On Quantum Entropy

Abstract

Quantum physics, despite its intrinsically probabilistic nature, lacks a definition of entropy fully accounting for the randomness of a quantum state. For example, von Neumann entropy quantifies only the incomplete specification of a quantum state and does not quantify the probabilistic distribution of its observables; it trivially vanishes for pure quantum states. We propose a quantum entropy that quantifies the randomness of a pure quantum state via a conjugate pair of observables/operators forming the quantum phase space. The entropy is dimensionless, it is a relativistic scalar, it is invariant under canonical transformations and under CPT transformations, and its minimum has been established by the entropic uncertainty principle. We expand the entropy to also include mixed states. We show that the entropy is monotonically increasing during a time evolution of coherent states under a Dirac Hamiltonian. However, in a mathematical scenario, when two fermions come closer to each other, each evolving as a coherent state, the total system’s entropy oscillates due to the increasing spatial entanglement. We hypothesize an entropy law governing physical systems whereby the entropy of a closed system never decreases, implying a time arrow for particle physics. We then explore the possibility that as the oscillations of the entropy must by the law be barred in quantum physics, potential entropy oscillations trigger annihilation and creation of particles.