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Positive Wigner Functions Fell Below the Vacuum Entropy

Explicit finite-energy states overturn a conjectured entropy floor while recovering the vacuum limit as energy vanishes.

Published Updated Story ID: mp-2026-09-15-015
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Summary

Explicit finite-energy states overturn a conjectured entropy floor while recovering the vacuum limit as energy vanishes.

The paper constructs physical quantum states whose Wigner functions remain nonnegative even though their Shannon entropy falls below the vacuum value. It supplies an explicit finite-energy counterexample and analytic finite-Fock-support families, then derives how the optimal entropy deficit closes as mean photon number approaches zero. The result is a mathematical counterexample and asymptotic analysis, not an experimental preparation report.

Why it matters

Explicit finite-energy states overturn a conjectured entropy floor while recovering the vacuum limit as energy vanishes.

Limits and context

  • The paper constructs physical quantum states whose Wigner functions remain nonnegative even though their Shannon entropy falls below the vacuum value.
  • The result is a mathematical counterexample and asymptotic analysis, not an experimental preparation report.

Key claims

  1. Explicit finite-energy states overturn a conjectured entropy floor while recovering the vacuum limit as energy vanishes.

    Qualification: The paper constructs physical quantum states whose Wigner functions remain nonnegative even though their Shannon entropy falls below the vacuum value.

    Evidence: source-2026-09-15-017

Sources

  1. arXiv preprint 2609.13312arXiv · primary research

Corrections

No corrections have been recorded for this story.