Umegaki relative entropy of local recovery

Solved ID op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86 Last edited 4 September 2026
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Problem

Does the conditional mutual information of every finite-dimensional tripartite state dominate its Umegaki relative entropy of local recovery? For a state \(\rho_{ABC}\), define

\begin{equation} I(A:C\mid B)_\rho :=S(AB)_\rho+S(BC)_\rho-S(B)_\rho-S(ABC)_\rho. \tag{1} \end{equation}

With \(D(\tau\Vert\omega):=\operatorname{Tr}[\tau(\log\tau-\log\omega)]\) when \(\operatorname{supp}\tau\subseteq\operatorname{supp}\omega\), the question is whether the quantity in Eq. (1) always satisfies

\begin{equation} I(A:C\mid B)_\rho \stackrel{?}{\ge} \min_{\mathcal R_{B\to BC}} D\!\left( \rho_{ABC} \middle\Vert (\operatorname{id}_A\otimes\mathcal R_{B\to BC})(\rho_{AB}) \right), \tag{2} \end{equation}

where the minimum in Eq. (2) is over all completely positive trace-preserving recovery maps \(\mathcal R_{B\to BC}\).

Source

The local Umegaki-recovery inequality was formulated by Li and Winter [LW18]; the associated universal recovery-map proposal is recorded as Eq. (12.153) of Wilde’s text [Wil17].

Progress

  • Li and Winter formulated the local Umegaki-recovery inequality in Eq. (2) and related it to a proposed universal, functorial recovery-map strengthening of relative-entropy monotonicity [LW18]. Wilde recorded the latter proposal as Eq. (12.153) in his text [Wil17].

  • Fawzi and Fawzi disproved Eq. (2). Their explicit family consists of the pure three-qubit states

    \begin{equation} \begin{aligned} \rho^{(\theta)}_{ABC} &=\lvert\psi_\theta\rangle\!\langle\psi_\theta\rvert,\\ \lvert\psi_\theta\rangle_{ABC} &=\frac{1}{\sqrt2}\lvert0\rangle_B\lvert00\rangle_{AC} +\frac{1}{\sqrt2}\lvert1\rangle_B \bigl(\cos\theta\,\lvert01\rangle_{AC} +\sin\theta\,\lvert10\rangle_{AC}\bigr). \end{aligned} \tag{3} \end{equation}

    For sufficiently small positive \(\theta\), the states in Eq. (3) violate Eq. (2). The violation is certified by optimizing a semidefinite-representable Petz–Rényi-divergence lower bound on the relative entropy of recovery [FF18].

Comment

The answer to the local-recovery question in Eq. (2) is negative. This is the conditional-mutual- information consequence of the recovery proposal associated with Eq. (12.153) of [Wil17]. The archived statement is deliberately restricted to local recovery: it does not assert that the same counterexample rules out every nonfunctorial recovery channel allowed to act jointly on an otherwise spectator system.

References

[LW18]
K. Li and A. Winter, “Squashed Entanglement, \(k\)-Extendibility, Quantum Markov Chains, and Recovery Maps,” Foundations of Physics 48, 910–924 (2018).DOIarXiv
[Wil17]
M. M. Wilde, Quantum Information Theory, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press (2017), Sec. 12.7.DOIarXiv
[FF18]
H. Fawzi and O. Fawzi, “Efficient Optimization of the Quantum Relative Entropy,” Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical 51, 154003 (2018).DOIarXiv

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@incollection{qiqcop_op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86,
  title = {Umegaki relative entropy of local recovery},
  booktitle = {Quantum Information and Quantum Computation Open Problem Zoo (QIQCOP Zoo)},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://qiqc-op.com/problem/op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86/}},
  note = {Stable ID op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86; status: Solved; accessed 2026-09-08}
}

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“Umegaki relative entropy of local recovery,” Quantum Information and Quantum Computation Open Problem Zoo (QIQCOP Zoo), https://qiqc-op.com/problem/op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86/, ID op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86, accessed 2026-09-08.

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op_8c6e6d0cc3d28e86
01M1Q787QRMK8JJ7BH5J7A8VXS