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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Nontrivial systems and the necessity of the scalar quantum mechanics axioms

Jan Kotůlek

Published Jun 1, 2009• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss the necessity of the axioms of scalar quantum mechanics introduced by Paschke and clearly demonstrate their geometric and/or physical meaning. We show that reasonable nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is exactly specified by the axioms. A system describing the electric Aharonov–Bohm effect is presented. It illustrates the topological obstructions for the existence of a Hamiltonian.

DOI
10.1063/1.3133887

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We discuss the necessity of the axioms of scalar quantum mechanics introduced by Paschke and clearly demonstrate their geometric and/or physical meaning. We show that reasonable nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is exactly specified by the axioms. A system describing the electric Aharonov–Bohm effect is presented. It illustrates the topological obstructions for the existence of a Hamiltonian.
The axioms of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics lack clear physical meaning. In particular, they say nothing about nonlocality. Yet quantum mechanics is not only nonlocal, it is twice nonlocal: there are nonlocal quantum correlations, and there is the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which implies that an electric or magnetic field h e r e may act on an electron t h e r e. Can we invert the logical hierarchy? That is, can we adopt nonlocality as an axiom for quantum mechanics and derive quantum mechanics from this axiom and an additional axiom of causality? Three versions of these two axioms lead to three different theories, characterized by "maximal nonlocal correlations", "jamming" and "modular energy". Where is quantum mechanics in these theories?
We formulate physically motivated axioms for a physical theory which for systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom uniquely lead to quantum mechanics as the only nontrivial consistent theory. Complex numbers and the existence of the Planck constant common to all systems arise naturally in this approach. The axioms are divided into two groups covering kinematics and basic measurement theory, respectively. We show that even if the second group of axioms is dropped, there are no deformations of quantum mechanics which preserve the kinematic axioms. Thus, any theory going beyond quantum mechanics must represent a radical departure from the usual a priori assumptions about the laws of nature.
The state of two or more particle systems in quantum mechanics is generally expressed as linear superpositions of tensor products of discrete states; and entanglement is connected to the superpositions that cannot be expressed by a single tensor product. On the other hand a discussion of nonlocality is always present in quantum entanglement and furthermore this nonlocality may be revealed via entanglement in the cases of the topological effects in quantum mechanics. In this work, aiming a more systematic and a complementary framework we focus on a comparison of the topological effects of Aharonov-Bohm type whose roots seem to be common. In this context, we will discuss the roles of three topological effects on an entangled quantum mechanical system.
Since its discovery in 1959 the Aharonov-Bohm effect has continuously been the cause for controversial discussions of various topics in modern physics, e.g. the reality of gauge potentials, topological effects and nonlocalities. In the present paper we juxtapose the two rival interpretations of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. We show that the conception of nonlocality encountered in the Aharonov-Bohm effect is closely related to the nonseparability which is common in quantum mechanics albeit distinct from it due to its topological nature. We propose a third alternative interpretation based on the loop space of holonomies which serves to solve some of the problems and we trace back the topological nonlocality and thereby the Aharonov-Bohm effect to their quantum mechanical origin. All three discussed interpretations are, of course, empirically equivalent. In fact, they present us with an instructive case study for the thesis of theory underdetermination by empirical data.