Entropy-preserving maps on quantum states (Q477764)

In quantum information theory, quantum states are defined to be positive operators with trace 1 on a complex Hilbert space \(H\). For a quantum state \(\rho\), the quantum entropy by \(S(\rho)\) of \(\rho\) is defined as \(S(\rho)=-\mathrm{tr}(\rho \log_2 \rho)\). Let \(\mathcal{S}(H)\) be the set of all quantum spaces on \(H\) with \(\dim H < \infty\). It is known that \(\phi\) is a convex isomorphism on \(\mathcal{S}(H)\) if and only if there is a unitary or anti-unitary operator \(U\) on \(H\) such that \(\phi(\rho)=U\rho U^*\) for all \(\rho \in \mathcal{S}(H)\). This paper characterizes surjective maps on \(\mathcal{S}(H)\) that preserve quantum entropy of convex combinations. The main result in the paper is that a surjective map \(\phi\) on \(\mathcal{S}(H)\) preserves quantum entropy of convex combinations of quantum states if and only if there exists a unitary or anti-unitary operator \(U\) such that \(\phi(\rho)=U\rho U^*\) for all \(\rho \in \mathcal{S}(H)\). Editorial remark: See a comment on Theorem 2.1 by Lajos Molnár in [Linear Algebra Appl. 512, 331--332 (2017; Zbl 1407.00047)].