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arXiv:quant-ph/9803012 · Journal of Mathematical Physics

Quantum coordinates of an event in local quantum physics

R. Giannitrapani

Published Oct 1, 1998• 13 citations
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Abstract

Recently Toller [quant-ph/9702060 (1997)] has proposed, using the formalism of positive-operator-valued measures, a possible definition of quantum coordinates for events in the context of quantum mechanics. In this short note we analyze this definition from the point of view of local algebras in the framework of local quantum theories.
DOI
10.1063/1.532564

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Quantum Coordinates of an Event in Local Quantum Physics

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Recently [3] it has been proposed, using the formalism of positiveoperator-valued measures, a possible definition of quantum coordinates for events in the context of quantum mechanics. In this short note we analyze this definition from the point of view of local algebras in the framework of local quantum theories.

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The present paper deals with the quantum coordinates of an event in space-time, specified by a quantum object. It is known that these observables cannot be described by self-adjoint operators or by the corresponding spectral projection-valued measure. We describe them by means of a positive-operator-valued (POV) measure in the Minkowski space-time, satisfying a suitable covariance condition with respect to the Poincar\'e group. This POV measure determines the probability that a measurement of the coordinates of the event gives results belonging to a given set in space-time. We show that this measure must vanish on the vacuum and the one-particle states, which cannot define any event. We give a general expression for the Poincar\'e covariant POV measures. We define the baricentric events, which lie on the world line of the center of mass, and we find a simple expression for the average values of their coordinates. Finally, we discuss the conditions which permit the determination of the coordinates with an arbitrary accuracy.

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arXiv:quant-ph/0111154•Nov 29, 2001•2 citations
The present paper deals with the quantum coordinates of an event in space-time, specified by a quantum object. It is known that these observables cannot be described by self-adjoint operators or by the corresponding spectral projection-valued measure. We describe them by means of a positive-operator-valued (POV) measure in the Minkowski space-time, satisfying a suitable covariance condition with respect to the Poincar\'e group. This POV measure determines the probability that a measurement of the coordinates of the event gives results belonging to a given set in space-time. We show that this measure must vanish on the vacuum and the one-particle states, which cannot define any event. We give a general expression for the Poincar\'e covariant POV measures. We define the baricentric events, which lie on the world line of the center of mass, and we find a simple expression for the average values of their coordinates. Finally, we discuss the conditions which permit the determination of the coordinates with an arbitrary accuracy.
These notes are an elaboration on: (i) a short course that I gave at the IPhT-Saclay in May-June 2012; (ii) a previous letter on reversibility in quantum mechanics. They present an introductory, but hopefully coherent, view of the main formalizations of quantum mechanics, of their interrelations and of their common physical underpinnings: causality, reversibility and locality/separability. The approaches covered are mainly: (ii) the canonical formalism; (ii) the algebraic formalism; (iii) the quantum logic formulation. Other subjects: quantum information approaches, quantum correlations, contextuality and non-locality issues, quantum measurements, interpretations and alternate theories, quantum gravity, are only very briefly and superficially discussed. Most of the material is not new, but is presented in an original, homogeneous and hopefully not technical or abstract way. I try to define simply all the mathematical concepts used and to justify them physically. These notes should be accessible to young physicists (graduate level) with a good knowledge of the standard formalism of quantum mechanics, and some interest for theoretical physics (and mathematics). These notes do not cover the historical and philosophical aspects of quantum physics.
This paper focuses on the problem of localization in quantum mechanics. It is well known that it is not possible to define a localization observable for the photon by means of projection-valued measures, or conversely, that it is possible by using positive operator-valued measures. On the other hand, projection-valued measures imply a kind of localization which is stronger than that implied by positive operator-valued measures. It has been claimed that the norm-1 property would in some sense reduce the gap between the two kinds of localizations. We give a necessary condition for the norm-1 property and show that it is not satisfied by several important localization observables.
In a previous preprint (quant-ph/0012122) we introduced a ``contextual objectivity" formulation of quantum mechanics (QM). A central feature of this approach is to define the quantum state in physical rather than in mathematical terms, in such a way that it may be given an "objective reality". Here we use some ideas about the system dimensionality, taken from quant-ph/0101012, to propose a possible axiomatic approach to QM. In this approach the structure of QM appears as a direct consequence of the non-commutative character of the (classical geometrical) group of "knobs transformations", that relate between themselves the different positions of the measurement apparatus.