Quantum information and relativity theory

In the past few years, there has been an increasingly active exchange of ideas and methods between the formerly rather disjunct fields of quantum information and many-body physics. This has been due, on the one hand, to the growing sophisti- cation of methods and the increasing complexity of problems treated in quantum information theory, and, on the other, to the recognition that a number of central issues in many-body quantum systems can fruitfully be approached from the quan- tum information point of view. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the context of the family of numerical methods that go under the rubric density-matrix renormalization group. In particular, the concept of entanglement and its definition, measurement, and manipulation lies at the heart of much of quantum information theory (1). The density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods use proper- ties of the entanglement of a bipartite system to build up an accurate approximation to particular many-body wave functions. The cross-fertilization between the two fields has led to improvements in the understanding of interacting quantum systems in general and the DMRG method in particular, has led to new algorithms related to and generalizing the DMRG, and has opened up the possibility of studying many new physical problems, ones of interest both for quantum information theory and for understanding the behavior of strongly correlated quantum systems (2). In this line, we discuss some relevant concepts in quantum information theory, including the relation between the DMRG and data compression and entanglement. As an application, we will use the quantum information entropy calculated with the DMRG to study quantum phase transitions, in particular in the bilinear-biquadratic spin-one chain and in the frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain.

Quantum information theory has provided the formal framework for describing how information is stored, transmitted, and transformed in physical quantum systems [Renes, 2022; Tomamichel, 2015; Wilde, 2013]. Its entropic formulations underpin our understanding of quantum computation, communication, and cryptography. Yet this theory traditionally treats all quantum operations as freely available, ignoring computational restrictions. In practice, however, any manipulation of quantum information must be performed by devices of bounded complexity and runtime. Capturing such realistic constraints requires extending quantum information theory to include computational efficiency as a fundamental component. This work takes a first step toward building a computational version of quantum information theory, one that treats efficiency as part of the theory itself. The goal is to understand how the behavior of quantum information changes when the parties involved can only perform computationally efficient operations. This approach bridges the abstract, ideal setting of quantum information theory with the practical limitations of real quantum devices, offering a means to study information processing under realistic resource constraints. At the center of this work are two new quantities: the quantum computational min-entropy and the quantum computational max-entropy. These entropies extend standard quantum entropies by explicitly limiting the computational power of the observer or adversary. The quantum computational min-entropy captures how unpredictable a quantum system A remains to an observer holding system B, when that observer is restricted to quantum circuits of bounded size. Formally, for a bipartite state ρ_{AB}, we define {H^c}^s_{min}(A|B)_{ρ} ≔ -log d_A max_{ℰ^s_{B→A'}} F((𝕀_A ⊗ ℰ^s)(ρ_{AB}),|Φ_{AA'}⟩⟨Φ_{AA'}|) , where the maximization is over quantum channels that can be implemented by circuits of size at most s, and F denotes fidelity with a maximally entangled state. In the classical setting, the min-entropy can be expressed through the maximal probability of correctly guessing a random variable given some side-information. In the fully quantum setting, this idea extends to uncertainty about quantum information [König et al., 2009], quantifying how well one system can be inferred from another using local quantum operations. Our definition generalizes this operational viewpoint by restricting the computational power of the observer to efficient quantum circuits. This definition extends the operational meaning of the information-theoretic quantum min-entropy [König et al., 2009] by incorporating computational constraints, and it provides the fully quantum counterpart of the classical unpredictability entropy [Hsiao et al., 2007]. We establish fundamental properties for the computational min-entropy, including monotonicity in the circuit size and smoothing parameters, efficient data-processing inequalities, and fully quantum leakage and purification chain rules, which were left as open questions in earlier definitions of quantum computational entropies [Yi-Hsiu Chen et al., 2017; Munson et al., 2025]. For classical–quantum states, it coincides with the previously defined quantum computational unpredictability entropy [Noam Avidan and Rotem Arnon, 2025], showing that the new definition correctly generalizes known results. We also introduce the quantum computational max-entropy through a duality relation [Tomamichel et al., 2010] with the min-entropy using a fixed purification. Finally, we prove unconditional separations between the computational and information-theoretic entropies, demonstrating that computational restrictions can fundamentally alter entropic behavior even for simple states. These results establish the fundamental mathematical framework for studying quantum information within realistic computational constraints. By integrating efficiency directly into entropic quantities, they open the door to a fully developed computational quantum information theory that parallels its information-theoretic counterpart. Such a framework provides the foundation for analyzing cryptographic security against computationally bounded quantum adversaries [Noam Avidan and Rotem Arnon, 2025] and the limits of efficient quantum state manipulation. More broadly, it suggests that many core notions in quantum information theory may have refined computational analogues yet to be explored.

The ability to transfer information securely is essential in the modern world we live in. While the field of cryptography has long researched ways to do this, events over the last couple of years have brought the issues of secure information transfer squarely into the public eye. As a consequence, security and cryptography have quickly become issues of social and political importance, sparking debates about the values of privacy and the role of government. An essential ingredient of modern cryptography is the generation of randomness: cryptographic techniques are built on the premise that one has access to random bits. It is well known, however, that computers cannot produce algorithmically random sequences – that is, sequences with maximal algorithmic information content – but are doomed to produce 'pseudorandomness'. This lack of randomness can be, and has been, exploited to compromise security, see [4]. The active field of quantum information theory has proposed approaches to provide supposedly 'unbreakable' security by exploiting various quantum phenomena. This security unfortunately relies on assumptions about the nature of quantum measurements and their ability to generate random bits. Anton Zeilinger summarises this by postulating that the simplest quantum systems, qubit, can hold only one bit of classical information [6]. This foundational principle is in line with a wider paradigm shift to view quantum information as an extension of classical information, but it is nonetheless unsatisfying to simply postulate this principle, given its importance in determining the practical advantages of quantum information theory. In order to understand better how quantum mechanics can help generate meaningful information, we instead look to relate the outcomes of quantum measurements to formal properties of the system based on more fundamental assumptions. Indeed, we have shown that a) some of the postulated properties of quantum information follow from the formal structure of the theory and b) a purely formal notion of information within a quantum world can generate, via measurement, meaningful and useful information in the macroscopic world (for example, in cryptography). The indeterminism of quantum measurements can be formalised via the notion of value indefiniteness. To explain this concept, let us consider an arbitrary quantum system and ask whether the outcome of a measurement of any observable quantity A (such as the energy of the system, its angular momentum (spin), etc.) is determined prior to the measurement. If this is the case, then we say the observable is value definite with value v(A); otherwise, the observable is value indefinite and v(A) is undefined. Mathematically, one can reduce all observable quantities to so-called projection observables, which can only take the values 0 or 1. Thus, the question of whether the outcome of several measurements can be simultaneously determined in advance can be rephrased in terms of the information 'carried' by a particular system in a definite quantum state. Classically, one expects that all quantities are determined in advance, and hence all observables are value definite. Quantum mechanically, however, the belief is that this is not the case, and the information content of quantum systems is limited. Formulating carefully the notion of value indefiniteness allows us to formalise the notion of (quantum) indeterminism; however, this doesn't help clarify whether quantum systems are indeed value indefinite or not. Staying in this formal framework, the Kochen-Specker theorem [5] provides a first positive result, showing that at least some observables must be value indefinite if one makes the assumption known as non-contextuality, which states that any definite values that exist must be independent of other compatible measurements that may or may not be performed on the system. Under the same assumption, this theorem can be strengthened to show that only one single observable can have the definite value 1 (see [2]). Furthermore, only observables that can be measured simultaneously with this single one can have the definite value 0; the rest must all be value indefinite. Since the preparation of a system involves precisely ensuring that, usually via measurement, the system is in a definite state with respect to some desired observable, this result shows that no other incompatible observable can be value definite. That is, preparing a system in a definite state by making the 'preparation' observable value definite specifies completely the information content of the quantum system. This is an example of syntactical quantum information acquiring meaning at the level of the quantum itself. Can the syntactical information at the level of the quantum generate meaning outside the quantum, that is, at the macroscopic level? The results cited above hold in the Hilbert-space framework of quantum mechanics and are formulated only in terms of a syntactical notion of information. Their real importance becomes evident when one interprets them in the context of quantum measurements. Specifically, if we prepare a quantum system in a known state, they allow us to 'locate' observables which we can measure, but which are value indefinite; that is, observables whose measurement results are not specified by any pre-existing property of the quantum system. Furthermore, with respect to a mathematical model of unpredictability which we developed in [3], the results of these measurements can be shown to be absolutely unpredictable. In this way we get a mathematical explanation and justification of the largely accepted intuition that quantum mechanics is inherently unpredictable, and that this unpredictability arises from the phenomenon of indefiniteness within the quantum world. Furthermore, if one considers a hypothetical infinite sequence generated by the repeated measurement of a quantum value indefinite observable, one can prove that these sequences must be strongly incomputable, technically 'bi-immune' [1]. Such sequences cannot be generated by any Turing machine or classical computer, showing that value indefiniteness leads to a clear classical/quantum split in a purely algorithmic context. Importantly, bi-immunity is a property of observed, macroscopic quantities, quite separate from the quantum framework in which the value indefiniteness is formalised. This form of macroscopic meaning created from the lack of syntactic information is precisely the scenario that quantum random number generators try to create, and which is essential for the development and certification of quantum cryptographic systems. The fact that the macroscopic information created goes beyond anything classically obtainable serves as a valuable practical resource, outside of and removed from the quantum formalism. To conclude, quantum information creates meaning within the quantum and via measure- ment, the lack of information within the quantum, creates meaning and valuable information at the macroscopic level. Acknowledgments The second author thanks Prof. S. Marcus for useful conversations on quantum information theory. This work was supported in part by Marie Curie FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IRSES Grant RANPHYS. References and Notes Abbott, A.A.; Calude, C.S.; Svozil, K. Strong Kochen-Specker theorem and incomputability of quantum randomness. Physical Review A 2012, 86, 062109. Abbott, A.A.; Calude, C.S.; Svozil, K. Value-indefinite observables are almost everywhere. Physical Review A 2013, 89, 032109. Abbott, A.A.; Calude, C.S.; Svozil, K. On the unpredictability of individual quantum measurement outcomes. CDMTCS Research Report 2014, 458. Calude, C.S. Quantum randomness & cryptology. CyberTalk 2013, 3, 42–43. Kochen, S.; Specker, E. The problem of hidden variables in quantum mechanics. Journal of Mathematics and Mechanics 1967, 17, 59–87. Zeilinger, A. A foundational principle for quantum mechanics. Foundations of Physics 1999, 29(4),631–643.

With techniques borrowed from quantum information theory, we develop a method to systematically obtain operator inequalities and identities in several matrix variables. These take the form of trace polynomials: polynomial-like expressions that involve matrix monomials Xα1,…,Xαr and their traces tr(Xα1,…,Xαr). Our method rests on translating the action of the symmetric group on tensor product spaces into that of matrix multiplication. As a result, we extend the polarized Cayley–Hamilton identity to an operator inequality on the positive cone, characterize the set of multilinear equivariant positive maps in terms of Werner state witnesses, and construct permutation polynomials and tensor polynomial identities on tensor product spaces. We give connections to concepts in quantum information theory and invariant theory.

In his classical argument, Rao derives the Riemannian distance corresponding to the Fisher metric using a mapping between the space of positive measures and Euclidean space. He obtains the Hellinger distance on the full space of measures and the Fisher distance on the subset of probability measures. In order to highlight the interplay between Fisher theory and quantum information theory, we extend this construction to the space of positive-definite Hermitian matrices using Riemannian submersions and quotient manifolds. The analog of the Hellinger distance turns out to be the Bures–Wasserstein (BW) distance, a distance measure appearing in optimal transport, quantum information, and optimisation theory. First we present an existing derivation of the Riemannian metric and geodesics associated with this distance. Subsequently, we present a novel derivation of the Riemannian distance and geodesics for this metric on the subset of trace-one matrices, analogous to the Fisher distance for probability measures.

Quantum physics is full of counterintuitive twists, but a proposed concept in quantum information theory could help to relieve some of the perplexities.

This survey paper introduces several topics in quantum information theory, especially positive operator valued measures (POVMs) and entangled states. POVMs are needed to mathematically express measurements in the quantum world, and there are two special POVMs, named symmetric informationally complete POVMs and mutually unbiased bases. These two POVMs have very beautiful symmetry. We give the definitions and examples of these POVMs and discuss the existence or non-existence problem of these POVMs. Entanglement is some kind of relationship between two or more quanta. When several quanta have entanglement, the state of the quanta is called an entangled state. In this paper, quantum teleportation is introduced as an application using entangled states. Moreover, we investigate the problem of determining whether a given quantum state is an entangled state.

Quantum information is concerned with utilizing the special features of quantum mechanics for the processing and transmission of information. Quantum information refers to data that can be physically stored in a quantum system. Quantum information theory is the study of how such information can be encoded, measured, and manipulated. Quantum computation is a subfield of quantum information. It is often used synonymously with quantum information theory, which studies protocols and algorithms that use quantum systems to perform computations.

In this paper, we establish a connection between zonoids (a concept from classical convex geometry) and the distinguishability norms associated to quantum measurements or POVMs (Positive Operator-Valued Measures), recently introduced in quantum information theory. This correspondence allows us to state and prove the POVM version of classical results from the local theory of Banach spaces about the approximation of zonoids by zonotopes. We show that on $$\mathbf {C}^d$$ , the uniform POVM (the most symmetric POVM) can be sparsified, i.e. approximated by a discrete POVM having only $$O(d^2)$$ outcomes. We also show that similar (but weaker) approximation results actually hold for any POVM on $$\mathbf {C}^d$$ . By considering an appropriate notion of tensor product for zonoids, we extend our results to the multipartite setting: we show, roughly speaking, that local POVMs may be sparsified locally. In particular, the local uniform POVM on $$\mathbf {C}^{d_1}\otimes \cdots \otimes \mathbf {C}^{d_k}$$ can be approximated by a discrete POVM which is local and has $$O(d_1^2 \times \cdots \times d_k^2)$$ outcomes.

In this work we revisit the famous Fermi two-atom problem, which concerns how relativistic causality impacts atomic transition probabilities, using the tools from relativistic quantum information (RQI) and algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT). The problem has sparked different analyses from many directions and angles since the proposed solution by Buchholz and Yngvason (1994). Some of these analyses employ various approximations, heuristics, perturbative methods, which tends to render some of the otherwise useful insights somewhat obscured. It is also noted that they are all studied in flat spacetime. We show that current tools in relativistic quantum information, combined with algebraic approach to quantum field theory, are now powerful enough to provide fuller and cleaner analysis of the Fermi two-atom problem for arbitrary curved spacetimes in a completely non-perturbative manner. Our result gives the original solution of Buchholz and Yngvason a very operational reinterpretation in terms of qubits interacting with a quantum field, and allows for various natural generalizations and inclusion of detector-based local measurement for the quantum field (Phys. Rev. D 105, 065003).

We present a novel weather analysis of San Francisco from 2009 to 2019 using concepts from quantum information theory. We describe how to transform a classical weather dataset into a quantum-inspired analytical framework by treating it as a quantum information system embedded in a quantum-like representation, with data encoded as density matrices in Hilbert space. Transforming classical weather data into quantum states is a mathematical abstraction, whereas a quantum-inspired system is not a quantum-physical system. We study a quantum-inspired analytical framework using quantum information-theoretic metrics, including fidelity, classical information, quantum information, decoherent information, Shannon and von Neumann entropies, and the quantum stability index, to represent and analyze the dataset. Furthermore, we give predictions for each quantum information metric for 2020 and 2021. We fit Fourier-series models to the metrics to explore temporal patterns and structural properties in the data.

Quantum resource theory is perhaps the most revolutionary framework that quantum physics has ever experienced. It plays vigorous roles in unifying the quantification methods of a requisite quantum effect as wells as in identifying protocols that optimize its usefulness in a given application in areas ranging from quantum information to computation. Moreover, the resource theories have transmuted radical quantum phenomena like coherence, nonclassicality and entanglement from being just intriguing to being helpful in executing realistic thoughts. A general quantum resource theoretical framework relies on the method of categorization of all possible quantum states into two sets, namely, the free set and the resource set. Associated with the set of free states there is a number of free quantum operations emerging from the natural constraints attributed to the corresponding physical system. Then, the task of quantum resource theory is to discover possible aspects arising from the restricted set of operations as resources. Along with the rapid growth of various resource theories corresponding to standard harmonic oscillator quantum optical states, significant advancement has been expedited along the same direction for generalized quantum optical states. Generalized quantum optical framework strives to bring in several prosperous contemporary ideas including nonlinearity, -symmetric non-Hermitian theories, q-deformed bosonic systems, etc., to accomplish similar but elevated objectives of the standard quantum optics and information theories. In this article, we review the developments of nonclassical resource theories of different generalized quantum optical states and their usefulness in the context of quantum information theories.

Using an imperfectly prepared state, we show that in relativistic settings, the evolution of a massive spin-1/2 particle violates many standard assumptions made in quantum information theory, including complete positivity. Unlike other recent endeavors in relativistic quantum information, we are able to quantify and maximize how much information can be transferred through such a quantum process by calculating its scope. We show that, surprisingly, relativistic noise can increase the amount of information that can be transferred, and in fact, even if the initial state is arbitrarily close to the completely mixed state, information can still be transferred perfectly. Additionally, we explore the relativistic effects of velocity and gravity on quantum information processing, and we briefly discuss how quantum computation is affected by general relativity. In particular, we show that the large Wigner rotation caused by a black hole as described in the Schwarzchild metric can greatly increase the informatic content of a qubit.

The article explores some of the basic findings of quantum physics and information theory and their possible usefulness in offering new vistas for understanding psychoanalysis and the patient-analyst interchange. Technical terms are explained and placed in context, and examples of applying quantum models to clinical experience are offered. Given the complexity of the findings of quantum mechanics and information theory, the article aims only to introduce some of the major concepts from these disciplines. Within this framework the article also briefly addresses the question of mind as well as the problematic of reducing the experience of consciousness to neurological brain functioning.

: We have studied the physics of the relative state of quantum detectors that move with respect to each other and their sources, that are accelerated with respect to the source, and that are placed within the gravitational field of a black hole. We outline the general theory of how the entanglement of polarized photons changes under relativistic Lorentz transformations, and have studied quantum information transmission in the presence of a black hole. A description of the accretion of photons by black holes within curved-space quantum field theory has revealed that information is not lost as the photons are absorbed by the black hole because the process of stimulated emission of radiation guarantees that information always stays outside of the event horizon, thus solving the black hole information paradox. We also show that stimulated emission turns a black hole into a nearly optimal quantum cloning device, and calculate the cloning fidelity as a function of the black hole absorption coefficient. Finally, we study stimulated emission for accelerated grey bodies in Rindler space, and formulate a framework for consecutive measurements of the same quantum system that allows for a description of the causal dynamics of quantum systems without reference to a time variable.