15 research outputs found
Derivation of the Rules of Quantum Mechanics from Information-Theoretic Axioms
Conventional quantum mechanics with a complex Hilbert space and the Born Rule
is derived from five axioms describing properties of probability distributions
for the outcome of measurements. Axioms I,II,III are common to quantum
mechanics and hidden variable theories. Axiom IV recognizes a phenomenon, first
noted by Turing and von Neumann, in which the increase in entropy resulting
from a measurement is reduced by a suitable intermediate measurement. This is
shown to be impossible for local hidden variable theories. Axiom IV, together
with the first three, almost suffice to deduce the conventional rules but allow
some exotic, alternatives such as real or quaternionic quantum mechanics. Axiom
V recognizes a property of the distribution of outcomes of random measurements
on qubits which holds only in the complex Hilbert space model. It is then shown
that the five axioms also imply the conventional rules for all dimensions.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure
The Free Quon Gas Suffers Gibbs' Paradox
We consider the Statistical Mechanics of systems of particles satisfying the
-commutation relations recently proposed by Greenberg and others. We show
that although the commutation relations approach Bose (resp.\ Fermi) relations
for (resp.\ ), the partition functions of free gases are
independent of in the range . The partition functions exhibit
Gibbs' Paradox in the same way as a classical gas without a correction factor
for the statistical weight of the -particle phase space, i.e.\ the
Statistical Mechanics does not describe a material for which entropy, free
energy, and particle number are extensive thermodynamical quantities.Comment: number-of-pages, LaTeX with REVTE
On the theory of composition in physics
We develop a theory for describing composite objects in physics. These can be
static objects, such as tables, or things that happen in spacetime (such as a
region of spacetime with fields on it regarded as being composed of smaller
such regions joined together). We propose certain fundamental axioms which, it
seems, should be satisfied in any theory of composition. A key axiom is the
order independence axiom which says we can describe the composition of a
composite object in any order. Then we provide a notation for describing
composite objects that naturally leads to these axioms being satisfied. In any
given physical context we are interested in the value of certain properties for
the objects (such as whether the object is possible, what probability it has,
how wide it is, and so on). We associate a generalized state with an object.
This can be used to calculate the value of those properties we are interested
in for for this object. We then propose a certain principle, the composition
principle, which says that we can determine the generalized state of a
composite object from the generalized states for the components by means of a
calculation having the same structure as the description of the generalized
state. The composition principle provides a link between description and
prediction.Comment: 23 pages. To appear in a festschrift for Samson Abramsky edited by
Bob Coecke, Luke Ong, and Prakash Panangade
Some Properties of the Computable Cross Norm Criterion for Separability
The computable cross norm (CCN) criterion is a new powerful analytical and
computable separability criterion for bipartite quantum states, that is also
known to systematically detect bound entanglement. In certain aspects this
criterion complements the well-known Peres positive partial transpose (PPT)
criterion. In the present paper we study important analytical properties of the
CCN criterion. We show that in contrast to the PPT criterion it is not
sufficient in dimension 2 x 2. In higher dimensions we prove theorems
connecting the fidelity of a quantum state with the CCN criterion. We also
analyze the behaviour of the CCN criterion under local operations and identify
the operations that leave it invariant. It turns out that the CCN criterion is
in general not invariant under local operations.Comment: 7 pages; accepted by Physical Review A; error in Appendix B correcte
Probabilistic implementation of universal quantum processors
We present a probabilistic quantum processor for qudits. The processor itself
is represented by a fixed array of gates. The input of the processor consists
of two registers. In the program register the set of instructions (program) is
encoded. This program is applied to the data register. The processor can
perform any operation on a single qudit of the dimension N with a certain
probability. If the operation is unitary, the probability is in general 1/N^2,
but for more restricted sets of operators the probability can be higher. In
fact, this probability can be independent of the dimension of the qudit Hilbert
space of the qudit under some conditions.Comment: 7 revtex pages, 1 eps figur
Coherent States of the q--Canonical Commutation Relations
For the -deformed canonical commutation relations for in some Hilbert
space we consider representations generated from a vector
satisfying , where .
We show that such a representation exists if and only if .
Moreover, for these representations are unitarily equivalent
to the Fock representation (obtained for ). On the other hand
representations obtained for different unit vectors are disjoint. We
show that the universal C*-algebra for the relations has a largest proper,
closed, two-sided ideal. The quotient by this ideal is a natural -analogue
of the Cuntz algebra (obtained for ). We discuss the Conjecture that, for
, this analogue should, in fact, be equal to the Cuntz algebra
itself. In the limiting cases we determine all irreducible
representations of the relations, and characterize those which can be obtained
via coherent states.Comment: 19 pages, Plain Te
A Survey of Finite Algebraic Geometrical Structures Underlying Mutually Unbiased Quantum Measurements
The basic methods of constructing the sets of mutually unbiased bases in the
Hilbert space of an arbitrary finite dimension are discussed and an emerging
link between them is outlined. It is shown that these methods employ a wide
range of important mathematical concepts like, e.g., Fourier transforms, Galois
fields and rings, finite and related projective geometries, and entanglement,
to mention a few. Some applications of the theory to quantum information tasks
are also mentioned.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure to appear in Foundations of Physics, Nov. 2006 two
more references adde
Information Invariance and Quantum Probabilities
We consider probabilistic theories in which the most elementary system, a
two-dimensional system, contains one bit of information. The bit is assumed to
be contained in any complete set of mutually complementary measurements. The
requirement of invariance of the information under a continuous change of the
set of mutually complementary measurements uniquely singles out a measure of
information, which is quadratic in probabilities. The assumption which gives
the same scaling of the number of degrees of freedom with the dimension as in
quantum theory follows essentially from the assumption that all physical states
of a higher dimensional system are those and only those from which one can
post-select physical states of two-dimensional systems. The requirement that no
more than one bit of information (as quantified by the quadratic measure) is
contained in all possible post-selected two-dimensional systems is equivalent
to the positivity of density operator in quantum theory.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. This article is dedicated to Pekka Lahti on the
occasion of his 60th birthday. Found. Phys. (2009
Projection Postulate and Atomic Quantum Zeno Effect
The projection postulate has been used to predict a slow-down of the time
evolution of the state of a system under rapidly repeated measurements, and
ultimately a freezing of the state. To test this so-called quantum Zeno effect
an experiment was performed by Itano et al. (Phys. Rev. A 41, 2295 (1990)) in
which an atomic-level measurement was realized by means of a short laser pulse.
The relevance of the results has given rise to controversies in the literature.
In particular the projection postulate and its applicability in this experiment
have been cast into doubt. In this paper we show analytically that for a wide
range of parameters such a short laser pulse acts as an effective level
measurement to which the usual projection postulate applies with high accuracy.
The corrections to the ideal reductions and their accumulation over n pulses
are calculated. Our conclusion is that the projection postulate is an excellent
pragmatic tool for a quick and simple understanding of the slow-down of time
evolution in experiments of this type. However, corrections have to be
included, and an actual freezing does not seem possible because of the finite
duration of measurements.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, no figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Measurement-based quantum foundations
I show that quantum theory is the only probabilistic framework that permits
arbitrary processes to be emulated by sequences of local measurements. This
supports the view that, contrary to conventional wisdom, measurement should not
be regarded as a complex phenomenon in need of a dynamical explanation but
rather as a primitive -- and perhaps the only primitive -- operation of the
theory.Comment: 8 pages, version to appear in Found. Phy