dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaConditional probabilities and density operators in quantum modeling
| Authors | John M. Myers |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0506068 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0506068 |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10701-006-9053-0 |
| Journal | Foundations of Physics 36 (2006) 1012-1035 |
Abstract
Based on a recent proof of free choices in linking equations to the experiments they describe, I clarify relations among some purely mathematical entities featured in quantum mechanics (probabilities, density operators, partial traces, and operator-valued measures), thereby allowing applications of these entities to the modeling of a wider variety of physical situations. Conditional probabilities associated with projection-valued measures are expressed by introducing conditional density operators, identical in some but not all cases to the usual reduced density operators. By lifting density operators to the extended Hilbert space featured in Neumark's theorem, I show an obstacle to extending conditional density operators to arbitrary positive operator-valued measures (POVMs); however, tensor products of POVMs are compatible with conditional density operators. By way of application, conditional density operators together with the free choice of probe particles allow the so-called postulate of state reductions to be replaced by a theorem. A second application demonstrates an equivalence between one form of quantum key distribution and another, allowing a formulation of individual eavesdropping attacks against transmitted-state BB84 to work also for entangled-state BB84.
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"abstract": "Based on a recent proof of free choices in linking equations to the\nexperiments they describe, I clarify relations among some purely mathematical\nentities featured in quantum mechanics (probabilities, density operators,\npartial traces, and operator-valued measures), thereby allowing applications of\nthese entities to the modeling of a wider variety of physical situations.\nConditional probabilities associated with projection-valued measures are\nexpressed by introducing conditional density operators, identical in some but\nnot all cases to the usual reduced density operators. By lifting density\noperators to the extended Hilbert space featured in Neumark\u0027s theorem, I show\nan obstacle to extending conditional density operators to arbitrary positive\noperator-valued measures (POVMs); however, tensor products of POVMs are\ncompatible with conditional density operators. By way of application,\nconditional density operators together with the free choice of probe particles\nallow the so-called postulate of state reductions to be replaced by a theorem.\nA second application demonstrates an equivalence between one form of quantum\nkey distribution and another, allowing a formulation of individual\neavesdropping attacks against transmitted-state BB84 to work also for\nentangled-state BB84.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0506068",
"authors": [
"John M. Myers"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1007/s10701-006-9053-0",
"journal_ref": "Foundations of Physics 36 (2006) 1012-1035",
"title": "Conditional probabilities and density operators in quantum modeling",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0506068"
},
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