A new quantum mechanical notion -- Conditional Density Matrix -- is discussed and is applied to describe some physical processes. This notion is a natural generalization of von Neumann density matrix for such processes as divisions of quantum systems into subsystems and reunifications of subsystems into new joint systems. Conditional Density Matrix assigns a quantum state to a subsystem of a composite system under condition that another part of the composite system is in some pure state.
A local description of quantum subsystems can be used to construct ontologies of the full quantum predictions. This paper communicates one possible way to do so. A retrocausal interpretation of quantum mechanics where the de Broglie-Bohm particles are the retrocausal agents is developed. This interpretation is constrained to be compatible with the existence of a local realist description of quantum subsystems.
In this paper we develop the conditional density matrix formalism for adequate description of division and unificationof quantum systems. Applications of this approach to the descriptions of parapositronium, quantum teleportation and others examples are discussed.
By means of the examples of classical and Bohmian quantum mechanics, we illustrate the well-known ideas of Boltzmann as to how one gets from laws defined for the universe as a whole to dynamical relations describing the evolution of subsystems. We explain how probabilities enter into this process, what quantum and classical probabilities have in common and where exactly their difference lies.
Conditional density matrix represents a quantum state of subsystem in different schemes of quantum communication. Here we discuss some properties of conditional density matrix and its place in general scheme of quantum mechanics.
We propose an extension of the quantum entropy power inequality for finite dimensional quantum systems, and prove a conditional quantum entropy power inequality by using the majorization relation as well as the concavity of entropic functions also given by Audenaert, Datta, and Ozols [J. Math. Phys. 57, 052202 (2016)]. Here, we make particular use of the fact that a specific local measurement after a partial swap operation (or partial swap quantum channel) acting only on finite dimensional bipartite subsystems does not affect the majorization relation for the conditional output states when a s…
This paper investigates the relationship between subsystems and time in a closed nonrelativistic system of interacting bosons and fermions. It is possible to write any state vector in such a system as an unentangled tensor product of subsystem vectors, and to do so in infinitely many ways. This requires the superposition of different numbers of particles, but the theory can describe in full the equivalence relation that leads to a particle-number superselection rule in conventionally defined subsystems. Time is defined as a functional of subsystem changes, thus eliminating the need for any ref…
We present a conditional quantum eraser which erases the a priori knowledge or the predictability of the path a photon takes in a Young-type double-slit experiment with two fluorescent four-level atoms. This erasure violates a recently derived erasure relation which must be satisfied for a conventional, unconditional quantum eraser that aims to find an optimal sorting of the system into subensembles with particularly large fringe visibilities. The conditional quantum eraser employs an interaction-free, partial which-way measurement which not only sorts the system into optimal subsystems with l…
The "problem of time" in present physics substantially consists in the fact that a straightforward quantization of the general relativistic evolution equation and constraints generates for the Universe wave function the Wheeler-De Witt equation, which describes a static Universe. Page and Wootters considered the fact that there exist states of a system composed by entangled subsystems that are stationary, but one can interpret the component subsystems as evolving: this leads them to suppose that the global state of the universe can be envisaged as one of this static entangled state, whereas th…
The experimental realisation of the basic constituents of quantum information processing devices, namely fault-tolerant quantum logic gates, requires conditional quantum dynamics, in which one subsystem undergoes a coherent evolution that depends on the quantum state of another subsystem. In particular, the subsystem may acquire a conditional phase shift. Here we consider a novel scenario in which this phase is of geometric rather than dynamical origin. As the conditional geometric (Berry) phase depends only on the geometry of the path executed it is resilient to certain types of errors, and o…
We discuss the notions of mutual information and conditional information for noncomposite systems, classical and quantum; both the mutual information and the conditional information are associated with the presence of hidden correlations in the state of a single qudit. We consider analogs of the entanglement phenomena in the systems without subsystems related to strong hidden quantum correlations.
Quantum mechanics sets a limit for the precision of continuous measurement of the position of an oscillator. Here we show how it is possible to measure an oscillator without quantum backaction of the measurement by constructing one effective oscillator from two physical oscillators. We realize such a quantum-mechanics free subsystem using two micromechanical oscillators, and show the measurements of two collective quadratures while evading the quantum backaction by $8$ decibels on both of them, obtaining a total noise within a factor two of the full quantum limit. This facilitates detection of…
Any Hilbert space with composite dimension can be factorized into a tensor product of smaller Hilbert spaces. This allows to decompose a quantum system into subsystems. We propose a simple tractable model for a constructive study of decompositions of quantum systems.
It has been shown that it is theoretically possible for there to exist higher-order quantum processes in which the operations performed by separate parties cannot be ascribed a definite causal order. Some of these processes are believed to have a physical realization in standard quantum mechanics via coherent control of the times of the operations. A prominent example is the quantum SWITCH, which was recently demonstrated experimentally. However, the interpretation of such experiments as realizations of a process with indefinite causal structure as opposed to some form of simulation of such a …
In this work a general relativistic generalization of Bell inequality is suggested. Namely,it is proved that practically in any general relativistic metric there is a generalization of Bell inequality.It can be satisfied within theories of local (subluminal) hidden variables, but it cannot be satisfied in the general case within standard quantum mechanical formalism or within theories of nonlocal (superluminal) hidden variables. It is shown too that within theories of nonlocal hidden variables but not in the standard quantum mechanical formalism a paradox appears in the situation when one of t…
Many theories are formulated as constrained systems. We provide a mechanism that explains the origin of physical states of a constrained system by a process of selection of noiseless subsystems when the system is coupled to an external environment. Effectively, physical states that solve all the constraints are selected by a passive error correction scheme which has been developed in the context of quantum information processing. We apply this mechanism to several constrained theories including the relativistic particle, electromagnetism, and quantum gravity, and discuss some interesting (and …
Phononic quantum networks feature distinct advantages over photonic networks for on-chip quantum communications, providing a promising platform for developing quantum computers with robust solid-state spin qubits. Large mechanical networks including one-dimensional chains of trapped ions, however, have inherent and well-known scaling problems. In addition, chiral phononic processes, which are necessary for conventional phononic quantum networks, are difficult to implement in a solid-state system. To overcome these seemingly unsolvable obstacles, we have developed a new network architecture tha…
The aim of this paper is to analyze the reconstructability of quantum mechanics from classical conditional probabilities representing measurement outcomes conditioned on measurement choices. We will investigate how the quantum mechanical representation of classical conditional probabilities is situated within the broader frame of noncommutative representations. To this goal, we adopt some parts of the quantum formalism and ask whether empirical data can constrain the rest of the representation to conform to quantum mechanics. We will show that as the set of empirical data grows conventional el…
It is shown that Quantum Mechanics is ambiguous when predicting relative frequencies for an entangled system if the measurements of both subsystems are performed in spatially separated events. This ambiguity gives way to unphysical consequences: the projection rule could be applied in one or the other temporal(?) order of measurements (being non local in any case), but symmetry of the roles of both subsystems would be broken. An alternative theory is presented in which this ambiguity does not exist. Observable relative frequencies differ from those of orthodox Quantum Mechanics, and a {\it gen…
We apply the Frobenius (power-series) method to some simple exactly-solvable and conditionally-solvable quantum-mechanical models with supposed physical interest. We show that the supposedly exact solutions to radial eigenvalue equations derived in recent papers are not correct because they do not satisfy some well-known theorems. We also discuss the origin of the mistake by means of the approach indicated above.
Quantum discord-breaking channels were previously defined as the local channels that act on subsystem $A$ to produce classical-quantum states across system $AB$. However, unlike entanglement, discord is asymmetric. Here, we characterise the discord-breaking channels that act on subsystem $B$, thus completing the overall description of discord-breaking channels. We then introduce the notion of discord-annihilating channels, which act globally on system $AB$ to destroy quantum discord, and find their closed form. Discord-annihilating channels have clear operational description, involving subspac…
We introduce a family of 2D topological subsystem quantum error-correcting codes. The gauge group is generated by 2-local Pauli operators, so that 2-local measurements are enough to recover the error syndrome. We study the computational power of code deformation in these codes, and show that boundaries cannot be introduced in the usual way. In addition, we give a general mapping connecting suitable classical statistical mechanical models to optimal error correction in subsystem stabilizer codes that suffer from depolarizing noise.
Recent developments in quantum computing suggest that it could be possible to make conditional changes to the state of a quantum mechanical system without resorting to classical observation. It is accomplished through collective response of atoms comprising a lattice for the system and involves relative phase adjustments only. We exploit this possibility and describe experimental designs that could help elucidate quantum mechanical properties of these systems and distinguish between interpretations.
Many of the contemporary formulations of quantum mechanics describe the marginal probability distributions of entangled many-body systems in a non-local way. Unlike the non-locality of joint distributions, the non-locality of marginal distributions is not forced by theory or experiment. This paper investigates the issue in the context of the Copenhagen, de Broglie-Bohm and sum-over-paths interpretations. A dissociation between information flow into quantum subsystems and the tensor product structure of wavefunctions is highlighted in connection to the problem.
Hybrid optomechanical systems are emerging as a fruitful architecture for quantum technologies. Hence, determining the relevant atom-light and light-mechanics couplings is an essential task in such systems. The fingerprint of these couplings is left in the global state of the system during non-equilibrium dynamics. However, in practice, performing measurements on the entire system is not feasible, and thus, one has to rely on partial access to one of the subsystems, namely the atom, the light, or the mechanics. Here, we perform a comprehensive analysis to determine the optimal subsystem for pr…
A candidate for a realistic relativistic quantum theory is the hypersurface Bohm-Dirac model. Its formulation uses a foliation of spacetime into space-like hypersurfaces. This structure may well arise from the universal wave function itself, entailing the relativistic character of the theory despite the appearance of a preferred foliation. However, to apply the theory and to make contact with the usual quantum formalism one needs a framework for the description of subsystems. The presence of spin together with the foliation renders the subsystem description more complicated as compared to the …
We introduce a measurement-based method for verifying quantum discord of any bipartite quantum system. We show that by performing an informationally complete POVM (IC-POVM) on one subsystem and checking the commutativity of the conditional states of the other subsystem, quantum discord from the second subsystem to the first can be verified. This is an improvement upon previous methods, which enables us to efficiently apply our method to continuous-variable systems, as IC-POVMs are readily available from homodyne or heterodyne measurements. We show that quantum discord for Gaussian states can b…
The density operators obtained by taking partial traces do not represent proper mixtures of the subsystems of a compound physical system, but improper mixtures, since the coefficients in the convex sums expressing them never bear the ignorance interpretation. As a consequence, assigning states to these subsystems is problematical in standard quantum mechanics (subentity problem). Basing on the proposal provided in the SR interpretation of quantum mechanics, where improper mixtures are considered as true nonpure states conceptually distinct from proper mixtures, we show here that proper and imp…
We analyze two conditionally solvable quantum-mechanical models: a one-dimensional sextic oscillator and a perturbed Coulomb problem. Both lead to a three-term recurrence relation for the expansion coefficients. We show diagrams of the distribution of their exact eigenvalues with the addition of accurate ones from variational calculations. We discuss the symmetry of such distributions. We also comment on the wrong interpretation of the exact eigenvalues and eigenfunctions by some researchers that has led to the prediction of allowed cyclotron frequencies and field intensities.
Quantum logic gates provide fundamental examples of conditional quantum dynamics. They could form the building blocks of general quantum information processing systems which have recently been shown to have many interesting non--classical properties. We describe a simple quantum logic gate, the quantum controlled--NOT, and analyse some of its applications. We discuss two possible physical realisations of the gate; one based on Ramsey atomic interferometry and the other on the selective driving of optical resonances of two subsystems undergoing a dipole--dipole interaction.
It is well known that density matrices can be used in quantum mechanics to represent the information available to an observer about either a system with a random wave function (``statistical mixture'') or a system that is entangled with another system (``reduced density matrix''). We point out another role, previously unnoticed in the literature, that a density matrix can play: it can be the ``conditional density matrix,'' conditional on the configuration of the environment. A precise definition can be given in the context of Bohmian mechanics, whereas orthodox quantum mechanics is too vague t…
Backaction-evading measurements of mechanical motion can achieve precision below the zero-point uncertainty and quantum squeezing, which makes them a resource for quantum metrology and quantum information processing. We provide an exact expression for the conditional state of an optomechanical system in a two-tone backaction-evading measurement beyond the standard adiabatic approximation and perform extensive numerical simulations to go beyond the usual rotating-wave approximation. We predict the simultaneous presence of conditional mechanical squeezing, intra-cavity squeezing, and optomechani…
Bohm Mechanics and Nelson Stochastic Mechanics are confronted with Quantum Mechanics in presence of non-interacting subsystems. In both cases, it is shown that correlations at different times of compatible position observables on stationary states agree with Quantum Mechanics only in the case of product wave functions. By appropriate Bell-like inequalities it is shown that no classical theory, in particular no stochastic process, can reproduce the quantum mechanical correlations of position variables of non interacting systems at different times.
We discuss the classical statistics of isolated subsystems. Only a small part of the information contained in the classical probability distribution for the subsystem and its environment is available for the description of the isolated subsystem. The "coarse graining of the information" to micro-states implies probabilistic observables. For two-level probabilistic observables only a probability for finding the values one or minus one can be given for any micro-state, while such observables can be realized as classical observables with sharp values on a substate level. For a continuous family o…
A persistent focus on the concept of emergence as a core element of the scientific method allows a clean separation, insofar as this is possible, of the physical and philosophical aspects of the problem of outcomes in quantum mechanics. The philosophical part of the problem is to explain why a closed system has definite experimental outcomes. The physical part is to show mathematically that there exists a limit in which the contradiction between unitary Schroedinger dynamics and a reduction process leading to distinct outcomes becomes negligible according to an explicitly stated criterion, and…
We derive and implement a general method to characterize the nonclassicality in compound discrete- and continuous-variable systems. For this purpose, we introduce the operational notion of conditional hybrid nonclassicality which relates to the ability to produce a nonclassical continuous-variable state by projecting onto a general superposition of discrete-variable subsystem. We discuss the importance of this form of quantumness in connection with interfaces for quantum communication. To verify the conditional hybrid nonclassicality, a matrix version of a nonclassicality quasiprobability is d…
The conceptual setting of quantum mechanics is subject to an ongoing debate from its beginnings until now. The consequences of the apparent differences between quantum statistics and classical statistics range from the philosophical interpretations to practical issues as quantum computing. In this note we demonstrate how quantum mechanics can emerge from classical statistical systems. We discuss conditions and circumstances for this to happen. Quantum systems describe isolated subsystems of classical statistical systems with infinitely many states. While infinitely many classical observables "…
The Conditional Probability Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics replaces the abstract notion of time used in standard Quantum Mechanics by the time that can be read off from a physical clock. The use of physical clocks leads to apparent non-unitary and decoherence. Here we show that a close approximation to standard Quantum Mechanics can be recovered from conditional Quantum Mechanics for semi-classical clocks, and we use these clocks to compute the minimum decoherence predicted by the Conditional Probability Interpretation.
Coherence arises from the superposition principle, where it plays a central role in quantum mechanics. In [Phys.Rev.Lett.114,210401(2015)], it has been shown that the freezing phenomenon of quantum correlations beyond entanglement, is intimately related to the freezing of quantum coherence (QC). In this paper, we compare the behaviour of entanglement and quantum discord with quantum coherence in two di erent subsystems (optical and mechanical). We use respectively the en-tanglement of formation (EoF) and the Gaussian quantum discord (GQD) to quantify entanglement and quantum discord. Under the…
Most quantum logics do not allow for a reasonable calculus of conditional probability. However, those ones which do so provide a very general and rich mathematical structure, including classical probabilities, quantum mechanics as well as Jordan algebras. This structure exhibits some similarities with Alfsen and Shultz's non-commutative spectral theory, but these two mathematical approaches are not identical. Barnum, Emerson and Ududec adapted the concept of higher-order interference, introduced by Sorkin in 1994, into a general probabilistic framework. Their adaption is used here to reveal a …
It is shown that Schrodinger's equation and Born's rule are sufficient to ensure that the states of macroscopic collective coordinate subsystems are microscopically localized in phase space and that the localized state follows the classical trajectory with random quantum noise that is indistinguishable from the pseudo-random noise of classical Brownian motion. This happens because in realistic systems the localization rate determined by the coupling to the environment is greater than the Lyapunov exponent that governs chaotic spreading in phase space. For realistic systems, the trajectories of…
The spin geometry theorem of Penrose is extended from $SU(2)$ to $E(3)$ (Euclidean) invariant elementary quantum mechanical systems. Using the natural decomposition of the total angular momentum into its spin and orbital parts, the \emph{distance} between the centre-of-mass lines of the elementary subsystems of a classical composite system can be recovered from their \emph{relative orbital angular momenta} by $E(3)$-invariant classical observables. Motivated by this observation, an expression for the `empirical distance' between the elementary subsystems of a \emph{composite quantum mechanical…
Quantum mechanics can emerge from classical statistics. A typical quantum system describes an isolated subsystem of a classical statistical ensemble with infinitely many classical states. The state of this subsystem can be characterized by only a few probabilistic observables. Their expectation values define a density matrix if they obey a "purity constraint". Then all the usual laws of quantum mechanics follow, including Heisenberg's uncertainty relation, entanglement and a violation of Bell's inequalities. No concepts beyond classical statistics are needed for quantum physics - the differenc…
Quantum mechanics is potentially advantageous for certain information-processing tasks, but its probabilistic nature and requirement of measurement back action often limit the precision of conventional classical information-processing devices, such as sensors and atomic clocks. Here we show that by engineering the dynamics of coupled quantum systems, it is possible to construct a subsystem that evades the measurement back action of quantum mechanics, at all times of interest, and obeys any classical dynamics, linear or nonlinear, that we choose. We call such a system a quantum-mechanics-free s…
Achieving quantum correlations between two distant systems is a desirable feature for quantum networking. In this work, we study a system composed of two quantum emitter-cavity subsystems spatially separated. A mechanical resonator couples to either both quantum emitters or both cavities leading to quantum correlations between both subsystems such as non-local light-matter dressed states and cavity-cavity normal mode splitting. These indirect couplings can be explained by an effective Hamiltonian for large energy detuning between the mechanical resonator and the atoms/cavities. Moreover, it is…
We study the ground state of a gapped quantum many-body system whose entanglement entropy $S_A$ can be expressed as $S_A = a|\partial A| - γ$, where $a, γ$ are some constants and $|\partial A|$ is an area of the subsystem $A$. By using a recently proved operator extension of strong subadditivity of entropy,[I. H. Kim, J. Math. Phys. 53, 122204 (2012)] we show that certain linear combination of the real-space entanglement spectrum has a small correlation with almost any local operator. Our result implies that there exists a structure relating the real-space entanglement spectrum over different …
The connection between quantum state recovery and quantum conditional mutual information (QCMI) is studied for the class of purely generated finitely correlated states (pgFCS) of one-dimensional quantum spin chains. For a tripartition of the chain into two subsystems separated by a buffer region, it is shown that a pgFCS is an approximate quantum Markov chain, and stronger, may be approximated by a quantum Markov chain in trace distance, with an error exponentially small in the buffer size. This implies that, (1) a locally corrupted state can be approximately recovered by action of a quantum c…
We consider the hypothesis that quantum mechanics is an approximation to another, cosmological theory, accurate only for the description of subsystems of the universe. Quantum theory is then to be derived from the cosmological theory by averaging over variables which are not internal to the subsystem, which may be considered non-local hidden variables. We find conditions for arriving at quantum mechanics through such a procedure. The key lesson is that the effect of the coupling to the external degrees of freedom introduces noise into the evolution of the system degrees of freedom, while prese…
We consider a quantum system A U B made up of degrees of freedom that can be partitioned into spatially disjoint regions A and B. When the full system is in a pure state in which regions A and B are entangled, the quantum mechanics of region A described without reference to its complement is traditionally assumed to require a reduced density matrix on A. While this is certainly true as an exact matter, we argue that under many interesting circumstances expectation values of typical operators anywhere inside A can be computed from a suitable pure state on A alone, with a controlled error. We us…
Quantum mechanics is derived from the principle that the universe contain as much variety as possible, in the sense of maximizing the distinctiveness of each subsystem. The quantum state of a microscopic system is defined to correspond to an ensemble of subsystems of the universe with identical constituents and similar preparations and environments. A new kind of interaction is posited amongst such similar subsystems which acts to increase their distinctiveness, by extremizing the variety. In the limit of large numbers of similar subsystems this interaction is shown to give rise to Bohm's quan…
The groupoids description of Schwinger's picture of quantum mechanics is continued by discussing the closely related notions of composition of systems, subsystems, and their independence. Physical subsystems have a neat algebraic description as subgroupoids of the Schwinger's groupoid of the system. The groupoids picture offers two natural notions of composition of systems: Direct and free products of groupoids, that will be analyzed in depth as well as their universal character. Finally, the notion of independence of subsystems will be reviewed, finding that the usual notion of independence, …
The notion of conditional entropy is extended to noncomposite systems. The q-deformed entropic inequalities, which usually are associated with correlations of the subsystem degrees of freedom in bipartite systems, are found for the noncomposite systems. New entropic inequalities for quantum tomograms of qudit states including the single qudit states are obtained. The Araki{Lieb inequality is found for systems without subsystems.
We have studied the emergence of classical states in the perturbative interaction model. The states which interact with many other degrees of freedom, such as the center of mass of a macro-object, play important role. Although the random phase mechanism is effective as same as Zurek's strong correlation model, there are enormous states, each of which independently developes due to the orthogonality of the environmental states. In these privileged states, the subsystem picture with the separability is stable.
