Related papers: Are observables necessarily Hermitian?

During the recent developments of quantum theory it has been clarified that the observable quantities (like energy or position) may be represented by operators (with real spectra) which are manifestly non-Hermitian. The mathematical…

In quantum theory, a physical observable is represented by a Hermitian operator as it admits real eigenvalues. This stems from the fact that any measuring apparatus that is supposed to measure a physical observable will always yield a real…

A non-commuting measurement transfers, via the apparatus, information encoded in a system's state to the external "observer". Classical measurements determine properties of physical objects. In the quantum realm, the very same notion…

PT-symmetric quantum theory was originally proposed with the aim of extending standard quantum theory by relaxing the Hermiticity constraint on Hamiltonians. However, no such extension has been formulated that consistently describes states,…

Bohmian mechnaics is the most naively obvious embedding imaginable of Schr\"odingers's equation into a completely coherent physical theory. It describes a world in which particles move in a highly non-Newtonian sort of way, one which may at…

We are focused on the idea that observables in quantum physics are a bit more than just hermitian operators and that this is, in general, a "tricky business". The origin of this idea comes from the fact that there is a subtle difference…

This paper argues that non-self-adjoint operators can be observables. There are only four ways for this to occur: non-self-adjoint observables can either be normal operators, or be symmetric, or have a real spectrum, or have none of these…

In their Erratum [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 92}, 119902 (2004), quant-ph/0208076], written in reaction to [quant-ph/0310164], Bender, Brody and Jones propose a revised definition for a physical observable in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics. We…

In Quantum Mechanics operators must be hermitian and, in a direct product space, symmetric. These properties are saved by Lie algebra operators but not by those of quantum algebras. A possible correspondence between observables and quantum…

The Clauser-Horne-Shimony and Holt inequality applies when measurements with binary outcomes are performed on physical systems under the assumption of local realism. Testing such inequalities in the quantum realm usually involves either…

The existence of incompatibility is one of the most fundamental features of quantum theory, and can be found at the core of many of the theory's distinguishing features, such as Bell inequality violations and the no-broadcasting theorem. A…

We develop relativistic non-Hermitian quantum theory and its application to neutrino physics in a strong magnetic field. It is well known, that one of the fundamental postulates of quantum theory is the requirement of Hermiticity of…

In recent reports, suggestions have been put forward to the effect that parity and time-reversal (PT) symmetry in quantum mechanics is incompatible with causality. It is shown here, in contrast, that PT-symmetric quantum mechanics is fully…

We show that similarity (or equivalent) transformations enable one to construct non-Hermitian operators with real spectrum. In this way we can also prove and generalize the results obtained by other authors by means of a gauge-like…

Given a quantum state in the finite-dimensional Hilbert space $ \C^n $, the range of possible values of a quantum observable is usually identified with the discrete spectrum of eigenvalues of a corresponding Hermitian matrix. Here any such…

It is the purpose of the present contribution to demonstrate that the generalization of the concept of a quantum mechanical observable from the Hermitian operator of standard quantum mechanics to a positive operator-valued measure is not a…

Examples are given of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian operators which have a real spectrum. Some of the investigated operators are expressed in terms of the generators of the Weil-Heisenberg algebra. It is argued that the existence of an…

Under a standard set of assumptions for a hidden-variables model for quantum events, we show that all observables must commute simultaneously. And, despite Bell's complaint that a key condition of von Neumann's was quite unrealistic, we…

Practically measurable quantities resulting from quantum field theory are not described by hermitian operators, contradicting one of the cornerstone axioms of orthodox quantum theory. This could be a sign that some of the axioms of orthodox…

In the second part of our work on observables we have shown that quantum observables in the sense of von Neumann, i.e.bounded selfadjoint operators in some von Neumann subalgebra $R$ of $L(H)$, can be represented as bounded continuous…