Information Content for Quantum States

A method for representing probabilistic aspects of quantum systems by means of a density function on the space of pure quantum states is introduced. In particular, a maximum entropy argument allows us to obtain a natural density function that only reflects the information provided by the density matrix. This result is applied to derive the Shannon entropy of a quantum state. The information theoretic quantum entropy thereby obtained is shown to have the desired concavity property, and to differ from the conventional von Neumann entropy. This is illustrated explicitly for a two-state system. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. S0022-2488(00)03305-3.