Entropic uncertainty relations for quantum information scrambling

Abstract

Different fields of physics characterize differently how much two quantum operations disagree: quantum information theory features uncertainty relations cast in terms of entropies. The higher an uncertainty bound, the less compatible the operations. In condensed matter and high-energy physics, initially localized, far-apart operators come to disagree as entanglement spreads through a quantum many-body system. This spread, called “scrambling,” is quantified with the out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC). We unite these two measures of operation disagreement by proving entropic uncertainty relations for scrambling. The uncertainty bound depends on the quasiprobability (the nonclassical generalization of a probability) known to average to the OTOC. The quasiprobability strengthens the uncertainty bound, we find, when a spin chain scrambles in numerical simulations. Hence our entropic uncertainty relations reflect the same incompatibility as scrambling, uniting two fields’ notions of quantum-operation disagreement.