3,714 research outputs found

    A presentation of Quantum Logic based on an "and then" connective

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    When a physicist performs a quantic measurement, new information about the system at hand is gathered. This paper studies the logical properties of how this new information is combined with previous information. It presents Quantum Logic as a propositional logic under two connectives: negation and the "and then" operation that combines old and new information. The "and then" connective is neither commutative nor associative. Many properties of this logic are exhibited, and some small elegant subset is shown to imply all the properties considered. No independence or completeness result is claimed. Classical physical systems are exactly characterized by the commutativity, the associativity, or the monotonicity of the "and then" connective. Entailment is defined in this logic and can be proved to be a partial order. In orthomodular lattices, the operation proposed by Finch (1969) satisfies all the properties studied in this paper. All properties satisfied by Finch's operation in modular lattices are valid in Hilbert Space Quantum Logic. It is not known whether all properties of Hilbert Space Quantum Logic are satisfied by Finch's operation in modular lattices. Non-commutative, non-associative algebraic structures generalizing Boolean algebras are defined, ideals are characterized and a homomorphism theorem is proved.Comment: 28 pages. Submitte

    An alternative Gospel of structure: order, composition, processes

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    We survey some basic mathematical structures, which arguably are more primitive than the structures taught at school. These structures are orders, with or without composition, and (symmetric) monoidal categories. We list several `real life' incarnations of each of these. This paper also serves as an introduction to these structures and their current and potentially future uses in linguistics, physics and knowledge representation.Comment: Introductory chapter to C. Heunen, M. Sadrzadeh, and E. Grefenstette. Quantum Physics and Linguistics: A Compositional, Diagrammatic Discourse. Oxford University Press, 201

    Algebras of Measurements: the logical structure of Quantum Mechanics

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    In Quantum Physics, a measurement is represented by a projection on some closed subspace of a Hilbert space. We study algebras of operators that abstract from the algebra of projections on closed subspaces of a Hilbert space. The properties of such operators are justified on epistemological grounds. Commutation of measurements is a central topic of interest. Classical logical systems may be viewed as measurement algebras in which all measurements commute. Keywords: Quantum measurements, Measurement algebras, Quantum Logic. PACS: 02.10.-v.Comment: Submitted, 30 page
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