量子相干性是量子力学最重要的特征性质之一，也是新兴的量子密码学、量子度量学和量子计算等量子信息技术的关键资源。在不同的描述场合，广义的量子相干性也表现为量子叠加性、量子不对称性以及非对易性，这些概念在量子物理的理论和实验中都得到了广泛的应用。因此，量子相干性的表征、度量和应用是现代量子信息科学的核心课题之一。尽管如此，现阶段量子相干性的研究面临着三个亟待解决的问题：（1）进一步明确现有量子相干性度量方式的适用范围和物理意义；（2）探索和提出新型的量子相干性和不对称性的度量方式；（3）揭示量子相干性各种不同表现形式之间的区别和联系。本项目旨在努力解决以上三个重要问题，研究内容将分为量子相干性的表征与度量、量子不对称性的表征与度量以及二者之间相互关系等三个有机组成部分，项目的开展也将为量子相干性在量子定位导航、量子热力学以及量子生物学等交叉领域的应用提供坚实的理论工具。

Quantum coherence is one of the most remarkable and characteristic traits of quantum physics and critical resource for the emerging field of quantum technologies, such as quantum cryptography, quantum metrology and quantum computation. In different occasions, the generalized concept of quantum coherence manifests itself as quantum superposition, quantum asymmetry or non-commutability. These specific notions have gotten extensive application in quantum physics both theoretically and experimentally. Therefore, the characterization, quantification and application of quantum coherence are one of the central topics of quantum information science. However, the investigation of quantum coherence is now facing some problems that need to be solved urgently: (1) further identify the scopes and physical meanings of existing measures of quantum coherence; (2) propose novel measures of quantum coherence and asymmetry; (3) uncover the differences and relationships between distinct manifestations of quantum coherence. This project is aiming at solving these problems and the research content is made up of three organic parts: the characterization and quantification of quantum coherence, that of quantum asymmetry and the intrinsic links between them. The development of this project will also provide a solid theoretical framework of quantum coherence for interdisciplinary applications in quantum positioning and navigation, quantum thermodynamics and quantum biology.