Unifying Entanglement with Uncertainty via Symmetries of Observable Algebras

Abstract

Strong subadditivity goes beyond the tensored subsystem and commuting operator models. As previously noted by Petz and later by Araki and Moriya, two subalgebras of observables satisfy a generalized SSA-like inequality if they form a commuting square. We explore the interpretation and consequences in finite dimensions, connecting various entropic uncertainty relations for mutually unbiased bases with the positivity of a generalized conditional mutual information (CMI), and with inequalities on relative entropies of coherence and asymmetry. We obtain a bipartite resource theory of operations under which the two subalgebras are respectively invariant and covariant, with CMI as a monotone, and generalized non-classical monotones based on squashed entanglement and entanglement of formation. Free transformations support conversion between entanglement and uncertainty-based configurations, as "EPR <-> 2UCR." Our theory quantifies the common non-classicality in entanglement and uncertainty, implying a strong conceptual link between these fundamentally quantum phenomena.