Completeness of decoherence functionals

DOI10.1063/1.530916zbMATH Open0847.46047arXivgr-qc/9502036OpenAlexW3106405060MaRDI QIDQ4873349FDOQ4873349

Authors: Stephan Schreckenberg 

Publication date: 8 October 1996

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

Abstract: The basic ingredients of the `consistent histories' approach to a generalized quantum theory are `histories'and decoherence functionals. The main aim of this program is to find and to study the behaviour of consistent sets associated with a particular decoherence functional $d$. In its recent formulation by Isham it is natural to identify the space $UP$ of propositions about histories with an orthoalgebra or lattice. When $UP$ is given by the lattice of projectors $PV$ in some Hilbert space $V$, consistent sets correspond to certain partitions of the unit operator in $V$ into mutually orthogonal projectors $a_1,a_2,ldots$, such that the function $d(a,a)$ is a probability distribution on the boolean algebra generated by $a_1,a_2,ldots$. Using the classification theorem for decoherence functionals, proven previously, we show that in the case where $V$ is some separable Hilbert space there exists for each partition of the unit operator into a set of mutually orthogonal projectors, and for any probability distribution $p(a)$ on the corresponding boolean algebra, decoherence functionals $d$ with respect to which this set is consistent and which are such that for the probability functions $d(a,a)=p(a)$ holds.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9502036

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zbMATH Keywords

Boolean algebraconsistent historiesprobability distributiondecoherence functionalsspace of historiesgeneralized quantum theorylattice projectors

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Applications of functional analysis in quantum physics (46N50) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15)

Cites Work

• Consistent histories and the interpretation of quantum mechanics
• Logical reformulation of quantum mechanics. I: Foundations
• Quantum logic and the histories approach to quantum theory
• Quantum temporal logic and decoherence functionals in the histories approach to generalized quantum theory
• The classification of decoherence functionals: An analog of Gleason’s theorem

Cited In (11)

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Symmetries of decoherence functionals
• Symmetries of history quantum theories and decoherence functionals
• Partial decoherence of histories and the Diósi test
• Quantum processes on phase space.
• The classification of decoherence functionals: An analog of Gleason’s theorem
• Global completability with applications to self-consistent quantum tomography
• On tracial operator representations of quantum decoherence functionals
• Symmetries and conservation laws in histories-based theories.
• Symmetry and history quantum theory: An analog of Wigner’s theorem
• The representation theory of decoherence functionals in history quantum theories

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