This paper follows recent steps towards a nonassociative quantum theory and points out the mathematical structure behind the proposed modifications to conventional quantum theory. An N=1 supersymmetry model and a strong force glueball ansatz is highlighted. Using nonassociative complex octonion algebra, it is shown how the Lorentz Lie algebra can be understood as a four dimensional generalization of the algebra of spin-1/2 operators in physics. Probability is speculated to become an emergent phenomenon from some nonassociative geometry in which to better understand the fluxes involved. A prototype nonassociative quantum theory in one dimension is brought forward to illustrate how normed division algebras may aid in modeling isospin properties that are similar to observed field and particle symmetries in nature. This prototype is built from a principle of self-duality between types of active and passive transformations and supplied with a modified Born rule that models observation, similar to conventional quantum mechanics. Solutions on the complex numbers, quaternions and octonions are discussed. The Hopf coquasigroup structure of the octonionic eigenvalue relation is shown and advertised as a tool for future investigation into the complete solution set of the model.
This paper follows recent steps towards a nonassociative quantum theory and points out the mathematical structure behind the proposed modifications to conventional quantum theory. An N=1 supersymmetry model and a strong force glueball ansatz is highlighted. Using nonassociative complex octonion algebra, it is shown how the Lorentz Lie algebra can be understood as a four dimensional generalization of the algebra of spin-1/2 operators in physics. Probability is speculated to become an emergent phenomenon from some nonassociative geometry in which to better understand the fluxes involved. A prototype nonassociative quantum theory in one dimension is brought forward to illustrate how normed division algebras may aid in modeling isospin properties that are similar to observed field and particle symmetries in nature. This prototype is built from a principle of self-duality between types of active and passive transformations and supplied with a modified Born rule that models observation, similar to conventional quantum mechanics. Solutions on the complex numbers, quaternions and octonions are discussed. The Hopf coquasigroup structure of the octonionic eigenvalue relation is shown and advertised as a tool for future investigation into the complete solution set of the model.
Abstract We develop a version of quantum mechanics that can handle nonassociative algebras of observables and which reduces to standard quantum theory in the traditional associative setting. Our algebraic approach is naturally probabilistic and is based on using the universal enveloping algebra of a general nonassociative algebra to introduce a generalized notion of associative composition product. We formulate properties of states together with notions of trace, and use them to develop Gel’fand–Naimark–Segal constructions. We describe Heisenberg and Schrödinger pictures of completely positive dynamics, and we illustrate our formalism on the explicit examples of finite-dimensional matrix Jordan algebras as well as the octonion algebra.
The complete mathematical structure of quantum mechanics is derived from first principles, tracing all fundamental results to the constraint axiom via octonionic algebra. Without postulates, empirical fitting, or measurement assumptions, the following results are established: (1) Quantum states must reside in a complex Hilbert space over the complex numbers. (2) The canonical commutation relation between position and momentum follows from octonionic non-commutativity together with holographic information bounds. (3) The Heisenberg uncertainty principle arises as a mathematical theorem from the Cauchy–Schwarz inequality. (4) The Schrödinger equation emerges from time translation symmetry. (5) Spin one-half arises from the structure of the relevant Clifford algebra. (6) The Pauli matrices originate from the quaternion subalgebra contained within the octonions. (7) The Born rule appears as the unique probability measure on complex projective space. Related resourcesAdditional preprints, theoretical frameworks, and ongoing work by the author are available at:https://murad-ahmadov.github.io/
The indispensability of the complex structure in quantum mechanics has beenexperimentally confirmed, but its algebraic origin—the fact that the complex number field is the only commutative, algebraically closed division algebra over the realnumbers—has not yet been rigorously linked to an interpretive framework of quantum reality. This paper proposes an axiomatic system for a latent world algebra,decomposing the descriptive structure of quantum states into a direct sum of anobservable subalgebra and a latent world subalgebra, and defining the multiplication rules and commutation relations between them. It is proved that this algebraicstructure is a concrete realization of a C*-algebra, where self-adjoint elements correspond to the algebraic representation of observables, and non-self-adjoint elementsencode the algebraic information of modal dimensions. Furthermore, the square-lawclassification of the latent world subalgebra and its correspondence with Cliffordalgebras are explored, interpreting the difference between J2 = −I (complex structure) and J2 = +I (real structure) as two distinct physical modalities. On thisbasis, the algebraic framework is extended to quaternionic and octonionic cases,arguing that the non-associativity of octonions may correspond to the non-localityof quantum entanglement. Finally, topological invariants such as Chern numbersand characteristic classes are represented as numerical values obtained from thepairing of central cohomology classes of the latent world algebra with K-theory,establishing an equivalence relation between topological transitions and algebraicprojection mappings. This study provides a rigorous mathematical foundation forunderstanding the algebraic necessity of quantum structures and opens a formalizedpath for exploring hypercomplex quantum theories.
The present article is the flrst in a program that aims at generalizing quantum mechanics by keeping its structure essentially intact, but constructing the Hilbert space over a new number system much richer than the fleld of complex numbers. We call this number system \the Quantionic Algebra. It is eight dimensional like the algebra of octonions, but, unlike the latter, it is associative. It is not a division algebra, but \almost one (in a sense that will be evident when we come to it). It enjoys the minimum of properties needed to construct a Hilbert space that admits quantum-mechanical interpretations (like transition probabilities), and, moreover, it contains the local Minkowski structure of space-time. Hence, a quantum theory built over the quantions is inherently relativistic. The algebra of quantions has been discovered in two steps. The flrst is a careful analysis of the abstract structure of quantum mechanics (the flrst part of the present work), the second is the classiflcation of all concrete realizations of this abstract structure (several additional articles). The classiflcation shows that there are only two realizations. One is standard quantum mechanics, the other its inherently relativistic generalization. The present article develops the abstract algebra of observables.
As earlier conjectured by several authors and much later established by Solèr, from the lattice-theory point of view, Quantum Mechanics may be formulated in real, complex or quaternionic Hilbert spaces only. On the other hand, no quantum systems seem to exist that are naturally described in a real or quaternionic Hilbert space. In a previous paper [23], we showed that any quantum system which is elementary from the viewpoint of the Poincaré symmetry group and it is initially described in a real Hilbert space, it can also be described within the standard complex Hilbert space framework. This complex description is unique and more precise than the real one as, for instance, in the complex description, all self-adjoint operators represent observables defined by the symmetry group. The complex picture fulfils the thesis of Solér’s theorem and permits the standard formulation of the quantum Noether’s theorem. The present work is devoted to investigate the remaining case, namely, the possibility of a description of a relativistic elementary quantum system in a quaternionic Hilbert space. Everything is done exploiting recent results of the quaternionic spectral theory that were independently developed. In the initial part of this work, we extend some results of group representation theory and von Neumann algebra theory from the real and complex cases to the quaternionic Hilbert space case. We prove the double commutant theorem also for quaternionic von Neumann algebras (whose proof requires a different procedure with respect to the real and complex cases) and we extend to the quaternionic case a result established in the previous paper concerning the classification of irreducible von Neumann algebras into three categories. In the second part of the paper, we consider an elementary relativistic system within Wigner’s approach defined as a locally-faithful irreducible strongly-continuous unitary representation of the Poincaré group in a quaternionic Hilbert space. We prove that, if the squared-mass operator is non-negative, the system admits a natural, Poincaré invariant and unique up to sign, complex structure which commutes with the whole algebra of observables generated by the representation itself. This complex structure leads to a physically equivalent reformulation of the theory in a complex Hilbert space. Within this complex formulation, differently from what happens in the quaternionic one, all self-adjoint operators represent observables in agreement with Solèr’s thesis, the standard quantum version of Noether theorem may be formulated and the notion of composite system may be given in terms of tensor product of elementary systems. In the third part of the paper, we focus on the physical hypotheses adopted to define a quantum elementary relativistic system relaxing them on the one hand, and making our model physically more general on the other hand. We use a physically more accurate notion of irreducibility regarding the algebra of observables only, we describe the symmetries in terms of automorphisms of the restricted lattice of elementary propositions of the quantum system and we adopt a notion of continuity referred to the states viewed as probability measures on the elementary propositions. Also in this case, the final result proves that there exists a unique (up to sign) Poincaré invariant complex structure making the theory complex and completely fitting into Solèr’s picture. The overall conclusion is that relativistic elementary systems are naturally and better described in complex Hilbert spaces even if starting from a real or quaternionic Hilbert space formulation and this complex description is uniquely fixed by physics.
Standard quantum information is formulated over complex Hilbert spaces, where the pure state space of a single qubit is geometrically encoded by the first Hopf fibration S3→S2. Beyond this familiar setting, the normed division algebras C, H and O provide a hierarchy of increasingly rich algebraic and topological structures that has motivated several extensions of quantum theory and quantum computation. This review synthesizes the literature connecting quaternionic and octonionic frameworks, Clifford algebras, spinors, projective spaces and Hopf fibrations. We emphasize a central conceptual point that is often blurred in the literature: the second and third Hopf fibrations play two distinct roles, namely, (i) as kinematical descriptions of hypercomplex single-particle state spaces such as the quaternionic projective line HP1≃S4, and (ii) as entanglement-sensitive descriptions of multi-qubit complex systems, especially two- and three-qubit Hilbert spaces. On the algebraic side, Clifford and geometric algebras provide a natural language for rotations, spinors, and gate synthesis, while quaternionic Hilbert modules furnish a mathematically consistent extension of standard qubit kinematics and dynamics. By contrast, octonionic models face major obstructions due to non-associativity, which affects inner products, tensor products, spectral theory and circuit composition. We therefore distinguish carefully between robust results, partial constructions and speculative directions. The outcome is a unified geometric review of hypercomplex quantum information, together with a map of open problems at the interface of topology, noncommutative algebra, and quantum computation.