Quantum Speed Limit is Not Quantum

Abstract

The quantum speed limit (QSL), or the energy-time uncertainty relation, describes the fundamental maximum rate for quantum time evolution and has been regarded as being unique in quantum mechanics. In this study, we obtain a classical speed limit corresponding to the QSL using the Hilbert space for the classical Liouville equation. Thus, classical mechanics has a fundamental speed limit, and QSL is not a purely quantum phenomenon but a universal dynamical property of the Hilbert space. Furthermore, we obtain similar speed limits for the imaginary-time Schroedinger equations such as the master equation.