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Related papers: On Complex numbers in Quantum Mechanics

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Complex numbers play a crucial role in quantum mechanics. However, their necessity remains debated: whether they are fundamental or merely convenient. Recently, it was claimed that quantum mechanics based on real numbers can be…

The concept of number is fundamental to the formulation of any physical theory. We give a heuristic motivation for the reformulation of Quantum Mechanics in terms of non-standard real numbers called Quantum Real Numbers. The standard axioms…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 John V Corbett , Thomas Durt

It is often stated that complex numbers are essential in quantum theory. In this article, the need for complex numbers in quantum theory is motivated using the results of tandem Stern-Gerlach experiments

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-07-16 S. Sivakumar

Real numbers provide a sufficient description of classical physics and all measurable phenomena; however, complex numbers are occasionally utilized as a convenient mathematical tool to aid our calculations. On the other hand, the formalism…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2023-09-01 Matthew Albert , Xiaoyi Bao , Liang Chen

Why does quantum theory need the complex numbers? With a view toward answering this question, this paper argues that the usual Hilbert-space formalism is a special case of the general method of Markovian embeddings. This paper then…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-02-03 Jacob A. Barandes

Two recent papers (Renou et al., arXiv:2101.10873, and Chen et al., arXiv:2103.08123) have indicated that complex numbers are necessary for quantum theory. This short note is a comment on their result.

Quantum Physics · Physics 2021-03-25 J. Finkelstein

Quantum theory was radically different from the theories of nature which came before it. One key difference was its use of complex numbers. This opened a longstanding debate over whether quantum theory fundamentally requires complex numbers…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-10-10 Timothee Hoffreumon , Mischa P. Woods

The Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics is reviewed with emphasis on applications to quantum computing. Standard interferomeric techniques are used to construct a physical device capable of universal quantum computation. Some…

High Energy Physics - Theory · Physics 2007-05-23 K. Svozil

The complexity of quantum computation remains poorly understood. While physicists attempt to find ways to create quantum computers, we still do not have much evidence one way or the other as to how useful these machines will be. The tools…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-05-23 Lance Fortnow

Complex numbers are an intrinsic part of the mathematical formalism of quantum theory, and are perhaps its most mysterious feature. In this paper, we show that the complex nature of the quantum formalism can be derived directly from the…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2010-02-14 Philip Goyal , Kevin H. Knuth , John Skilling

Most continuous mathematical formulations arising in science and engineering can only be solved numerically and therefore approximately. We shall always assume that we're dealing with a numerical approximation to the solution. There are two…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2007-12-10 A. Papageorgiou , J. F. Traub

Quantum computation teaches us that quantum mechanics exhibits exponential complexity. We argue that the standard scientific paradigm of "predict and verify" cannot be applied to testing quantum mechanics in this limit of high complexity.…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2012-06-19 Dorit Aharonov , Umesh Vazirani

Discussion of the necessity to use the constructive mathematics as the formalism of quantum theory for systems with many particles.

Quantum Physics · Physics 2008-09-16 Yuri Ozhigov

In this work, we present a logical formalism for reasoning about quantum systems in finite dimension. Contrary to the usual approach in quantum logic, our formalism is based classical first-order logic, which allows us to use the tools of…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2026-02-19 Olivier Brunet

This paper addresses the question why quantum mechanics is formulated in a unitary Hilbert space, i.e. in a manifestly complex setting. Investigating the linear dynamics of real quantum theory in a finite-dimensional Euclidean Hilbert space…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2019-05-31 Andreas Aste

While complex numbers are essential in mathematics, they are not needed to describe physical experiments, expressed in terms of probabilities, hence real numbers. Physics however aims to explain, rather than describe, experiments through…

Numerical simulation of quantum systems is crucial to further our understanding of natural phenomena. Many systems of key interest and importance, in areas such as superconducting materials and quantum chemistry, are thought to be described…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2010-11-17 Katherine L Brown , William J Munro , Vivien M Kendon

In this paper, we demonstrate the equivalence between the complex Hilbert space and real Kahler space formulations of quantum mechanics. Complex numbers play an important role in the traditional formulation of quantum mechanics in complex…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-04-24 Igor Volovich

Quantum mechanics (QM) has attracted a considerable amount of mysticism, in public opinion and even among academic researches, due to some of its conceptually puzzling features, such as the modification of reality by the observer and…

History and Philosophy of Physics · Physics 2011-12-01 Giorgio Torrieri

Since its inception at the beginning of the twentieth century, quantum mechanics has challenged our conceptions of how the universe ought to work; however, the equations of quantum mechanics can be too computationally difficult to solve…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2014-01-21 Nathan Wiebe
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