Complementarity and entanglement in quantum information theory

This research investigates two inherently quantum mechanical phenomena, namely complementarity and entanglement, from an information-theoretic perspective. Beyond philosophical implications, a thorough grasp of these concepts is crucial for advancing our understanding of foundational issues in quantum mechanics, as well as in studying how the use of quantum systems might enhance the performance of certain information processing tasks. The primary goal of this thesis is to shed light on the natures and interrelationships of these phenomena by approaching them from the point of view afforded by information theory. We attempt to better understand these pillars of quantum mechanics by studying the various ways in which they govern the manipulation of information, while at the same time gaining valuable insight into the roles they play in specific applications.; The restrictions that nature places on the distribution of correlations in a multipartite quantum system play fundamental roles in the evolution of such systems and yield vital insights into the design of protocols for the quantum control of ensembles with potential applications in the field of quantum computing. By augmenting the existing formalism for quantifying entangled correlations, we show how this entanglement sharing behavior may be studied in increasingly complex systems of both theoretical and experimental significance. Further, our results shed light on the dynamical generation and evolution of multipartite entanglement by demonstrating that individual members of an ensemble of identical systems coupled to a common probe can become entangled with one another, even when they do not interact directly.; The findings presented in this thesis support the conjecture that Hilbert space dimension is an objective property of a quantum system since it constrains the number of valid conceptual divisions of the system into subsystems. These arbitrary observer-induced distinctions are integral to the theory since they determine the possible forms which our subjective information may take. From this point of view the phenomenon of complementarity, which limits the in-principle types and amounts of information that may simultaneously exist about different conceptual divisions of the system, may be identified as that part of quantum mechanics where objectivity and subjectivity intersect. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...