The von Neumann entropy and the subentropy of a mixed quantum state are upper and lower bounds, respectively, on the accessible information of any ensemble consistent with the given mixed state. Here we define and investigate a set of quantities intermediate between entropy and subentropy.
Subentropy is an entropy-like quantity that arises in quantum information theory; for example, it provides a tight lower bound on the accessible information for pure state ensembles, dual to the von Neumann entropy upper bound in Holevo's theorem. Here we establish a series of properties of subentropy, paralleling the well-developed analogous theory for von Neumann entropy. Further, we show that subentropy is a lower bound for min-entropy. We introduce a notion of conditional subentropy and show that it can be used to provide an upper bound for the guessing probability of any classical-quantum state of two qubits; we conjecture that the bound applies also in higher dimensions. Finally, we give an operational interpretation of subentropy within classical information theory.
It has long been known that the von Neumann entropy S is an upper bound on the information one can extract from a quantum system in an unknown pure state. In this paper we define the ``subentropy'' Q, which we prove to be a lower bound on this information. Moreover, just as the von Neumann entropy is the best upper bound that depends only on the density matrix, we show that Q is the best lower bound that depends only on the density matrix. Other parallels between S and Q are also demonstrated.
In the space of mixed states the Schrödinger-Robertson uncertainty relation holds though it can never be saturated. Two tight extensions of this relation in the space of mixed states exist; one proposed by Dodonov and Man'ko, where the lower limit on the uncertainty depends on the purity of the state, and another where the uncertainty is bounded by the von Neumann entropy of the state proposed by Bastiaans. Driven by the needs that have emerged in the field of quantum information, in a recent work we have extended the puritybounded uncertainty relation by adding an additional parameter characterizing the state, namely its degree of non-Gaussianity. In this work we alternatively present a extension of the entropy-bounded uncertainty relation. The common points and differences between the two extensions of the uncertainty relation help us to draw more general conclusions concerning the bounds on the non-Gaussianity of mixed states.
The entropy of a quantum system is a measure of its randomness, and has applications in measuring quantum entanglement. We study the problem of estimating the von Neumann entropy, S(ρ), and Rényi entropy, Sα(ρ) of an unknown mixed quantum state ρ in d dimensions, given access to independent copies of ρ. We provide algorithms with copy complexity O(d2/α) for estimating Sα(ρ) for α2) for estimating S(ρ), and Sα(ρ) for non-integral α > 1. These bounds are at least quadratic in d, which is the order dependence on the number of copies required for estimating the entire state ρ. For integral α > 1, on the other hand, we provide an algorithm for estimating Sα(ρ) with a sub-quadratic copy complexity of O(d2-2/α), and we show the optimality of the algorithms by providing a matching lower bound.