arXiv subjects

Benjamin H. Feintzeig

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin H. Feintzeig.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quantization as a Categorical Equivalence for Hilbert Bimodules and Lagrangian Relations

It is well known that classical and quantum theories carry distinct types of representations, each type of representation corresponding to possible values of generalized charges in the classical or quantum context. This paper demonstrates a sense in the structure of these representation theories is preserved from classical to quantum physics. To show this, I discuss distinct representation-theory preserving morphisms in the classical and quantum contexts. Specifically, I consider categories whose morphisms are Lagrangian relations in the classical context and Hilbert bimodules in the quantum context. These morphisms are significant because they give rise to induced representations of classical and quantum theories, respectively. I consider quantization and the classical limit as determining functors between these categories. I treat quantization via the strict deformation quantization of a Poisson algebra and the classical limit via the extension of a uniformly continuous bundle of C*-algebras. With these tools, I prove that the quantization and classical limit functors are "almost-inverse" to each other, thus establishing a categorical equivalence.

math-ph↗

arXiv2025

Forward-Time Equivalent of a "Retrocausal" Diffusion Hidden Variable Model for Quantum Mechanics

A recently proposed stochastic hidden variable model for quantum mechanics has been claimed to involve "retrocausality" due to the appearance of equations of motion with future-time boundary conditions. We formulate an equivalent system of forward-time equations of motion that gives rise to the same trajectories as solutions, but involves only initial-time boundary conditions. The forward-time dynamics involves a guidance term for the dynamical variables, determined by the phase-space distribution corresponding to a quantum wavefunction. We show, however, that this particular guidance term can be recovered as the mean-field limit of averaged pairwise interactions among an ensemble of finitely many particles.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Quantum Probability via the Method of Arbitrary Functions

The goal of this paper is to apply the collection of mathematical tools known as the "method of arbitrary functions" to analyze how probability arises from quantum dynamics. We argue that in a toy model of quantum measurement the Born rule probabilities can be derived from the unitary Schrödinger dynamics when certain dynamical parameters are treated as themselves random variables with initial probability distributions. Specifically, we study the perturbed double well model, in which the perturbation is treated as a random variable, and we show that for arbitrary initial distributions within a certain class, the dynamics yields the Born rule probabilities in the joint limits given by long times and small values of Planck's constant (the classical limit). Our results establish the Born rule as a type of universal limiting behavior that is independent of the precise initial dynamical parameters.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Classical Limits of Hilbert Bimodules as Symplectic Dual Pairs

Hilbert bimodules are morphisms between C*-algebraic models of quantum systems, while symplectic dual pairs are morphisms between Poisson geometric models of classical systems. Both of these morphisms preserve representation-theoretic structures of the relevant types of models. Previously, it has been shown that one can functorially associate certain symplectic dual pairs to Hilbert bimodules through strict deformation quantization. We show that, in the inverse direction, strict deformation quantization also allows one to functorially take the classical limit of a Hilbert bimodule to reconstruct a symplectic dual pair.

math-ph↗

arXiv2024

Quantization as a Categorical Equivalence

We demonstrate that, in certain cases, quantization and the classical limit provide functors that are "almost inverse" to each other. These functors map between categories of algebraic structures for classical and quantum physics, establishing a categorical equivalence.

math-ph↗

arXiv2021

Extensions of Bundles of C*-algebras

Bundles of C*-algebras can be used to represent limits of physical theories whose algebraic structure depends on the value of a parameter. The primary example is the $\hbar\to 0$ limit of the C*-algebras of physical quantities in quantum theories, represented in the framework of strict deformation quantization. In this paper, we understand such limiting procedures in terms of the extension of a bundle of C*-algebras to some limiting value of a parameter. We prove existence and uniqueness results for such extensions. Moreover, we show that such extensions are functorial for the C*-product, dynamical automorphisms, and the Lie bracket (in the $\hbar\to 0$ case) on the fiber C*-algebras.

math.OA↗

arXiv2021

Localizable Particles in the Classical Limit of Quantum Field Theory

A number of arguments purport to show that quantum field theory cannot be given an interpretation in terms of localizable particles. We show, in light of such arguments, that the classical $\hbar\to 0$ limit can aid our understanding of the particle content of quantum field theories. In particular, we demonstrate that for the massive Klein-Gordon field, the classical limits of number operators can be understood to encode local information about particles in the corresponding classical field theory.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2020

Classical Limits of Unbounded Quantities by Strict Quantization

This paper extends the tools of C*-algebraic strict quantization toward analyzing the classical limits of unbounded quantities in quantum theories. We introduce the approach first in the simple case of finite systems. Then we apply this approach to analyze the classical limits of unbounded quantities in bosonic quantum field theories with particular attention to number operators and Hamiltonians. The methods take classical limits in a representation-independent manner and so allow one to compare quantities appearing in inequivalent Fock space representations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

On Noncontextual, Non-Kolmogorovian Hidden Variable Theories

One implication of Bell's theorem is that there cannot in general be hidden variable models for quantum mechanics that both are noncontextual and retain the structure of a classical probability space. Thus, some hidden variable programs aim to retain noncontextuality at the cost of using a generalization of the Kolmogorov probability axioms. We generalize a theorem of Feintzeig (2015) to show that such programs are committed to the existence of a finite null cover for some quantum mechanical experiments, i.e., a finite collection of probability zero events whose disjunction exhausts the space of experimental possibilities.

quant-ph↗