English

How `hot' are mixed quantum states?

Quantum Physics 2009-09-23 v1

Abstract

Given a mixed quantum state ρ\rho of a qudit, we consider any observable MM as a kind of `thermometer' in the following sense. Given a source which emits pure states with these or those distributions, we select such distributions that the appropriate average value of the observable MM is equal to the average TrMρM\rho of MM in the stare ρ\rho. Among those distributions we find the most typical one, namely, having the highest differential entropy. We call this distribution conditional Gibbs ensemble as it turns out to be a Gibbs distribution characterized by a temperature-like parameter β\beta. The expressions establishing the liaisons between the density operator ρ\rho and its temperature parameter β\beta are provided. Within this approach, the uniform mixed state has the highest `temperature', which tends to zero as the state in question approaches to a pure state.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0606014,
  title  = {How `hot' are mixed quantum states?},
  author = {George Parfionov and Roman R. Zapatrin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0606014},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

Contribution to Quantum 2006: III workshop ad memoriam of Carlo Novero: Advances in Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Information with atoms and photons. 2-5 May 2006 - Turin, Italy