Operator-valued maximal $f$-divergences for completely positive maps

Abstract

We introduce an operator-valued maximal f-divergence for completely positive (CP) maps between von Neumann algebras, associated with an operator convex function f on (0,+infinity). The construction takes values in the extended lower-semibounded self-adjoint part of the codomain von Neumann algebra. We prove independence of the common CP upper bound used in its computation, joint subadditivity, monotonicity under unital precomposition and normal postcomposition, a martingale convergence theorem for normal CP maps, and joint lower semicontinuity in the point-sigma-weak topology. For normal positive functionals, our construction recovers Hiai's maximal f-divergence. As a consequence, we establish its joint weak lower semicontinuity for arbitrary von Neumann algebras, answering a question left open by Hiai. For eta(t)=t log t, we obtain an operator-valued Belavkin--Staszewski (BS) relative entropy. Moreover, for normal channels with sigma-finite codomain, we prove that the BS channel divergence of Hollands and Ranallo coincides with the extended norm of our operator-valued divergence. Finally, we give finite-dimensional examples and obtain an explicit formula for a finite-index conditional expectation. In the BS case, this formula reduces to the logarithm of the Jones--Kosaki index.