Division algebras and quantum theory

DOI10.1007/S10701-011-9566-ZMaRDI QIDQ1929299zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Publication date 7 January 2013

Published in Foundations of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5690

convex cone division algebra duality group representation Jordan algebra octonion quantum theory quaternion

Quaternion and other division algebras: arithmetic, zeta functions (11R52) Rings with involution; Lie, Jordan and other nonassociative structures (16W10) Applications of group representations to physics and other areas of science (20C35) Functional analysis over fields other than (mathbb{R}) or (mathbb{C}) or the quaternions; non-Archimedean functional analysis (46S10) Linearly ordered topological spaces, generalized ordered spaces, and partially ordered spaces (54F05) Closed and approximate solutions to the Schrödinger, Dirac, Klein-Gordon and other equations of quantum mechanics (81Q05) Finite-dimensional groups and algebras motivated by physics and their representations (81R05)

Abstract: Quantum theory may be formulated using Hilbert spaces over any of the three associative normed division algebras: the real numbers, the complex numbers and the quaternions. Indeed, these three choices appear naturally in a number of axiomatic approaches. However, there are internal problems with real or quaternionic quantum theory. Here we argue that these problems can be resolved if we treat real, complex and quaternionic quantum theory as part of a unified structure. Dyson called this structure the "three-fold way". It is perhaps easiest to see it in the study of irreducible unitary representations of groups on complex Hilbert spaces. These representations come in three kinds: those that are not isomorphic to their own dual (the truly "complex" representations), those that are self-dual thanks to a symmetric bilinear pairing (which are "real", in that they are the complexifications of representations on real Hilbert spaces), and those that are self-dual thanks to an antisymmetric bilinear pairing (which are "quaternionic", in that they are the underlying complex representations of representations on quaternionic Hilbert spaces). This three-fold classification sheds light on the physics of time reversal symmetry, and it already plays an important role in particle physics. More generally, Hilbert spaces of any one of the three kinds - real, complex and quaternionic - can be seen as Hilbert spaces of the other kinds, equipped with extra structure.

Review text

The orthodox approach to quantum mechanics adopts complex numbers as scalars, while the orthodox one to classical mechanics adopts real numbers as scalars. It is possible to formulate quantum mechanics using real numbers or quaternions instead of complex numbers to a certain extent, though \textit{nonassociative} octonions defy any possibility of formulating quantum mechanics. The pricipal objective in this paper is to show that the nature or God chooses all the three division algebras (in other words, they are merely three aspects of a single unified structure), in sharp contrast to the common view that the nature or God chooses complex numbers in preference to real numbers and quaternions. The story can be traced back to the early days of group theory, namely, the \textit{Frobenius-Schur indicator} (cf. [Berl. Ber. 1906, 186--208 (1906; JFM 37.0161.01)]). It is equal to \(1\), \(0\) or \(-1\), which correspond to the irreducible representation \(\rho\)\ of a compact group \(G\)\ on a complex Hilbert space \(H\)\ being real, complex or quaternionic, respectively. It is well known that these three cases can be characterized by considering the dual representation \(\rho^{\ast}\)\ on the dual Hilbert space \(H^{\ast}\), which Freeman Dyson called ``threefold way in [\textit{F. J. Dyson}, J. Math. Phys. 3, 1199--1215 (1962; Zbl 0134.45703)]. The originality of this paper, if any, lies not in mathematics but in physics, more specifically, in its exhaustive exploration of this familiar mathematical fact in connection with the very foundations of quantum theory. Elementary particles are usually described in irreducible unitary representations of compact groups, so that they appear in three kinds, namely, real, complex and quaternionic. If we take any spin \(\frac{1}{2}\)-particle with rotational symmetries only, then it is described by a unitary representation of \(\mathrm{SU}\left( 2\right) \) on \(\mathbb{C}^{2}\), which is quaternionic. More generally, as far as we are exclusively concerned with representations of \(\mathrm{SU}\left( 2\right) \), particles of half-integer spin are quaternionic, while those of integer spin are real, so that the square of time reversal is \(1\)\ for particles of integer spin, while it is \(-1\)\ for particles of half-integer spin. One can see the details of such a story in the paper.

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