On the Validity of von Neumann’s Theorem

Pablo Acuña

Brian C. Hall

Vincenzo Capasso, Donato Fortunato, F. Selleri

Stephen J. Summers

Iulian D. Toader

Abstract The paper offers an argument against an intuitive reading of the Stone-von Neumann theorem as a categoricity result, thereby pointing out that, against what is usually taken to be the case, this theorem does not entail any model-theoretical difference between the theories that validate it and those that don’t.

Shintaro Minagawa, Hayato Arai, Francesco Buscemi

Von Neumann obtained the formula for the entropy of a quantum state by assuming the validity of the second law of thermodynamics in a thought experiment involving semipermeable membranes and an ideal gas of quantum-labeled particles. Despite being operational for the most part, von Neumann's argument departs from an operational narrative in its use of the spectral theorem. In this work, we show that the role of the spectral theorem in von Neumann's argument can be taken over by the operational assumptions of repeatability and reversibility, and, using these, we are able to explore the consequences of the second law also in theories that do not possess a unique spectral decomposition. As a byproduct, we obtain the Groenewold-Ozawa information gain as a natural monotone for a suitable ordering of instruments, providing it with an operational interpretation valid in quantum theory and beyond.