Quantum reference frame transformations as symmetries and the paradox of the third particle

Marius Krumm; Philipp A. Höhn; Markus P. Müller

doi:10.22331/q-2021-08-27-530

Quantum reference frame transformations as symmetries and the paradox of the third particle

Marius Krumm^1,2, Philipp A. Höhn^3,4, and Markus P. Müller^1,2,5

¹Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
²Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
³Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904 0495, Japan
⁴Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London, United Kingdom
⁵Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo ON N2L 2Y5, Canada

Published:	2021-08-27, volume 5, page 530
Eprint:	arXiv:2011.01951v2
Doi:	https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2021-08-27-530
Citation:	Quantum 5, 530 (2021).

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Abstract

In a quantum world, reference frames are ultimately quantum systems too – but what does it mean to "jump into the perspective of a quantum particle"? In this work, we show that quantum reference frame (QRF) transformations appear naturally as symmetries of simple physical systems. This allows us to rederive and generalize known QRF transformations within an alternative, operationally transparent framework, and to shed new light on their structure and interpretation. We give an explicit description of the observables that are measurable by agents constrained by such quantum symmetries, and apply our results to a puzzle known as the `paradox of the third particle'. We argue that it can be reduced to the question of how to relationally embed fewer into more particles, and give a thorough physical and algebraic analysis of this question. This leads us to a generalization of the partial trace (`relational trace') which arguably resolves the paradox, and it uncovers important structures of constraint quantization within a simple quantum information setting, such as relational observables which are key in this resolution. While we restrict our attention to finite Abelian groups for transparency and mathematical rigor, the intuitive physical appeal of our results makes us expect that they remain valid in more general situations.

► BibTeX data

@article{Krumm2021quantumreference,
  doi = {10.22331/q-2021-08-27-530},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2021-08-27-530},
  title = {Quantum reference frame transformations as symmetries and the paradox of the third particle},
  author = {Krumm, Marius and H{\"{o}}hn, Philipp A. and M{\"{u}}ller, Markus P.},
  journal = {{Quantum}},
  issn = {2521-327X},
  publisher = {{Verein zur F{\"{o}}rderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften}},
  volume = {5},
  pages = {530},
  month = aug,
  year = {2021}
}

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