Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity
We show that any quantum information theory based on anticommuting operators must be supplemented by a superselection rule deeply rooted in relativity to establish a reasonable notion of entanglement. While quantum information may be encoded in the fermionic Fock space, the unrestricted theory has a...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
|
| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/3/033014 |
| _version_ | 1827873716915142656 |
|---|---|
| author | Nicolai Friis |
| author_facet | Nicolai Friis |
| author_sort | Nicolai Friis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We show that any quantum information theory based on anticommuting operators must be supplemented by a superselection rule deeply rooted in relativity to establish a reasonable notion of entanglement. While quantum information may be encoded in the fermionic Fock space, the unrestricted theory has a peculiar feature: the marginals of bipartite pure states need not have identical entropies, which leads to an ambiguous definition of entanglement. We solve this problem, by proving that it is removed by relativity, i.e., by the parity superselection rule that arises from Lorentz invariance via the spin-statistics connection. Our results hence unveil a fundamental conceptual inseparability of quantum information and the causal structure of relativistic field theory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:41:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-033620a9078344358ae262e26d798097 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:41:05Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-033620a9078344358ae262e26d7980972023-08-08T14:28:24ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302016-01-0118303301410.1088/1367-2630/18/3/033014Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativityNicolai Friis0Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck , Technikerstraße 21a, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information , Austrian Academy of Sciences, Technikerstraße 21a, A-6020 Innsbruck, AustriaWe show that any quantum information theory based on anticommuting operators must be supplemented by a superselection rule deeply rooted in relativity to establish a reasonable notion of entanglement. While quantum information may be encoded in the fermionic Fock space, the unrestricted theory has a peculiar feature: the marginals of bipartite pure states need not have identical entropies, which leads to an ambiguous definition of entanglement. We solve this problem, by proving that it is removed by relativity, i.e., by the parity superselection rule that arises from Lorentz invariance via the spin-statistics connection. Our results hence unveil a fundamental conceptual inseparability of quantum information and the causal structure of relativistic field theory.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/3/033014fermionic entanglementsuperselection rulesrelativistic quantum information03.67.Mn05.30.-d11.10.-z |
| spellingShingle | Nicolai Friis Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity New Journal of Physics fermionic entanglement superselection rules relativistic quantum information 03.67.Mn 05.30.-d 11.10.-z |
| title | Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity |
| title_full | Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity |
| title_fullStr | Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity |
| title_short | Reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity |
| title_sort | reasonable fermionic quantum information theories require relativity |
| topic | fermionic entanglement superselection rules relativistic quantum information 03.67.Mn 05.30.-d 11.10.-z |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/18/3/033014 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicolaifriis reasonablefermionicquantuminformationtheoriesrequirerelativity |