Field algebras do not leave field domains invariant

It is proved that von Neumann algebras associated to Op*-algebra (P, D) cannot leave the domainD ofP invariant if they are type I or type III factors or finite direct sums of such factors. Hence it follows that in quantum field theory global and local von Neumann field algebras in typical cases do not leave invariant the definition domain of Wightman fields.     

Stable equivalence of the weak closures of free groups convolution algebras

We prove in this paper that the von Neumann algebras associated to the free non-commutative groups are stably isomorphic, i.e. that they are isomorphic when tensorized by the algebra of all linear bounded operators on a separable, infinite dimensional Hilbert space. This gives positive evidence for an old question, due to R.V. Kadison (see also S. Sakai's book on W^*-algebras), whether the von Neumann algebras associated to free groups are isomorphic or not.     

Roots for quantum ergodic theory invon Neumann's work

In ergodic theory von Neumann emphasized the spectral analysis of the unitary implementor and the possibility to express point translations as automorphisms over abelian algebras. Replacing the abelian algebras by noncommutative algebras good ergodic behaviour asks for type II and III algebras. The possibility for existing K-systems and Anosov systems in this framework is discussed. Von Neumnns example of a type III algebra is examined from this viewpoint.     

Different Types of Conditional Expectation and the Lüders—von Neumann Quantum Measurement

In operator algebra theory, a conditional expectation is usually assumed to be a projection map onto a sub-algebra. In the paper, a further type of conditional expectation and an extension of the Lüders—von Neumann measurement to observables with continuous spectra are considered; both are defined for a single operator and become a projection map only if they exist for all operators. Criteria for the existence of the different types of conditional expectation and of the extension of the Lüders—von Neumann measurement are presented, and the question whether they coincide is studied. All this is done in the general framework of Jordan operator algebras. The examples considered include the type I and type II operator algebras, the standard Hilbert space model of quantum mechanics, and a no-go result concerning the conditional expectation of observables that satisfy the canonical commutator relation.     

Modular Intersections of von Neumann Algebras in Quantum Field Theory

We show that modular intersections of von Neumann algebras occur naturally in quantum field theory. An example are local observable algebras associated with wedge regions, which have a lightray in common, see also [Bo 2, Wi 3]. Conversely, starting from a set of four algebras lying in a specified modular position relative to each other we construct a net of local observables of a 2+1 dimensional quantum field theory. Received: 26 February 1996/ Accepted: 30 August 1997     

Why Do the Quantum Observables Form a Jordan Operator Algebra?

The Jordan algebra structure of the bounded real quantum observables was recognized already in the early days of quantum mechanics. While there are plausible reasons for most parts of this structure, the existence of the distributive nonassociative multiplication operation is hard to justify from a physical or statistical point of view. Considering the non-Boolean extension of classical probabilities, presented in a recent paper, it is shown in this paper that such a multiplication operation can be derived from certain properties of the conditional probabilities and the observables, i.e., from postulates with a clear statistical interpretation. The well-known close relation between Jordan operator algebras and C*-algebras then provides the connection to the quantum-mechanical Hilbert space formalism, thus resulting in a novel axiomatic approach to general quantum mechanics that includes the types II and III von Neumann algebras.     

On the type of local algebras in quantum field theory

We give a simple sufficient condition for a von Neumann algebra to be Type III and apply it to some classes of algebras in QFT. For dilatation invariant local systems in particular we find that all sufficiently regular local algebras are Type III.     

Type II quantum chaos

A classification of quantum systems into three categories, type I, II and III, is proposed. The classification is based on the degree of sensitivity upon initial conditions, and the appearance of chaos. The quantum dynamics of type I systems is quasi periodic displaying no exponential sensitivity. They arise, e.g., as the quantized versions of classical chaotic systems. Type II systems are obtained when classical and quantum degrees of freedom are coupled. Such systems arise naturally in a dynamic extension of the first step of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, and are of particular importance to molecular and solid state physics. Type II systems can show exponential sensitivity in the quantum subsystem. Type III systems are fully quantized systems which show exponential sensitivity in the quantum dynamics. No example of a type III system is currently established. This paper presents a detailed discussion of a type II quantum chaotic system which models a coupled electronic-vibronic system. It is argued that type II systems are of importance for any field systems (not necessarily quantum) that couple to classical degrees of freedom.     

An Algebraic Jost-Schroer Theorem for Massive Theories

We consider a purely massive local relativistic quantum theory specified by a family of von Neumann algebras indexed by the space-time regions. We assume that, affiliated with the algebras associated to wedge regions, there are operators which create only single particle states from the vacuum (so-called polarization-free generators) and are well-behaved under the space-time translations. Strengthening a result of Borchers, Buchholz and Schroer, we show that then the theory is unitarily equivalent to that of a free field for the corresponding particle type. We admit particles with any spin and localization of the charge in space-like cones, thereby covering the case of string-localized covariant quantum fields.     

On Bell's inequalities and algebraic invariants

Some algebraic invariants associated with Bell's inequalities are defined for inclusions of von Neumann algebras and studied within the context of general algebraic quantum theory. More special results are proven for quantum field theory which establish that these invariants take infinitely many values. Sharp short-distance bounds on the Bell correlations are also demonstrated in the context of relativistic quantum field theory.     

Quantum Instruments and Related Transformation Valued Functions

The notion of an instrument in the quantum theory of measurement is studied in the context of transformation valued linear maps on von Neumann algebras and their ^*-subalgebras. An extension theorem is proved which yields among other things characterizations of the Fourier transforms of instruments and their noncommutative analogues. As an application, an ergodic type theorem for a general class of transformation valued functions on a locally compact group is obtained.     

Type-Decomposition of an Effect Algebra

Effect algebras (EAs), play a significant role in quantum logic, are featured in the theory of partially ordered Abelian groups, and generalize orthoalgebras, MV-algebras, orthomodular posets, orthomodular lattices, modular ortholattices, and boolean algebras. We study centrally orthocomplete effect algebras (COEAs), i.e., EAs satisfying the condition that every family of elements that is dominated by an orthogonal family of central elements has a supremum. For COEAs, we introduce a general notion of decomposition into types; prove that a COEA factors uniquely as a direct sum of types I, II, and III; and obtain a generalization for COEAs of Ramsay’s fourfold decomposition of a complete orthomodular lattice.     

Disordered Fermions on Lattices and Their Spectral Properties

We study Fermionic systems on a lattice with random interactions through their dynamics and the associated KMS states. These systems require a more complex approach compared with the standard spin systems on a lattice, on account of the difference in commutation rules for the local algebras for disjoint regions, between these two systems. It is for this reason that some of the known formulations and proofs in the case of the spin lattice systems with random interactions do not automatically go over to the case of disordered Fermion lattice systems. We extend to the disordered CAR algebra some standard results concerning the spectral properties exhibited by temperature states of disordered quantum spin systems. We investigate the Arveson spectrum, known to physicists as the set of the Bohr frequencies. We also establish its connection with the Connes and Borchers spectra, and with the associated invariants for such W ^∗-dynamical systems which determine the type of von Neumann algebras generated by a temperature state. We prove that all such spectra are independent of the disorder. Such results cover infinite-volume limits of finite-volume Gibbs states, that is the quenched disorder for Fermions living on a standard lattice ℤ ^d , including models exhibiting some standard spin-glass-like behavior. As a natural application, we show that a temperature state can generate only a type III\mathop {\rm {III}} von Neumann algebra (with the type III₀\mathop {\rm {III_{0}}} component excluded). In the case of the pure thermodynamic phase, the associated von Neumann algebra is of type III_l\mathop {\rm {III_{\lambda }}} for some λ∈(0,1], independent of the disorder. All such results are in accordance with the principle of self-averaging which affirms that the physically relevant quantities do not depend on the disorder. The approach pursued in the present paper can be viewed as a further step towards fully understanding the very complicated structure of the set of temperature states of quantum spin glasses, and its connection with the breakdown of the symmetry for the replicas.     

States on Operator Algebras and Axiomatic System of Quantum Theory

Recent development brings new results on the interplay of states on operator algebras and axiomatics of quantum mechanics. Neither hidden space in the sense of Kochen and Specker nor approximate hidden variables exist on von Neumann algebras. Tracial properties of states are connected with dispersions. The axioms on composite systems simplify to state extension properties.     

Orthogonal Measures on State Spaces and Context Structure of Quantum Theory

An interplay between recent topos theoretic approach and standard convex theoretic approach to quantum theory is discovered. Combining new results on isomorphisms of posets of all abelian subalgebras of von Neumann algebras with classical Tomita’s theorem from state space Choquet theory, we show that order isomorphisms between the sets of orthogonal measures (resp. finitely supported orthogonal measures) on state spaces endowed with the Choquet order are given by Jordan ?-isomorphims between corresponding operator algebras. It provides new complete Jordan invariants for σ-finite von Neumann algebras in terms of decompositions of states and shows that one can recover physical system from associated structure of convex decompositions (discrete or continuous) of a fixed state.     

Invariance operator groups for a charged particle in an external electromagnetic field

In this paper a general group theoretical approach is given for the problem of a charged particle moving in an external electromagnetic field F. From a knowledge of the symmetry transformations of the field (Galilean or Poincaré), it is possible to explicitly construct groups of operators which commute with the operators of the equations of motion (classical, quantum mechanical, Klein-Gordon or Dirac) using the concept of compensating gauge transformations together with a uniquely chosen map π: F → A fixing the gauge of the potential A. Other choices of gauges give rise to isomorphic operator groups. The general structure of the possible symmetry groups of the fields is discussed and the corresponding invariance operator groups are explicitly given for (almost) arbitrary fields. The structure of these groups is then investigated and it is shown in particular that a large class of fields give rise to non-Type I groups, i.e. to groups which have (unitary continuous) representations whose corresponding von Neumann algebras have non-discrete factors. A general criterion for these pathological cases is given. As an application, we study the problem of a Bloch electron in arbitrary constant uniform electric and magnetic fields.     

Von Neumann’s ‘No Hidden Variables’ Proof: A Re-Appraisal

Since the analysis by John Bell in 1965, the consensus in the literature is that von Neumann’s ‘no hidden variables’ proof fails to exclude any significant class of hidden variables. Bell raised the question whether it could be shown that any hidden variable theory would have to be nonlocal, and in this sense ‘like Bohm’s theory.’ His seminal result provides a positive answer to the question. I argue that Bell’s analysis misconstrues von Neumann’s argument. What von Neumann proved was the impossibility of recovering the quantum probabilities from a hidden variable theory of dispersion free (deterministic) states in which the quantum observables are represented as the ‘beables’ of the theory, to use Bell’s term. That is, the quantum probabilities could not reflect the distribution of pre-measurement values of beables, but would have to be derived in some other way, e.g., as in Bohm’s theory, where the probabilities are an artefact of a dynamical process that is not in fact a measurement of any beable of the system.     

A Hierarchy of Compatibility and Comeasurability Levels in Quantum Logics with Unique Conditional Probabilities

In the quantum mechanical Hilbert space formalism, the probabilisticinterpretation is a later ad-hoc add-on, more or less enforced by theexperimental evidence, but not motivated by the mathematical model itself. Amodel involving a clear probabilistic interpretation from the very beginningis provided by the quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities. Itincludes the projection lattices in von Neumann algebras and hereprobability conditionalization becomes identical with the state transitionof the Lüders - von Neumann measurement process. This motivates thedefinition of a hierarchy of five compatibility and comeasurability levelsin the abstract setting of the quantum logics with unique conditionalprobabilities. Their meanings are: the absence of quantum interference orinfluence, the existence of a joint distribution, simultaneous measurability, and the independence of the final state after two successive measurements from the sequential order of these two measurements. A further level means that two elements of the quantum logic (events) belong to the same Boolean subalgebra. In the general case, the five compatibility and comeasurability levels appear to differ, but they all coincide in the common Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics, in von Neumann algebras, and in some other cases.     

On the Yang-Mills mass gap problem

Theorem 4.1 of the author’s paper “Quantum Yang-Mills-Weyl dynamics in the Schroedinger paradigm”, RJMP 21 (2), 169–188 (2014) claims the relative ellipticity of cutoff Yang-Mills quantum energy-mass operators in von Neumann algebras with regular traces. This implies that the spectra of cutoff self-adjoint Yang-Mills energy-mass operators in a nonperturbative quantum Yang-Mills theory (with an arbitrary compact simple gauge group) are nonnegative sequences of the eigenvalues converging to +∞. The spectra are self-similar in the inverse proportion to the running coupling constant. In particular, they have self-similar positive spectral mass gaps. Presumably, this is a solution of the Yang-Mills Millennium problem. The present note shows that the fundamental spectral value of a cutoff quantum Yang-Mills energy-mass operator is the simple zero eigenvalue with the vacuum eigenvector. The direct proof (without von Neumann algebras) is based on the domination over the number operator (with simple fundamental eigenvalue) and the standard spectral variational principle.