Uncertainty-Reality Complementarity and Entropic Uncertainty Relations

Abstract

Reality of quantum observables, a feature of long-standing interest within foundations of quantum mechanics, has recently been quantified and deeply studied by means of entropic measures [Phys. Rev. A 97, 022107 (2018)]. However, there is no state-independent "reality trade-off" between noncommuting observables, as in certain systems all observables are real [Europhys. Lett. 112, 40005 (2015)]. We show that the entropic uncertainty relation in the presence of quantum memory [Nature Phys. 6, 659 (2010)] perfectly supplements the discussed notion of reality, rendering trade-offs between reality and quantum uncertainty. State-independent complementarity inequalities involving entropic measures of both, uncertainty and reality, for two observables are presented.

Published in Special Volume "Shannon's Information Theory 70 years on: applications in classical and quantum physics"