Participación invitada: What is quantum information?

OLIMPIA LOMBARDI

Utrecht

Jornada; From Nucleus to Cosmos: Emeritaat Dennis Dieks; 2014

Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Utrecht University

The elucidation of the concept of quantum information combines the difficulties inherent in understanding the meaning of the word 'information' with the well-known foundational puzzles derived from quantum mechanics itself. This situation contrasts with the huge development of the research field named 'quantum information'. In the present work I will address the question 'What is quantum information?' from a conceptual viewpoint. For this purpose, first Schumacher's formalism will be introduced by contrast with Shannon's theory, and the definition of quantum information in terms of a quantum source will be discussed. Then, the definition of information in terms of coding theorems will be analyzed. These tasks lead us to focus on the relationship between Shannon entropy and von Neumann entropy, and to discuss the differences between the concepts of bit and qubit. Finally, on the basis of the previous discussions, I will analyze the different interpretations of the concept of information, in the search of a characterization adequate both to Shannon's and to Schumacher's formalisms.