Complementarity of Quantum Correlations

Abstract

Quantum theory differs from classical physical theories of Nature in several respects. The more salient of these, such as the existence of entangled quantum states, the lack of local realism, contextuality of measurement results, a fundamental indistinguishability of quantum particles, and impossibility of perfect cloning of quantum states have given rise to the burgeoning field of quantum information and computation, where these features are put to use in performing information processing tasks unachievable in the classical context.

In this thesis, we study the correlations in quantum states that lead to these remarkable properties and derive quantitative relations characterizing such properties. The focus is on one particular aspect of the correlations, namely their complementarity or monogamous nature; strong quantum correlations between two systems implies weaker correlations with other systems. Applications such as bounding ground state energies and the derivation of a classical local realistic description for macroscopic systems are detailed.