Resource theories of knowledge

Abstract

How far can we take the resource theoretic approach to explore physics? Resource theories like LOCC, reference frames and quantum thermodynamics have proven a powerful tool to study how agents who are subject to certain constraints can act on physical systems. This approach has advanced our understanding of fundamental physical principles, such as the second law of thermodynamics, and provided operational measures to quantify resources such as entanglement or information content. In this work, we significantly extend the approach and range of applicability of resource theories. Firstly we generalize the notion of resource theories to include any description or knowledge that agents may have of a physical state, beyond the density operator formalism. We show how to relate theories that differ in the language used to describe resources, like micro and macroscopic thermodynamics. Finally, we take a top-down approach to locality, in which a subsystem structure is derived from a global theory rather than assumed. The extended framework introduced here enables us to formalize new tasks in the language of resource theories, ranging from tomography, cryptography, thermodynamics and foundational questions, both within and beyond quantum theory.