Polynomial identities for matrices over the Grassmann algebra

We determine minimal Cayley--Hamilton and Capelli identities for matrices over a Grassmann algebra of finite rank. For minimal standard identities, we give lower and upper bounds on the degree. These results improve on upper bounds given by L.\ M\'arki, J.\ Meyer, J.\ Szigeti, and L.\ van Wyk in a recent paper.Comment: 9 page

Remarks on the α\alpha--permanent

We recall Vere-Jones's definition of the $\alpha$--permanent and describe the connection between the (1/2)--permanent and the hafnian. We establish expansion formulae for the $\alpha$--permanent in terms of partitions of the index set, and we use these to prove Lieb-type inequalities for the $\pm\alpha$--permanent of a positive semi-definite Hermitian $n\times n$ matrix and the $\alpha/2$--permanent of a positive semi-definite real symmetric $n\times n$ matrix if $\alpha$ is a nonnegative integer or $\alpha\ge n-1$. We are unable to settle Shirai's nonnegativity conjecture for $\alpha$--permanents when $\alpha\ge 1$, but we verify it up to the $5\times 5$ case, in addition to recovering and refining some of Shirai's partial results by purely combinatorial proofs.Comment: 9 page

On vector configurations that can be realized in the cone of positive matrices

Let $v_1$,..., $v_n$ be $n$ vectors in an inner product space. Can we find a natural number $d$ and positive (semidefinite) complex matrices $A_1$,..., $A_n$ of size $d \times d$ such that ${\rm Tr}(A_kA_l)=$ for all $k,l=1,..., n$? For such matrices to exist, one must have $\geq 0$ for all $k,l=1,..., n$. We prove that if $n<5$ then this trivial necessary condition is also a sufficient one and find an appropriate example showing that from $n=5$ this is not so --- even if we allowed realizations by positive operators in a von Neumann algebra with a faithful normal tracial state. The fact that the first such example occurs at $n=5$ is similar to what one has in the well-investigated problem of positive factorization of positive (semidefinite) matrices. If the matrix $()$ has a positive factorization, then matrices $A_1$,..., $A_n$ as above exist. However, as we show by a large class of examples constructed with the help of the Clifford algebra, the converse implication is false.Comment: 8 page

Integral formula for quantum relative entropy implies data processing inequality

Integral representations of quantum relative entropy, and of the directional second and higher order derivatives of von Neumann entropy, are established, and used to give simple proofs of fundamental, known data processing inequalities: the Holevo bound on the quantity of information transmitted by a quantum communication channel, and, much more generally, the monotonicity of quantum relative entropy under trace-preserving positive linear maps -- complete positivity of the map need not be assumed. The latter result was first proved by M\"uller-Hermes and Reeb, based on work of Beigi. For a simple application of such monotonicities, we consider any `divergence' that is non-increasing under quantum measurements, such as the concavity of von Neumann entropy, or various known quantum divergences. An elegant argument due to Hiai, Ohya, and Tsukada is used to show that the infimum of such a `divergence' on pairs of quantum states with prescribed trace distance is the same as the corresponding infimum on pairs of binary classical states. Applications of the new integral formulae to the general probabilistic model of information theory, and a related integral formula for the classical R\'enyi divergence, are also discussed.Comment: 16 pages. Accepted to Quantu

Classical simulations of communication channels

We investigate whether certain non-classical communication channels can be simulated by a classical channel with a given number of states and a given amount of noise. It is proved that any noisy quantum channel can be simulated by the corresponding noisy classical channel. General probabilistic channels are also studied.Comment: 12 page

Classical information storage in an nn-level quantum system

A game is played by a team of two --- say Alice and Bob --- in which the value of a random variable $x$ is revealed to Alice only, who cannot freely communicate with Bob. Instead, she is given a quantum $n$-level system, respectively a classical $n$-state system, which she can put in possession of Bob in any state she wishes. We evaluate how successfully they managed to store and recover the value of $x$ in the used system by requiring Bob to specify a value $z$ and giving a reward of value $f(x,z)$ to the team. We show that whatever the probability distribution of $x$ and the reward function $f$ are, when using a quantum $n$-level system, the maximum expected reward obtainable with the best possible team strategy is equal to that obtainable with the use of a classical $n$-state system. The proof relies on mixed discriminants of positive matrices and --- perhaps surprisingly --- an application of the Supply--Demand Theorem for bipartite graphs. As a corollary, we get an infinite set of new, dimension dependent inequalities regarding positive operator valued measures and density operators on complex $n$-space. As a further corollary, we see that the greatest value, with respect to a given distribution of $x$, of the mutual information $I(x;z)$ that is obtainable using an $n$-level quantum system equals the analogous maximum for a classical $n$-state system.Comment: 13 page

Integral formula for quantum relative entropy implies data processing inequality

Integral representations of quantum relative entropy, and of the directional second and higher order derivatives of von Neumann entropy, are established, and used to give simple proofs of fundamental, known data processing inequalities: the Holevo bound on the quantity of information transmitted by a quantum communication channel, and, much more generally, the monotonicity of quantum relative entropy under trace-preserving positive linear maps – complete positivity of the map need not be assumed. The latter result was first proved by Müller-Hermes and Reeb, based on work of Beigi. For a simple application of such monotonicities, we consider any `divergence' that is non-increasing under quantum measurements, such as the concavity of von Neumann entropy, or various known quantum divergences. An elegant argument due to Hiai, Ohya, and Tsukada is used to show that the infimum of such a `divergence' on pairs of quantum states with prescribed trace distance is the same as the corresponding infimum on pairs of binary classical states. Applications of the new integral formulae to the general probabilistic model of information theory, and a related integral formula for the classical Rényi divergence, are also discussed