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Horsman D, Heunen C, Pusey MF, et al. Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time?. Proc Math Phys Eng Sci. 2017;473(2205):20170395doi: 10.1098/rspa.2017.0395.
Horsman, D., Heunen, C., Pusey, M. F., Barrett, J., & Spekkens, R. W. (2017). Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time?. Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 473(2205), 20170395. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2017.0395
Horsman, Dominic, et al. "Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time?." Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences vol. 473,2205 (2017): 20170395. doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2017.0395
Horsman D, Heunen C, Pusey MF, Barrett J, Spekkens RW. Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time?. Proc Math Phys Eng Sci. 2017 Sep;473(2205):20170395. doi: 10.1098/rspa.2017.0395. Epub 2017 Sep 20. PMID: 28989317; PMCID: PMC5627384.
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Proc Math Phys Eng Sci. 2017 Sep;473(2205):20170395. doi: 10.1098/rspa.2017.0395. Epub 2017 Sep 20.

Can a quantum state over time resemble a quantum state at a single time?.

Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences

Dominic Horsman, Chris Heunen, Matthew F Pusey, Jonathan Barrett, Robert W Spekkens

Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham, UK.
  2. School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
  3. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Canada.
  4. Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

PMID: 28989317 PMCID: PMC5627384 DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2017.0395

Abstract

The standard formalism of quantum theory treats space and time in fundamentally different ways. In particular, a composite system at a given time is represented by a joint state, but the formalism does not prescribe a joint state for a composite of systems at different times. If there were a way of defining such a joint state, this would potentially permit a more even-handed treatment of space and time, and would strengthen the existing analogy between quantum states and classical probability distributions. Under the assumption that the joint state over time is an operator on the tensor product of single-time Hilbert spaces, we analyse various proposals for such a joint state, including one due to Leifer and Spekkens, one due to Fitzsimons, Jones and Vedral, and another based on discrete Wigner functions. Finding various problems with each, we identify five criteria for a quantum joint state over time to satisfy if it is to play a role similar to the standard joint state for a composite system: that it is a Hermitian operator on the tensor product of the single-time Hilbert spaces; that it represents probabilistic mixing appropriately; that it has the appropriate classical limit; that it has the appropriate single-time marginals; that composing over multiple time steps is associative. We show that no construction satisfies all these requirements. If Hermiticity is dropped, then there is an essentially unique construction that satisfies the remaining four criteria.

Keywords: Hermiticity; classical limit; marginal state; quantum state over time

Conflict of interest statement

We declare we have no competing interests.

References

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