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For density operators ${\rho }_1,{\rho }_2$ and $0\le p\le 1$, Von Neumann entropy is concave:

A mixture of two orthogonal pure qubit states has Von Neumann entropy equal to the binary entropy of its weights. Its entropy difference from the first pure state is exactly $h_2(u)$ and its trace distance from that state is $u$. The elementary bound $-(1-u)\ln (1-u)\le u$ gives $h_2(u)\le u{\log }_2(e/u)$; entropy also never exceeds one bit. For small $u$, the leading term is $u{\log }_2(1/u)$.

For the retention parameter $p$, the Holevo capacity isEvery output has Von Neumann entropy at least the value on a pure input, $h_2((1+p)/2)$. Two equiprobable orthogonal pure inputs attain this minimum entropy individually and have maximally mixed average output, attaining the bound. Additivity of Holevo capacity makes the unassisted classical capacity of a quantum channel equal to this value. King's depolarizing-channel capacity paper proves additivity with an arbitrary other channel.

A linear map $V:\mathcal{H}\to \mathcal{K}$ is an isometry when it preserves inner products, equivalently $V^{†}V=I$. It need not be surjective. It maps an orthonormal basis to an orthonormal family, and $\rho \mapsto V\rho V^{†}$ preserves the nonzero eigenvalues and the Von Neumann entropy of a density operator.

On a $d$-dimensional Hilbert space, the Von Neumann entropy is maximized uniquely by $I/d$. Indeed, nonnegativity of quantum relative entropy giveswith equality exactly when $\rho =I/d$.