From Time-Reversal Symmetry to Quantum Bayes’ Rules

Abstract

Bayes’ rule, P(B|A)P(A)=P(A|B)P(B), is one of the simplest yet most profound, ubiquitous, and far-reaching results of classical probability theory, with applications in any field utilizing statistical inference. Many attempts have been made to extend this rule to quantum systems, the significance of which we are only beginning to understand. In this work, we develop a systematic framework for defining Bayes’ rule in the quantum setting, and we show that a vast majority of the proposed quantum Bayes’ rules appearing in the literature are all instances of our definition. Moreover, our Bayes’ rule is based upon a simple relationship between the notions of state over time and a time-reversal-symmetry map, both of which are introduced here.