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Physical Review

Quantum-Mechanical Measurement Operator

James S. Albertson

Published Jan 15, 1963• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A unitary operator is defined, connecting the states of the measured system and the measuring-instrument system before and after interaction, by means of which the post-interaction values of $S$ in the instrument can be used to calculate the pre-interaction ${〈R〉}_{\mathrm{av}}$ and ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{2}R$ in the measured system, where $R$ and $S$ are Hermitian operators. The premeasurement state of the instrument need not be known, and the same measurement operator is applicable whether the system to be measured is originally described by a pure case or a mixture. Finally, this theory is contrasted briefly with the measurement theory of von Neumann.

DOI
10.1103/physrev.129.940

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Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society•Jan 1, 1969•29 citations
A unitary operator is defined, connecting the states of the measured system and the measuring-instrument system before and after interaction, by means of which the post-interaction values of SSS in the instrument can be used to calculate the pre-interaction 〈R〉av{〈R〉}_{\mathrm{av}}〈R〉av​ and \ensuremathΔ2R{\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{2}R\ensuremathΔ2R in the measured system, where RRR and SSS are Hermitian operators. The premeasurement state of the instrument need not be known, and the same measurement operator is applicable whether the system to be measured is originally described by a pure case or a mixture. Finally, this theory is contrasted briefly with the measurement theory of von Neumann.
A detailed theory of quantum premeasurement dynamics is presented in which a unitary composite-system operator that contains the relevant object-measuring-instrument interaction brings about the final premeasurement state. It does not include collapse, and it does not consider the environment. It is assumed that a discrete degenerate or non-degenerate observable is measured. Premeasurement is defined by the calibration condition, which requires that every initially statistically sharp value of the measured observable has to be detected with statistical certainty by the measuring instrument. The entire theory is derived as a logical consequence of this definition using the standard quantum formalism. The study has a comprehensive coverage, hence the article is actually a topical review. Connection is made with results of other authors, particularly with basic works on premeasurement. The article is a conceptual review, not a historical one. General exact premeasurement is defined in 7 equivalent ways. Nondemolition premeasurement, defined by requiring preservation of any sharp value of the measured observable, is characterized in 10 equivalent ways. Overmeasurement, i. e., a process in which the observable is measured on account of being a function of a finer observable that is actually measured, is discussed. Disentangled premeasurement, in which, by definition, to each result corresponds only one pointer-observable state in the final composite-system state, is investigated. Ideal premeasurement, a special case of both nondemolition premeasurement and disentangled premeasurement, is defined, and its most important properties are discussed. Finally, disentangled and entangled premeasurements, in conjunction with nondemolition or demolition premeasurements, are used for classification of all premeasurements.
This short chapter contains basics of the mathematical formalism for thequantum measurement theory. In this book we proceed mainly withthe von Neumann measurement theory in which observables are given byHermitian operators and the state update by projections. However, we alsomention the measurement formalism based on quantum instruments, sinceit gives the general framework for quantum measurements. This formalismis used only in Chapters 10 and 18. The latter chapter is devoted to quantum-likemodeling – the applications of the mathematical formalism and methodologyof quantum mechanics (QM) to cognition, psychology, and decision making.Surprisingly, in such applications even the simplest effects can’t be described bythe von Neumann theory. One should use quantum instruments (compare withquantum physics where the main body of theory can be presented solelywithin the von Neumann measurement theory).
Many textbooks on Quantum Mechanics are not very precise as to the meaning of making a measurement: as a consequence, they frequently make assertions which are not based on a dynamical description of the measurement process. A model proposed by von Neumann allows a dynamical description of measurement in Quantum Mechanics, including the measuring instrument in the formalism.In this article we apply von Neumann’s model to illustrate the measurement of an observable by means of a measuring instrument and show how various results, which are sometimens postulated without a dynamical basis, actually emerge.We also investigate the more complex, intriguing and fundamental problem of two successive measurements in Quantum Mechanics, extending von Neumann’s model to two measuring instruments. We present a description which allows obtaining, in a unified way, various results that have been given in the literature.
Measurement interaction between a measured object and a measuring instrument, if both are initially in a pure state, produces a (final) bipartite entangled state vector. The quasi-classical part of the correlations in it is connected with transmission of information in the measurement. But, prior to "reading" the instrument, there is also purely quantum entanglement in the final state vector. It is shown that in repeatable measurement quantitatively the entanglement equals the amount of incompatibility between the measured observable and the final state. It also equals the amount of incompatibility of the observable and the initial state of the object.
Until recently, a quantum instrument was defined to be a completely positive operation-valued measure from the set of states on a Hilbert space to itself. In the last few years, this definition has been generalized to such measures between sets of states from different Hilbert spaces called the input and output Hilbert spaces. This article presents a theory of such instruments. Ways that instruments can be combined such as convex combinations, post-processing, sequential products, tensor products and conditioning are studied. We also consider marginal, reduced instruments and how these are used to define coexistence (compatibility) of instruments. Finally, we present a brief introduction to quantum measurement models where the generalization of instruments is essential. Many of the concepts of the theory are illustrated by examples. In particular, we discuss Holevo and Kraus instruments. Quanta 2023; 12: 27–40.
We use the term ‘measurement’ to refer to the interaction between an object and an apparatus on the basis of which information concerning the initial state of the object may be obtained from information on the resulting state of the apparatus. The quantum theory of measurement is a quantum theoretic investigation of such interactions in order to analyse the correlations between object and apparatus that measurement must establish. Although there is a sizeable literature on quantum measurements there appear to be just two sorts of interactions that have been employed. There are the ‘disturbing’ interactions consistent with the analysis of Landau and Peierls (8) as developed by Pauli (11) and by Landau and Lifshitz (7), and there are the ‘non-disturbing’ interactions explicitly set out by von Neumann ((10), chs. 5, 6), and that dominate the literature. In this paper we shall investigate the most general types of interactions that could possibly constitute measurements and provide a precise mathematical characterization (section 2). We shall then examine an interesting subclass, corresponding to Landau's ideas, that contains both of the above sorts of measurements (section 3). Finally, we shall discuss von Neumann measurements explicitly and explore the purported limitations suggested by Wigner(12) and Araki and Yanase (2). We hope, in this way, to provide a comprehensive basis for discussions of quantum measurements.