English

Information-Theoretic and Operational Measures of Quantum Contextuality

Quantum Physics 2026-05-05 v2

Abstract

We propose an information -- theoretic framework for quantifying Kochen-Specker contextuality. Two complementary measures are introduced: the mutual information energy, a state-independent quantity inspired by Onicescu's information energy that captures the geometric overlap between joint eigenspaces within a context; and an operational measure based on commutator expectation values that reflects contextual behavior at the level of measurement outcomes. We establish a hierarchy of bounds connecting these measures to the Robertson uncertainty relation, including spectral, purity-corrected, and operator norm estimates. The framework is applied to the Klyachko-Can-Binicio\u{g}lu-Shumovsky (KCBS) scenario for spin-1 systems, where all quantities admit closed-form expressions. The Majorana-stellar representation furnishes a common geometric platform on which both the operational measure and the uncertainty products can be analyzed. For spin-1, this representation yields a three-dimensional Euclidean-like visualization of the Hilbert space in which, states lying on a plane exhibit maximum uncertainty for the observable along the perpendicular direction; simultaneous optimization across all KCBS contexts singles out a unique state on the symmetry axis. Notably, states achieving the optimal sum of uncertainty products exhibit vanishing operational contextuality, while states with substantial operational contextuality satisfy a nontrivial Robertson bound -- the two extremes are achieved by distinct quantum states.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.11049,
  title  = {Information-Theoretic and Operational Measures of Quantum Contextuality},
  author = {Ali Can Günhan and Zafer Gedik},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.11049},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

21 pages, 10 figures in the main text, and 13 pages of supplementary information