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AIP conference proceedings

On the missing axiom of Quantum Mechanicss

Giacomo Mauro D’Ariano

Published Jan 1, 2006• 16 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The debate on the nature of quantum probabilities in relation to Quantum Non Locality has elevated Quantum Mechanics to the level of an Operational Epistemic Theory. In such context the quantum superposition principle has an extraneous non epistemic nature. This leads us to seek purely operational foundations for Quantum Mechanics, from which to derive the current mathematical axiomatization based on Hilbert spaces.In the present work I present a set of axioms of purely operational nature, based on a general definition of “the experiment”, the operational/epistemic archetype of information retrieval from reality. As we will see, this starting point logically entails a series of notions [state, conditional state, local state, pure state, faithful state, instrument, propensity (i.e. “effect”), dynamical and informational equivalence, dynamical and informational compatibility, predictability, discriminability, programmability, locality, a‐causality, rank of the state, maximally chaotic state, maximally entangled state, informationally complete propensity, etc.], along with a set of rules (addition, convex combination, partial orderings, … ), which, far from being of quantum origin as often considered, instead constitute the universal syntactic manual of the operational/epistemic approach. The missing ingredient is, of course, the quantum superposition axiom for probability amplitudes: for this I propose some substitute candidates of purely operational/epistemic nature.

DOI
10.1063/1.2158715

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The debate on the nature of quantum probabilities in relation to Quantum Non Locality has elevated Quantum Mechanics to the level of an Operational Epistemic Theory. In such context the quantum superposition principle has an extraneous non epistemic nature. This leads us to seek purely operational foundations for Quantum Mechanics, from which to derive the current mathematical axiomatization based on Hilbert spaces.In the present work I present a set of axioms of purely operational nature, based on a general definition of “the experiment”, the operational/epistemic archetype of information retrieval from reality. As we will see, this starting point logically entails a series of notions [state, conditional state, local state, pure state, faithful state, instrument, propensity (i.e. “effect”), dynamical and informational equivalence, dynamical and informational compatibility, predictability, discriminability, programmability, locality, a‐causality, rank of the state, maximally chaotic state, maximally entangled state, informationally complete propensity, etc.], along with a set of rules (addition, convex combination, partial orderings, … ), which, far from being of quantum origin as often considered, instead constitute the universal syntactic manual of the operational/epistemic approach. The missing ingredient is, of course, the quantum superposition axiom for probability amplitudes: for this I propose some substitute candidates of purely operational/epistemic nature.
The debate on the nature of quantum probabilities in relation to Quantum Non Locality has elevated Quantum Mechanics to the level of an "Operational Epistemic Theory". In such context the quantum superposition principle has an extraneous non epistemic nature. This leads us to seek purely operational foundations for Quantum Mechanics, from which to derive the current mathematical axiomatization based on Hilbert spaces. In the present work I present a set of axioms of purely operational nature, based on a general definition of "the experiment", the operational/epistemic archetype of information retrieval from reality. As we will see, this starting point logically entails a series of notions [state, conditional state, local state, pure state, faithful state, instrument, propensity (i.e. "effect"), dynamical and informational equivalence, dynamical and informational compatibility, predictability, discriminability, programmability, locality, a-causality, rank of the state, maximally chaotic state, maximally entangled state, informationally complete propensity, etc. ], along with a set of rules (addition, convex combination, partial orderings, ...), which, far from being of quantum origin as often considered, instead constitute the universal "syntactic manual" of the operational/epistemic approach. The missing ingredient is, of course, the quantum superposition axiom for probability amplitudes: for this I propose some substitute candidates of purely operational/epistemic nature.
In the present paper I show how it is possible to derive the Hilbert space formulation of Quantum Mechanics from a comprehensive definition of physical experiment and assuming experimental accessibility and simplicity as specified by five simple Postulates. This accomplishes the program presented in form of conjectures in the previous paper. Pivotal roles are played by the local observability principle, which reconciles the holism of nonlocality with the reductionism of local observation, and by the postulated existence of informationally complete observables and of a symmetric faithful state. This last notion allows one to introduce an operational definition for the real version of the “adjoint”—i. e. the transposition—from which one can derive a real Hilbert‐space structure via either the Mackey‐Kakutani or the Gelfand‐Naimark‐Segal constructions. Here I analyze in detail only the Gelfand‐Naimark‐Segal construction, which leads to a real Hilbert space structure analogous to that of (classes of generally unbounded) selfadjoint operators in Quantum Mechanics. For finite dimensions, general dimensionality theorems that can be derived from a local observability principle, allow us to represent the elements of the real Hilbert space as operators over an underlying complex Hilbert space (see, however, a still open problem at the end of the paper). The route for the present operational axiomatization was suggested by novel ideas originated from Quantum Tomography.
In the present paper I show how it is possible to derive the Hilbert space formulation of Quantum Mechanics from a comprehensive definition of "physical experiment" and assuming "experimental accessibility and simplicity" as specified by five simple Postulates. This accomplishes the program presented in form of conjectures in the previous paper quant-ph/0506034. Pivotal roles are played by the "local observability principle", which reconciles the holism of nonlocality with the reductionism of local observation, and by the postulated existence of "informationally complete observables" and of a "symmetric faithful state". This last notion allows one to introduce an operational definition for the real version of the "adjoint"--i. e. the transposition--from which one can derive a real Hilbert-space structure via either the Mackey-Kakutani or the Gelfand-Naimark-Segal constructions. Here I analyze in detail only the Gelfand-Naimark-Segal construction, which leads to a real Hilbert space structure analogous to that of (classes of generally unbounded) selfadjoint operators in Quantum Mechanics. For finite dimensions, general dimensionality theorems that can be derived from a local observability principle, allow us to represent the elements of the real Hilbert space as operators over an underlying complex Hilbert space (see, however, a still open problem at the end of the paper). The route for the present operational axiomatization was suggested by novel ideas originated from Quantum Tomography.
We provide a reformulation of finite dimensional quantum theory in the circuit framework in terms of mathematical axioms, and a reconstruction of quantum theory from operational postulates. The mathematical axioms for quantum theory are the following: [Axiom 1] Operations correspond to operators. [Axiom 2] Every complete set of physical operators corresponds to a complete set of operations. The following operational postulates are shown to be equivalent to these mathematical axioms: [P1] Sharpness. Associated with any given pure state is a unique maximal effect giving probability equal to one. This maximal effect does not give probability equal to one for any other pure state. [P2] Information locality. A maximal measurement on a composite system is effected if we perform maximal measurements on each of the components. [P3] Tomographic locality. The state of a composite system can be determined from the statistics collected by making measurements on the components. [P4] Compound permutability. There exists a compound reversible transformation on any system effecting any given permutation of any given maximal set of distinguishable states for that system. [P5] Sturdiness. Filters are non-flattening. Hence, from these postulates we can reconstruct all the usual features of quantum theory: States are represented by positive operators, transformations by completely positive trace non-increasing maps, and effects by positive operators. The Born rule (i.e. the trace rule) for calculating probabilitieso follows. A more detailed abstract is provided in the paper.
It is not surprising that our language should be incapable of describing processes occurring within atoms, for, as has been remarked, it was invented to describe the experiences of daily life, … Fortunately, mathematics is not subject to this limitation, and it has been possible to invent a mathematical scheme–the quantum theory–which seems entirely adequate for the treatment of atomic processes. Werner Heisenberg, The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory (1930) In this chapter we introduce the mathematical structure of quantum theory, for a finite number of systems and finite dimension, starting from three simple Hilbert-space postulates, and based on the intuitive notions of state, transformation, and effect, within a causal context. Such notions will be formalized in a general non-causal context in Chapter 3, which is devoted to the informational framework. We will assume the reader has a basic knowledge of matrix analysis and of operators over Hilbert spaces. Comments about the extension to infinite dimensions, continuous outcome-spaces, and infinitely many systems can be found in the notes at the end of the chapter. From the three simple Hilbert-space postulates, the present chapter extracts six principles, which will become the postulates for quantum theory in the axiomatic derivation presented in Part III of the book. In addition, we will take the opportunity to present and explore many relevant features of the theory – including its convex and causal structure, the Choi–Jamiołkowski isomorphism, and relevant notions, such as those of POVM, complete positivity of maps, quantum operation and channels, entangled states, state discrimination, tomography of states, and transformations. The purification principle will open the stage to the dilation theorems of the theory of quantum open systems, along with other consequences, such as the existence of faithful and steering states, the theorem of no information without disturbance, quantum teleportation, and more. We will review the quantum no-cloning and no-programming theorems, and finally provide a thorough derivation of the theory of quantum channel inversion, which is the backbone of the general theory of quantum error correction in quantum information. Additional interesting topics will be classical information theory as a restriction of quantum information theory, and a critical reconsideration of the von Neumann postulate and the notion of observable.