Quantic Superpositions and the Geometry of Complex Hilbert Spaces

The concept of a superposition is a revolutionary novelty introduced by Quantum Mechanics. If a system may be in any one of two pure states x and y, we must consider that it may also be in any one of many superpositions of x and y. An in-depth analysis of superpositions is proposed, in which states are represented by one-dimensional subspaces, not by unit vectors as in Dirac’s notation. Superpositions must be considered when one cannot distinguish between possible paths, i.e., histories, leading to the current state of the system. In such a case the resulting state is some compound of the states that result from each of the possible paths. States can be compounded, i.e., superposed in such a way only if they are not orthogonal. Since different classical states are orthogonal, the claim implies no non-trivial superpositions can be observed in classical systems. The parameter that defines such compounds is a proportion defining the mix of the different states entering the compound. Two quantities, p and θ, both geometrical in nature, relate one-dimensional subspaces in complex Hilbert spaces: the first one is a measure of proximity relating two rays, the second one is an angle relating three rays. The properties of superpositions with respect to those two quantities are studied. The algebraic properties of the operation of superposition are very different from those that govern linear combination of vectors. This work was partially supported by the Jean and Helene Alfassa fund for research in Artificial Intelligence, by the Israel Science Foundation grant 183/03 on “Quantum and other cumulative logics” and by EPSRC Visiting Fellowship GR/T 24562 on “Quantum Logic”.