10 pages, 10 figures in Information and Complexity, World Scientific Series in Information Studies: Volume 6, ed. by Mark Burgin and Cristian S Calude, Chapter 11, pp. 276-300, (World Scientific, Singapore, 2016)
For the classical mind, quantum mechanics is boggling enough; nevertheless more bizarre behavior could be imagined, thereby concentrating on propositional structures (empirical logics) that transcend the quantum domain. One can also consistently suppose predictions and probabilities which are neither classical nor quantum, but which are subject to subclassicality; that is, the additivity of probabilities for mutually exclusive, co-measurable observables, as formalized by admissibility rules and frame functions.
Three extensions and reinterpretations of nonclassical probabilities are reviewed. (i) We propose to generalize the probability axiom of quantum mechanics to self-adjoint positive operators of trace one. Furthermore, we discuss the Cartesian and polar decomposition of arbitrary normal operators and the possibility to operationalize the corresponding observables. Thereby we review and emphasize the use of observables which maximally represent the context. (ii) In the second part, we discuss Pitowsky polytopes for automaton logic as well as for generalized urn models and evaluate methods to find…
The probability `measure' for measurements at two consecutive moments of time is non-additive. These probabilities, on the other hand, may be determined by the limit of relative frequency of measured events, which are by nature additive. We demonstrate that there are only two ways to resolve this problem. The first solution places emphasis on the precise use of the concept of conditional probability for successive measurements. The physically correct conditional probabilities define additive probabilities for two-time measurements. These probabilities depend explicitly on the resolution of the…
Bell's inequalities can be understood in three different ways depending on whether the numbers featuring in the inequalities are interpreted as classical probabilities, classical conditional probabilities, or quantum probabilities. In the paper I will argue that the violation of Bell's inequalities has different meanings in the three cases. In the first case it rules out the interpretation of certain numbers as probabilities of events. In the second case it rules out a common causal explanation of conditional correlations of certain events (measurement outcomes) conditioned on other events (me…
The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics is reanalyzed within a general, strictly probabilistic framework (without reduction postulate). Based on a novel comprehensive definition of measurement the natural emergence of objective events is demonstrated and their formal representation within quantum mechanics is obtained. In order to be objective an event is required to be observable or readable in at least two independent, mutually non-interfering ways with necessarily agreeing results. Consistency in spite of unrestricted validity of reversibility of the evolution or the superposition p…
A signed probability distribution may extend a given traditional probability from observable events to all events. We formalize and illustrate this approach. We also illustrate its limitation. We argue that the right question is not what negative probabilities are but what they are for.
The problem of defining quantum probabilities of composite events is considered. This problem is of high importance for the theory of quantum measurements and for quantum decision theory that is a part of measurement theory. We show that the Luders probability of consecutive measurements is a transition probability between two quantum states and that this probability cannot be treated as a quantum extension of the classical conditional probability. The Wigner distribution is shown to be a weighted transition probability that cannot be accepted as a quantum extension of the classical joint prob…
We consider realistic photodetection in a generalization of the Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment to the multimode case. The basic layout of this experiment underlies boson sampling -- a promising model of nonuniversal quantum computations. Peculiarities of photocounting probabilities in such an experiment witness important nonclassical properties of electromagnetic field related to indistinguishability of boson particles. In practice, these probabilities are changed from their theoretical values due to the imperfect ability of realistic detectors to distinguish numbers of bunched photons. We derive a…
This paper is devoted to linear space representations of contextual probabilities - in generalized Fock space. This gives the possibility to use the calculus of creation and annihilation operators to express probabilistic dynamics in the Fock space (in particular, the wide class of classical kinetic equations). In this way we reproduce the Doi-Peliti formalism. The context-dependence of probabilities can be quantified with the aid of the generalized formula of total probability - by the magnitude of the interference term.
This Chapter develops a realist information-theoretic interpretation of the nonclassical features of quantum probabilities. On this view, what is fundamental in the transition from classical to quantum physics is the recognition that \emph{information in the physical sense has new structural features}, just as the transition from classical to relativistic physics rests on the recognition that space-time is structurally different than we thought. Hilbert space, the event space of quantum systems, is interpreted as a kinematic (i.e., pre-dynamic) framework for an indeterministic physics, in the …
How can probabilities make sense in a deterministic many-worlds theory? We address two facets of this problem: why should rational agents assign subjective probabilities to branching events, and why should branching events happen with relative frequencies matching their objective probabilities. To address the first question, we generalise the Deutsch-Wallace theorem to a wide class of many-world theories, and show that the subjective probabilities are given by a norm that depends on the dynamics of the theory: the 2-norm in the usual Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, and the 1-n…
Pyragas control allows to stabilize unstable states in applied nonlinear science. We propose to apply a quantum version of the Pyragas protocol to control individual photon-probabilities in an otherwise only globally accessible photon-probability distribution of a quantum light emitter. The versatility of quantum Pyragas control is demonstrated for the case of a two-level emitter in a pulsed laser-driven half cavity. We show that one- and two-photon events respond in a qualitatively different way to the half-cavity induced feedback signal. One-photon events are either enhanced or suppressed, d…
We develop an analogue of probability theory for probabilities taking values in topological groups. We generalize Kolmogorov's method of axiomatization of probability theory: main distinguishing features of frequency probabilities are taken as axioms in the measure-theoretic approach. We also present a review of non-Kolmogorovian probabilistic models including models with negative, complex, and $p$-adic valued probabilities. The latter model is discussed in details. The introduction of $p$-adic (as well as more general non-Archimedean) probabilities is one of the main motivations for considera…
The problem of Hadamard quantum coin measurement in $n$ trials, with arbitrary number of repeated consecutive last states is formulated in terms of Fibonacci sequences for duplicated states, Tribonacci numbers for triplicated states and $N$-Bonacci numbers for arbitrary $N$-plicated states. The probability formulas for arbitrary position of repeated states are derived in terms of Lucas and Fibonacci numbers. For generic qubit coin, the formulas are expressed by Fibonacci and more general, $N$-Bonacci polynomials in qubit probabilities. The generating function for probabilities, the Golden Rati…
A relevant problem in quantum computing concerns how fast a source state can be driven into a target state according to Schrödinger's quantum mechanical evolution specified by a suitable driving Hamiltonian. In this paper, we study in detail the computational aspects necessary to calculate the transition probability from a source state to a target state in a continuous time quantum search problem defined by a multi-parameter generalized time-independent Hamiltonian. In particular, quantifying the performance of a quantum search in terms of speed (minimum search time) and fidelity (maximum succ…
We propose a generalized structure of Bell inequalities for arbitrary d-dimensional bipartite systems, which includes the existing two types of Bell inequalities introduced by Collins-Gisin-Linden-Massar-Popescu [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 040404 (2002)] and Son-Lee-Kim [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 060406 (2006)]. We analyze Bell inequalities in terms of correlation functions and joint probabilities, and show that the coefficients of correlation functions and those of joint probabilities are in Fourier transform relations. We finally show that the coefficients in the generalized structure determine the cha…
Within quantum mechanics it is possible to assign a probability to the chance that a measurement has been made at a specific time t. However, the interpretation of such a probability is far from clear. We argue that a recent measuring scheme of Rovelli's (quant-ph/9802020) yields probabilities which do not correspond to the conventional probabilities usually assigned in quantum mechanics. The same arguments also apply to attempts to use the probability current to measure the time at which a particle arrives at a given location.
The orthocomplemented modular lattice of subspaces L[H(d)], of a quantum system with d- dimensional Hilbert space H(d), is considered. A generalized additivity relation which holds for Kolmogorov probabilities, is violated by quantum probabilities in the full lattice L[H(d)] (it is only valid within the Boolean subalgebras of L[H(d)]). This suggests the use of more general (than Kolmogorov) probability theories, and here the Dempster-Shafer probability theory is adopted. An operator D(H1,H2), which quantifies deviations from Kolmogorov probability theory is introduced, and it is shown to be in…
We significantly advance the research program initiated in "Moment-Based Evidence for Simple Rational-Valued Hilbert-Schmidt Generic 2 x 2 Separability Probabilities" (J. Phys. A, 45, 095305 [2012]). A function P(alpha), incorporating a family of six hypergeometric functions, all with argument 27/64 =(3/4)^3, is obtained here. It reproduces a series, alpha = 1/2, 1, 3/2, 2,...,32$, of sixty-four Hilbert-Schmidt generic 2 x 2 generalized separability probabilities, advanced on the basis of systematic high-accuracy probability-distribution-reconstruction computations, employing 7,501 determinant…
We study the probability assignment for the outcomes of time-extended measurements. We construct the class-operator that incorporates the information about a generic time-smeared quantity. These class-operators are employed for the construction of Positive-Operator-Valued-Measures for the time-averaged quantities. The scheme highlights the distinction between velocity and momentum in quantum theory. Propositions about velocity and momentum are represented by different class-operators, hence they define different probability measures. We provide some examples, we study the classical limit and w…
Let S be a set of states of a physical system and p(s) be the probability of the occurrence of an event when the system is in state s. A function p from S to [0,1] is called a numerical event or alternatively an S-probability. If a set P:={p(s)|s in S} is ordered by the order of real functions such that certain plausible requirements are fulfilled, P becomes an orthomodular poset in which properties can be described by the addition and comparison of functions. P is then called an algebra of S-probabilities or algebra of numerical events. We first answer the question under which circumstances i…
The method of defining quantum joint probabilities of two events is applied to a multimode system of trapped Bose-condensed atoms. The coherent modes are generated by modulating the trapping potential with an alternating field with a frequency in resonance with a transition frequency between two coherent modes. The system is subjected to nondestructive measurements randomly influencing the phase difference of the modes. The joint probability of observing two events, corresponding to the observation of two states, is calculated by employing the channel-state duality. The interference term in th…
Let S be a set of states of a physical system and p(s) the probability of the occurrence of an event when the system is in state s. A function p from S to [0,1] is called a numerical event or alternatively, an S-probability. If a set P of S-probabilities is ordered by the order of real functions it becomes a poset which can be considered as a quantum logic. In case P is a Boolean algebra this will indicate that the underlying physical system is a classical one. The goal of this paper is to study sets of S-probabilities which are not far from being Boolean algebras, especially by means of the a…
Previously, a formula, incorporating a $5F4$ hypergeometric function, for the Hilbert-Schmidt-averaged determinantal moments $\left\langle \left\vert ρ^{PT}\right\vert ^{n}\left\vert ρ\right\vert ^{k}\right\rangle /\left\langle \left\vert ρ\right\vert ^{k}\right\rangle$ of $4 \times 4$ density-matrices ($ρ$), and their partial transposes ($ρ^{PT}|$) was applied with $k=0$ to the generalized two-qubit separability-probability question. The formula can, further, be viewed we note here, as an averaging over "induced measures in the space of mixed quantum states". The associated induced-measure se…
We report major advances in the research program initiated in "Moment-Based Evidence for Simple Rational-Valued Hilbert-Schmidt Generic 2 x 2 Separability Probabilities" (J. Phys. A, 45, 095305 [2012]). A highly succinct separability probability function P(alpha) is put forth, yielding for generic (9-dimensional) two-rebit systems, P(1/2) = 29/64, (15-dimensional) two-qubit systems, P(1) = 8/33 and (27-dimensional) two-quater(nionic)bit systems, P(2)=26/323. This particular form of P(alpha) was obtained by Qing-Hu Hou and colleagues by applying Zeilberger's algorithm ("creative telescoping") t…
First a generalized Bell-inequality for different times and for different quasi-spin states is developed. We focus on special quasi-spin eigenstates and times. The inequality based on a local realistic theory is violated by the CP-violating parameter, if the quantum theory is used to recalculate the probabilities. Next the quantum mechanical probabilities are modified by the decoherence approach which enables the initial state to factorize spontaneously. In this way we get a lower limit for the decoherence parameter ζ, which measures the degree of decoherence. This result is compared with the …
Compelling evidence-though yet no formal proof-has been adduced that the probability that a generic (standard) two-qubit state ($ρ$) is separable/disentangled is $\frac{8}{33}$ (arXiv:1301.6617, arXiv:1109.2560, arXiv:0704.3723). Proceeding in related analytical frameworks, using a further determinantal $4F3$-hypergeometric moment formula (Appendix A), we reach, {\it via} density-approximation procedures, the conclusion that one-half ($\frac{4}{33}$) of this probability arises when the determinantal inequality $|ρ^{PT}|>|ρ|$, where $PT$ denotes the partial transpose, is satisfied, and, the oth…
Quantum probabilities are defined for several important physical cases characterizing measurements with multimode quantum systems. These are the probabilities for operationally testable measurements, for operationally uncertain measurements, and for entangled composite events. The role of the prospect and state entanglement is emphasized. Numerical modeling is presented for a two-mode Bose-condensed system of trapped atoms. The interference factor is calculated by invoking the channel-state duality.
In finite probability theory, events are subsets of the outcome set. Subsets can be represented by 1-dimensional column vectors. By extending the representation of events to two dimensional matrices, we can introduce "superposition events." Probabilities are introduced for classical events, superposition events, and their mixtures by using density matrices. Then probabilities for experiments or `measurements' of all these events can be determined in a manner exactly like in quantum mechanics (QM) using density matrices. Moreover the transformation of the density matrices induced by the experim…
A satisfactory resolution of the persistent quantum measurement problem remains stubbornly unresolved in spite of an overabundance of efforts of many prominent scientists over the decades. Among others, one key element is considered yet to be resolved. It comprises of where the probabilities of the measurement outcome stem from. This article attempts to provide a plausible answer to this enigma, thus eventually making progress toward a cogent solution of the longstanding measurement problem.
In this treatise I introduce the time dependent Generalized Born's Rule for the probabilities of quantum events, including conditional and consecutive probabilities, as the unique fundamental time evolution equation of quantum theory. Then these probabilities, computed from states and events, are to be compared with relative frequencies of observations. Schrodinger's equation still is valid in one model of the axioms of quantum theory, which I call the Schrodinger model. However, the role of Schrodinger's equation is auxiliary, since it serves to help compute the continuous temporal evolution …
