Self-adjoint operators as functions. I: Lattices, Galois connections, and the spectral order

DOI10.1007/S00220-014-1991-3zbMATH Open1294.47101arXiv1208.4724OpenAlexW2020697225MaRDI QIDQ2016040FDOQ2016040

A. Döring, Barry Dewitt

Publication date: 18 June 2014

Published in: Communications in Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Observables of a quantum system, described by self-adjoint operators in a von Neumann algebra or affiliated with it in the unbounded case, form a conditionally complete lattice when equipped with the spectral order. Using this order-theoretic structure, we develop a new perspective on quantum observables. In this first paper (of two), we show that self-adjoint operators affiliated with a von Neumann algebra can equivalently be described as certain real-valued functions on the projection lattice of the algebra, which we call q-observable functions. Bounded self-adjoint operators correspond to q-observable functions with compact image on non-zero projections. These functions, originally defined in a similar form by de Groote, are most naturally seen as adjoints (in the categorical sense) of spectral families. We show how they relate to the daseinisation mapping from the topos approach to quantum theory. Moreover, the q-observable functions form a conditionally complete lattice which is shown to be order-isomorphic to the lattice of self-adjoint operators with respect to the spectral order. In a subsequent paper, we will give an interpretation of q-observable functions in terms of quantum probability theory, and using results from the topos approach to quantum theory, we will provide a joint sample space for all quantum observables.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4724

zbMATH Keywords

von Neumann algebraspectral orderprojection latticespectral familiesobservables of a quantum systemtopos approach to quantum theory

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Applications of operator theory in the physical sciences (47N50) Topoi (18B25) Logical foundations of quantum mechanics; quantum logic (quantum-theoretic aspects) (81P10)

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Cited In (11)

• Spectral order automorphisms on Hilbert space effects and observables: the 2-dimensional case
• On functional representations of positive Hilbert space operators
• Vigier's theorem for the spectral order and its applications
• Isomorphisms of spectral lattices
• Self-adjoint operators as functions. I: Lattices, Galois connections, and the spectral order
• Topos quantum theory with short posets
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Spectral presheaves as quantum state spaces
• Spectral order isomorphisms and AW$AW$*‐factors
• Multidimensional spectral order for selfadjoint operators
• Towards a Paraconsistent Quantum Set Theory

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