Optimality of entropic uncertainty relations

Abstract

The entropic uncertainty relation proven by Maassen and Uffink for arbitrary pairs of two observables is known to be nonoptimal. Here, we call an uncertainty relation optimal, if the lower bound can be attained for any value of either of the corresponding uncertainties. In this work, we establish optimal uncertainty relations by characterizing the optimal lower bound in scenarios similar to the Maassen–Uffink type. We disprove a conjecture by Englert et al. and generalize various previous results. However, we are still far from a complete understanding and, based on numerical investigation and analytical results in small dimension, we present a number of conjectures.