A Proving Subadditivity of Entropy for Uncorrelated Systems in Pure States

  • A
  • Thread starter Thread starter ergospherical
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Entropy
ergospherical
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Education Advisor
Insights Author
Messages
1,097
Reaction score
1,384
Two systems A & B (with orthonormal basis ##\{|a\rangle\}## and ##\{|b\rangle\}##) are uncorrelated, so the combined density operator ##\rho_{AB} = \rho_A \otimes \rho_B##. Assume the combined system is in a pure state ##\rho_{AB} = |\psi \rangle \langle \psi |## where ##|\psi \rangle = \sum_{a,b} c_{ab} |a \rangle |b \rangle##. The reduced density operator for A is ##\rho_A = \mathrm{tr}_{H_{B}} (\rho_{AB}) = \sum_{a,a',b} c_{ab} \overline{c_{a'b}} |a \rangle \langle a'|##, and similarly for B. Now to show ##S(\rho_{AB}) = S(\rho_A) + S(\rho_B)##,
\begin{align*}
S(\rho_{AB}) &= -\mathrm{tr}_{H_A \otimes H_B} (\rho_{AB} \ln \rho_{AB}) \\
&= \sum_{a,b} \langle a| \langle b| (\rho_{AB} \ln \rho_{AB}) |a \rangle |b \rangle
\end{align*}How to proceed with the trace of the logarithm? Cheers.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
ergospherical said:
How to proceed with the trace of the logarithm?
Work in basis in which ##\rho## is diagonal! (There is also the Renyi entropy trick, but you don't need it here.)
 
  • Like
Likes ergospherical
You don't need any specific basis. Using the product states for taking the trace in the OP together with the product state ##\hat{\rho}_{AB}## is sufficient (you don't need to assume anything about the ##\hat{\rho}_A## and ##\hat{\rho}_B## either!).
 
  • Like
Likes ergospherical
Not an expert in QM. AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is quite different from the classical wave equation. The former is an equation for the dynamics of the state of a (quantum?) system, the latter is an equation for the dynamics of a (classical) degree of freedom. As a matter of fact, Schrödinger's equation is first order in time derivatives, while the classical wave equation is second order. But, AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is a wave equation; only its interpretation makes it non-classical...
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA
Is it possible, and fruitful, to use certain conceptual and technical tools from effective field theory (coarse-graining/integrating-out, power-counting, matching, RG) to think about the relationship between the fundamental (quantum) and the emergent (classical), both to account for the quasi-autonomy of the classical level and to quantify residual quantum corrections? By “emergent,” I mean the following: after integrating out fast/irrelevant quantum degrees of freedom (high-energy modes...

Similar threads

Back
Top