Conditional probability framework for entanglement and its decoupling from tensor product structure

Abstract

Our aim is to make a step toward clarification of foundations for the notion of entanglement (both physical and mathematical) by representing it in the conditional probability framework. In Schrödinger’s words, this is entanglement of knowledge which can be extracted via conditional measurements. In particular, quantum probabilities are interpreted as conditional ones (as, e.g., by Ballentine). We restrict considerations to perfect conditional correlations (PCC) induced by measurements (‘EPR entanglement’). Such entanglement is coupled to the pairs of observables with the projection type state update as the back action of measurement. In this way, we determine a special class of entangled states. One of our aims is to decouple the notion of entanglement from the compound systems. The rigid association of entanglement with the state of a few body systems stimulated its linking with quantum nonlocality (‘spooky action at a distance’). However, already by Schrödinger entanglement was presented as knotting of knowledge (about statistics) for one observable A with knowledge about another observable B.