Mixed-state twin observables

Twin observables are opposite subsystem observables A+ and A- if they are indistinguishable in measurement in a given mixed or pure state ρ in the sense that the measurement of one amounts to the same as the measurement of the other (direct measurement and so-called distant measurement, respectively). It is pointed out that twin observables may reveal quantum correlations that give rise to the disappearance of interference in the two-slit experiment. Twin observables in general states are investigated in detail algebraically and geometrically. It is shown that there is a far-reaching correspondence between the detectable (in ρ) spectral entities of the two operators. Twin observables are state-dependently quantum-logically equivalent, and the direct subsystem measurement of one of them ipso facto gives rise to the indirect (i.e. distant) measurement of the other. Existence of nontrivial twins requires a singularity of ρ. Systems in thermodynamic equilibrium do not admit subsystem twins. These observables may enable one to simplify the matrix representing ρ.