• DOI:10.1103/PhysRevA.63.022113
• Corpus ID: 119381924

Conceptual inadequacy of the Shannon information in quantum measurements

@article{Brukner2001ConceptualIO,
  title={Conceptual inadequacy of the Shannon information in quantum measurements},
  author={{\vC}aslav Brukner and Anton Zeilinger},
  journal={Physical Review A},
  year={2001},
  volume={63},
  pages={022113}
}

• Č. Brukner, A. Zeilinger
• Published 19 June 2000
• Physics
• Physical Review A

In a classical measurement the Shannon information is a natural measure of our ignorance about properties of a system. There, observation removes that ignorance in revealing properties of the system which can be considered to preexist prior to and independent of observation. Because of the completely different root of a quantum measurement as compared to a classical measurement conceptual difficulties arise when we try to define the information gain in a quantum measurement using the notion of Shannon information. The reason is that, in contrast to classical measurement, quantum measurement, with very few exceptions, cannot be claimed to reveal a property of the individual quantum system existing before the measurement is performed.