Nonextensive triangle equality and other properties of Tsallis relative-entropy minimization

Kullback–Leibler relative-entropy has unique properties in cases involving distributions resulting from relative-entropy minimization. Tsallis relative-entropy is a one-parameter generalization of Kullback–Leibler relative-entropy in the nonextensive thermostatistics. In this paper, we present the properties of Tsallis relative-entropy minimization and present some differences with the classical case. In the representation of such a minimum relative-entropy distribution, we highlight the use of the q-product, an operator that has been recently introduced to derive the mathematical structure behind the Tsallis statistics. One of our main results is the generalization of triangle equality of relative-entropy minimization to the nonextensive case. r 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.