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arXiv:1510.07559 · Physical Review Letters

Testing Nonassociative Quantum Mechanics

Martin Bojowald A, Suddhasattwa Brahma, Umut Büyükçam

Published Nov 24, 2015• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The familiar concepts of state vectors and operators in quantum mechanics rely on associative products of observables. However, these notions do not apply to some exotic systems such as magnetic monopoles, which have long been known to lead to nonassociative algebras. Their quantum physics has remained obscure. This Letter presents the first derivation of potentially testable physical results in nonassociative quantum mechanics, based on effective potentials. They imply new effects which cannot be mimicked in usual quantum mechanics with standard magnetic fields.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.115.220402

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The familiar concepts of state vectors and operators in quantum mechanics rely on associative products of observables. However, these notions do not apply to some exotic systems such as magnetic monopoles, which have long been known to lead to nonassociative algebras. Their quantum physics has remained obscure. This Letter presents the first derivation of potentially testable physical results in nonassociative quantum mechanics, based on effective potentials. They imply new effects which cannot be mimicked in usual quantum mechanics with standard magnetic fields.
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.
Within an algebraic framework of non-associative quantum mechanics, a Hilbert space and the corresponding Schroedinger equation have been introduced into the theory as follows. The underlying non-associative operator algebra A is assumed to be flexible and Lie-admissible so that it is compatible with the Heisenberg equation of motion and quantization. A Hilbert space can be introduced into the theory as a faithful representation of the associated Lie algebra A/sup -/ of the Lie-admissible algebra A. However, if A/sup -/ is the standard Heisenberg algebra, and if the representation is irreducible, then it is shown that A must be associative, reproducing the standard associative quantum mechanics. Some discussions to circumvent this No-Go theorem are discussed. Especiallyyu if we are interested in the formulation of infinite component wave equations, then this difficulty can be avoided.
In this sequence of papers, noncommutative analysis is used to give a consistent axiomatic approach to a unified conceptual foundation of classical and quantum physics. The present Part I defines the concepts of observables, states and ensembles, clarifies the logical relations and operations for them, and shows how they give rise to dynamics and probabilities. States are identified with maximal consistent sets of weak equalities in the algebra of observables (instead of, as usual, with the rays in a Hilbert space). This leads to a concise foundation of quantum mechanics, free of undefined terms, separating in a clear way the deterministic and the stochastic features of quantum physics. The traditional postulates of quantum mechanics are derived from well-motivated axiomatic assumptions. No special quantum logic is needed to handle the peculiarities of quantum mechanics. Foundational problems associated with the measurement process, such as the reduction of the state vector, disappear. The new interpretation of quantum mechanics contains `elements of physical reality' without the need to introduce a classical framework with hidden variables. In particular, one may talk about the state of the universe without the need of an external observer and without the need to assume the existence of multiple universes.
We utilize the close relation between the complex space C2\textbf{C}^2C2 and the real space R3\textbf{R}^3R3 to reformulate quantum mechanics in a manner which allows to, either or both, describe magnetic monopoles and quantize the underlying space, obtaining (noncommutative) quantum mechanics (with magnetic monopoles).
Formulations of magnetic monopoles in a Hilbert-space formulation of quantum mechanics require Dirac's quantization condition of magnetic charge, which implies a large value that can easily be ruled out for elementary particles by standard atomic spectroscopy. However, an algebraic formulation of nonassociative quantum mechanics is mathematically consistent with fractional magnetic charges of small values. Here, spectral properties in nonassociative quantum mechanics are derived and applied to the ground state of hydrogen with a magnetically charged nucleus. The resulting energy leads to new strong upper bounds for the magnetic charge of various elementary particles that can appear as the nucleus of hydrogenlike atoms, such as the muon or the antiproton.