The Bhatia-Davis theorem provides a useful upper bound for the variance in mathematics, and in quantum mechanics, the variance of a Hamiltonian is naturally connected to the quantum speed limit due to the Mandelstam-Tamm bound. Inspired by this connection, we construct a formula, referred to as the Bhatia-Davis formula, for the characterization of the quantum speed limit in the Bloch representation. We first prove that the Bhatia-Davis formula is an upper bound for a recently proposed operational definition of the quantum speed limit, which means it can be used to reveal the closeness between the time scale of certain chosen states to the systematic minimum time scale. In the case of the largest target angle, the Bhatia-Davis formula is proved to be a valid lower bound for the evolution time to reach the target when the energy structure is symmetric. Regarding few-level systems, it is also proved to be a valid lower bound for any state in general two-level systems with any target, and for most mixed states with large target angles in equally spaced three-level systems.
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