Abstract
Kirkwood discovered in 1933, and Dirac discovered in 1945, a representation of quantum states that has undergone a renaissance recently. The Kirkwood–Dirac (KD) distribution has been employed to study nonclassicality across quantum physics, from metrology to chaos to the foundations of quantum theory. The KD distribution is a quasiprobability distribution, a quantum generalization of a probability distribution, which can behave nonclassically by having negative or nonreal elements. Negative KD elements signify quantum information scrambling and potential metrological quantum advantages. Nonreal elements encode measurement disturbance and thermodynamic nonclassicality. KD distributions’ nonclassicality has been believed to follow necessarily from pairwise noncommutation of operators in the distribution’s definition. We show that noncommutation does not suffice. We prove sufficient conditions for the KD distribution to be nonclassical (equivalently, necessary conditions for it to be classical). We also quantify the KD nonclassicality achievable under various conditions. This work resolves long-standing questions about nonclassicality and may be used to engineer quantum advantages.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.