Towards nonadditive quantum information theory

A definition of the nonadditive (nonextensive) conditional entropy indexed by q is presented. Based on the composition law in terms of it, the Shannon-Khinchin axioms are generalized and the uniqueness theorem is established for the Tsallis entropy. The nonadditive conditional entropy, when considered in the quantum context, is always positive for separable states but takes negative values for entangled states, indicating its utility for characterizing entanglement. A criterion deduced from it for separability of the density matrix is examined in detail by employing a bipartite spin-1/2 system. It is found that the strongest criterion for separability obtained by Peres using an algebraic method is recovered in the present information-theoretic approach in the limit q --> infinity. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.