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arXiv:1309.4635 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Defining quantumness via the Jordan product

Paolo Facchi, Leonardo Ferro, Giuseppe Marmo, Saverio Pascazio

Published Dec 20, 2013• 8 citations
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Abstract

We propose alternative definitions of classical states and quantumness witnesses by focusing on the algebra of observables of the system. A central role is assumed by the anticommutator of the observables, namely the Jordan product. This approach turns out to be suitable for generalizations to infinite dimensional systems. We then show that the whole algebra of observables can be generated by three elements by repeated application of the Jordan product.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/47/3/035301

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We propose alternative definitions of classical states and quantumness witnesses by focusing on the algebra of observables of the system. A central role is assumed by the anticommutator of the observables, namely the Jordan product. This approach turns out to be suitable for generalizations to infinite dimensional systems. We then show that the whole algebra of observables can be generated by three elements by repeated application of the Jordan product.

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We propose alternative definitions of classical states and quantumness witnesses by focusing on the algebra of observables of the system. A central role is assumed by the anticommutator of the observables, namely the Jordan product. This approach turns out to be suitable for generalizations to infinite dimensional systems. We then show that the whole algebra of observables can be generated by three elements by repeated application of the Jordan product.
The main objective of this dissertation is the study of the theory of Lie-Jordan Banach algebras, their role in the framework of classical and quantum mechanics, and their applications to different aspects of quantum systems. One of the main results of this thesis is the novel proof of a theorem which characterizes the Jordan (-Banach) algebras that are in a unique correspondence with C*-algebras. The novelty lies in the introduction of a Lie structure on the algebra, which is required to be compatible with the Jordan one. The physical interpretation of this connection with the Lie structure reflects the dual role played by the observables: they are measurable quantities but also the generators of motions of the state space. Whenever constraints are imposed on a quantum system or symmetries are present, both dynamical or gauge, some reduction on the state space must be considered either because not all states are physical and/or because families of states are equivalent. We address this problem in algebraic terms and obtain a reduction procedure which is free from the problems of gauge anomalies which is often encountered in a heuristic approach to the quantization of constraints. Then we study the composition of physical systems and we prove, from algebraic considerations only, the uniqueness of the Planck's constant. This is a strong result, since he existence of multiple Planck's constants would lead to violations of basic space-time conservation laws, which are not observed experimentally. Finally we address the problem of characterizing classical and quantum states, which has become particularly relevant for the field of quantum information and quantum computation, since a number of tasks in computation and communication can be performed only if quantum resources are available. By using the Jordan product we are able to provide a general definition of classical states and the associated quantumness witness which is suitable to infinite-dimensional systems. Then we propose a measure of nonclassicality based on the incompatibility of states relative to each other, rather than on correlations. Surprisingly, this new measure turns out to be experimentally suitable to a direct estimation by using a quantun circuit based on an interference experiment. We finally describe this experiment which is realizable with current technology.
A fundamental feature of quantum mechanics is the incompatibility between quantum measurements, which leads to the Heisenberg uncertainty relations and is intrinsically related to detection of many other quantum features such as nonlocality and steering. Given the significance and ubiquity of incompatibility, it is desirable to quantify the degree of incompatibility between two quantum measurements which are mathematically described by positive operator valued measures. The commutator (Lie product) between operators has widely been used in quantifying incompatibility (noncommutativity) and plays a crucial role in quantum mechanics. In contrast, the anticommutator (Jordan product) between operators has been relatively less employed in the study of quantum mechanics. In this work, we explore the role of the Jordan product in characterizing measurement incompatibility. The key observation lies in that while the product of two non-negative classical observables is automatically non-negative, this is not the case for quantum observables. Indeed the Jordan product of two non-negative observables is not necessarily non-negative. This negativity of the Jordan product is a purely quantum phenomenon and is here exploited to quantify a kind of measurement incompatibility, which interpolates between noncommutativity and joint measurability. We reveal basic features of this approach, make some comparisons with existing quantifiers of incompatibility and suggest the issue of investigating its applications and implications in quantum information tasks.
We start from the assumption that the real valued observables of a quantum system form a Jordan algebra which is equipped with a compatible Lie product characterizing infinitesimal symmetries, and ask whether two such systems can be considered as independent subsystems of a larger system. We show that this is possible if and only if the associator of the Jordan product is a fixed multiple of the associator of the Lie product. In this case it is known that the two products can be combined to an associative product in the Jordan algebra or its complexification, depending on the sign of the multiple.
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.