We show that, contrary to the widespread belief, in quantum mechanics repeatable measurements are not necessarily described by orthogonal projectors--the customary paradigm of observable. Nonorthogonal repeatability, however, occurs only for infinite dimensions. We also show that, when a nonorthogonal repeatable measurement is performed, the measured system retains some "memory" of the number of times that the measurement has been performed.
We show that, contrary to the widespread belief, in quantum mechanics repeatable measurements are not necessarily described by orthogonal projectors--the customary paradigm of observable. Nonorthogonal repeatability, however, occurs only for infinite dimensions. We also show that, when a nonorthogonal repeatable measurement is performed, the measured system retains some "memory" of the number of times that the measurement has been performed.
A noncommuting measurement transfers, via the apparatus, information encoded in a system's state to the external ``observer.'' Classical measurements determine properties of physical objects. In the quantum realm, the very same notion restricts the recording process to orthogonal states as only those are distinguishable by measurements. Therefore, even a possibility to describe physical reality by means of non-Hermitian operators should volens nolens be excluded as their eigenstates are not orthogonal. Here, we show that non-Hermitian operators with real spectra can be treated within the standard framework of quantum mechanics. Furthermore, we propose a quantum canonical transformation that maps Hermitian systems onto non-Hermitian ones. Similar to classical inertial forces this map is accompanied by an energetic cost, pinning the system on the unitary path.
Abstract We study sequential measurement scenarios where the system is repeatedly subjected to the same measurement process. We first provide examples of such repeated measurements where further repetitions of the measurement do not increase our knowledge on the system after some finite number of measurement steps. We also prove, however, that repeating the Lüders measurement of an unsharp two-outcome observable never saturates in this sense, and we characterize the observable measured in the limit of infinitely many repetitions. Our result implies that a repeated measurement can be used to correct the inherent noise of an unsharp observable.
An infinite family of strongly unextendible mutually unbiased bases in C22h
A set of b mutually unbiased bases (MUBs) in Cd (for d>1) comprises bd vectors in Cd, partitioned into b orthogonal bases for Cd such that the pairwise angle between all vectors from distinct bases is arccos(1/d). The largest number μ(d) of MUBs that can exist in Cd is at most d+1, but constructions attaining this bound are known only when d is a prime power. A set of b MUBs in Cd that cannot be enlarged, even by the first vector of a potential (b+1)-th MUB, is called strongly unextendible. Until now, only one infinite family of dimensions d containing b(d) strongly unextendible MUBs in Cd satisfying b(d)<μ(d) was known, this family, due to Szántó, is asymptotically "large" in the sense that b(d)/μ(d)→1 as d→∞. However, the existence of 2m−1+1 strongly unextendible MUBs in C2m for each integer m>1 has been conjectured by Mandayam et al. We prove their conjecture for all even values of m, using only elementary linear algebra. The existence of this "small" new infinite family suggests, contrary to widespread belief, that μ(d) for non-prime-powers d might be significantly larger than the size of particular unextendible sets.
Zurek's existential interpretation of quantum mechanics suffers from three classical prejudices, including the belief that space and time are intrinsically and infinitely differentiated. These compel him to relativize the concept of objective existence in two ways. The elimination of these prejudices makes it possible to recognize the quantum formalism's ontological implications — the relative and contingent reality of spatiotemporal distinctions and the extrinsic and finite spatiotemporal differentiation of the physical world — which in turn makes it possible to arrive at an unqualified objective existence. Contrary to a widespread misconception, viewing the quantum formalism as being fundamentally a probability algorithm does not imply that quantum mechanics is concerned with states of knowledge rather than states of Nature. On the contrary, it makes possible a complete and strongly objective description of the physical world that requires no reference to observers. What objectively exists, in a sense that requires no qualification, is (i) the trajectories of macroscopic objects, whose fuzziness is empirically irrelevant, (ii) the properties and values of whose possession these trajectories provide indelible records, and (iii) the fuzzy and temporally undifferentiated states of affairs that obtain between measurements and are described by counterfactual probability assignments.