Transitivity and homogeneity of orthosets and the real Hilbert spaces

Abstract

An orthoset (also called an orthogonality space) is a set $X$ equipped with a symmetric and irreflexive binary relation $\perp$, called the orthogonality relation. In quantum physics, orthosets play a central role. In fact, a Hilbert space gives rise to an orthoset in a canonical way and can be reconstructed from it. A complex Hilbert space can be seen as a real Hilbert space endowed with a complex structure. This fact motivates us to explore characteristic features of real Hilbert spaces by means of the abelian groups of rotations of a plane. Accordingly, we consider orthosets together with the groups of automorphisms that keep the orthogonal complement of a given pair of distinct elements fixed. We establish that, under a transitivity and a homogeneity assumption, an orthoset arises from a projective (anisotropic) Hermitian space. To find conditions under which the latter's scalar division ring is $\mathbb R$ is difficult in the present framework. However, restricting considerations to divisible automorphisms, we can narrow down the possibilities to positive definite quadratic spaces over an ordered field. The further requirement that the action of these automorphisms is quasiprimitive implies that the scalar field is a subfield of $\mathbb R$.