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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Augmented temporal logic formalism for histories-based generalized quantum mechanics

Tulsi Dass, Yogesh N. Joglekar

Published Feb 1, 1998• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An axiomatic development of dynamics of systems in the framework of histories is given which contains the history versions of classical and traditional quantum mechanics as special cases. We consider theories which admit a quasitemporal structure (a generalization of the concept of time using partial semigroups) and whose “single time” propositions have the mathematical structure of a logic; isomorphism of logics at different “instants of time” is not assumed. The concept of directed partial semigroup is introduced to incorporate the concept of direction of flow of time in quasitemporal theories. Starting with a few simple axioms, the space of history propositions is explicitly constructed and shown to be an orthoalgebra (as envisaged in the scheme of Isham and Linden [J. Math. Phys. 35, 5452–5476 (1994)]); its subspace consisting of history filters (“homogeneous histories”) is a meet semilattice. The partial semigroups employed allow semi-infinite irreducible decompositions.

DOI
10.1063/1.532348

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An axiomatic development of dynamics of systems in the framework of histories is given which contains the history versions of classical and traditional quantum mechanics as special cases. We consider theories which admit a quasitemporal structure (a generalization of the concept of time using partial semigroups) and whose “single time” propositions have the mathematical structure of a logic; isomorphism of logics at different “instants of time” is not assumed. The concept of directed partial semigroup is introduced to incorporate the concept of direction of flow of time in quasitemporal theories. Starting with a few simple axioms, the space of history propositions is explicitly constructed and shown to be an orthoalgebra (as envisaged in the scheme of Isham and Linden [J. Math. Phys. 35, 5452–5476 (1994)]); its subspace consisting of history filters (“homogeneous histories”) is a meet semilattice. The partial semigroups employed allow semi-infinite irreducible decompositions.
An extensive analysis is made of the Gell-Mann and Hartle axioms for a generalized ‘histories’ approach to quantum theory. Emphasis is placed on finding analogs of the lattice structure employed in standard quantum logic. Particular attention is given to ‘quasitemporal’ theories in which the notion of time-evolution in conventional Hamiltonian physics is replaced by something that is much broader; theories of this type are expected to arise naturally in the context of quantum gravity and quantum field theory in a curved space–time. The quasitemporal structure is coded in a partial semigroup of ‘temporal supports’ that underpins the lattice of history propositions. Nontrivial examples include quantum field theory on a non-globally-hyperbolic space–time, and a possible cobordism approach to a theory of quantum topology. A key result is the demonstration that the set of history propositions in standard quantum theory can be realized in such a way that each such proposition is represented by a genuine projection operator. This gives valuable insight into the possible lattice structure in general history theories.
These lecture notes cover the important developments in histories approach to quantum mechanics with overall content and emphasis somewhat different from other reviews and books on the subject.The idea of Houtappel, Van Dam and Wigner of employing objects based on primitive concepts of physical theories is discussed in some detail and the fact that histories are such objects is emphasized. Application of histories formalism to the problem of understanding the quasiclassical domain is treated in some detail. Other topics discussed include generalized histories-based quantum mechanics and its application to the quantum mechanics of space-time,generalization of the notion of time sequences employing partial semigroups,quasitemporal structures, history projection operator (HPO) formalism, the algebraic scheme of Isham and Linden, an axiomatic scheme for quasitemporal histories-based theories and symmetries and conservation laws in histories-based theories.
Symmetries are defined in histories-based generalized quantum mechanics paying special attention to the class of history theories admitting quasitemporal structure (a generalization of the concept of `temporal sequences' of `events' using partial semigroups) and logic structure for `single time histories'. Symmetries are classified into orthochronous (those preserving the `temporal order' of `events') and non-orthochronous. A straightforward criterion for physical equivalence of histories is formulated in terms of orthochronous symmetries; this criterion covers various notions of physical equivalence considered by Gell-Mann and Hartle as special cases. In familiar situations, a reciprocal relationship between traditional symmetries (Wigner symmetries in quantum mechanics and Borel-measurable transformations of phase space in classical mechanics) and symmetries defined in this work is established. In a restricted class of theories, a definition of conservation law is given in the history language which agrees with the standard ones in familiar situations; in a smaller subclass of theories, a Noether type theorem (implying a connection between continuous symmetries of dynamics and conservation laws) is proved.
The formalism for histories-based generalized quantum mechanics developed in two earlier papers is applied to the treatment of histories (of particles or fields or more general objects) in curved spacetimes (which need not admit foliation in spacelike hypersurfaces). The construction of the space of temporal supports (a partial semigroup generalizing the space of finite time sequences employed in traditional temporal description of histories) employs spacelike subsets of spacetime having dimensionality less than or equal to three. Definition of symmetry is sharpened by the requirement of continuity of mappings (employing topological partial semigroups). It is shown that with this proviso, a symmetry in our formalism implies a conformal isometry of the spacetime metric.
An extended analysis is made of the Gell-Mann and Hartle axioms for a generalised `histories' approach to quantum theory. Emphasis is placed on finding equivalents of the lattice structure that is employed in standard quantum logic. Particular attention is given to `quasi-temporal' theories in which the notion of time-evolution is less rigid than in conventional Hamiltonian physics; theories of this type are expected to arise naturally in the context of quantum gravity and quantum field theory in a curved space-time. The quasi-temporal structure is coded in a partial semi-group of `temporal supports' that underpins the lattice of history propositions. Non-trivial examples include quantum field theory on a non globally-hyperbolic spacetime, and a simple cobordism approach to a theory of quantum topology. It is shown how the set of history propositions in standard quantum theory can be realised in such a way that each history proposition is represented by a genuine projection operator. This provides valuable insight into the possible lattice structure in general history theories, and also provides a number of potential models for theories of this type.
A histories approach to quantum mechanics is formulated without the consistency requirement. Plausible, physically motivated axioms for a history structure are presented. In this structure, the consistency requirement is unnecessary because the joint sequential distributions are already probability measures. It is shown that the logic of a history structure is a temporal effect algebra and conversely, any temporal effect algebra is isomorphic to the logic of a history structure. When this general framework is specialized to a Hilbert space context, it reduces to a previously studied formalism.