Using quantum theory to simplify input–output processes

All natural things process and transform information. They receive environmental information as input, and transform it into appropriate output responses. Much of science is dedicated to building models of such systems—algorithmic abstractions of their input–output behavior that allow us to simulate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thompson, Jayne, Garner, Andrew J. P., Vedral, Vlatko, Gu, Mile
Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86645
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45332
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:All natural things process and transform information. They receive environmental information as input, and transform it into appropriate output responses. Much of science is dedicated to building models of such systems—algorithmic abstractions of their input–output behavior that allow us to simulate how such systems can behave in the future, conditioned on what has transpired in the past. Here, we show that classical models cannot avoid inefficiency—storing past information that is unnecessary for correct future simulation. We construct quantum models that mitigate this waste, whenever it is physically possible to do so. This suggests that the complexity of general input–output processes depends fundamentally on what sort of information theory we use to describe them.