Double or nothing: a Kolmogorov extension theorem for multitime (bi)probabilities in quantum mechanics

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lonigro, Davide, Sakuldee, Fattah, Cywiński, Łukasz, Chruściński, Dariusz, Szańkowski, Piotr
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Lonigro, Davide
Sakuldee, Fattah
Cywiński, Łukasz
Chruściński, Dariusz
Szańkowski, Piotr
author_facet Lonigro, Davide
Sakuldee, Fattah
Cywiński, Łukasz
Chruściński, Dariusz
Szańkowski, Piotr
contents The multitime probability distributions obtained by repeatedly probing a quantum system via the measurement of an observable generally violate Kolmogorov's consistency property. Therefore, one cannot interpret such distributions as the result of the sampling of a single trajectory. We show that, nonetheless, they do result from the sampling of one pair of trajectories. In this sense, rather than give up on trajectories, quantum mechanics requires to double down on them. To this purpose, we prove a generalization of the Kolmogorov extension theorem that applies to families of complex-valued bi-probability distributions (that is, defined on pairs of elements of the original sample spaces), and we employ this result in the quantum mechanical scenario. We also discuss the relation of our results with the quantum comb formalism.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_01218
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Double or nothing: a Kolmogorov extension theorem for multitime (bi)probabilities in quantum mechanics
Lonigro, Davide
Sakuldee, Fattah
Cywiński, Łukasz
Chruściński, Dariusz
Szańkowski, Piotr
Quantum Physics
Mathematical Physics
The multitime probability distributions obtained by repeatedly probing a quantum system via the measurement of an observable generally violate Kolmogorov's consistency property. Therefore, one cannot interpret such distributions as the result of the sampling of a single trajectory. We show that, nonetheless, they do result from the sampling of one pair of trajectories. In this sense, rather than give up on trajectories, quantum mechanics requires to double down on them. To this purpose, we prove a generalization of the Kolmogorov extension theorem that applies to families of complex-valued bi-probability distributions (that is, defined on pairs of elements of the original sample spaces), and we employ this result in the quantum mechanical scenario. We also discuss the relation of our results with the quantum comb formalism.
title Double or nothing: a Kolmogorov extension theorem for multitime (bi)probabilities in quantum mechanics
topic Quantum Physics
Mathematical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.01218