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The logical self-reference inside the Fourier transform

Steve Faulkner

Published Dec 1, 2015• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Abstract I show that, in general, the Fourier transform is necessarily self-referent and logically circular. Keywords self-reference, logical circularity, mathematical logic, Fourier transform, vector space, orthogonality, orthogonal, unitarity, unitary, imaginary unit, foundations of quantum theory, quantum mechanics, quantum indeterminacy, quantum information, prepared state, pure state, mixed state, wave packet, scalar product, tensor product.

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Abstract
I show that, in general, the Fourier transform is necessarily self-referent and logically circular.
Keywords
self-reference, logical circularity, mathematical logic, Fourier transform, vector space, orthogonality, orthogonal, unitarity, unitary, imaginary unit, foundations of quantum theory, quantum mechanics, quantum indeterminacy, quantum information, prepared state, pure state, mixed state, wave packet, scalar product, tensor product.
Abstract: In 2008, Tomasz Paterek et al published ingenious research, proving that quantum randomness is the output of measurement experiments, whose input commands a logically independent response. Following up on that work, this paper develops a full mathematical theory of quantum indeterminacy. I explain how, the Paterek experiments imply, that the measurement of pure eigenstates, and the measurement of mixed states, cannot both be isomorphically and faithfully represented by the same single operator. Specifically, unitary representation of pure states is contradicted by the Paterek experiments. Profoundly, this denies the axiomatic status of Quantum Postulates, that state, symmetries are unitary, and observables Hermitian. Here, I show how indeterminacy is the information of transition, from pure states to mixed. I show that the machinery of that transition is unpreventable, logically circular, unitary-generating self-reference: all logically independent. Profoundly, this indeterminate system becomes apparent, as a visible feature of the mathematics, when unitarity --- imposed by Postulate --- is given up and abandoned. Keywords: foundations of quantum theory, quantum mechanics, quantum randomness, quantum indeterminacy, quantum information, prepared state, measured state, pure states, mixed states, unitary, redundant unitarity, orthogonal, scalar product, inner product, mathematical logic, logical independence, self-reference, logical circularity, mathematical undecidability.
The homogeneity symmetry is re-examined and shown to be non-unitary. This is motivated by the prospect that logical independence in elementary algebra, entering quantum mathematics, will constitute the basis for a theory explaining quantum randomness. Keywords: foundations of quantum theory, quantum physics, quantum mechanics, wave mechanics, Canonical Commutation Relation, symmetry, homogeneity of space, unitary, non-unitary, unitarity, mathematical logic, formal system, elementary algebra, information, axioms, mathematical propositions, logical independence, quantum indeterminacy, quantum randomness.
From here, we take up the task of reformulating quantum mechanics in the language of inner product space. We start by introducing vector space through the familiar example of a set of finite dimensional, complex, column matrices under addition and multiplication by scalars. The inner product is then introduced as a dot product generalized to complex vectors leading to the idea of an inner product space . This is adequate to show how the concept of a quantum state can be described by a normalized vector in an inner product space so that the state space can be identified with the inner product space. Amplitudes are associated with inner products , and observables with orthonormal bases in this space. Hence the laws of quantum mechanics are reformulated. We then point out that the now reformulated laws are independent of the space of description and the reader is urged to contemplate an universality which would reflect the independence with respect to the representation space . This creates the stage for the introduction of the abstract inner product space and the formulation of quantum mechanics in this setting. The chapter concludes with this description. The transformed laws are now called postulatesof quantum mechanics .
Abstract: In 2008 Tomasz Paterek et al published experiments demonstrating that quantum randomness results from logical independence. The job of this paper is to derive implications for Matrix Mechanics. Surprisingly (and apparently unwittingly), the Paterek experiments imply that faithful representation of (non-random) pure states contradicts the Quantum Postulate which imposes unitary, Hermitian and Hilbert space mathematics on all states. Paterek's Boolean formalism asserts and demands a non-unitary environment for pure states, which is freely restricted to logically independent unitary structure, wherever the creation of mixed states demands unitarity. Consequently, the Paterek experiments contradict the Quantum Postulate which imposes unitary, Hermitian and Hilbert space structures, axiomatically as blanket ontology, across the whole theory. Examination of the ‘non-unitary to unitary transition’ reveals the machinery of quantum indeterminacy. That machinery involves self-referential circularity, inaccessible history, and the geometrical ambiguity of perfect symmetry. The findings here provide answers for researchers studying Foundations of Quantum Mechanics; they make intuitive good sense of indeterminacy; they provide reason and significance for observable operators and eigenvectors; and they should be helpful for those interested in the Measurement Problem, the EPR paradox and possibly those looking for a method to quantize Gravity. Keywords: foundations of quantum theory, quantum randomness, quantum indeterminacy, logical independence, self-reference, logical circularity, mathematical undecidability.