Uncertainty Relations for Coherence

Quantum mechanical uncertainty relations are fundamental consequences of the incompatible nature of noncommuting observables. In terms of the coherence measure based on the Wigner-Yanase skew information, we establish several uncertainty relations for coherence with respect to von Neumann measurements, mutually unbiased bases(MUBs), and general symmetric informationally complete positive operator valued measurements(SIC-POVMs),respectively. Since coherence is intimately connected with quantum uncertainties, the obtained uncertainty relations are of intrinsically quantum nature, in contrast to the conventional uncertainty relations expressed in terms of variance,which are of hybrid nature(mixing both classical and quantum uncertainties). From a dual viewpoint, we also derive some uncertainty relations for coherence of quantum states with respect to a fixed measurement. In particular, it is shown that if the density operators representing the quantum states do not commute, then there is no measurement(reference basis) such that the coherence of these states can be simultaneously small.     

Uncertainty relation of successive measurements based on Wigner–Yanase skew information

Wigner-Yanase skew information could quantify the quantum uncertainty of the observables that are not commuting with a conserved quantity.We present the uncertainty principle for two successive projective measurements in terms of Wigner-Yanase skew information based on a single quantum system.It could capture the incompatibility of the observables,i.e.the lower bound can be nontrivial for the observables that are incompatible with the state of the quanaim system.Furthermore,the lower bound is also constrained by the quantum Fisher information.In addition,we find the complementarity relation between the uncertainties of the observable which operated on the quantum state and the other observable that performed on the post-measured quantum state and the uncertainties formed by the non-degenerate quantum observables performed on the quantum state,respectively.     

Uncertainty relations based on Wigner-Yanase skew information

In this paper, we use certain norm inequalities to obtain new uncertain relations based on the Wigner-Yanase skew information. First for an arbitrary finite number of observables we derive an uncertainty relation outperforming previous lower bounds. We then propose new weighted uncertainty relations for two noncompatible observables. Two separable criteria via skew information are also obtained.     

The Generalized Uncertainty Principle

The uncertainty principle lies at the heart of quantum physics, and is widely thought of as a fundamental limit of the measurement precision of incompatible observables. Here it is shown that the traditional uncertainty relation in fact belongs to the leading order approximation of a generalized uncertainty relation. That is, the leading order linear dependence of observables gives the Heisenberg type of uncertainty relations, while higher order nonlinear dependence may reveal more different and interesting correlation properties. Applications of the generalized uncertainty relation and the high order nonlinear dependence between observables in quantum information science are also discussed.     

Uncertainty relations for quantum coherence with respect to mutually unbiased bases

The concept of quantum coherence, including various ways to quantify the degree of coherence with respect to the prescribed basis, is currently the subject of active research. The complementarity of quantum coherence in different bases was studied by deriving upper bounds on the sum of the corresponding measures. To obtain a two-sided estimate, lower bounds on the coherence quantifiers are also of interest. Such bounds are naturally referred to as uncertainty relations for quantum coherence. We obtain new uncertainty relations for coherence quantifiers averaged with respect to a set of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs). To quantify the degree of coherence, the relative entropy of coherence and the geometric coherence are used. Further, we also derive novel state-independent uncertainty relations for a set of MUBs in terms of the min-entropy.     

Uncertainty and Certainty Relations for Successive Projective Measurements of a Qubit in Terms of Tsallis' Entropies

We study uncertainty and certainty relations for two successive measurements of two-dimensional observables.Uncertainties in successive measurement are considered within the following two scenarios.In the first scenario,the second measurement is performed on the quantum state generated after the first measurement with completely erased information.In the second scenario,the second measurement is performed on the post-first-measurement state conditioned on the actual measurement outcome.Induced quantum uncertainties are characterized by means of the Tsallis entropies.For two successive projective measurement of a qubit,we obtain minimal and maximal values of related entropic measures of induced uncertainties.Some conclusions found in the second scenario are extended to arbitrary finite dimensionality.In particular,a connection with mutual unbiasedness is emphasized.     

Uncertainty relations for general phase spaces

We describe a setup for obtaining uncertainty relations for arbitrary pairs of observables related by a Fourier transform. The physical examples discussed here are the standard position and momentum, number and angle, finite qudit systems, and strings of qubits for quantum information applications. The uncertainty relations allow for an arbitrary choice of metric for the outcome distance, and the choice of an exponent distinguishing, e.g., absolute and root mean square deviations. The emphasis of this article is on developing a unified treatment, in which one observable takes on values in an arbitrary locally compact Abelian group and the other in the dual group. In all cases, the phase space symmetry implies the equality of measurement and preparation uncertainty bounds. There is also a straightforward method for determining the optimal bounds.     

Entanglement and discord assisted entropic uncertainty relations under decoherence

The uncertainty principle is a crucial aspect of quantum mechanics.It has been shown that quantum entanglement as well as more general notions of correlations,such as quantum discord,can relax or tighten the entropic uncertainty relation in the presence of an ancillary system.We explored the behaviour of entropic uncertainty relations for system of two qubits—one of which subjects to several forms of independent quantum noise,in both Markovian and non-Markovian regimes.The uncertainties and their lower bounds,identified by the entropic uncertainty relations,increase under independent local unital Markovian noisy channels,but they may decrease under non-unital channels.The behaviour of the uncertainties(and lower bounds)exhibit periodical oscillations due to correlation dynamics under independent non-Markovian reservoirs.In addition,we compare different entropic uncertainty relations in several special cases and find that discord-tightened entropic uncertainty relations offer in general a better estimate of the uncertainties in play.     

Extremum uncertainty product and sum states

We consider the states with extremum products and sums of the uncertainties in non-commuting observables. These are illustrated by two specific examples of harmonic oscillator and the angular momentum states. It shows that the coherent states of the harmonic oscillator are characterized by the minimum uncertainty sum 〈(Δq)²〉 + 〈(Δp)²〉. The extremum values of the sums and products of the uncertainties of the components of the angular momentum are also obtained.     

State-independent proof of Kochen-Specker theorem with 13 rays

Quantum contextuality, as proved by Kochen and Specker, and also by Bell, should manifest itself in any state in any system with more than two distinguishable states and recently has been experimentally verified. However, for the simplest system capable of exhibiting contextuality, a qutrit, the quantum contextuality is verified only state dependently in experiment because too many (at least 31) observables are involved in all the known state-independent tests. Here we report an experimentally testable inequality involving only 13 observables that is satisfied by all noncontextual realistic models while being violated by all qutrit states. Thus our inequality facilitates a state-independent test of the quantum contextuality for an indivisible quantum system. We also provide a record-breaking state-independent proof of the Kochen-Specker theorem with 13 directions determined by 26 points on the surface of a magic cube.     

Entirety of Quantum Uncertainty and Its Experimental Verification

As a foundation of quantum physics, uncertainty relations describe ultimate limit for the measurement uncertainty of incompatible observables. Traditionally, uncertainty relations are formulated by mathematical bounds for a specific state. Here we present a method for geometrically characterizing uncertainty relations as an entire area of variances of the observables, ranging over all possible input states. We find that for the pair of position and momentum operators, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle points exactly to the attainable area of the variances of position and momentum. Moreover, for finite-dimensional systems, we prove that the corresponding area is necessarily semialgebraic; in other words, this set can be represented via finite polynomial equations and inequalities, or any finite union of such sets. In particular, we give the analytical characterization of the areas of variances of(a) a pair of one-qubit observables and(b) a pair of projective observables for arbitrary dimension,and give the first experimental observation of such areas in a photonic system.     

Heisenberg’s uncertainty relation may be violated in a single measurement

The well-known Heisenberg’s uncertainty relation is an inequality between uncertainties of canonically conjugate observables in a given state. In this interpretation, the Heisenberg’s uncertainty relation is a rigorous mathematical theorem and is, therefore, always valid. However, the same inequality is often applied in the situation of measurement, where it is illustrated in a quite different way. The uncertainty relation is then an inequality connecting the precision (resolution) of the measurement of one observable and the uncertainty of the conjugate observable in the state arising after the measurement. It turns out that in such an interpretation the Heisenberg’s inequality may be violated for some measurement readouts that emerge with small but finite probabilities. Making use of the uncertainties averaged in a special way over all possible measurement readouts, one may formulate an inequality of the type of Heisenberg’s inequality but valid for any measurement. Paper submitted by the author in English on 28 April 2006.     

The Optimal Uncertainty Relation

Employing the lattice theory on majorization, the universal quantum uncertainty relation for any number of observables and general measurement is investigated. It is found that 1) the least bounds of the universal uncertainty relations can only be properly defined in the lattice theory; 2) contrary to variance and entropy, the metric induced by the majorization lattice implies an intrinsic structure of the quantum uncertainty; and 3) the lattice theory correlates the optimization of uncertainty relation with the entanglement transformation under local quantum operation and classical communication. Interestingly, the optimality of the universal uncertainty relation found can be mimicked by the Lorenz curve, initially introduced in economics to measure the wealth concentration degree of a society.     

An Informational Characterization of Schrödinger's Uncertainty Relations

Heisenberg's uncertainty relations employ commutators of observables to set fundamental limits on quantum measurement. The information concerning incompatibility (non-commutativity) of observables is well included but that concerning correlation is missing. Schrödinger's uncertainty relations remedy this defect by supplementing the correlation in terms of anti-commutators. However, both Heisenberg's uncertainty relations and Schrödinger's uncertainty relations are expressed in terms of variances, which are not good measures of uncertainty in general situations (e.g., when mixed states are involved). By virtue of the Wigner–Yanase skew information, we will establish an uncertainty relation along the spirit of Schrödinger from a statistical inference perspective and propose a conjecture. The result may be interpreted as a quantification of certain aspect of the celebrated Wigner–Araki–Yanase theorem for quantum measurement, which states that observables not commuting with a conserved quantity cannot be measured exactly.     

On Entropic Uncertainty Relations for Measurements of Energy and Its “Complement”

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in application to energy and time is a powerful heuristics. This statement plays an important role in foundations of quantum theory and statistical physics. If some state exists for a finite interval of time, then it cannot have a completely definite value of energy. It is well known that the case of energy and time principally differs from more familiar examples of two non‐commuting observables. Since quantum theory was originated, many approaches to energy–time uncertainties have been proposed. Entropic way to formulate the uncertainty principle is currently the subject of active researches. Using the Pegg concept of complementarity of the Hamiltonian, uncertainty relations of the “energy–time” type are obtained in terms of Rényi and Tsallis entropies. Although this concept is somehow restricted in scope, derived relations can be applied to systems typically used in quantum information processing. Both the state‐dependent and state‐independent formulations are of interest. Some of the derived state‐independent bounds are similar to the results obtained within a more general approach on the basis of sandwiched relative entropies. The developed method allows us to address the case of detection inefficiencies.     

Prediction of uncertain frequency response function bounds using polynomial chaos expansion

A probabilistic method is developed to predict the uncertainty bounds on Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) developed from Finite Element models. A non-intrusive Polynomial Chaos Expansion (PCE) method is used to predict uncertainty regression models of the various parameters that make up a curvefit of the FRF: natural frequencies, damping ratios, complex amplitudes, mass and stiffness residuals, by making use of an efficient Latin Hypercube technique. These uncertainty models are then combined to efficiently determine PDFs of the parameters and also the uncertainty bounds of the FRFs. The approach is demonstrated using two examples; a simple beam containing uncertainty in Young's Modulus, and a full-scale aircraft composite wing model containing uncertainties in both Young's modulus and the shear modulus. The results were compared with Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) and it was found that the parameter PDFs and FRF error bounds obtained using a 2nd-order PCE model agreed very well whilst requiring significantly less computation.     

Tighter Bound of Entropic Uncertainty under the Unruh Effect

The uncertainty principle limits the ability to simultaneously predict measurement outcomes for two non-commuting observables of a quantum particle. However, the uncertainty can be violated by considering a particle as a quantum memory correlated with the primary particle. By modeling an Unruh–Dewitt detector coupled to a massless scalar field, it is explored how the Unruh effect affects the entropic uncertainty and the tighter lower bound for a pair of entangled detectors is probed when one of them is accelerated. It is found that Unruh thermal noise really gives rise to an increase of entropic uncertainty for the given conditions since the correlation between quantum memory and the measured system is decreased. It is shown that the bound of the entropic uncertainty relations, in the presence of memory, can be formulated by introducing the Holevo quantity and mutual information. It is also noticed that Adabi's lower bound is tighter than that of Berta, and just the optimal bound under the Unruh effect. Moreover, it is shown that Berta's lower bound is unrelated to the choice of complementary observables, while the optimal Adabi's lower bound is dependent on the measurement choice. It is worth mentioning that the investigations may offer a better understanding of the entropic uncertainty in a relativistic motion.     

The Measurement-Disturbance Relation and the Disturbance Trade-off Relation in Terms of Relative Entropy

We employ quantum relative entropy to establish the relation between the measurement uncertainty and its disturbance on a state in the presence (and absence) of quantum memory. For two incompatible observables, we present the measurement-disturbance relation and the disturbance trade-off relation. We find that without quantum memory the disturbance induced by the measurement is never less than the measurement uncertainty and with quantum memory they depend on the conditional entropy of the measured state. We also generalize these relations to the case with multiple measurements. These relations are demonstrated by two examples.     

Uncertainties in air showers from small-x pQCD mini-jets

To investigate uncertainties in air shower simulations caused by the small-x regime, a model including leading-twist hard pQCD plus soft processes was built, which are separated by an energy dependent transverse momentum cut-off. We provide a fit of the cut-off to the total pp cross section for different PDFs using the eikonal formalism and show that for modern PDF sets there is only a small uncertainty in the mini-jet cross section, and hence in the finalstate multiplicity and the number of produced muons.     

A comparison of new MC-adapted parton densities

A selection of the latest and most frequently used parton distribution functions (PDFs) is incorporated in Pythia8, including the Monte Carlo-adapted PDFs from the MSTW and CTEQ collaborations. This article examines the differences in PDFs as well as the effect they have on results of simulations and compare with data collected by the CDF experiment. Monte Carlo-adapted PDFs do a better job than leading- and next-to-leading order PDFs for many observables, but there is room for further improvements.