Some quantum algorithms have "quantum speedups": improved time complexity as compared with the best-known classical algorithms for solving the same tasks. Can we understand what fuels these speedups from an entropic perspective? Information theory gives us a multitude of metrics we might choose from to measure how fundamentally 'quantum' is the behavior of a quantum computer running an algorithm. The entanglement entropies for subsystems of a quantum state can be analyzed for subsystems of qubits in a quantum computer throughout the running of an algorithm. Here, a framework for making this entropic analysis is constructed, and performed on a selection of quantum circuits implementing known fast quantum algorithms and subroutines: Grover search, the quantum Fourier transform, and phase estimation. Our results are largely unsatisfactory: known entropy inequalities do not suffice to identify the presence or absence of quantum speedups. Although we know our algorithms must have quantum "magic", the Ingleton inequality, which holds for all entropies of subsystems of stabilizer states, is not violated in any of our examples. In some cases, however, monogamy of mutual information, which is obeyed for product states but violated for highly entangled bipartite states such as the $GHZ$ states, fails at some point in the course of our quantum circuits.
In the Entropic Dynamics framework the dynamics is driven by maximizing entropy subject to appropriate constraints. In this work we bring Entropic Dynamics one step closer to full equivalence with quantum theory by identifying constraints that lead to wave functions that remain single-valued even for multi-valued phases by recognizing the intimate relation between quantum phases, gauge symmetry, and charge quantization.
Entropic Dynamics is a framework in which dynamical laws are derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. No underlying action principle is postulated. Instead, the dynamics is driven by entropy subject to the constraints appropriate to the problem at hand. In this paper we review three examples of entropic dynamics. First we tackle the simpler case of a standard diffusion process which allows us to address the central issue of the nature of time. Then we show that imposing the additional constraint that the dynamics be non-dissipative leads to Hamiltonian dynamics. Finally, con…
We review the derivation of quantum theory as an application of entropic methods of inference. The new contribution in this paper is a streamlined derivation of the Schrödinger equation based on a different choice of microstates and constraints.
Entropic Dynamics is an information-based framework that seeks to derive the laws of physics as an application of the methods of entropic inference. The dynamics is derived by maximizing an entropy subject to constraints that represent the physically relevant information that the motion is continuous and non-dissipative. Here we focus on the quantum theory of scalar fields. We provide an entropic derivation of Hamiltonian dynamics and using concepts from information geometry derive the standard quantum field theory in the Schroedinger representation.
Entropic Dynamics is a framework in which quantum theory is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. There is no underlying action principle. Instead, the dynamics is driven by entropy subject to the appropriate constraints. In this paper we show how a Hamiltonian dynamics arises as a type of non-dissipative entropic dynamics. We also show that the particular form of the "quantum potential" that leads to the Schroedinger equation follows naturally from information geometry.
In the Entropic Dynamics (ED) approach the essence of quantum theory lies in its probabilistic nature while the Hilbert space structure plays a secondary and ultimately optional role. The dynamics of probability distributions is driven by the maximization of an entropy subject to constraints that carry the relevant physical information -- directionality, correlations, gauge interactions, etc. The challenge is to identify those constraints and to establish a criterion for how the constraints themselves are updated. In this paper the ED framework is extended to describe a spin-1/2 point particle…
We formulate entropic Leggett-Garg inequalities, which place constraints on the statistical outcomes of temporal correlations of observables. The information theoretic inequalities are satisfied if macrorealism holds. We show that the quantum statistics underlying correlations between time-separated spin component of a quantum rotor mimics that of spin correlations in two spatially separated spin-$s$ particles sharing a state of zero total spin. This brings forth the violation of the entropic Leggett-Garg inequality by a rotating quantum spin-$s$ system in similar manner as does the entropic B…
In the Entropic Dynamics (ED) framework quantum theory is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. The physics is introduced through appropriate choices of variables and of constraints that codify the relevant physical information. In previous work, a manifestly covariant ED of quantum scalar fields in a fixed background spacetime was developed. Manifest relativistic covariance was achieved by imposing constraints in the form of Poisson brackets and of intial conditions to be satisfied by a set of local Hamiltonian generators. Our approach succeeded in extending to the quant…
Entropic Dynamics (ED) is a framework in which Quantum Mechanics (QM) is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. The magnitude of the wave function is manifestly epistemic: its square is a probability distribution. The epistemic nature of the phase of the wave function is also clear: it controls the flow of probability. The dynamics is driven by entropy subject to constraints that capture the relevant physical information. The central concern is to identify those constraints and how they are updated. After reviewing previous work I describe how considerations from informati…
We prove that for any infinite-dimensional quantum channel the entropic disturbance (defined as difference between the $χ$-quantity of a generalized ensemble and that of the image of the ensemble under the channel) is lower semicontinuous on the natural set of its definition. We establish a number of useful corollaries of this property, in particular, we prove the continuity of the output $χ\textrm{-}$quantity and the existence of $χ$-optimal ensemble for any quantum channel under the energy-type input constraint.
In the Entropic Dynamics (ED) derivation of the Schroedinger equation the physical input is introduced through constraints that are implemented using Lagrange multipliers. There is one constraint involving a "drift" potential that correlates the motions of different particles and is ultimately responsible for entanglement. The purpose of this work is to deepen our understanding of the corresponding multiplier. Its main effect is to control the strength of the drift relative to the fluctuations. We show that ED exhibits a symmetry: models with different values of the multiplier can lead to the …
By using the quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relation (EUR), we derive a computable tight upper bound for quantum discord, which applies to an arbitrary bipartite state. Detailed examples show that this upper bound is tighter than other known bounds in a wide regime. Furthermore, we show that for any tripartite pure state, the quantum-memory-assisted EUR imposes a constraint on the shareability of quantum correlations among the constituent parties. This conclusion amends the well accepted result that quantum discord is not monogamous.
Entropic dynamics (ED) is a general framework for constructing indeterministic dynamical models based on entropic methods. ED has been used to derive or reconstruct both non-relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory in curved space-time. Here we propose a model for a quantum scalar field propagating in a dynamical space-time. The approach rests on a few key ingredients: (1) Rather than modelling the dynamics of the fields, ED models the dynamics of their probabilities. (2) In accordance with the standard entropic methods of inference the dynamics is dictated by information encode…
The method of maximum entropy has been very successful but there are cases where it has either failed or led to paradoxes that have cast doubt on its general legitimacy. My more optimistic assessment is that such failures and paradoxes provide us with valuable learning opportunities to sharpen our skills in the proper way to deploy entropic methods. The central theme of this paper revolves around the different ways in which constraints are used to capture the information that is relevant to a problem. This leads us to focus on four epistemically different types of constraints. I propose that t…
Entropic Dynamics (ED) is a framework in which Quantum Mechanics is derived as an application of entropic methods of inference. In ED the dynamics of the probability distribution is driven by entropy subject to constraints that are codified into a quantity later identified as the phase of the wave function. The central challenge is to specify how those constraints are themselves updated. In this paper we review and extend the ED framework in several directions. A new version of ED is introduced in which particles follow smooth differentiable Brownian trajectories (as opposed to non-differentia…
By extending the concept of energy-constrained diamond norms, we obtain continuity bounds on the dynamics of both closed and open quantum systems in infinite-dimensions, which are stronger than previously known bounds. We extensively discuss applications of our theory to quantum speed limits, attenuator and amplifier channels, the quantum Boltzmann equation, and quantum Brownian motion. Next, we obtain explicit log-Lipschitz continuity bounds for entropies of infinite-dimensional quantum systems, and classical capacities of infinite-dimensional quantum channels under energy-constraints. These …
We study a driven, spin-orbit coupled fermionic system in a lattice at the resonant regime where the drive frequency equals the Hubbard repulsion, for which non-trivial constrained dynamics emerge at fast timescales. An effective density-dependent tunneling model is derived, and examined in the sparse filling regime in 1D. The system exhibits entropic self-localization, where while even numbers of atoms propagate ballistically, odd numbers form localized bound states induced by an effective attraction from a higher configurational entropy. These phenomena occur in the strong coupling limit whe…
Quantum algorithms can deliver asymptotic speedups over their classical counterparts. However, there are few cases where a substantial quantum speedup has been worked out in detail for reasonably-sized problems, when compared with the best classical algorithms and taking into account realistic hardware parameters and overheads for fault-tolerance. All known examples of such speedups correspond to problems related to simulation of quantum systems and cryptography. Here we apply general-purpose quantum algorithms for solving constraint satisfaction problems to two families of prototypical NP-com…
We examine the inference of quantum density operators from incomplete information by means of the maximization of general non-additive entropic forms. Extended thermodynamic relations are given. When applied to a bipartite spin 1/2 system, the formalism allows to avoid fake entanglement for data based on the Bell-CHSH observable, and, in general, on any set of Bell constraints. Particular results obtained with the Tsallis entropy and with an introduced exponential entropic form are also discussed.
We give quantum speedups of several general-purpose numerical optimisation methods for minimising a function $f:\mathbb{R}^n \to \mathbb{R}$. First, we show that many techniques for global optimisation under a Lipschitz constraint can be accelerated near-quadratically. Second, we show that backtracking line search, an ingredient in quasi-Newton optimisation algorithms, can be accelerated up to quadratically. Third, we show that a component of the Nelder-Mead algorithm can be accelerated by up to a multiplicative factor of $O(\sqrt{n})$. Fourth, we show that a quantum gradient computation algor…
What does it mean for one quantum process to be more disordered than another? Here we provide a precise answer to this question in terms of a quantum-mechanical generalization of majorization. The framework admits a complete description in terms of single-shot entropies, and provides a range of significant applications. These include applications to the comparison of quantum statistical models and quantum channels, to the resource theory of asymmetry, and to quantum thermodynamics. In particular, within quantum thermodynamics, we apply our results to provide the first complete set of of necess…
The availability of quantum annealing devices with hundreds of qubits has made the experimental demonstration of a quantum speedup for optimization problems a coveted, albeit elusive goal. Going beyond earlier studies of random Ising problems, here we introduce a method to construct a set of frustrated Ising-model optimization problems with tunable hardness. We study the performance of a D-Wave Two device (DW2) with up to 503 qubits on these problems and compare it to a suite of classical algorithms, including a highly optimized algorithm designed to compete directly with the DW2. The problems…
We implement a quantum optimal control algorithm based on automatic differentiation and harness the acceleration afforded by graphics processing units (GPUs). Automatic differentiation allows us to specify advanced optimization criteria and incorporate them in the optimization process with ease. We show that the use of GPUs can speed up calculations by more than an order of magnitude. Our strategy facilitates efficient numerical simulations on affordable desktop computers, and exploration of a host of optimization constraints and system parameters relevant to real-life experiments. We demonstr…
We describe a general method to obtain quantum speedups of classical algorithms which are based on the technique of backtracking, a standard approach for solving constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs). Backtracking algorithms explore a tree whose vertices are partial solutions to a CSP in an attempt to find a complete solution. Assume there is a classical backtracking algorithm which finds a solution to a CSP on n variables, or outputs that none exists, and whose corresponding tree contains T vertices, each vertex corresponding to a test of a partial solution. Then we show that there is a bou…
