FINDING: Non-associative quantum mechanics based on octonions and the exceptional Jordan algebra h₃(O) replaces linear Hilbert spaces with the octonionic projective plane, requiring a fundamentally non-associative algebraic foundation for quantum theory. MATH: - Octonions (O): 8-dimensional normed division algebra, non-associative, alternative (x(xy) = (xx)y, (yx)x = y(xx)). - Exceptional Jordan algebra h₃(O): 27-dimensional algebra of 3×3 Hermitian matrices over O, with product A∘B = ½(AB+BA). - Octonionic projective plane OP²: points correspond to rank-1 idempotents in h₃(O); dimension 16, automorphism group F₄ (exceptional Lie group). - Key constants: No direct ratios (0.382, 0.618, etc.) appear; instead, the structure is governed by the octonion multiplication table (Fano plane) and the 7-sphere S⁷. CONNECTION: - The Fano plane (projective plane of order 2) underlies octonion multiplication — a finite geometry with 7 points and 7 lines, each line containing 3 points. Th Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
An axiomatic approach to the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics, based upon a certain concept of conditional probability, has been proposed in two recent papers by the author. It leads to Jordan operator algebras and thus comes rather close to the standard Hilbert space model of quantum mechanics, but still includes the so-called exceptional Jordan algebras, for which a Hilbert space representation does not exist. This approach is now extended by defining a mathematical model of composite systems. Such a model is required for the study of the joint distribution of two quantum observables. A very general type of observables (not only the real-valued observables corresponding to the self-adjoint operators) is considered. The joint distribution is defined, using the concept of conditional probability, and exhibits a certain dependence on the succession of the observations which is different from the classical case and unknown so far in quantum mechanics. Finally, it turns out that, at least in the finite-dimensional case, a really satisfying model of the composite system exists only if each single system is modeled by a complex Jordan matrix algebra (or a direct sum), and the model then becomes the tensor product. This provides some reasoning why the exceptional Jordan algebras can be ruled out, why quantum mechanics needs the complex numbers and the complex Hilbert space, and why the tensor product is the right choice for the model of a composite system.
We propose an interpretation for the meets and joins in the lattice of experimental propositions of a physical theory, answering a question of Birkhoff and von Neumann in [1]. When the lattice is atomistic, it is isomorphic to the lattice of definably closed sets of a finitary relational structure in First Order Logic. In terms of mapping experimental propositions to subsets of the atomic phase space, the meet corresponds to set intersection, while the join is the definable closure of set union. The relational structure is defined by the action of the lattice automorphism group on the atomic layer. Examining this correspondence between physical theories and infinite group actions, we show that the automorphism group must belong to a family of permutation groups known as geometric Jordan groups. We then use the classification theorem for Jordan groups to argue that the combined requirements of probability and atomicism leave uncountably infinite Steiner 2-systems (of which projective spaces are standard examples) as the sole class of options for generating the lattice of particle Quantum Mechanics.
In this work, we investigate the geometry of quantum logic gates within the holomorphic representation of quantum mechanics. We begin by embedding the physical qubit subspace into the space of holomorphic functions that are homogeneous of degree one in each Schwinger boson pair
(zaj,zbj). Within this framework, we derive explicit closed-form differential operator representations for a universal set of quantum gates, including the Pauli operators, Hadamard, CNOT, CZ, and SWAP, and demonstrate that they preserve the physical subspace exactly. Restricting to unit-magnitude variables (
∣z∣=1) reveals a toroidal space
T2N, on which quantum gates act as canonical transformations: Pauli operators generate Hamiltonian flows, the Hadamard gate induces a nonlinear automorphism, and entangling gates produce correlated diffeomorphisms that couple distinct toroidal factors. Beyond the torus, the full Segal--Bargmann space carries a natural Kähler geometry that governs amplitude dynamics. Entanglement is geometrically characterized via the Segre embedding into complex projective space, while topological protection arises from the
U(1)N fiber bundle structure associated with the Jordan--Schwinger constraint.