Why do the quantum observables form a Jordan operator algebra?

DOI10.1023/B:IJTP.0000028848.33510.F4zbMATH Open1073.81007arXiv1001.3797MaRDI QIDQ702983FDOQ702983

Gerd Niestegge

Publication date: 19 January 2005

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

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.

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)

Cited In (6)

• Composite systems and the role of the complex numbers in quantum mechanics
• Conditional expectations associated with quantum states
• An approach to quantum mechanics via conditional probabilities
• Different types of conditional expectation and the Lüders-von Neumann quantum measurement
• Local tomography and the role of the complex numbers in quantum mechanics
• A representation of quantum measurement in order-unit spaces

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