Almost-i.i.d. States

Giulia Mazzola – PhD student in QIT group, ETH Zurich


A common assumption in physics is that the same experiment can be repeated many times independently. More precisely, one often assumes that different rounds of an experiment can be described by independent and identically distributed (iid) states. But how can such an assumption be justified? In fact, the Italian mathematician Bruno de Finetti cautioned that the “most common and misleading error” in probability theory is treating the iid assumption as fundamental. Consequently, he formulated a theorem showing how the iid assumption could emerge from more general symmetry assumptions. In the quantum realm, generalisations of the de Finetti theorem motivate the broader notion of an “almost-iid” structure.

In this talk, I will discuss (quantum) de Finetti theorems and explore how information-theoretic notions, such as measures for entanglement, are affected by generalising them to account for the almost-iid structure.


Recording

There will be a recording, but no live-stream.