Quantum information measures in the confined Robin harmonic oscillator: uncertainty, Shannon entropy and Onicescu energy
Dehua Wang, Tiantian Tang, Binhua Chu
With the development of quantum technology and information science, significant attention is focused on studying the quantum information properties in confined systems. In this work, we present a systematic investigation of quantum information measures – including position-momentum uncertainty (Δx,Δp), Shannon entropy (Sx, Sp), and Onicescu energy (Ox, Op) in a confined Robin harmonic oscillator (CRHO) with symmetric boundary conditions λL = λR = λ. It is interesting to find that the Heisenberg uncertainty relation ΔxΔp≥ℏ/2, which holds under the Dirichlet boundary condition (λ = 0), is violated for the ground state of the CRHO. In contrast, the entropic uncertainty relation (Sx + Sp ≥ 1 + lnπ) remains satisfied at any Robin length λ and quantum state, demonstrating its fundamental advantage and broader applicability in quantum systems. For a fixed Robin length, we observe that as the quantum well width increases within a finite range, the position-space Shannon entropy Sₓ increases, while the Onicescu energy Oₓ decreases. Despite their opposing tendencies, both Shannon entropy and Onicescu energy reflect the same physical insight regarding the localisation-delocalisation property for the CRHO system. In addition, the dependence of these information measures on the Robin length is discussed, and their physical implications are highlighted. This study demonstrates that boundary conditions play a critical role in quantum information metrics, thereby informing the design and optimisation of quantum devices such as quantum dots, nanoscale resonators and atom-based sensors.
The Philosophical Magazine A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Applied Physics•Feb 2, 2026•0 citations