sharpness of the distributions of the two observables in the same state. Both sets of relations are generalized to means of order α rather than the usual quadratic means, and we show that the optimal constants are the same for preparation and for measurement uncertainty. The constants are determined numerically and compared with some bounds in the literature. In both cases, the near-saturation of the inequalities entails that the state (resp. observable) is uniformly close to a minimizing one.

arXiv:1312.4392•Journal of Mathematical Physics•Apr 1, 2014•88 citations

Uncertainty Relations for Mixed Quantum States

V. V. Dodonov, Vladimir I. Man’ko

We give a review of different forms of uncertainty relations for mixed quantum states obtained over the last two decades and present many new results. The nonclassical properties of mixed states minimizing the purity-bounded uncertainty relations (a possibility of sub-Poissonian statistics, squeezing etc) are considered. The normalized Hilbert–Schmidt distance between the minimizing states and the ‘most classical ’ thermal states is used as a ‘measure of nonclassicality ’ together with the Mandel parameter. For highly mixed minimizing states (whose ‘purities ’ are very small), the normalized Hilbert–Schmidt distance tends to a finite limit, which depends on the nature of the state (15 % of the maximal possible distance if the deviation from pure states is characterized by the ‘standard purity ’ Tr ρ̂2 and 37 % if the ‘superpurity ’ limr→0[Tr(ρ̂1+1/r)]r is chosen as a measure of deviation).

•Jan 1, 1988•1 citation

A universal formulation of uncertainty relation for errors

Jaeha Lee, Izumi Tsutsui

We present a universal formulation of uncertainty relation valid for any conceivable quantum measurement of statistical nature. Owing to its simplicity and operational tangibility, our general relation is also experimentally verifiable. Our relation violates the traditional naïve bound ħ / 2 for the position-momentum measurement while respecting Heisenberg's original philosophy of the uncertainty principle. Our relation entails, among others, the Arthurs–Kelly–Goodman and Ozawa relations as corollaries to its special cases, and also seamlessly reduces itself to the standard Kennard–Robertson (Schrödinger) relation when the measurement is non-informative.

Physics Letters A•Oct 5, 2024•3 citations

Purity- and entropy-bounded uncertainty relations for mixed quantum states

V. V. Dodonov

We give a review of different forms of uncertainty relations for mixed quantum states obtained over the last two decades and present many new results. The nonclassical properties of mixed states minimizing the purity-bounded uncertainty relations (a possibility of sub-Poissonian statistics, squeezing etc) are considered. The normalized Hilbert-Schmidt distance between the minimizing states and the `most classical' thermal states is used as a `measure of nonclassicality' together with the Mandel parameter. For highly mixed minimizing states (whose `purities' are very small), the normalized Hilbert-Schmidt distance tends to a finite limit, which depends on the nature of the state (15% of the maximal possible distance if the deviation from pure states is characterized by the `standard purity' Tr 2 and 37% if the `superpurity' lim r →0 [Tr ( 1+1/ r )] r is chosen as a measure of deviation).

Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics•Apr 5, 2002•68 citations
Based on the statistical concept of the median, we propose a quantum uncertainty relation between semi-interquartile ranges of the position and momentum distributions of arbitrary quantum states. The relation is universal, unlike that based on the mean and standard deviation, as the latter may become non-existent or ineffective in certain cases. We show that the median-based one is not saturated for Gaussian distributions in position. Instead, the Cauchy-Lorentz distributions in position turn out to be the one with the minimal uncertainty, among the states inspected, implying that the minimum-uncertainty state is not unique but depends on the measure of spread used. Even the ordering of the states with respect to the distance from the minimum uncertainty state is altered by a change in the measure. We invoke the completeness of Hermite polynomials in the space of all quantum states to probe the median-based relation. The results have potential applications in a variety of studies including those on the quantum-to-classical boundary and on quantum cryptography.
A prominent formulation of the uncertainty principle identifies the fundamental quantum feature that no particle may be prepared with certain outcomes for both position and momentum measurements. Often the statistical uncertainties are thereby measured in terms of entropies providing a clear operational interpretation in information theory and cryptography. Recently, entropic uncertainty relations have been used to show that the uncertainty can be reduced in the presence of entanglement and to prove security of quantum cryptographic tasks. However, much of this recent progress has been focused on observables with only a finite number of outcomes not including Heisenberg’s original setting of position and momentum observables. Here, we show entropic uncertainty relations for general observables with discrete but infinite or continuous spectrum that take into account the power of an entangled observer. As an illustration, we evaluate the uncertainty relations for position and momentum measurements, which is operationally significant in that it implies security of a quantum key distribution scheme based on homodyne detection of squeezed Gaussian states.
A Gaussian distribution of a quantum state with continuous spectra is known to maximize the Shannon entropy at a fixed variance. Applying it to a pair of canonically conjugate quantum observables $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{x}$ and $\stackrel{\ifmmode \hat{}\else \^{}\fi{}}{p}$, the quantum entropic uncertainty relation can take a suggestive form, where the standard deviations ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{p}$ are featured explicitly. From the construction of the entropic uncertainty relation, it follows in a transparent manner that (i) the entropic uncertainty relation implies the Kennard-Robertson uncertainty relation in a modified form, ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{x}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{p}\ensuremath{\ge}\ensuremath{\hbar}{e}^{\mathcal{N}}/2$; (ii) the additional factor N\mathcal{N}N quantifies the quantum non-Gaussianity of the probability distributions of two observables; and (iii) the lower bound of the entropic uncertainty relation for a non-Gaussian continuous-variable (CV) mixed state becomes stronger with purity. The optimality of specific non-Gaussian CV states for the refined uncertainty relation has been investigated and the existence of a new class of CV quantum state is identified.
Measurement uncertainty relations are quantitative bounds on the errors in an approximate joint measurement of two observables. They can be seen as a generalization of the error/disturbance tradeoff first discussed heuristically by Heisenberg. Here we prove such relations for the case of two canonically conjugate observables like position and momentum, and establish a close connection with the more familiar preparation uncertainty relations constraining the sharpness of the distributions of the two observables in the same state. Both sets of relations are generalized to means of order α rather than the usual quadratic means, and we show that the optimal constants are the same for preparation and for measurement uncertainty. The constants are determined numerically and compared with some bounds in the literature. In both cases, the near-saturation of the inequalities entails that the state (resp. observable) is uniformly close to a minimizing one.
We give a review of different forms of uncertainty relations for mixed quantum states obtained over the last two decades and present many new results. The nonclassical properties of mixed states minimizing the purity-bounded uncertainty relations (a possibility of sub-Poissonian statistics, squeezing etc) are considered. The normalized Hilbert–Schmidt distance between the minimizing states and the ‘most classical ’ thermal states is used as a ‘measure of nonclassicality ’ together with the Mandel parameter. For highly mixed minimizing states (whose ‘purities ’ are very small), the normalized Hilbert–Schmidt distance tends to a finite limit, which depends on the nature of the state (15 % of the maximal possible distance if the deviation from pure states is characterized by the ‘standard purity ’ Tr ρ̂2 and 37 % if the ‘superpurity ’ limr→0[Tr(ρ̂1+1/r)]r is chosen as a measure of deviation).
We present a universal formulation of uncertainty relation valid for any conceivable quantum measurement of statistical nature. Owing to its simplicity and operational tangibility, our general relation is also experimentally verifiable. Our relation violates the traditional naïve bound ħ / 2 for the position-momentum measurement while respecting Heisenberg's original philosophy of the uncertainty principle. Our relation entails, among others, the Arthurs–Kelly–Goodman and Ozawa relations as corollaries to its special cases, and also seamlessly reduces itself to the standard Kennard–Robertson (Schrödinger) relation when the measurement is non-informative.
We give a review of different forms of uncertainty relations for mixed quantum states obtained over the last two decades and present many new results. The nonclassical properties of mixed states minimizing the purity-bounded uncertainty relations (a possibility of sub-Poissonian statistics, squeezing etc) are considered. The normalized Hilbert-Schmidt distance between the minimizing states and the `most classical' thermal states is used as a `measure of nonclassicality' together with the Mandel parameter. For highly mixed minimizing states (whose `purities' are very small), the normalized Hilbert-Schmidt distance tends to a finite limit, which depends on the nature of the state (15% of the maximal possible distance if the deviation from pure states is characterized by the `standard purity' Tr 2 and 37% if the `superpurity' lim r →0 [Tr ( 1+1/ r )] r is chosen as a measure of deviation).