View source for Entropic uncertainty

{{Short description|Concept in information theory}}

In [[Uncertainty principle#Quantum entropic uncertainty principle|quantum mechanics]], [[information theory]], and [[Fourier analysis]], the '''entropic uncertainty''' or '''Hirschman uncertainty''' is defined as the sum of the temporal and spectral [[Differential entropy|Shannon entropies]].  It turns out that Heisenberg's [[uncertainty principle]] can be expressed as a lower bound on the sum of these entropies.  This is ''stronger'' than the usual statement of the uncertainty principle in terms of the product of standard deviations.

In 1957,<ref name=Hirschman>{{Citation |first=I. I. Jr. |last=Hirschman |title=A note on entropy |journal=[[American Journal of Mathematics]] |year=1957 |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=152–156 |doi=10.2307/2372390 |postscript=. |jstor=2372390 }}</ref> [[Isidore Isaac Hirschman, Jr.|Hirschman]] considered a function ''f'' and its [[Fourier transform]] ''g'' such that
:<math>g(y) \approx \int_{-\infty}^\infty \exp (-2\pi ixy) f(x)\, dx,\qquad f(x) \approx \int_{-\infty}^\infty \exp (2\pi ixy) g(y)\, dy  ~,</math>
where the   "≈" indicates convergence in {{mvar|L}}<sup>2</sup>, and normalized so that (by [[Plancherel theorem|Plancherel's theorem]]),
:<math> \int_{-\infty}^\infty |f(x)|^2\, dx = \int_{-\infty}^\infty |g(y)|^2 \,dy = 1~.</math>
He showed that for any such functions the sum of the Shannon entropies is non-negative,
:<math> H(|f|^2) + H(|g|^2) \equiv - \int_{-\infty}^\infty |f(x)|^2 \log |f(x)|^2\, dx - \int_{-\infty}^\infty |g(y)|^2 \log |g(y)|^2 \,dy \ge 0. </math>

A tighter bound,
{{Equation box 1
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|equation =  <math> H(|f|^2) + H(|g|^2) \ge \log \frac e 2   ~,</math>
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was conjectured by Hirschman<ref name=Hirschman/> and [[Hugh Everett|Everett]],<ref>[[Hugh Everett]], III.  The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: the theory of the universal wave function. [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/manyworlds/pdf/dissertation.pdf Everett's Dissertation]</ref> proven in 1975 by [[William Beckner (mathematician)|W. Beckner]]<ref name="Beckner">{{Citation |first=W. |last=Beckner |title=Inequalities in Fourier analysis |journal=[[Annals of Mathematics]] |volume=102 |issue=6 |year=1975 |pages=159–182 |doi=10.2307/1970980 |postscript=. |jstor=1970980 |pmid=16592223 |pmc=432369 }}</ref> and in the same year interpreted as a generalized quantum mechanical uncertainty principle by [[:pl:Iwo Białynicki-Birula|Białynicki-Birula]] and Mycielski.<ref name="BBM">{{Citation |first1=I. |last1=Bialynicki-Birula|last2= Mycielski|first2=J.|title=Uncertainty Relations for Information Entropy in Wave Mechanics|journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] |volume=44 |year=1975 |page=129 |doi=10.1007/BF01608825 |issue=2|bibcode = 1975CMaPh..44..129B |s2cid=122277352|url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.cmp/1103899297}}</ref>
The equality holds in the case of [[Gaussian distribution]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ozaydin |first1=Murad |last2=Przebinda |first2=Tomasz |year=2004 |title=An Entropy-based Uncertainty Principle for a Locally Compact Abelian Group |journal=Journal of Functional Analysis |volume=215 |issue=1 |pages=241–252  |publisher=Elsevier Inc.|doi= 10.1016/j.jfa.2003.11.008|url=http://redwood.berkeley.edu/w/images/9/95/2002-26.pdf |access-date=2011-06-23 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Note, however, that the above entropic uncertainty function is distinctly ''different'' from the quantum [[Von Neumann entropy]] represented in [[phase space]].

==Sketch of proof==
The proof of this tight inequality depends on the so-called '''(''q'',&nbsp;''p'')-norm''' of the Fourier transformation.  (Establishing this norm is the most difficult part of the proof.)

From this norm, one is able to establish a lower bound on the sum of the (differential) [[Rényi entropy|Rényi entropies]], {{math| ''H<sub>α</sub>({{!}}f{{!}}²)+H<sub>β</sub>({{!}}g{{!}}²)'' }}, where {{math|''1/α + 1/β'' {{=}} 2}}, which generalize the Shannon entropies.  For simplicity, we consider this inequality only in one dimension; the extension to multiple dimensions is straightforward and can be found in the literature cited.

===Babenko–Beckner inequality===
The '''(''q'',&nbsp;''p'')-norm''' of the Fourier transform is defined to be<ref name=Bialynicki>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevA.74.052101| title = Formulation of the uncertainty relations in terms of the Rényi entropies| journal = Physical Review A| volume = 74| issue = 5| page = 052101| year = 2006| last1 = Bialynicki-Birula | first1 = I. |arxiv = quant-ph/0608116 |bibcode = 2006PhRvA..74e2101B | s2cid = 19123961}}</ref>

:<math>\|\mathcal F\|_{q,p} = \sup_{f\in L^p(\mathbb R)} \frac{\|\mathcal Ff\|_q}{\|f\|_p},</math>   where <math>1 < p \le 2~,</math> &nbsp; and <math>\frac 1 p + \frac 1 q = 1.</math>

In 1961, Babenko<ref>K.I. Babenko.  ''An inequality in the theory of Fourier integrals.'' Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Ser. Mat. '''25''' (1961) pp. 531&ndash;542 English transl., Amer. Math. Soc. Transl. (2) '''44''', pp. 115-128</ref> found this norm for ''even'' integer values of ''q''.  Finally, in 1975,
using [[Hermite functions]] as eigenfunctions of the Fourier transform, Beckner<ref name=Beckner/> proved that the value of this norm (in one dimension) for all ''q''  ≥  2  is
:<math>\|\mathcal F\|_{q,p} = \sqrt{p^{1/p}/q^{1/q}}.</math>
Thus we have the '''[[Babenko–Beckner inequality]]''' that
:<math>\|\mathcal Ff\|_q \le \left(p^{1/p}/q^{1/q}\right)^{1/2} \|f\|_p.</math>

===Rényi entropy bound===
From this inequality, an expression of the uncertainty principle in terms of the [[Rényi entropy]] can be derived.<ref name=Bialynicki/><ref>H.P. Heinig and M. Smith, ''Extensions of the Heisenberg–Weil inequality.'' Internat. J. Math. & Math. Sci., Vol. 9, No. 1 (1986) pp. 185&ndash;192. [http://www.hindawi.com/GetArticle.aspx?doi=10.1155/S0161171286000212]</ref>

Letting <math>g=\mathcal Ff</math>,  2''α''=''p'',  and 2''β''=''q'',   so that  {{math|''1/α + 1/β'' {{=}} 2}}  and   1/2<''α''<1<''β'',  we have
:<math>\left(\int_{\mathbb R} |g(y)|^{2\beta}\,dy\right)^{1/2\beta}
       \le \frac{(2\alpha)^{1/4\alpha}}{(2\beta)^{1/4\beta}}
       \left(\int_{\mathbb R} |f(x)|^{2\alpha}\,dx\right)^{1/2\alpha}.
</math>
Squaring both sides and taking the logarithm, we get
:<math>\frac 1\beta \log\left(\int_{\mathbb R} |g(y)|^{2\beta}\,dy\right)
       \le \frac 1 2 \log\frac{(2\alpha)^{1/\alpha}}{(2\beta)^{1/\beta}}
       + \frac 1\alpha \log \left(\int_{\mathbb R} |f(x)|^{2\alpha}\,dx\right).
</math>

Multiplying both sides by 
:<math>\frac{\beta}{1-\beta}=-\frac{\alpha}{1-\alpha}</math> 
reverses the sense of the inequality,
:<math>\frac {1}{1-\beta} \log\left(\int_{\mathbb R} |g(y)|^{2\beta}\,dy\right)
       \ge \frac\alpha{2(\alpha-1)}\log\frac{(2\alpha)^{1/\alpha}}{(2\beta)^{1/\beta}}
       - \frac{1}{1-\alpha} \log \left(\int_{\mathbb R} |f(x)|^{2\alpha}\,dx\right) ~.
</math>

Rearranging terms, finally yields  an inequality in terms of the sum of the Rényi entropies,
:<math>\frac{1}{1-\alpha} \log \left(\int_{\mathbb R} |f(x)|^{2\alpha}\,dx\right)
       + \frac {1}{1-\beta} \log\left(\int_{\mathbb R} |g(y)|^{2\beta}\,dy\right)
       \ge \frac\alpha{2(\alpha-1)}\log\frac{(2\alpha)^{1/\alpha}}{(2\beta)^{1/\beta}};
</math>
:<math> H_\alpha(|f|^2) + H_\beta(|g|^2) \ge \frac 1 2 \left(\frac{\log\alpha}{\alpha-1}+\frac{\log\beta}{\beta-1}\right) - \log 2     ~.</math>

Note that this inequality is symmetric with respect to  {{mvar|α}}  and {{mvar|β}}:  One no longer need assume that {{math|'' α<β''}};  only that they are positive and not both one, and that  ''1/α + 1/β''   = 2.    To see this symmetry, simply exchange the rôles of  ''i''  and −''i''  in the Fourier transform.

===Shannon entropy bound===
Taking the limit of this last inequality as ''α, β''  → 1 yields the less general Shannon entropy inequality,
:<math>H(|f|^2) + H(|g|^2) \ge \log\frac e 2,\quad\textrm{where}\quad g(y) \approx \int_{\mathbb R} e^{-2\pi ixy}f(x)\,dx~,</math>
valid for any base of logarithm, as long as we choose an appropriate unit of information, [[bit]], [[Nat (unit)|nat]], etc.

The constant will be different, though, for a different normalization of the Fourier transform, (such as is usually used in physics, with normalizations chosen so that ''ħ''=1 ), i.e.,
:<math>H(|f|^2) + H(|g|^2) \ge \log(\pi e)\quad\textrm{for}\quad g(y) \approx \frac 1{\sqrt{2\pi}}\int_{\mathbb R} e^{-ixy}f(x)\,dx~.</math>
In this case, the dilation of the Fourier transform absolute squared by a factor of 2{{mvar|π}}  simply adds log(2{{mvar|π}}) to its entropy.

==Entropy versus variance bounds==
The Gaussian or [[normal probability distribution]] plays an important role in the relationship between [[variance]] and [[Differential entropy|entropy]]:  it is a problem of the [[calculus of variations]] to show that this distribution maximizes entropy for a given variance, and at the same time minimizes the variance for a given entropy.  In fact, for any probability density function  <math>\phi</math> on the real line, Shannon's entropy inequality specifies:
:<math>H(\phi) \le \log \sqrt {2\pi eV(\phi)},</math>
where ''H'' is the Shannon entropy and ''V'' is the variance, an inequality that is saturated only in the case of a [[normal distribution]].

Moreover, the Fourier transform of a Gaussian probability amplitude function is also Gaussian—and the absolute squares of both of these are Gaussian, too.  This  can then be used to derive the usual Robertson variance uncertainty inequality from the above entropic inequality, enabling ''the latter to be tighter than the former''. That is (for ''ħ''=1), exponentiating the Hirschman inequality and using Shannon's expression above, 
:<math>1/2 \le \exp (H(|f|^2)+H(|g|^2))         /(2e\pi)    \le \sqrt {V(|f|^2)V(|g|^2)}~.</math>

Hirschman<ref name=Hirschman/> explained that entropy—his version of entropy was the negative of Shannon's—is a "measure of the concentration of [a probability distribution] in a set of small measure."  Thus ''a low or large negative Shannon entropy means that a considerable mass of the probability distribution is confined to a set of small measure''.

Note that this set of small measure need not be contiguous; a probability distribution can have several concentrations of mass in intervals of small measure, and the entropy may still be low no matter how widely scattered those intervals are.  This is not the case with the variance:  variance measures the concentration of mass about the mean of the distribution, and a low variance means that a considerable mass of the probability distribution is concentrated in a ''contiguous interval'' of small measure.

To formalize this distinction,  we say that two probability density functions <math>\phi_1</math> and <math>\phi_2</math> are '''equimeasurable''' if

:<math>\forall \delta > 0,\,\mu\{x\in\mathbb R|\phi_1(x)\ge\delta\} = \mu\{x\in\mathbb R|\phi_2(x)\ge\delta\},</math>
where {{mvar|μ}}  is the [[Lebesgue measure]].  Any two equimeasurable probability density functions have the same Shannon entropy, and in fact the same Rényi entropy, of any order.  The same is not true of variance, however.  Any probability density function has a radially decreasing equimeasurable "rearrangement" whose variance is less (up to translation) than any other rearrangement of the function; and there exist rearrangements of arbitrarily high variance, (all having the same entropy.)

==See also==
* [[Inequalities in information theory]]
* [[Logarithmic Schrödinger equation]]
* [[Uncertainty principle]]
* [[Riesz–Thorin theorem]]
* [[Fourier transform]]

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* Jizba, P.; Ma, Y.; Hayes, A.; Dunningham, J.A. (2016). "One-parameter class of uncertainty relations based on entropy power". ''Phys. Rev. E'' '''93''' (6): 060104(R). [https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.060104 doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.93.060104]. 
* {{Cite journal | last1 = Zozor | first1 = S. | last2 = Vignat | first2 = C. | doi = 10.1016/j.physa.2006.09.019 | title = On classes of non-Gaussian asymptotic minimizers in entropic uncertainty principles | journal = Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and Its Applications | volume = 375 | issue = 2 | page = 499 | year = 2007 |arxiv = math/0605510 |bibcode = 2007PhyA..375..499Z | s2cid = 119718352 }}    [https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0605510v1 arXiv:math/0605510v1]
* {{Cite journal | last1 = Maassen | first1 = H. | last2 = Uffink | first2 = J. | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.60.1103 | title = Generalized entropic uncertainty relations | journal = Physical Review Letters | volume = 60 | issue = 12 | pages = 1103–1106 | year = 1988 | pmid =  10037942|bibcode = 1988PhRvL..60.1103M | url = https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2210736/46650_28y.pdf }}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevA.75.022319| title = Entropic uncertainty relations and locking: Tight bounds for mutually unbiased bases| journal = Physical Review A| volume = 75| issue = 2| page = 022319| year = 2007| last1 = Ballester | first1 = M. | last2 = Wehner | first2 = S. |arxiv = quant-ph/0606244 |bibcode = 2007PhRvA..75b2319B | s2cid = 119470256}}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.physleta.2003.08.029| title = An optimal entropic uncertainty relation in a two-dimensional Hilbert space| journal = Physics Letters A| volume = 317| issue = 1–2| pages = 32–36| year = 2003| last1 = Ghirardi | first1 = G. | last2 = Marinatto | first2 = L. | last3 = Romano | first3 = R. |arxiv = quant-ph/0310120 |bibcode = 2003PhLA..317...32G | s2cid = 9267554}}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1023/A:1007464229188| title = Minimum uncertainty for antisymmetric wave functions| journal = Letters in Mathematical Physics| volume = 43| issue = 3| pages = 233–248| year = 1998| last1 = Salcedo | first1 = L. L. |arxiv = quant-ph/9706015 |bibcode = 1997quant.ph..6015S| s2cid = 18118758}}

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[[Category:Quantum mechanical entropy]]
[[Category:Information theory]]
[[Category:Physical quantities]]
[[Category:Inequalities]]