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arXiv:0705.2763 · Foundations of Physics

Axiomatic Quantum Mechanics and Completeness

Carsten Held

Published Aug 1, 2008• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The standard axiomatization of quantum mechanics (QM) is not fully explicit about the role of the time-parameter. Especially, the time reference within the probability algorithm (the Born Rule, BR) is unclear. From a probability principle P1 and a second principle P2 affording a most natural way to make BR precise, a logical conflict with the standard expression for the completeness of QM can be derived. Rejecting P1 is implausible. Rejecting P2 leads to unphysical results and to a conflict with a generalization of P2, a principle P3. All three principles are shown to be without alternative. It is thus shown that the standard expression of QM completeness must be revised. An absolutely explicit form of the axioms is provided, including a precise form of the projection postulate. An appropriate expression for QM completeness, reflecting the restrictions of the Gleason and Kochen-Specker theorems is proposed.

DOI
10.1007/s10701-008-9230-4

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The standard axiomatization of quantum mechanics (QM) is not fully explicit about the role of the time-parameter. Especially, the time reference within the probability algorithm (the Born Rule, BR) is unclear. From a probability principle P1 and a second principle P2 affording a most natural way to make BR precise, a logical conflict with the standard expression for the completeness of QM can be derived. Rejecting P1 is implausible. Rejecting P2 leads to unphysical results and to a conflict with a generalization of P2, a principle P3. All three principles are shown to be without alternative. It is thus shown that the standard expression of QM completeness must be revised. An absolutely explicit form of the axioms is provided, including a precise form of the projection postulate. An appropriate expression for QM completeness, reflecting the restrictions of the Gleason and Kochen-Specker theorems is proposed.
The Born rule stands as the fundamental probability postulate of quantum mechanics, yet its first-principle derivation remains a longstanding open problem. This paper presents a rigorous, collapse-free, and observer-independent derivation of the Born rule. Starting from four physically natural and minimal axioms—unitary dynamics, uniqueness of classical records, unitary invariance, and consistency with the classical limit and ergodicity—we uniquely deduce the Born rule from first principles. We prove that the Born rule is not an independent postulate, but a necessary mathematical consequence of the core axiomatic structure. Our approach is self-contained, assumption-free, and purely unitary, establishing that the Born rule is canonically determined by the fundamental mathematical and physical principles of quantum mechanics.
We present a derivation of Born's rule and unitary transforms in Quantum Mechanics, from a simple set of axioms built upon a physical phenomenology of quantization. Combined to Gleason's theorem, this approach naturally leads to the usual quantum formalism, within a new conceptual framework that is discussed heuristically in details. The structure of Quantum Mechanics, from its probabilistic nature to its mathematical expression, appears as a result of the interplay between the quantized number of "modalities" accessible to a quantum system, and the continuum of "contexts" that are required to define these modalities.
We present a mathematical framework based on quantum interval-valued probability measures to study the effect of experimental imperfections and finite precision measurements on defining aspects of quantum mechanics such as contextuality and the Born rule. While foundational results such as the Kochen-Specker and Gleason theorems are valid in the context of infinite precision, they fail to hold in general in a world with limited resources. Here we employ an interval-valued framework to establish bounds on the validity of those theorems in realistic experimental environments. In this way, not only can we quantify the idea of finite-precision measurement within our theory, but we can also suggest a possible resolution of the Meyer-Mermin debate on the impact of finite-precision measurement on the Kochen-Specker theorem.
T61 develops an emergent interference-form representation within the reduced Q5 operator framework. Starting from the reduced expectation structure⟨Q⊥⟩ρ=a+bx+cz+μy,\langle Q_\perp\rangle_\rho=a+bx+cz+\mu y,⟨Q⊥​⟩ρ​=a+bx+cz+μy,The theorem identifies a matched subclass in which the antisymmetric rotational contribution can be rewritten into a probability-like interference expression involving effective channel weights and a relative phase term. The resulting structure takes the form of a two-channel interference law,Ptot=P1+P2+2P1P2 sin⁡(ΔΩ),P_{\mathrm{tot}}=P_1+P_2+2\sqrt{P_1P_2}\,\sin(\Delta\Omega),Ptot​=P1​+P2​+2P1​P2​​sin(ΔΩ),where the interference contribution arises from the surviving reduced antisymmetric sector generated by the rotational invariant μ\muμ. The theorem, therefore, establishes that the reduced defect-sector expectation structure naturally admits quantum-like interference representations under explicit matching conditions. T61 does not derive the Born rule, quantum measurement theory, wavefunction collapse, or universal probabilistic interpretation. The interference form is obtained through parameter matching within a restricted reduced-sector subclass rather than from structural necessity alone. The theorem further clarifies that the effective channel weights P1,P2P_1,P_2P1​,P2​ are not assumed to be physical probabilities in the full quantum-mechanical sense. Instead, T61 isolates the precise conditions under which the reduced antisymmetric transport structure reproduces a probability-like interference form. Status: solid for the reduced expectation decomposition and interference-form rewriting under the stated matching assumptions; conditional on the reduced-sector parameter correspondence and admissible reduction structure; speculative for any interpretation as a derivation of quantum probability theory or the Born rule.