English

Entropy Production in Quantum Is Different

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2019-09-04 v2 Quantum Physics

Abstract

Currently, 'time' does not play any essential role in quantum information theory. In this sense, quantum information theory is underdeveloped similarly to how quantum physics was underdeveloped before Erwin Schrodinger introduced his famous equation for the evolution of a quantum wave function. In this review article, we cope with the problem of time for one of the central quantities in quantum information theory: entropy. Recently, a replica trick formalism, the so-called 'multiple parallel world' formalism, has been proposed that revolutionizes entropy evaluation for quantum systems. This formalism is one of the first attempts to introduce 'time evolution' in quantum information theory. With the total entropy being conserved in a closed system, entropy can flow internally between subsystems; however, we show that this flow is not limited only to physical correlations as the literature suggest. The nonlinear dependence of entropy on the density matrix introduces new types of correlations with no analogue in physical quantities. Evolving a number of replicas simultaneously makes it possible for them to exchange particles between different replicas. We will summarize some of the recent news about entropy in some example quantum devices. Moreover, we take a quick look at a new correspondence that was recently proposed that provides an interesting link between quantum information theory and quantum physics. The mere existence of such a correspondence allows for exploring new physical phenomena as the result of controlling entanglement in a quantum device.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1907.09241,
  title  = {Entropy Production in Quantum Is Different},
  author = {Mohammad H. Ansari and Alwin van Steensel and Yuli V. Nazarov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1907.09241},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

34 pages, 12 figures, This article submitted to the Special Issue Quantum Transport in Mesoscopic Systems

R2 v1 2026-06-23T10:26:59.507Z