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Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Geometrical description of quantal state determination

I D Ivonovic

Published Dec 1, 1981• 713 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Under the assumption that every quantal measurement may give data about the post-measurement state of the inspected ensemble, the problem of the state determination is reconsidered. It is shown that orthogonal decomposition of the set of complex, n*n, Hermitian matrices into the commutative subsets allows operators to be found such that post-measurement information on these observables allows a partial (in some cases total) determination of the pre-measurement state to be effected.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/14/12/019

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Under the assumption that every quantal measurement may give data about the post-measurement state of the inspected ensemble, the problem of the state determination is reconsidered. It is shown that orthogonal decomposition of the set of complex, n*n, Hermitian matrices into the commutative subsets allows operators to be found such that post-measurement information on these observables allows a partial (in some cases total) determination of the pre-measurement state to be effected.
In this paper we wish to illuminate the axiom that the quantal state describes a statistical ensemble of similar systems identically prepared, and is not to be identified with any single system. The mathematical representative of the general quantum state is the density matrix or statistical operator in Hilbert space. We demonstrate how this operator may be determined empirically by calculations involving only the measured mean values of a set of observables we call a ’’quorum.’’ As an example of this approach a state determination procedure is described for a spinless particle moving in one dimension; the corresponding quorum turns out to involve only position data associated with various instants subsequent to the act of preparation.
Given a quantum state in the finite-dimensional Hilbert space Cn, the range of possible values of a quantum observable is usually identified with the discrete spectrum of eigenvalues of a corresponding Hermitian matrix. Here any such observable is identified with (i) an 'ortho-measurable' function defined on the Boolean 'ortho-algebra' generated by the eigenspaces that form an orthogonal decomposition of Cn, and (ii) a 'numerically identified' orthogonal decomposition of Cn. The latter means that each subspace of the orthogonal decomposition can be uniquely identified by its own attached real number, just as each eigenspace of a Hermitian matrix can be uniquely identified by the corresponding eigenvalue. Furthermore, any density matrix on Cn is identified with a Bayesian prior 'ortho-probability' measure defined on the linear subspaces that make up the Boolean ortho-algebra induced by its eigenspaces. Then any pure quantum state is identified with a degenerate density matrix, and any mixed state with a probability measure on a set of orthogonal pure states. Finally, given any quantum observable, the relevant Bayesian posterior probabilities of measured outcomes can be found by the usual trace formula that extends Born's rule. This article is part of the theme issue 'Quantum theory and topology in models of decision making (Part 2)'.
In analogy with the usual quantum state-estimation problem, we introduce the problem of state estimation for a pre- and postselected ensemble. The problem has fundamental physical significance since, as argued by Y. Aharonov and collaborators, pre- and postselected ensembles are the most basic quantum ensembles. Two new features are shown to appear: (1) information is flowing to the measuring device both from the past and from the future; (2) because of the postselection, certain measurement outcomes can be forced never to occur. Due to these features, state estimation in such ensembles is dramatically different from the case of ordinary, preselected-only ensembles. We develop a general theoretical framework for studying this problem and illustrate it through several examples. We also prove general theorems establishing that information flowing from the future is closely related to, and in some cases equivalent to, the complex conjugate information flowing from the past. Finally, we illustrate our approach on examples involving covariant measurements on spin-1/2 particles. We emphasize that all state-estimation problems can be extended to the pre- and postselected situation. The present work thus lays the foundations of a much more general theory of quantum state estimation.