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arXiv:hep-th/9410168 · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Varieties of Quantum Measurementa

William George Unruh

Published Apr 1, 1995• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum measurement theory has fallen under the resticting influence of the attempt to explain the fundamental axioms of quantum theory in terms of the theory itself. This has not only led to confusion but has also restricted our attention to a limited class of measurements. This paper outlines some of the novel types of measurements which fall outside the usual textbook description.

DOI
10.1111/j.1749-6632.1995.tb38996.x

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Quantum measurement theory has fallen under the resticting influence of the attempt to explain the fundamental axioms of quantum theory in terms of the theory itself. This has not only led to confusion but has also restricted our attention to a limited class of measurements. This paper outlines some of the novel types of measurements which fall outside the usual textbook description.
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The basic thesis of this book is that there is no quantum measurement problem. I do not mean by this that the apparent paradoxes of quantum mechanics arise because we fail to recognize ‘that quantum theory does not describe physical reality’ (Fuchs and Peres 2000a). Quantum theory describes reality just fine, like any other scientific theory worth taking seriously: describing (and explaining) reality is what the scientific enterprise is about. Nor do I mean that we have found solutions to the problem, ways to modify or supplement quantum mechanics so that the paradoxes are removed. I don’t actually think that we have found any very satisfactory solutions in this sense (at least not in the relativistic domain) but that isn’t my theme: even if we did have these modifications, they would be ways of changing from quantum physics, which supposedly does have a measurement problem, to some other theory, which supposedly doesn’t.
We characterize the asymptotic performance of a class of positive operator valued measurements (POVMs) where the only task is to make measurements on independent and identically distributed quantum states on finite-dimensional systems. The POVMs we utilize here can be efficiently described in terms of a reasonably small set of parameters. Their analysis furthers the development of a quantum method of types. They deliver provably optimal performance in asymmetric hypothesis testing and in the transmission of classical messages over quantum channels. We now relate them to the recently developed α−zα-zα−z divergences Dα,zD_{α,z}Dα,z​ by giving an operational interpretation for the limiting case lim⁡α→1Dα,1−α\lim_{α\to1}D_{α,1-α}limα→1​Dα,1−α​ in terms of probabilities for certain measurement outcomes. This explains one of the more surprising findings of [1] in terms of the theory of group representations. In addition, we provide a Cauchy-Binet type formula for unitary matrices which connects the underlying representation theoretic objects to partial sums of the entries of unitary matrices. At last, we concentrate on the special case of qubits. We are able to give a complete description of the asymptotic detection probabilities for all POVM elements described here. We take the opportunity to define a family of functions on pairs of semi-definite matrices which obeys the quantum generalizations of Rényi's axioms except from the generalized mean value axiom. This family is described by limiting values of α−zα-zα−z divergences for the extremal values of the parameter.
Ever since the beginning of quantum mechanics, the measurement problem has been a subject of sometimes discontinued but nevertheless recurrent concern. As students, most physicists have raised questions about it, but the spectacular and renewed successes of quantum theory were a strong incentive for them to work out applications without further worrying about foundations. In each generation, however, some dissatisfaction reemerges, which leads to slow progress, and we may expect that the measurement problem will some day be cleared up rather than forgotten. The situation recalls statistical mechanics, the foundations of which still give rise to scientific discussions, in spite of more than one century’s achievements. Actually, the paradoxes of irreversibility and of Maxwell’s demon share some common features with quantum measurements, to wit, they involve probabilities in a crucial fashion and their explanation requires elucidating the role of the observer.
In recent notes by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen and by Bohr, attention has been called to the fact that certain results of quantum mechanics are not to be reconciled with the assumption that a system has independently real properties as soon as it is free from mechanical interference. We here investigate in general, and in abstract terms, the extent of this disagreement. When suitably formulated, such an assumption gives to certain types of questions the same answers as does quantum mechanics; this is true of the formulas usually given in discussions of the theory of measurement. There exists, however, a general class of cases in which contradictions occur. That such contradictions are not restricted to the abstract mathematical theory, but can be realized in the commonest physical terms, is shown by the working out of an example..