# John B. DeBrotajdebrota

May 23 2018 02:00 UTC
We describe a general procedure for associating a minimal informationally-complete quantum measurement (or MIC) and a set of linearly independent post-measurement quantum states with a purely probabilistic representation of the Born Rule. Such representations are motivated by QBism, where the Born Rule is understood as a consistency condition between probabilities assigned to the outcomes of one experiment in terms of the probabilities assigned to the outcomes of other experiments. In this setting, the difference between quantum and classical physics is the way their physical assumptions augment bare probability theory: Classical physics corresponds to a trivial augmentation---one just applies the Law of Total Probability (LTP) between the scenarios---while quantum theory makes use of the Born Rule expressed in one or another of the forms of our general procedure. To mark the essential difference between quantum and classical, one should seek the representations that minimize the disparity between the expressions. We prove that the representation of the Born Rule obtained from a symmetric informationally-complete measurement (or SIC) minimizes this distinction in at least two senses---the first to do with unitarily invariant distance measures between the rules, and the second to do with available volume in a reference probability simplex (roughly speaking a new kind of uncertainty principle). Both of these arise from a significant majorization result. This work complements recent studies in quantum computation where the deviation of the Born Rule from the LTP is measured in terms of negativity of Wigner functions.
May 11 2017 14:59 UTC
Mar 27 2017 14:18 UTC
Mar 27 2017 02:00 UTC
The appearance of negative terms in quasiprobability representations of quantum theory is known to be inevitable, and, due to its equivalence with the onset of contextuality, of central interest in quantum computation and information. Until recently, however, nothing has been known about how much negativity is necessary in a quasiprobability representation. Zhu proved that the upper and lower bounds with respect to one type of negativity measure are saturated by quasiprobability representations which are in one-to-one correspondence with the elusive symmetric informationally complete quantum measurements (SICs). We define a family of negativity measures which includes Zhu's as a special case and consider another member of the family which we call "sum negativity." We prove a sufficient condition for local maxima in sum negativity and find exact global maxima in dimensions $3$ and $4$. Notably, we find that Zhu's result on the SICs does not generally extend to sum negativity, although the analogous result does hold in dimension $4$. Finally, the Hoggar lines in dimension $8$ make an appearance in a conjecture on sum negativity.
Jan 20 2017 17:16 UTC
Jan 20 2017 17:16 UTC
Jan 20 2017 17:15 UTC
Jan 20 2017 17:15 UTC
Jan 20 2017 17:15 UTC
Jan 20 2017 17:12 UTC
Jan 20 2017 16:55 UTC
John B. DeBrota scited SICs and Algebraic Number Theory
Sep 30 2016 02:00 UTC
This essay constitutes a review of the information geometric approach to renormalization developed in the recent works of Bény and Osborne as well as a detailed work-through of some of their contents. A noncommutative generalization of information geometry allows one to treat quantum state distinguishability in geometric terms with an intuitive empirical interpretation, allowing for an information theoretic prescription of renormalization which incorporates both the condensed matter and quantum field theoretic approaches.
Sep 13 2016 14:03 UTC
Sep 13 2016 14:03 UTC
Sep 13 2016 14:03 UTC
Sep 12 2016 14:30 UTC
John B. DeBrota scited Struggles with the Continuum
May 06 2016 15:45 UTC