Abstract. This paper provides a succinct proof of a 1973 theorem of Lieb that establishes the concavity of a certain trace function. The development relies on a deep result from quantum information theory, the joint convexity of quantum relative entropy, as well as a recent argument due to Carlen and Lieb. 1.
We consider a generalization of relative entropy derived from the Wigner–Yanase–Dyson entropy and give a simple, self-contained proof that it is convex. Moreover, special cases yield the joint convexity of relative entropy, and for Tr K* ApK B1-pLieb's joint concavity in (A, B) for 0 < p < 1 and Ando's joint convexity for 1 < p ≤ 2. This approach allows us to obtain conditions for equality in these cases, as well as conditions for equality in a number of inequalities which follow from them. These include the monotonicity under partial traces, and some Minkowski type matrix inequalities proved by Carlen and Lieb for [Formula: see text]. In all cases, the equality conditions are independent of p; for extensions to three spaces they are identical to the conditions for equality in the strong subadditivity of relative entropy.
Many trace inequalities can be expressed either as concavity/convexity theorems or as monotonicity theorems. A classic example is the joint convexity of the quantum relative entropy which is equivalent to the Data Processing Inequality. The latter says that quantum operations can never increase the relative entropy. The monotonicity versions often have many advantages, and often have direct physical application, as in the example just mentioned. Moreover, the monotonicity results are often valid for a larger class of maps than, say, quantum operations (which are completely positive). In this paper we prove several new monotonicity results, the first of which is a monotonicity theorem that has as a simple corollary a celebrated concavity theorem of Epstein. Our starting points are the monotonicity versions of the Lieb Concavity and the Lieb Convexity Theorems. We also give two new proofs of these in their general forms using interpolation. We then prove our new monotonicity theorems by several duality arguments.
We derive the monotonicity of the quantum relative entropy by an elementary operational argument based on Stein's lemma in quantum hypothesis testing. For the latter we present an elementary and short proof that requires the law of large numbers only. Joint convexity of the quantum relative entropy is proven too, resulting in a self-contained elementary version of Tropp's approach to Lieb's concavity theorem, according to which the map tr(exp(h+log a)) is concave in a on positive operators for self-adjoint h.
We consider both known and not previously studied trace functions with applications in quantum physics. By using perspectives we obtain convexity statements for different notions of residual entropy, including the entropy gain of a quantum channel as studied by Holevo and others. We give new and simplified proofs of the Carlen-Lieb theorems concerning concavity or convexity of certain trace functions by making use of the theory of operator monotone functions. We then apply these methods in a study of new types of trace functions. Keywords: Trace function, convexity, entropy gain, residual entropy, operator monotone function.