Information complementarity: A new paradigm for decoding quantum incompatibility.

ABSTRACT: The existence of observables that are incompatible or not jointly measurable is a characteristic feature of quantum mechanics, which lies at the root of a number of nonclassical phenomena, such as uncertainty relations, wave--particle dual behavior, Bell-inequality violation, and contextuality. However, no intuitive criterion is available for determining the compatibility of even two (generalized) observables, despite the overarching importance of this problem and intensive efforts of many researchers. Here we introduce an information theoretic paradigm together with an intuitive geometric picture for decoding incompatible observables, starting from two simple ideas: Every observable can only provide limited information and information is monotonic under data processing. By virtue of quant

SUBMITTER: Zhu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585721 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature