Conditional probability, three-slit experiments, and the Jordan algebra structure of quantum mechanics

Abstract

Most quantum logics do not allow for a reasonable calculus of conditional probability. However, those ones which do so provide a very general and rich mathematical structure, including classical probabilities, quantum mechanics as well as Jordan algebras. This structure exhibits some similarities with Alfsen and Shultz's non-commutative spectral theory, but these two mathematical approaches are not identical. Barnum, Emerson and Ududec adapted the concept of higher-order interference, introduced by Sorkin in 1994, into a general probabilistic framework. Their adaption is used here to reveal a close link between the existence of the Jordan product and the non-existence of interference of third or higher order in those quantum logics which entail a reasonable calculus of conditional probability. The complete characterization of the Jordan algebraic structure requires the following three further postulates: a Hahn-Jordan decomposition property for the states, a polynomial functional calculus for the observables, and the positivity of the square of an observable. While classical probabilities are characterized by the absence of any kind of interference, the absence of interference of third (and higher) order thus characterizes a probability calculus which comes close to quantum mechanics, but still includes the exceptional Jordan algebras.

19 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Three Slit Experiments and the Structure of Quantum Theory
• Non-Boolean probabilities and quantum measurement
• A Representation of Quantum Measurement in Order-Unit Spaces
• A hierarchy of compatibility and comeasurability levels in quantum logics with unique conditional probabilities
• A Representation of Quantum Measurement in Nonassociative Algebras

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• Testing quantum theory by generalizing noncontextuality
• A simple and quantum-mechanically motivated characterization of the formally real Jordan algebras
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• Super quantum probabilities and three-slit experiments -- Wright's pentagon state and the Popescu-Rohrlich box require third-order interference
• Quantum teleportation and Grover's algorithm without the wavefunction
• Quantum transition probability in convex sets and self-dual cones
• Third-order interference and a principle of `quantumness'