Information–theoretic implications of quantum causal structures

TY - JOUR

T1 - Information–theoretic implications of quantum causal structures

AU - Chaves, Rafael

AU - Majenz, Christian

AU - Gross, David

PY - 2015/1/6

Y1 - 2015/1/6

N2 - It is a relatively new insight of classical statistics that empirical data can contain information about causation rather than mere correlation. First algorithms have been proposed that are capable of testing whether a presumed causal relationship is compatible with an observed distribution. However, no systematic method is known for treating such problems in a way that generalizes to quantum systems. Here, we describe a general algorithm for computing information–theoretic constraints on the correlations that can arise from a given causal structure, where we allow for quantum systems as well as classical random variables. The general technique is applied to two relevant cases: first, we show that the principle of information causality appears naturally in our framework and go on to generalize and strengthen it. Second, we derive bounds on the correlations that can occur in a networked architecture, where a set of few-body quantum systems is distributed among some parties.

AB - It is a relatively new insight of classical statistics that empirical data can contain information about causation rather than mere correlation. First algorithms have been proposed that are capable of testing whether a presumed causal relationship is compatible with an observed distribution. However, no systematic method is known for treating such problems in a way that generalizes to quantum systems. Here, we describe a general algorithm for computing information–theoretic constraints on the correlations that can arise from a given causal structure, where we allow for quantum systems as well as classical random variables. The general technique is applied to two relevant cases: first, we show that the principle of information causality appears naturally in our framework and go on to generalize and strengthen it. Second, we derive bounds on the correlations that can occur in a networked architecture, where a set of few-body quantum systems is distributed among some parties.

U2 - 10.1038/ncomms6766

DO - 10.1038/ncomms6766

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 6

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 5766

ER -