https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05452-0
Regular Article
Three statistical descriptions of classical systems and their extensions to hybrid quantum–classical systems
1
Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Cra. 7 No. 40B-53, Bogotá, Colombia
2
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany
3
Institut für Mathematische Physik, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstraße 3, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany
a
ad.bermudez168@uniandes.edu.co
Received:
29
February
2024
Accepted:
12
July
2024
Published online:
2
September
2024
We present three statistical descriptions for systems of classical particles and consider their extension to hybrid quantum–classical systems. The classical descriptions are ensembles on configuration space, ensembles on phase space, and a Hilbert space approach using van Hove operators which provides an alternative to the Koopman–von Neumann formulation. In all cases, there is a natural way to define classical observables and a corresponding Lie algebra that is isomorphic to the usual Poisson algebra in phase space. We show that in the case of classical particles the three descriptions are equivalent and indicate how they are related. We then modify and extend these descriptions to introduce hybrid models where a classical particle interacts with a quantum particle. The approach of ensembles on phase space and the Hilbert space approach, which are novel, lead to equivalent hybrid models, while they are not equivalent to the hybrid model of the approach of ensembles on configuration space. Thus, we end up identifying two inequivalent types of hybrid systems, making different predictions, especially when it comes to entanglement. These results are of interest regarding “no-go” theorems about quantum systems interacting via a classical mediator which address the issue of whether gravity must be quantized. Such theorems typically require assumptions that make them model dependent. The hybrid systems that we discuss provide concrete examples of inequivalent models that can be used to compute simple examples to test the assumptions of the “no-go” theorems and their applicability.
Andrés Bermúdez, Marcel Reginatto and Sebastian Ulbricht have contributed equally to this work.
Contribution to the Focus Point on “Mathematics and Physics at the Quantum-Classical Interface” edited by D.I. Bondar, I. Joseph, G. Marmo, C. Tronci.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
