Dynamics, Information and Complexity in Quantum Systems (Theoretical and Mathematical Physics)

The aim of this book is to o?er a self-consistent overview of a series of - sues relating entropy, information and dynamics in classical and quantum physics. My personal point of view regarding these matters is the result of what I had the good fortune to learn in the course of the years from various scientists: Heide Narnhofer in the ?rst place, who introduced me to qu- tum dynamical entropies and was a precious guide ever since, then Robert Alicki, Mark Fannes, Giancarlo Ghirardi, Andreas Knauf, John Lewis, - o?rey Sewell, Franco Strocchi, Walter Thirring, Armin Uhlmann. To me, all of them have been a constant example of rigorous mathematics and physical intuition jointly at work. Last but not least, my deep gratitude goes to my family and to the many friends on whom I could always count for support and encouragement with a special thought for Traude and Wolfgang Georgiades.

The leading theme of the book is complexity in quantum dynamics. This issue is addressed by comparison with the classical ergodic, information and algorithmic complexity theories.

Of particular importance is the notion of Kolmogorov-Sinai dynamical entropy and of its inequivalent quantum extensions formulated by Connes, Narnhofer and Thirring on one hand and Alicki and Fannes on the other. Their connections with extensions to quantum systems of Kolmogorov-Chaitin-Solomonoff algorithmic complexity theory is also presented. The technical tools employed are those of the algebraic approach to quantum statistical mechanics which offers a unifying view of classical and quantum dynamical systems. Proofs and examples are provided in order to make the presentation self consistent.