English

Essential Duality and Maximal Non-signalling Extensions in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory

Quantum Physics 2026-05-04 v1 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We show that, under additivity, the maximal von Neumann algebra extension of A(O)\mathcal{A}(O) inside B(H)B(\mathcal{H}) whose inner automorphisms are non-signalling with respect to all spacelike-separated regions is A(O)\mathcal{A}(O')'. Consequently, A(O)\mathcal{A}(O) is maximal with respect to this property if and only if essential duality holds. The proof is purely algebraic. When essential duality fails, we construct a proper extension all of whose inner automorphisms, and more generally all normal completely positive maps admitting Kraus operators in the algebra, are non-signalling. Under essential duality, any proper extension necessarily admits a signalling operation. An entropic formulation using Araki relative entropy provides a quantitative diagnostic of signalling, though it is not used in the proof. Additional structural results include the wedge-intersection identity A(O)=WOA(W)\mathcal{A}(O')' = \bigcap_{W \supset O}\mathcal{A}(W) and equivalent characterisations of essential duality. These results identify essential duality as an operational maximality condition within the given representation.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.00075,
  title  = {Essential Duality and Maximal Non-signalling Extensions in Algebraic Quantum Field Theory},
  author = {Hassan Nasreddine},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.00075},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

29 pages, 0 figure

R2 v1 2026-07-01T12:44:17.516Z