RT Journal Article
T1 Existence of an information unit as a postulate of quantum theory
A1 Masanes, Lluís
A1 Muller, Markus P.
A1 Augusiak, Remigiusz
A1 Pérez García, David
AB Does information play a significant role in the foundations of physics? Information is the abstraction that allows us to refer to the states of systems when we choose to ignore the systems themselves. This is only possible in very particular frameworks, like in classical or quantum theory, or more generally, whenever there exists an information unit such that the state of any system can be reversibly encoded in a sufficient number of such units. In this work, we show how the abstract formalism of quantum theory can be deduced solely from the existence of an information unit with suitable properties, together with two further natural assumptions: the continuity and reversibility of dynamics, and the possibility of characterizing the state of a composite system by local measurements. This constitutes a set of postulates for quantum theory with a simple and direct physical meaning, like the ones of special relativity or thermodynamics, and it articulates a strong connection between physics and information.
PB National Academy of Sciences
SN 0027-8424
YR 2013
FD 2013-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33390
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33390
LA eng
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
NO CatalunyaCaixa
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO European Union (EU) European Research Council
NO Templeton Foundation
NO Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi)
NO Government of Canada through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
NO Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation
NO Atomic Quantum Technologies
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025