2015/08/13 by Marius Krumm, Krumm, Marius
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #FOS: Physical sciences #Mathematical Physics (math-ph) #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Statistical Mechanics and Entropy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1508.03299
openalex publication_date 2015/08/13 · openalex created_date 2022/10/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This thesis investigates the connection between quantum theory,\nthermodynamics and information theory. Theories with structure similar to that\nof quantum theory are considered, mathematically described by the framework of\n"Generalized Probabilistic Theories". For these theories, a thought experiment\nby von Neumann is adapted to obtain a natural thermodynamic entropy definition,\nfollowing a proposal by J. Barrett. Mathematical properties of this entropy are\ncompared to physical consequences of the thought experiment. The validity of\nthe second law of thermodynamics is investigated. In that context, observables\nand projective measurements are generalized to prove an entropy increase for\nprojective measurements of ensembles. Information-theoretically motivated\ndefinitions of the entropy are compared to the entropy from the thermodynamic\nthought experiment. The conditions for the thermodynamic entropy to be\nwell-defined are considered in greater detail. Several further properties of\nthe theories under consideration (e.g. whether there is higher order\ninterference, Pfister's state discrimination principle) and their relation to\nentropy are investigated.\n