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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Event structures in nonstandard quantum mechanics

Stanley Gudder

Published Dec 1, 1994• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Event structures in nonstandard quantum mechanics are represented by closed subspaces of a nonstandard Hilbert space. There are four natural types of closed subspaces of a nonstandard Hilbert space and these different types coalesce in the standard theory. These types are the closed internal subspaces, the splitting subspaces, the ⊥-closed subspaces, and the norm-closed subspaces. The algebraic properties of these four types are studied and compared. Moreover, the resulting structures are compared to others that have recently appeared in the literature.

DOI
10.1063/1.530677

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Event structures in nonstandard quantum mechanics are represented by closed subspaces of a nonstandard Hilbert space. There are four natural types of closed subspaces of a nonstandard Hilbert space and these different types coalesce in the standard theory. These types are the closed internal subspaces, the splitting subspaces, the ⊥-closed subspaces, and the norm-closed subspaces. The algebraic properties of these four types are studied and compared. Moreover, the resulting structures are compared to others that have recently appeared in the literature.
Quantum mechanics is formulated using a nonstandard Hilbert space. The concept of an eigen vector of a linear operator, which applies to standard as well as nonstandard Hilbert spaces, is replaced by the more general concept of an ultra eigen vector, which applies to nonstandard Hilbert spaces alone. Ultra eigen vectors corresponding to all spectral points of internal self−adjoint operators are proved to exist. This result enables us to set up a formalism which is equally valid for the discrete, as well as the continuous spectrum. Finally, Dirac’s formalism is reproduced, in a rigorous form within the nonstandard Hilbert space structure.
Quantum mechanics is usually described in the terminology of probability theory even though the properties of the probability spaces associated with it are fundamentally different from the standard ones of probability theory. For example, Kolmogorov's axioms are not general enough to encompass the non-commutative situations that arise in quantum theory. There have been many attempts to generalise these axioms to meet the needs of quantum mechanics. The focus of these attempts has been the observation, first made by Birkhoff and von Neumann (1936), that the propositions associated with a quantum-mechanical system do not form a Boolean σ-algebra. There is almost universal agreement that the probability space associated with a quantum-mechanical system is given by the set of subspaces of a separable Hilbert space, but there is disagreement over the algebraic structure that this set represents. In the most popular model for the probability space of quantum mechanics the propositions are assumed to form an orthocomplemented lattice (Mackey (1963), Jauch (1968)). The fundamental concept here is that of a partial order, that is a binary relation that is reflexive and transitive but not symmetric. The partial order is interpreted as embodying the logical concept of implication in the set of propositions associated with the physical system. Although this model provides an acceptable mathematical expression of the probabilistic structure of quantum mechanics in that the subspaces of a separable Hilbert space give a representation of an ortho-complemented lattice, it has several deficiencies which will be discussed later.
This paper shows that the non-Boolean logic of quantum measurements is more naturally represented by a relatively new 4-operation system of Boolean fractions—conditional events—than by the standard representation using Hilbert Space. After the requirements of quantum mechanics and the properties of conditional event algebra are introduced, the quantum concepts of orthogonality, completeness, simultaneous verifiability, logical operations, and deductions are expressed in terms of conditional events thereby demonstrating the adequacy and efficacy of this formulation. Since conditional event algebra is nearly Boolean and consists merely of ordered pairs of standard events or propositions, quantum events and the so-called “superpositions” of states need not be mysterious, and are here fully explicated. Conditional event algebra nicely explains these non-standard “superpositions” of quantum states as conjunctions or disjunctions of conditional events, Boolean fractions, but does not address the so-called “entanglement phenomena” of quantum mechanics, which remain physically mysterious. Nevertheless, separating the latter phenomena from superposition issues adds clarity to the interpretation of quantum entanglement, the phenomenon of influence propagated at faster than light speeds. With such treacherous possibilities present in all quantum situations, an observer has every reason to be completely explicit about the environmental–instrumental configuration, the conditions present when attempting quantum measurements. Conditional event algebra allows such explication without the physical and algebraic remoteness of Hilbert space.
Corresponding to any irreducible proposition system L in general quantum mechanics there is a division ring D with an anti-automorphism * and a vector space (V, D) over D with a definite sesquilinear form φ such that L is isomorphic to the set of φ closed subspaces of (V, D). The main task remaining in connecting the general quantum mechanics to the conventional quantum theory in a complex Hilbert space is to give physical arguments which force D to be the complex field. In this paper it is shown that if L admits a certain type of observable (together with other structure which seems to be physically justified), then D contains the real field as a subfield. Steps are then indicated that can be taken to move from the reals to the complexes or quaternions.
The probability theory used in quantum mechanics is currently being employed by psychologists to model the impact of context on decision. Its event space consists of closed subspaces of a Hilbert space, and its probability function sometimes violate the law of the finite additivity of probabilities. Results from the literature indicate that such a “Hilbert space probability theory” cannot be extended to standard, finitely additive, probability theory by the addition of new events with specific probabilities. This chapter presents a new kind of probability theory that shares many fundamental algebraic characteristics with Hilbert space probability theory but does extend to standard probability theory by adjoining new events with specific probabilities. The new probability theory arises from considerations about how psychological experiments are related through counterfactual reasoning.