How far can we take the resource theoretic approach to explore physics?
Resource theories like LOCC, reference frames and quantum thermodynamics have
proven a powerful tool to study how agents who are subject to certain
constraints can act on physical systems. This approach has advanced our
understanding of fundamental physical principles, such as the second law of
thermodynamics, and provided operational measures to quantify resources such as
entanglement or information content. In this work, we significantly extend the
approach and range of applicability of resource theories. Firstly we generalize
the notion of resource theories to include any description or knowledge that
agents may have of a physical state, beyond the density operator formalism. We
show how to relate theories that differ in the language used to describe
resources, like micro and macroscopic thermodynamics. Finally, we take a
top-down approach to locality, in which a subsystem structure is derived from a
global theory rather than assumed. The extended framework introduced here
enables us to formalize new tasks in the language of resource theories, ranging
from tomography, cryptography, thermodynamics and foundational questions, both
within and beyond quantum theory.Comment: 28 pages featuring figures, examples, map and neatly boxed theorems,
plus appendi
