Coherent information

About: Coherent information is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1225 publications have been published within this topic receiving 46672 citations.

Coherent information of one-mode Gaussian channels -- the general case of nonzero added classical noise

Abstract: We prove that whenever the coherent information of a one-mode Gaussian channel is non-zero its supremum is achieved for the infinite input power. This is a well established fact for the zero added classical noise, whereas the nonzero case has not been studied in detail. The presented analysis fills the gap for three canonical classes of one-mode Gaussian channels: the lossy, amplifying and additive classical noise channel class. For the remaining one-mode Gaussian channel classes the coherent information is known to vanish.

Entanglement-Enhanced Classical Communication

Abstract: This thesis will be focused on the classical capacity of quantum channels, one of the first areas treated by quantum information theorists. The problem is fairly solved since some years. Nevertheless, this work will give me a reason to introduce a consistent formalism of the quantum theory, as well as to review fundamental facts about quantum non-locality and how it can be used to enhance communication. Moreover, this reflects my dwelling in the spirit of classical information theory, and it is intended to be a starting point towards a thorough study of how quantum technologies can help to shape the future of telecommunications. Whenever it was possible, heuristic reasonings were introduced instead of rigorous mathematical proofs. This finds an explanation in that I am a self-taught neophyte in the field, and just about every time I came across a new concept, physical arguments were always more compelling to me than just maths. The technical content of the thesis is twofold. On one hand, a quadratic classification based on optimization programs that I devised for distinguishing entangled states is presented in Chapter 4. In second place, a less difficult yet I hope equally interesting technical part consists of versions of some proofs throughout the text.

Measuring a Quantum System’s Classical Information

Abstract: In the governing thought, I find an equivalence between the classical information in a quantum system and the integral of that system’s energy and time, specifically , in natural units. I solve this relationship in four ways: the first approach starts with the Schrodinger Equation and applies the Minkowski transformation; the second uses the Canonical commutation relation; the third through Gabor’s analysis of the time-frequency plane and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle; and lastly by quantizing Brownian motion within the Bernoulli process and applying the Gaussian channel capacity. In support I give two examples of quantum systems that follow the governing thought: namely the Gaussian wave packet and the electron spin. I conclude with comments on the discretization of space and the information content of a degree of freedom.

Realism and Antirealism in Informational Foundations of Quantum Theory

Abstract: Zeilinger-Brukner's informational foundations of quantum theory, a theory based on Zeilinger's foundational principle for quantum mechanics that an elementary system carried one bit of information, explains seemingly unintuitive quantum behavior with simple theoretical framework. It is based on the notion that distinction between reality and information cannot be made, therefore they are the same. As the critics of informational foundations of quantum theory show, this antirealistic move captures the theory in tautology, where information only refers to itself, while the relationships outside the information with the help of which the nature of information would be defined are lost and the questions "Whose information? Information about what?" cannot be answered. The critic's solution is a return to realism, where the observer's effects on the information are neglected. We show that radical antirealism of informational foundations of quantum theory is not necessary and that the return to realism is not the only way forward. A comprehensive approach that exceeds mere realism and antirealism is also possible: we can consider both sources of the constraints on the information, those coming from the observer and those coming from the observed system/nature/reality. The information is always the observer's information about the observed. Such a comprehensive philosophical approach can still support the theoretical framework of informational foundations of quantum theory: If we take that one bit is the smallest amount of information in the form of which the observed reality can be grasped by the observer, we can say that an elementary system (grasped and defined as such by the observer) correlates to one bit of information. Our approach thus explains all the features of the quantum behavior explained by informational foundations of quantum theory: the wave function and its collapse, entanglement, complementarity and quantum randomness. However, it does so in a more comprehensive and intuitive way. The presented approach is close to Husserl's explanation of the relationship between reality and the knowledge we have about it, and to Bohr's personal explanation of quantum mechanics, the complexity of which has often been missed and simplified to mere antirealism. Our approach thus reconnects phenomenology with contemporary philosophy of science and introduces the comprehensive approach that exceeds mere realism and antirealism to the field of quantum theories with informational foundations, where such an approach has not been taken before. Quanta 2014; 3: 32–42.

60 Years of Shannon Information Theory

Abstract: In this paper an attempt is made to give a very short survey of the development of Shannon information theory. Also, some thoughts concerning the future of information theory are given.