Bayes' rule, generalized discord, and nonextensive thermodynamics

Abstract: Generalized measures of quantum correlations are derived by taking Bayes' rule as the only fundamental principle. The resulting quantifiers satisfy several desirable conditions for a measure of quantum correlations and are shown to admit operational interpretation in terms of the difference in efficiency of quantum and classical demons in allowing for the extraction of generalized work from a heat bath. The link with discord is established by adopting the $q$ entropy as entropic principle. This allows us to reproduce, within a one-parameter formalism, both the entropic and the geometric measures of discord and physically distinguish them within the context of the nonextensive thermodynamics. Besides offering a unified view of several measures of correlations in terms of the Bayesian principle and its connection with thermodynamics, our approach unveils a bridge to the nonextensive statistical mechanics.