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  • Open Access

Information-Theoretic Derivation of Energy, Speed Bounds, and Quantum Theory

Lorenzo Giannelli1,2,* and Giulio Chiribella1,2,3,4,†

  • *Contact author: giannell@connect.hku.hk
  • †Contact author: giulio@cs.hku.hk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 060202 – Published 10 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/z8wn-bkvv

Abstract

We provide a derivation of quantum theory in which the existence of an energy observable that generates the reversible dynamics follows directly from information-theoretic principles. Our first principle is that every reversible dynamics is implementable through a sequence of fast collisions with an array of identically prepared systems. Combined with four additional principles, known as causality, classical decomposability, purity preservation, and strong symmetry, this collision model pins down the quantum framework, sets up a one-to-one correspondence between energy observables and generators of the dynamics, and provides an information-theoretic derivation of the Mandelstam-Tamm bound on the speed of quantum evolutions.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 060202– Published 10 February, 2026
  • Received 23 March 2024
  • Revised 27 August 2025
  • Accepted 15 January 2026
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