Why do the quantum observables form a Jordan operator algebra?

DOI10.1023/B:IJTP.0000028848.33510.F4MaRDI QIDQ702983zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Gerd Niestegge

Publication date 19 January 2005

Published in International Journal of Theoretical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1001.3797

zbMATH Keywords

quantum mechanicsJordan operator algebras

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Applications of functional analysis in quantum physics (46N50) General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Operator algebra methods applied to problems in quantum theory (81R15) Applications of selfadjoint operator algebras to physics (46L60)

Abstract: The Jordan algebra structure of the bounded real quantum observables was recognized already in the early days of quantum mechanics. While there are plausible reasons for most parts of this structure, the existence of the distributive nonassociative multiplication operation is hard to justify from a physical or statistical point of view. Considering the non-Boolean extension of classical probabilities, presented in a recent paper, it is shown in this paper that such a multiplication operation can be derived from certain properties of the conditional probabilities and the observables, i.e., from postulates with a clear statistical interpretation. The well-known close relation between Jordan operator algebras and C*-algebras then provides the connection to the quantum-mechanical Hilbert space formalism, thus resulting in a novel axiomatic approach to general quantum mechanics that includes the types II and III von Neumann algebras.

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