Peirce, Clifford, and Quantum Theory

Beginning in 1870 Charles Sanders Peirce published a series of papers on a logic of relations, which corresponded to a linear associative algebra. This algebra is related by a linear transformation to quaternions and thus to the C(3, 0) algebra of William Kingdon Clifford. This Clifford algebra contains the Pauli matrices and so constitutes an operator basis for the nonrelativistic quantum theory of spin one-half particles. A further unification is achieved by taking the wave functions themselves to be 2 × 2 matrices which are Peirce logical operators and also elements of the Clifford algebra. Thus we have discovered a direct path from the Peirce logic to quantum theory. A diagrammatic method follows from the Peirce/Clifford algebraic approach and is suitable for describing particle interactions.     

A Kinetic Theory Approach to Quantum Gravity

We describe a kinetic theory approach to quantum gravity by which we mean a theory of the microscopic structure of space-time, not a theory obtained by quantizing general relativity. A figurative conception of this program is like building a ladder with two knotty poles: quantum matter field on the right and space-time on the left. Each rung connecting the corresponding knots represents a distinct level of structure. The lowest rung is hydrodynamics and general relativity; the next rung is semiclassical gravity, with the expectation value of quantum fields acting as source in the semiclassical Einstein equation. We recall how ideas from the statistical mechanics of interacting quantum fields helped us identify the existence of noise in the matter field and its effect on metric fluctuations, leading to the establishment of the third rung: stochastic gravity, described by the Einstein–Langevin equation. Our pathway from stochastic to quantum gravity is via the correlation hierarchy of noise and induced metric fluctuations. Three essential tasks beckon: (1) deduce the correlations of metric fluctuations from correlation noise in the matter field; (2) reconstituting quantum coherence—this is the reverse of decoherence—from these correlation functions; and (3) use the Boltzmann–Langevin equations to identify distinct collective variables depicting recognizable metastable structures in the kinetic and hydrodynamic regimes of quantum matter fields and how they demand of their corresponding space-time counterparts. This will give us a hierarchy of generalized stochastic equations—call them the Boltzmann–Einstein hierarchy of quantum gravity—for each level of space-time structure, from the the macroscopic (general relativity) through the mesoscopic (stochastic gravity) to the microscopic (quantum gravity).     

N=4超对称量子力学

利用Clifford代数构造了N=4超对称量子力学的一般形式,并讨论了它的实现.     

Quantum Field Theories on an Algebraic Curve

We formulate quantum field theories on an algebraic curve and outline a 'paradigm' interpreting Ward identities as reciprocity laws.     

Quantum Machine and Semantic Realism Approach: a Unified Model

The Geneva–Brussels approach to quantum mechanics (QM) and the semantic realism (SR) nonstandard interpretation of QM exhibit some common features and some deep conceptual differences. We discuss in this paper two elementary models provided in the two approaches as intuitive supports to general reasonings and as a proof of consistency of general assumptions, and show that Aerts’ quantum machine can be embodied into a macroscopic version of the microscopic SR model, overcoming the seeming incompatibility between the two models. This result provides some hints for the construction of a unified perspective in which the two approaches can be properly placed.     

Operational Phase-Space Probability Distribution in Quantum Communication Theory

Operational phase-space probability distributions are useful tools for describing quantum mechanical systems, including quantum communication and quantum information processing systems. It is shown that quantum communication channels with Gaussian noise and quantum teleportation of continuous variables are described by operational phase-space probability distributions. The relation of operational phase-space probability distribution to the extended phase-space formalism proposed by Chountasis and Vourdas is discussed.     

A Unified Approach to Local Quantum Uncertainty and Interferometric Power by Metric Adjusted Skew Information

Local quantum uncertainty and interferometric power were introduced by Girolami et al. as geometric quantifiers of quantum correlations. The aim of the present paper is to discuss their properties in a unified manner by means of the metric adjusted skew information defined by Hansen.     

A Topos for Algebraic Quantum Theory

The aim of this paper is to relate algebraic quantum mechanics to topos theory, so as to construct new foundations for quantum logic and quantum spaces. Motivated by Bohr’s idea that the empirical content of quantum physics is accessible only through classical physics, we show how a noncommutative C*-algebra of observables A induces a topos \({\mathcal{T}(A)}\) in which the amalgamation of all of its commutative subalgebras comprises a single commutative C*-algebra \({\underline{A}}\) . According to the constructive Gelfand duality theorem of Banaschewski and Mulvey, the latter has an internal spectrum \({\underline{\Sigma}(\underline{A})}\) in \({\mathcal{T}(A)}\) , which in our approach plays the role of the quantum phase space of the system. Thus we associate a locale (which is the topos-theoretical notion of a space and which intrinsically carries the intuitionistic logical structure of a Heyting algebra) to a C*-algebra (which is the noncommutative notion of a space). In this setting, states on A become probability measures (more precisely, valuations) on \({\underline{\Sigma}}\) , and self-adjoint elements of A define continuous functions (more precisely, locale maps) from \({\underline{\Sigma}}\) to Scott’s interval domain. Noting that open subsets of \({\underline{\Sigma}(\underline{A})}\) correspond to propositions about the system, the pairing map that assigns a (generalized) truth value to a state and a proposition assumes an extremely simple categorical form. Formulated in this way, the quantum theory defined by A is essentially turned into a classical theory, internal to the topos \({\mathcal{T}(A)}\).These results were inspired by the topos-theoretic approach to quantum physics proposed by Butterfield and Isham, as recently generalized by Döring and Isham.     

Unified Treatment of EPR and Bell Arguments in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory

A conjecture concerning vacuum correlations in axiomatic quantum field theory is proved. It is shown that this result can be applied both in the context of EPR-type experiments and Bell-type experiments.     

Algebraic Formulation of Quantum Decoherence

An algebraic formalism for quantum decoherence in systems with continuous evolution spectrum is introduced. A certain subalgebra, dense in the characteristic algebra of the system, is defined in such a way that Riemann–Lebesgue theorem can be used to explain decoherence in a well defined final pointer basis.     

Spinor Representations of $${U}_q (\hat {\mathfrak{o}}(N))$$ )

This Letter concerns an extension of the quantum spinor construction of . We define quantum affine Clifford algebras based on the tensor category and the solutions of q-KZ equations, and construct quantum spinor representations of .     

Scattering as a Quantum Metrology Problem: A Quantum Walk Approach

We address the scattering of a quantum particle by a one-dimensional barrier potential over a set of discrete positions. We formalize the problem as a continuous-time quantum walk on a lattice with an impurity and use the quantum Fisher information as a means to quantify the maximal possible accuracy in the estimation of the height of the barrier. We introduce suitable initial states of the walker and derive the reflection and transmission probabilities of the scattered state. We show that while the quantum Fisher information is affected by the width and central momentum of the initial wave packet, this dependency is weaker for the quantum signal-to-noise ratio. We also show that a dichotomic position measurement provides a nearly optimal detection scheme.     

A generalized Hamiltonian formalism unifying classical and quantum mechanics

A Poisson bracket structure is defined on associative algebras which allows for a generalized Hamiltonian dynamics. Both classical and quantum mechanics are shown to be special cases of the general formalism.     

Clifford Space as a Generalization of Spacetime: Prospects for QFT of Point Particles and Strings

The idea that spacetime has to be replaced by Clifford space (C-space) is explored. Quantum field theory (QFT) and string theory are generalized to C-space. It is shown how one can solve the cosmological constant problem and formulate string theory without central terms in the Virasoro algebra by exploiting the peculiar pseudo-Euclidean signature of C-space and the Jackiw definition of the vacuum state. As an introduction into the subject, a toy model of the harmonic oscillator in pseudo-Euclidean space is studied.     

A Categorification of Quantum \widehat{sl_2}

In this paper, we categorify the algebraU_q(\widehat{sl_2}) with the same approach as in [A. Lauda, Adv. Math. (2010), arXiv:math.QA/0803.3652;
M. Khovanov, Comm. Algebra11 (2001) 5033]. The algebra \dot{U}=\dot{U}_q(\widehat{sl_2}) is obtained fromU_q(\widehat{sl_2}) by adjoining a collection of orthogonal idempotents 1_λ,λ \in P, in which P is the weight lattice ofU_q(\widehat{sl_2}). Under such construction the algebraU is decomposed into a direct sum \bigoplus_{\lambda\in P} 1_{\lambda'}{U} 1_λ. We set the collection of λ\in P as the objects of the categoryU, 1-morphisms fromλ toλ' are given by 1_λ' }k U1_λ, and 2-morphisms are constructed by some semilinear form defined onU. Hence we get a 2-category {\cal U} from the algebraU_q{(\widehat{sl_2})}.     

Quantum Probability’s Algebraic Origin

Max Born’s statistical interpretation made probabilities play a major role in quantum theory. Here we show that these quantum probabilities and the classical probabilities have very different origins. Although the latter always result from an assumed probability measure, the first include transition probabilities with a purely algebraic origin. Moreover, the general definition of transition probability introduced here comprises not only the well-known quantum mechanical transition probabilities between pure states or wave functions, but further physically meaningful and experimentally verifiable novel cases. A transition probability that differs from 0 and 1 manifests the typical quantum indeterminacy in a similar way as Heisenberg’s and others’ uncertainty relations and, furthermore, rules out deterministic states in the same way as the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem. However, the transition probability defined here achieves a lot more beyond that: it demonstrates that the algebraic structure of the Hilbert space quantum logic dictates the precise values of certain probabilities and it provides an unexpected access to these quantum probabilities that does not rely on states or wave functions.     

Entropy of Quantum States

Given the algebra of observables of a quantum system subject to selection rules, a state can be represented by different density matrices. As a result, different von Neumann entropies can be associated with the same state. Motivated by a minimality property of the von Neumann entropy of a density matrix with respect to its possible decompositions into pure states, we give a purely algebraic definition of entropy for states of an algebra of observables, thus solving the above ambiguity. The entropy so-defined satisfies all the desirable thermodynamic properties and reduces to the von Neumann entropy in the quantum mechanical case. Moreover, it can be shown to be equal to the von Neumann entropy of the unique representative density matrix belonging to the operator algebra of a multiplicity-free Hilbert-space representation.     

Geometric and Algebraic Approach to Classical Dynamics of a Particle with Spin

We investigate the Frenkel equation and alternative approaches aimed to describe classically the dynamics of a particle with a spin degree of freedom. For all those theories unphysical solutions are shown to exist but to be removable via formal use of geometric perturbation theory. With an Clifford algebraic representation of the employed geometric concepts we put forward the modified Frenkel equation as more intuitive as alternative approaches.