Information Content for Quantum States

Abstract

A method of representing probabilistic aspects of quantum systems is introduced by means of a density function on the space of pure quantum states. In particular, a maximum entropy argument allows us to obtain a natural density function that only reflects the information provided by the density matrix. This result is applied to derive the Shannon entropy of a quantum state. The information theoretic quantum entropy thereby obtained is shown to have the desired concavity property, and to differ from the the conventional von Neumann entropy. This is illustrated explicitly for a two-state system.Comment: RevTex file, 4 pages, 1 fi