Quantum theory from rules on information acquisition

TL;DR

This paper reviews a reconstruction of quantum theory based on rules about how an observer acquires information, providing an informational explanation for quantum phenomena like entanglement and non-locality.

Contribution

It introduces a novel informational reconstruction of quantum theory that explains core quantum features from principles of information acquisition and complementarity.

Findings

Explains entanglement, monogamy, and non-locality through limited accessible information.

Identifies conserved informational charges related to complementarity.

Provides a self-contained overview of the reconstruction approach.

Abstract

We summarise a recent reconstruction of the quantum theory of qubits from rules constraining an observer's acquisition of information about physical systems. This review of [arXiv:1412.8323, arXiv:1511.01130] is accessible and fairly self-contained, focussing on the main ideas and results and not the technical details. The reconstruction offers an informational explanation for the architecture of the theory and specifically for its correlation structure. In particular, it explains entanglement, monogamy and non-locality compellingly from limited accessible information and complementarity. As a byproduct, it also unravels new `conserved informational charges' from complementarity relations that characterise the unitary group and the set of pure states.