31/5/2016

The Reference Frame: Boolean logic is sucient to work with quantum mechanics

Ms Siguienteblog

ceperic@gmail.com Escritorio Salir

Booleanlogicissufficienttoworkwithquantummechanics
Eventhoughawhole"community"ofwouldbescientistsnurtureareligionbasedonthe(scientificallydebunked)
dogmathatthereissomethingincompleteorunsatisfyingaboutquantummechanics,quantummechanicshas
workedextremelywellfor90yearsanditreallytakesafewlinestofullyandrigorouslydescribeitsgeneralrules
andcheckthattheydon'tsufferfromanyflaw.
QuantummechanicsisaframeworktoproducepredictionsorconstructvalidstatementsaboutNatureourof
someknownfactsaboutNature.Accordingtothisframework,everyphysicalsystemisdescribedbyaHilbertspace
onwhichlinearoperatorsact.Everythingweknoworwanttoknowanobservableisassociatedwithsuchan

operator(oroperators).
Thepredictionworksasfollows.Wewanttoknowsomethingaboutthenextmeasurementnewinformationwe
aregoingtolearnifwe"live".Withoutalossofgenerality,thisinformationmayalwaysbedecomposedtoanswers
toYes/NoquestionswhichareassociatedwithHermitianprojectionoperatorsP .BecauseP 2

= P ,theeigenvalues

areeitherzero(No)orone(Yes).
Quantummechanicsanswersthe(N

+ 1) stquestionlinkedtotheoperatorP N +1 probabilistically,bycalculatingthe

probabilitythattheanswerisgoingtobeYes.Theprobabilityis
Prob =

N +1|

or,inthecaseofmixedstates,
Prob = Tr(P N +1

N +1)

whereIcouldhaveomittedoneofthecopiesofP N +1 becauseit'saprojectionoperator,butIchosetokeepitfor
symmetryreason.

Thepurestate| thatweneedtosubstitutetotheformulafortheprobabilityaboveis

= Norm

T
[

Pi

i=1

|
)

in

whereP i aretheprojectionoperatorscorrespondingtoallthequestionswhoseanswersweremeasuredandfound
tobeYesandin isthe"truly"initialstatebeforeallthesemeasurementswhichbecomesirrelevantifthe
sequenceoftheoperatorsP i issufficientlylong.
Thesymbol"Norm"means"normalization"(thedivisionoftheketvectorinsidebyitslength)forthesakeof

simplicity,wekeep| normalizedtounity.ThemetaoperatorT isthetimeordering:theoperatorsP i aresorted

sothatthemeasurementsthattookplacefirstappearontheright,closerto|in .Thosethattookplacelaterare
ontheleftsidefromthem.

NotethatiftheoperatorsP i areconstructedfromfieldoperatorsinarelativisticquantumfieldtheory,they
(super)commuteatspacelikeseparation,soapairofoperatorsP i andP i+1 thatarespacelikeseparatedmaybe
orderedinbothways.Theorderingbecomesirrelevantforthem.
Ontheotherhand,ifP i andP i+1 don't(super)commutewithoneanother,theirorderingisextremelyimportant.
Andifthey'reassociatedwiththesamevalueoftimet,likeifthetwoadjacentprojectionoperatorsdependonx(t)
andp(t) ,theorderingbecomesilldefinediftheseoperatorsdon't(super)commute.Thisiswhythepositionand
momentum(andanypairofnoncommutingoperators)can'tbemeasuredatthesamemoment.Ifyoutrytodo
suchthingsonpaper,theformalismbreaksdownandyoufailasatheorist.Ifyoutrytomeasurethem(non
commutingoperators)simultaneouslyinreality,youwillfailasapractician.Noncommutingobservablescan'tbe
simultaneouslymeasuredwhichiswhytheirproductswon'tappearintheexpressionsthatpredictprobabilitiesof
anythingmeaningful,either.
Again,Iemphasizethattheformalismofquantummechanicsdependsonthechronology.Onemustknowwhat

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The Reference Frame: Boolean logic is sucient to work with quantum mechanics

eventsormeasurementsoccurredfirstandwhichoccurredlaterbecausetheorderingistranslatedtotheordering
oftheapplicationoftheprojectionoperatorsor"collapses"ofthewavefunction,ifyoulikethisproblematicjargon
andtheorderingmatters.Also,thearrowoftimematters.Thepastoperatorsarealwaysclosertothekets(or
bras,ifthereisanothercopyofalltheseoperatorsintheconjugatepartoftheformula)thereissimplyno
symmetrybetweenthefutureandthepastinthefullformalismthatpredictsprobabilities.TheHeisenberg

equationsforoperatorsmaybetimereversalsymmetric(orCPTsymmetric,whichisalwaysthecaseinquantum
fieldtheories)butthefullformalismthatactuallycalculatesprobabilitiesoutofthemissimplynot!Thisisnothing
elsethanthequantumanalogyofthefactthatthehypothesesandevidenceplayasymmetricrolesinordinary
Bayes'theorem.
Thedensitymatrixtosubstituteissimilarly

= Norm T

i=1

Pi

in

T
(

Pi

i=1

wherethedagger simplyrevertstheorderingofthechronologicalmetaoperatorT .Again,the"past"operators

onbothsidesareclosertothanthefutureoperators.ThenormalizationNorm ofthedensitymatrixisnothing
elsethanthedivisionoftheargumentbyitstrace.
(Ifweweren'tsureabouttheresultsofmeasurementsofP i ,wecouldwritedownamorecomplicatedformofthe
densitymatrixwithmanytermsweightedbyprobabilities.)

That'sit.Quantummechanicstellsusthatwemustknowwhatwewanttoknowwemustspecifythequestions
(therelevantobservablesthataremeasured)beforequantummechanicsmaytellusthe(probabilisticanswers).
Withoutawelldefinedquestion(andachoiceofthisquestiondependsonanobserverwhocan"perceive"the
resultsorwho"cares"abouttheresults),therecan'tbeawelldefinedanswer.Unlikeclassicalphysics,thereisno
enginethatwouldprovideuswiththe"rightquestions"atthesamemoment.
Therearemanydifferentquestionsthatmaybeaskedaboutaphysicalsystembutduetothecomplementarityor
theuncertaintyprinciple,theycan'tbesimultaneouslymeaningful.Youeitherwanttoknowthepositionofaparticle
aftersomeprocessoritsmomentum.Youjustcan'taskaboutbothatthesamemoment.Thesequestionsareonly
meaningfultotheextenttowhichtheyaremeasuredandifonemeasurestheposition,thevalue(s)ofthe
momentumchange,andviceversa.
EveryquestionaboutanarbitraryphysicalsysteminNaturethatcan'tbetranslatedtothetemplateaboveor
someofitsallowedmodestgeneralizationswhichstillrespecttheHilbertspaceandprobabilisticcharacterof
quantummechanics,Idon'twanttogointoitisphysicallymeaningless.There'snothingwrongwiththis
proposition.Everytheorymustdecidewhichsentencesaremeaningfulandwhicharenot(andtherealwaysexist
sentencesinbothgroups).Quantummechanicsforcesustophraseeverythingweinsertasinputtheinitialstate
etc.andeverythingwewanttoknowintermsofobservablesi.e.operatorsandtheirmeasuredvalues.This
conditionisinnowayconstraining(orarulethatwouldbemakingquantummechanicsincomplete)becausewe
can'treallyknowanythingaboutNaturewithoutsomekindofmeasurement.Soit'sjustfineifquantummechanics
assumesanddependsonthisselfevidentfact.Andbesurethatitdoes.
That'sit.Thereisnojustificationforwritingdozensofarticlesfullofdoubtsanddissatisfaction.Whocan't
understand,in2015,therulesaboveandthefactthattheyrepresentatotallyinternallyconsistentandlogically
completeframeworkthatmaybeusedtoexplaineverythingweknowaboutNature,isaretardedimbecile,
euphemisticallyspeaking.
Booleanlogic
NotethattheformalismabovewasstillansweringYes/Noquestionsonecouldhavereformulatedtheframeworkin
termsofgeneralobservableswitharbitraryspectrabutIchosetheYes/Noapproachwhichisenoughand
equivalent.Itmeansthatitwasassigningtruthvaluestologicalpropositions.Theobservationsdoneinthepast
alreadyhavewelldefinedtruthvalues.Theobservationsthatwillbedoneinthefuturedon'thavewelldefinedtruth
valuesyet.Quantummechanicsallowsustocalculatetheprobabilitythatthevalueis"zero"or"one".
BooleanlogicistotallyOKbecausethemeasurementsassigntruthvaluestoparticularpropositionsandthesetruth
valuesobviouslybehavejustliketheyalwaysdidinBooleanlogic.Itisreallymisleadingtousetheterm"classical
logic"becausethereisnothinginBooleanlogicthatdependsonclassicalphysicsontheframeworkofphysics
whichassumesthatthereisaphasespaceofobjectivestateswithsomedynamicallawshowthepointonthis
phasespaceevolves.Quantummechanicalphysicists,asIhaveshown,usethesameBooleanlogictostudyNature.
SoBooleanlogicisbothclassicalandquantumitsapplicabilityisnotconstrainedinsimilarways.

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The Reference Frame: Boolean logic is sucient to work with quantum mechanics

ARomanianblogpost"Booleanlogicandquantummechanics"hasclaimedthatquantummechanicsforcesusto
abandonBooleanlogicbutitsimplyain'tso.Themeasurementiswhatconnectsthenew"engine"insidequantum
mechanicstotheusualtruthvaluesofpropositionsweusedtouseinclassicalphysicsaswell.
TheprojectionoperatorsP i intheformalismatthetopgenericallydon'tcommutewitheachother.Insomesense,
thealgebratheyrepresentis"nonclassical"inthesenseof"noncommuting".Butwhenwenormallytalkabout
logic,wetalkabouttheparticulartruthvaluesofpropositionsthathavealreadybeenmeasured,notthewhole
operators,andthosearecommuting.Theactual,measuredtruthvaluesarecommutingtheyarejustnot
"deterministically"or"unambiguously"calculablefromtheinitialstateusingavalidphysicaltheory.Quantum
mechanicsdoesn'tallowsuchcalculations.
In1935,BirkhoffandvonNeumannproposedtheirquantumlogic,ageneralizationofthemathematicalaxiomsfor
logicinwhiche.g.thedistributivelawforBooleanvaluesdoesn'thold.Itwasaratherweirdpaperandithasinno
waybecomeapartofthestandardphysicscannonbecauseit'snotneeded.PhysicistslikethoseinCopenhagen
haven'tstartedtouseitbecausewhileitcanbeamathematicallyconsistentsetofaxiomsanddefinitionsinspired
byquantummechanics,it'snotneededinphysics.Itbringsnothingnewtophysics.EvenMattLeiferhassaid"No"
totheBirkhoffvon_Neumannlogic.Also,theWikipediaarticleadmitsthattheBirkhoffvon_Neumannworkispretty
muchjustshowingsomesimilaritybetweenalgebrasofoperatorsandlogic.Becauseofthedifferences,onemay
"generalize"theconceptoflogic,butallofitisjustarepackagingofknownthingswithnoimportantphysicalor
philosophicalconsequences.
Booleanlogicisjustfineinquantummechanics.Quantummechanicsdoesn'tdifferfromclassicalphysicsbythe
logicitusesitdiffersbythecharacterofthepredictionsitallowsustomakeaboutthetruthvalueofpropositions
aboutfuturemeasurementsandthegeneralalgorithmhowtomakethesepredictions.

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amigos.

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Jointhediscussion
kashyapvasavada ayearago

Againaninterestingdebate.Oncebefore,Ihadheardina
talkbyanimportantphysicist(!)thatcontrarytowhatsomepeoplebelieve,
QMdoesfollowBooleanlogic.Tobehonest,Iknowverylittleifanything
aboutformallogic.SoIwillletthescholarsdebateabouttheissuesoflogic
justlikedebatesoninterpretationofQM.Althoughsuchdebatesarequite
educational,thereisnoquestionabouttheprofoundempiricalsuccessofQM.
Inawaythisissimilartothedebateonlocality.Everyonebelievingin
relativityagreesthatlocalitymeansnosignalsfasterthanlight.Butthe
problemarosebecauseofBellsunfortunateuseofthewordlocalityfornon
factorizabilityandsomepeoplekeeponusingthatworduntiltoday!Similarly
theworld*logic*hasaspecialmeaningforanaveragepersonwhomakesdecisions
basedonsuch*logic*indealingwithhis/hereverydaylifewhichisstrictlyclassical.
SoitseemstomethatoneshouldcallQMatmost*counterintuitive*ifyou
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The Reference Frame: Boolean logic is sucient to work with quantum mechanics

SoitseemstomethatoneshouldcallQMatmost*counterintuitive*ifyou
wanttocompareitwithhappeningsinoureverydaylifewhicharestrictly
classical.Ifyouusetheword*illogical*youshouldexplainindetailthat
youarereallycomparingitwithexperiencesinyour*classical*lifewhichbring
inalltheclassicalbaggage!!
seemore

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Justin ayearago

Sometimesthisbloghelpsmeescapefromallthenonsensethatiswrittenabout
quantummechanicsthesedays.I'mtiredofseeingthesearticlesclaimingquantum
mechanicsisonthevergeoffinallybeingdebunked,nearlyacenturyafteritwasmostly
understoodatafundamentallevel.IlikethecommentaryontheBooleanlogic.Surely
youwouldagreewithwhat'swritteninthispaper?http://arxiv.org/pdf/quantph/...

Reply Share

LuboMotl

host >Justin

ayearago

Thanks,Justin,andyes,Ilargelyagreewiththepaperit'sjustanother
descriptionofconsistenthistoriesbyoneofitsmainfathersalthoughIdon'tthink
it'sasensibleinvestmentoftimetoreacttoeverysentenceofaratherrandom
1996paper.

Reply Share

NikFromNYC ayearago

OMGyouareblissfullynowapopulist,actuallyexplainingtheequations:
"Thesymbol"Norm"means"normalization"(thedivisionoftheketvectorinsidebyits
length)forthesakeofsimplicity,wekeepnormalizedtounity.ThemetaoperatorTis
thetimeordering:theoperatorsPiaresortedsothatthemeasurementsthattookplace
firstappearontheright,closerto.Thosethattookplacelaterareontheleftsidefrom
them."
1

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Rehbock ayearago

GreatjobhereandattheRomanianblog.Youshowedhisfallacyinthinkingthat
undefinedisthesameasunknownverywell.
2

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FlorinMoldoveanu>Rehbock ayearago

GeeRehbock,Inowtheyareilldefined.Iamafraidyoumissedmypointentirely.
Commentatmyblogandwe'llsortoutyourconfusion.

Reply Share

LuboMotl

host >Rehbock

ayearago

Youmadeanimportantpointevenclearer!)Indeed,Ithinkthattheconfusion
youmentionisattherootofsomeFlorin'sbizarrethoughtsandmaybeeven
somestrangeclaimsbyvonNeumann.
Quantummechanicsforcesustoadmitthatmanyanswerstoquestionsabout
thefuturemeasurementsetc.areunknown,onlyprobabilisticallypredictable.
Butthat'ssomethingelsethanthesentencesthatarecompletelyilldefined.They
shouldbeavoidedaltogether.
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The Reference Frame: Boolean logic is sucient to work with quantum mechanics

shouldbeavoidedaltogether.
1

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QsaTheory>LuboMotl ayearago

IhaveafeelingthatRehbockmeantthatthevaluesinquestionare
undefinedbeforemeasurementnotunknown,hecancorrectmeincaseI
amwrong.

Reply Share

Rehbock>QsaTheory ayearago

MorethatFlorinhadtreatedmomentumandpositionstatesas
unknownwheninsteadilldefined.

Reply Share

Shannon ayearago

Anotherawesometripdowntherabbithole!Ialmostgotburiedbutyourlast6
paragraphssavedme:)
1

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xx ayearago

Simpleandbrilliant,Lubos!

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UncleAl ayearago

not(not(porq)ornot(pornot(q))=p
J.AutomatedReasoning19(3)263(1997)
DOI:10.1023/A:1005843212881
2

Reply Share

CharlesWilson ayearago

OneofthefinestshortarticlesIhaveeverread.
GoodworkLM!
CW

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LuboMotl

host >CharlesWilson

ayearago

Thanksalot,Charles.

Reply Share

BillJames ayearago

Lubos,
Thereisno"caring"inphysics.)

Reply Share

LuboMotl

host >BillJames

ayearago

There'snocaringin*classical*physics.Inquantummechanics,it'sjustharder.
OnemaysaythatthereisnocaringaboutanswersinthewholeUniverse.But
aslongasthereisnocaringintheUniverse,therearenoanswers,either.
Particularvaluesofobservablesincludingtruthvaluesofpropositionsabout
observablesonlymakesensewhentheyareobservedanditisonlymeaningful
toaskwhattheobservationswereorwillbeifone*cares*.
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The Reference Frame: Boolean logic is sucient to work with quantum mechanics

Noneofthesethingsdependonanyspecialfeaturesofhumansortheiremotions
etc.Thereisnothinganthropomorphichereetc.Butallthisformalism*does*
dependontheexistenceofanobserver.Withoutanyobserverandhisorheror
itsortheirobservations,there'sjustnothingforquantumphysicstoanswer!

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john>LuboMotl ayearago

Unfortunatelywhatyouhavewrittenaboveisalmostneverexplained
correctlyintextbooks(Iwouldbehappyifsomeonecanshowmesimilar
statementsincommontextbooks).Booksusuallysaythatpositionand
andmomentumcan'tbemeasuredatthesametime(whichisofcourse
correct)andtheydefinemeasurementusingclassicalmeasurement
apparatus.Thisgivestheimpressionthatclassicalmeasurementdevices
arenecessarytousequantummechanics.Butthisiswrong.Thecorrect
separationisnotmicroscopic/classicalbutobserved/observer.Speaking
precisely,onecan'tassumethatmacroscopicobjectshaveobjective
propertiesbutthisisimplicitlyassumedintextbooks.Ithinkthiscausesa
lotconfusion.

Reply Share

LuboMotl

host >john

ayearago

Iagree.It'saboutobserver/observed,andpeopleoften"simplify"
thisintomacroscopic/microscopicorclassical/quantumbecause
theywantthedivisiontobe"objective".Butthedivisionisnot
meanttobeobjective.
Ontheotherhand,thesedifferencesonlymatterifonestartsto
searchforproblemstheydon'tmatterforpredictionsofanything
particularinanywelldefineddisciplineofphysicsthathasbeef.
Butwhenonestartstotalkaboutthefoundationsatthereallydeep
level,thenuanceslikeyoumentionedareimportant.

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EFFerrari>LuboMotl ayearago

DearLubos:
Atthereallydeeplevel
Wittgensteiniswrong,
metaphysicsenforcedbylogicsispartofthebusiness:
Feynman'sPropositionAistrue.

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john>LuboMotl ayearago

DearLubos,youarerightthatthisdistinctionsarenotpractically
important.But,itshouldn'tbehardtoexplainthisinfewpagesand
thentoexplainwhyitisOKassumethatmacroscopicobejctscan
beassumedtohavesomeobjectiveproperties.Usuallythisisn't
doneintextbooksandquantummechanicsisintroducedassuming
thatmacroscopicpropertieshaveobjectiveproperties.Then
studentsthinkthatquantummechanicsisnotcompleteandrequire
externalclassicalobjectsorsomethingelse.Iamjustsayingthat
bookscanbeimproved.
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bookscanbeimproved.

BythewayIthinkagoodenoughstudent/physicistsshouldbeable
todeducetheseconclusionsafterlearningaboutdoubleslit
experiment.Ofcourseifelectrondoesn'thaveobjectiveproperties
thenthescreenalsodoesn'thave.Butapparentlysomephysicists
whoearnednobelprizecan'tmakethesedeductions.

seemore

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RAFIII ayearago

Amen.
1

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