A useful kind of continuity of quantum states functions in asymptotic regime is so-called asymptotic continuity. In this paper we provide general tools for checking if a function possesses this property. First we prove equivalence of asymptotic continuity with so-called it robustness under admixture. This allows us to show that relative entropy distance from a convex set including maximally mixed state is asymptotically continuous. Subsequently, we consider it arrowing - a way of building a new function out of a given one. The procedure originates from constructions of intrinsic information and entanglement of formation. We show that arrowing preserves asymptotic continuity for a class of functions (so-called subextensive ones). The result is illustrated by means of several examples.
We show that, in any open set of distillable states, all asymptotic entanglement measures $E(ρ)$ are continuous as a function of (a single copy of) $ρ$, even though they quantify the entanglement properties of $ρ^{\otimes N}$ is the large $N$ limit.
We study rates asymptotic of transformations between entangled states by local operations and classical communication and a sublinear amount of quantum communication. It is known that additive asymptotically continuous entanglement measures provide upper bounds on the rates that are achievable with asymptotically vanishing error. We show that for transformations between pure states, the optimal rate between any pair of states can be characterized as the infimum of such upper bounds provided by fully additive asymptotically continuous entanglement measures.
We prove continuity of quantum conditional information $S(ρ^{12}| ρ^2)$ with respect to the uniform convergence of states and obtain a bound which is independent of the dimension of the second party. This can, e.g., be used to prove the continuity of squashed entanglement.
Signal-state quantum mechanics is used to discuss quantum mechanical particle decay probabilities and the quantum Zeno effect. This approach avoids the assumption of continuous time, conserves total probability and requires neither non-Hermitian Hamiltonians nor the ad-hoc introduction of complex energies. The formalism is applied to single channel decays, the ammonium molecule, and neutral Kaon decay processes.
Stinespring's dilation theorem is the basic structure theorem for quantum channels: it states that any quantum channel arises from a unitary evolution on a larger system. Here we prove a continuity theorem for Stinespring's dilation: if two quantum channels are close in cb-norm, then it is always possible to find unitary implementations which are close in operator norm, with dimension-independent bounds. This result generalizes Uhlmann's theorem from states to channels and allows to derive a formulation of the information-disturbance tradeoff in terms of quantum channels, as well as a continui…
In estimating an unknown parameter of a quantum state the quantum Fisher information (QFI) is a pivotal quantity, which depends on the state and its derivate with respect to the unknown parameter. We prove the continuity property for the QFI in the sense that two close states with close first derivatives have close QFIs. This property is completely general and irrespective of dynamics or how states acquire their parameter dependence and also the form of parameter dependence---indeed this continuity is basically a feature of the classical Fisher information that in the case of the QFI naturally…
It is demonstrated that the collapse of the wave function is equivalent to the continuity of measurement outcomes. The latter states that a second measurement has to result in the same outcome as the first measurement of the same observable for a vanishing time between both observations. In contrast to the exclusively quantum-physical collapse description, the equivalent continuity requirement also applies in classical physics, allowing for a comparison of both domains. In particular, it is found that quantum coherences are the single cause for measurable deviations in statistical properties d…
We derive a Lipschitz continuity bound for quantum-classical conditional entropies with respect to angular distance, with a Lipschitz constant that is independent of the dimension of the conditioning system. This bound is sharper in some situations than previous continuity bounds, which were either based on trace distance (where Lipschitz continuity is not possible), or based on angular distance but did not include a conditioning system. However, we find that the bound does not directly generalize to fully quantum conditional entropies. To investigate possible counterexamples in that setting, …
We propose experiments on quantum entanglement for investigating the Einstein Podolsky Rosen (EPR) problem with the polarization directions of photons. These experiments are performed to investigate whether the defined polarization directions in an entangled state are teleported between entangled photons. EPR-type sequential experiments are performed using a twin-photon beam and two pairs of linear polarization analyzers under the cross-Nicol condition (i.e., orthogonal to each other). If the third filter whose polarization angle is 45 degrees is set between the first cross-Nicol filters, the …
We consider universal methods for obtaining (uniform) continuity bounds for characteristics of multipartite quantum systems. We pay a special attention to infinite-dimensional multipartite quantum systems under the energy constraints. By these methods we obtain continuity bounds for several important characteristics of a multipartite quantum state: the quantum (conditional) mutual information, the squashed entanglement, the c-squashed entanglement and the conditional entanglement of mutual information. The continuity bounds for the multipartite quantum mutual information are asymptotically tig…
Remarkably we find that for a ring with linear boundary conditions such that the eigenvector and its derivative are continuous, there does not seem to be a way for the well-known de Broglie relation to be gauge invariant. Certain nonlinear boundary conditions assure gauge invariance, and lead to eigenfunctions with a discontinuous but differentiable phase and a continuous spectrum. A discrete subset of this spectrum forms a Hilbert space, while another subset is excluded by the nonlinear boundaries. We conclude that discontinuous momentum eigenfunctions are tenable, and that it is possible tha…
A variational scheme for the derivation of generalized, symmetry-induced continuity equations for Hermitian and non-Hermitian quantum mechanical systems is developed. We introduce a Lagrangian which involves two complex wave fields and whose global invariance under dilation and phase variations leads to a mixed continuity equation for the two fields. In combination with discrete spatial symmetries of the underlying Hamiltonian, the mixed continuity equation is shown to produce bilocal conservation laws for a single field. This leads to generalized conserved charges for vanishing boundary curre…
We provide an upper bound on the quasi-relative entropy in terms of the trace distance. The bound is derived for two cases: 1) any operator monotone decreasing function and full rank mixed qubit or classical states; 2) a large class of operator monotone decreasing function and any mixed qubit or classical states. Moreover, we derive an upper bound for the Umegaki and Tsallis relative entropies in the case of any finite-dimensional states. The bound for the relative entropy improves the known bounds for some states in any dimensions larger than four. The bound for the Tsallis entropy improves t…
The Renyi entropy plays an essential role in quantum information theory. We study the continuity estimation of the Renyi entropy. An inequality relating the Renyi entropy difference of two quantum states to their trace norm distance is derived. This inequality is shown to be tight in the sense that equality can be attained for every prescribed value of the trace norm distance. It includes the sharp Fannes inequality for von Neumann entropy as a special case.
We prove that a broad array of capacities of a quantum channel are continuous. That is, two channels that are close with respect to the diamond norm have correspondingly similar communication capabilities. We first show that the classical capacity, quantum capacity, and private classical capacity are continuous, with the variation on arguments epsilon apart bounded by a simple function of epsilon and the channel's output dimension. Our main tool is an upper bound of the variation of output entropies of many copies of two nearby channels given the same initial state; the bound is linear in the …
Macroscopic realism, as introduced by Leggett and Garg, is the world view in which properties of macroscopic systems exist independent of and are not influenced by measurement. Motivated by classical physical laws such as Newtonian mechanics or Maxwell's electrodynamics, in this work we add the restrictive postulate that the observables of macroscopic objects are evolved continuously through space and time. Quantum theory violates both macroscopic realism and the continuity assumption. While decoherence or collapse models (e.g. due to a universal noise background or gravitational self energy) …
Classes of the nonlinear Schrodinger-type equations compatible with the Galilei relativity principle are described. Solutions of these equations satisfy the continuity equation.
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 …
The local conservation of a physical quantity whose distribution changes with time is mathematically described by the continuity equation. The corresponding time parameter, however, is defined with respect to an idealized classical clock. We consider what happens when this classical time is replaced by a non-relativistic quantum-mechanical description of the clock. From the clock-dependent Schrödinger equation (as analogue of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation) we derive a continuity equation, where, instead of a time-derivative, an operator occurs that depends on the flux (probability cu…
The quantum state ψis a mathematical object used to determine the probabilities of different outcomes when measuring a physical system. Its fundamental nature has been the subject of discussions since the inception of quantum theory: is it ontic, that is, does it correspond to a real property of the physical system? Or is it epistemic, that is, does it merely represent our knowledge about the system? Assuming a natural continuity assumption and a weak separability assumption, we show here that epistemic interpretations of the quantum state are in contradiction with quantum theory. Our argument…
Phase-space features of the Wigner flow are examined so to provide a set of continuity equations that describe the flux of quantum information in the phase-space. The reported results suggest that the non-classicality profile of anharmonic (periodic) quantum systems can be consistently obtained in terms of the fluxes of probability, purity and von Neumann entropy. Extensions of the such phase-space quantifiers are also investigated in the context of the so-called Rényi entropy.
The continuity equation relating the change in time of the position probability density to the gradient of the probability current density is generalized to PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. The normalization condition of eigenfunctions is modified in accordance with this new conservation law and illustrated with some detailed examples.
We show how to use properties of the quantum conditional mutual information to obtain continuity bounds for information characteristics of quantum channels depending on their input dimension. First we prove tight estimates for variation of the output Holevo quantity with respect to simultaneous variations of a channel and of an input ensemble. Then we obtain tight continuity bounds for output conditional mutual information for a single channel and for $n$ copies of a channel. As a result tight and close-to-tight continuity bounds for basic capacities of quantum channels depending on the input …
In this short note, I show how a recent result of Alhejji and Smith [arXiv:1909.00787] regarding an optimal uniform continuity bound for classical conditional entropy leads to an optimal uniform continuity bound for quantum conditional entropy of classical--quantum states. The bound is optimal in the sense that there always exists a pair of classical--quantum states saturating the bound, and so no further improvements are possible. An immediate application is a uniform continuity bound for entanglement of formation that improves upon the one previously given by Winter in [arXiv:1507.07775]. Tw…
We develop an approximation approach to infinite dimensional quantum channels based on detailed investigation of the continuity properties of entropic characteristics of quantum channels and operations (trace-nonincreasing completely positive maps) as functions of a pair ``channel, input state''. The obtained results are then applied to the following problems: continuity of the $χ$-capacity as function of a channel; strong additivity of the $χ$-capacity for infinite dimensional channels; the analytical expression for the convex closure of the output entropy of arbitrary quantum channel.
A method of proving local continuity of concave functions on convex set possessing the $μ$-compactness property is presented. This method is based on a special approximation of these functions. The class of $μ$-compact sets can be considered as a natural extension of the class of compact metrizable subsets of locally convex spaces, to which particular results well known for compact sets can be generalized. Applications of the obtained continuity conditions to analysis of different entropic characteristics of quantum systems and channels are considered.
Continuity properties of the output entropy of positive linear maps between Banach spaces of trace class operators are investigated with the special attention to the classes of quantum channels and operations. It is shown that finiteness of the output entropy of a positive map on the whole input state space implies its continuity. Sufficient conditions for this property expressed in terms of the Kraus representation of quantum channels and operations are presented. The characterization of a positive map "preserving continuity of the entropy" (in the sense that continuity of the entropy on a se…
We start with Fannes' type and Winter's type tight continuity bounds for the quantum conditional mutual information and their specifications for states of special types. Then we analyse continuity of the Holevo quantity with respect to nonequivalent metrics on the set of discrete ensembles of quantum states. We show that the Holevo quantity is continuous on the set of all ensembles of m states with respect to all the metrics if either m or the dimension of underlying Hilbert space is finite and obtain Fannes' type tight continuity bounds for the Holevo quantity in this case. In general case co…
The quantum relative entropy is frequently used as a distance, or distinguishability measure between two quantum states. In this paper we study the relation between this measure and a number of other measures used for that purpose, including the trace norm distance. More precisely, we derive lower and upper bounds on the relative entropy in terms of various distance measures for the difference of the states based on unitarily invariant norms. The upper bounds can be considered as statements of continuity of the relative entropy distance in the sense of Fannes. We employ methods from optimisati…
A well-known result due to Fannes is a certain upper bound on the modulus of continuity of the von Neumann entropy with respect to the trace distance between density matrices; this distance is the maximum probability of distinguishing between the corresponding quantum states. Much more recently, Audenaert obtained an exact expression of this modulus of continuity. In the present note, Audenaert's result is extended to a broad class of entropy functions indexed by arbitrary continuous convex functions $f$ in place of the Shannon--von Neumann function $x\mapsto x\log_2x$. The proof is based on t…
The channels, and more generally superoperators acting on the trace class operators of a quantum system naturally form a Banach space under the completely bounded trace norm (aka diamond norm). However, it is well-known that in infinite dimension, the norm topology is often "too strong" for reasonable applications. Here, we explore a recently introduced energy-constrained diamond norm on superoperators (subject to an energy bound on the input states). Our main motivation is the continuity of capacities and other entropic quantities of quantum channels, but we also present an application to the…
We adapt modulus of continuity estimates to the study of spectra of combinatorial graph Laplacians, as well as the Dirichlet spectra of certain weighted Laplacians. The latter case is equivalent to stoquastic Hamiltonians and is of current interest in both condensed matter physics and quantum computing. In particular, we introduce a new technique which bounds the spectral gap of such Laplacians (Hamiltonians) by studying the limiting behavior of the oscillations of their eigenvectors when introduced into the heat equation. Our approach is based on recent advances in the PDE literature, which i…
Is the universe digital or analog? In this essay I argue that both classical and quantum physics include limits that prevent us from definitively answering that question. That quantum physics does so is no surprise. That classical physics does so is rather unexpected. In fact, I argue that classical physics is itself really nothing more than a convenient approximation. Either way, it turns out that our knowledge of the universe is discrete and so it is extraordinarily difficult, perhaps even impossible, to determine the underlying continuity of the universe itself.
We present a variational approach which shows that the wave functions belonging to quantum systems in different potential landscapes, are pairwise linked to each other through a generalized continuity equation. This equation contains a source term proportional to the potential difference. In case the potential landscapes are related by a linear symmetry transformation in a finite domain of the embedding space, the derived continuity equation leads to generalized currents which are divergence free within this spatial domain. In a single spatial dimension these generalized currents are invariant…
We obtain continuity bounds for basic information characteristics of quantum channels depending on their input dimension (if it is finite) and on the input energy bound (if the input dimension is infinite). We pay a special attention to the case of a multi-mode quantum oscillator as an input system. First we prove continuity bounds for the output conditional mutual information for a single channel and for $n$ copies of a channel. Then we obtain estimates for variation of the output Holevo quantity with respect to simultaneous variations of a channel and of an input ensemble. As a result tight …
We determine the secrecy capacities under common randomness assisted coding of arbitrarily varying classical-quantum wiretap channels.Furthermore, we determine the secrecy capacity of a mixed channel model which is compound from the sender to the legal receiver and varies arbitrarily from the sender to the eavesdropper. As an application we examine when the secrecy capacity is a continuous function of the system parameters and show that resources, i.e., having access to a perfect copy of the outcome of a random experiment. are helpful for channel stability.
We present a bouquet of continuity bounds for quantum entropies, falling broadly into two classes: First, a tight analysis of the Alicki-Fannes continuity bounds for the conditional von Neumann entropy, reaching almost the best possible form that depends only on the system dimension and the trace distance of the states. Almost the same proof can be used to derive similar continuity bounds for the relative entropy distance from a convex set of states or positive operators. As applications we give new proofs, with tighter bounds, of the asymptotic continuity of the relative entropy of entangleme…
We show the continuity property of spectral gaps and complete Logarithmic constants in terms of the jump operators of Lindblad generators in finite dimensional setting. Our method is based on the bimodule structure of the derivation space and the technique developed in [Paulsen09]. Using the same trick, we also show the continuity of the $g^2(0)$ constant used to distinguish quantum and classical lights in quantum optics.
We prove a tight uniform continuity bound for Arimoto's version of the conditional $α$-Rényi entropy, for the range $α\in [0, 1)$. This definition of the conditional Rényi entropy is the most natural one among the multiple forms which exist in the literature, since it satisfies two desirable properties of a conditional entropy, namely, the fact that conditioning reduces entropy, and that the associated reduction in uncertainty cannot exceed the information gained by conditioning. Furthermore, it has found interesting applications in various information theoretic tasks such as guessing with sid…
The quantum relative entropy is frequently used as a distance measure between two quantum states, and inequalities relating it to other distance measures are important mathematical tools in many areas of quantum information theory. We have derived many such inequalities in our previous work (K.M.R. Audenaert and J. Eisert, J. Math. Phys. 46, 102104 (2005)). The present paper is a follow-up on this, and provides sharp upper bounds on the relative entropy in terms of the trace norm distance and of the smallest eigenvalues of both states concerned. The results obtained here are more general than …
