English

Kochen-Specker theorem for von Neumann algebras

Quantum Physics 2010-04-21 v1 Mathematical Physics math.MP Operator Algebras

Abstract

The Kochen-Specker theorem has been discussed intensely ever since its original proof in 1967. It is one of the central no-go theorems of quantum theory, showing the non-existence of a certain kind of hidden states models. In this paper, we first offer a new, non-combinatorial proof for quantum systems with a type InI_{n} factor as algebra of observables, including II_{\infty}. Afterwards, we give a proof of the Kochen-Specker theorem for an arbitrary von Neumann algebra R\mathcal{R} without summands of types I1I_{1} and I2I_{2}, using a known result on two-valued measures on the projection lattice P(R)\mathcal{P(R)}. Some connections with presheaf formulations as proposed by Isham and Butterfield are made.

Cite

@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0408106,
  title  = {Kochen-Specker theorem for von Neumann algebras},
  author = {Andreas Doering},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0408106},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

22 pages, no figures