(Never) Mind your p’s and q’s: Von Neumann versus Jordan on the Foundations of Quantum Theory
نویسندگان
چکیده
In two papers entitled “On a new foundation [Neue Begründung] of quantum mechanics,” Pascual Jordan (1927b,g) presented his version of what came to be known as the Dirac-Jordan statistical transformation theory. As an alternative that avoids the mathematical difficulties facing the approach of Jordan and Paul A. M. Dirac (1927), John von Neumann (1927a) developed the modern Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we focus on Jordan and von Neumann. Central to the formalisms of both are expressions for conditional probabilities of finding some value for one quantity given the value of another. Beyond that Jordan and von Neumann had very different views about the appropriate formulation of problems in quantum mechanics. For Jordan, unable to let go of the analogy to classical mechanics, the solution of such problems required the identification of sets of canonically conjugate variables, i.e., p’s and q’s. For von Neumann, not constrained by the analogy to classical mechanics, it required only the identification of a maximal set of commuting operators with simultaneous eigenstates. He had no need for p’s and q’s. Jordan and von Neumann also stated the characteristic new rules for probabilities in quantum mechanics somewhat differently. Jordan (1927b) was the first to state those rules in full generality. Von Neumann (1927a) rephrased them and, in a subsequent paper (von Neumann, 1927b), sought to derive them from more basic considerations. In this paper we reconstruct the central arguments of these 1927 papers by Jordan and von Neumann and of a paper on Jordan’s approach by Hilbert, von Neumann, and Nordheim (1928). We highlight those elements in these papers that bring out the gradual loosening of the ties between the new quantum formalism and classical mechanics.
منابع مشابه
The James and von Neumann-Jordan type constants and uniform normal structure in Banach spaces
Recently, Takahashi has introduced the James and von Neumann-Jordan type constants. In this paper, we present some sufficient conditions for uniform normal structure and therefore the fixed point property of a Banach space in terms of the James and von Neumann-Jordan type constants and the Ptolemy constant. Our main results of the paper significantly generalize and improve many known results in...
متن کاملThe Quantized Electromagnetic Field
To quantize a classical system means that we pass from a classical description of the system to the quantum description. The classical description involves a classical Lagrangian or Hamiltonian, and a set of classical coordinates describing the dynamical state, that is, a set of q’s and q̇’s or q’s and p’s. Classical observables are functions of these coordinates. In the quantum description, the...
متن کاملReiter’s Properties for the Actions of Locally Compact Quantum Goups on von Neumann Algebras
متن کامل
Left Jordan derivations on Banach algebras
In this paper we characterize the left Jordan derivations on Banach algebras. Also, it is shown that every bounded linear map $d:mathcal Ato mathcal M$ from a von Neumann algebra $mathcal A$ into a Banach $mathcal A-$module $mathcal M$ with property that $d(p^2)=2pd(p)$ for every projection $p$ in $mathcal A$ is a left Jordan derivation.
متن کاملEnergy states and exchange energy of coupled double quantum dot in a magnetic field
The ground state energies of two interacting electrons confined in a coupled double quantum dot (DQD) presented in a magnetic field has been calculated by solving the relative Hamiltonian using variational and exact diagonalization methods. The singlet-triplet transitions in the angular momentum and spin of the quantum dot ground state had been shown .We have studied the magnetic field versus c...
متن کامل